I am NOT the Subaltern Anymore

I’m only 21 and I choose to be who I am, not because my past experiences have led me here or probably because I am outspoken with a dirty mouth. I’m only 21 and I regret being a woman only because I don’t feel safe in my own city, certainly not because I menstruate. So what if I’m a short girl and don’t look my age? So what if I’m not curvy or thin like the bimbos? So what if I’m not fair like those idiots who wish to have luminous skin? I’m probably not the conventional girl, but I’m still emotional and affected. Just because I don’t like crying, doesn’t mean I’m good at suppressing my emotions. I will not be the subaltern anymore because I live in a country where cows are worshipped on one hand and raped on the other, where men demand not to be generalized as pathologically sexual animals on one hand and still continue to scan every woman on the other. People still refer to this country as ‘Incredible India’, but what really is ‘incredible’? The fact that India is now known by the number of rapes occurring, why do people still choose to love this country? Where today, standing up for who you are is merely a reason for people to just laugh and mock at you. So, who are we really? Where 25 kilometers away from the city, women are pressurizing their breadth to keep the fire burning in order to feed their children in villages, yet on the other, the rich ones are enjoying endless barbeque buffets.

What have we come to, where Mr. Modi’s cabinet members speak of ‘Swacch Bharat’, while the same people pass ridiculously contaminating comments on women and other issues of the society. Where, feminism has just become a mere word that people debate on, and the lives of many women are just numbers today. I will not be the subaltern anymore because I will speak up for every woman today. What rituals are we following and what traditions are we talking about? Why are you fasting for your husband’s long life? Why are you wearing that so-called sexy dress? The whole concept of patriarchy is just a mere illusion, looking forward to transform men into stronger chauvinists and women into weaker utensils. Who is the man you are married to, really? Who are the people you are surrounded by? Aren’t they all vessels of patriarchy, crumbling you bit by bit into the pit of suppression and silence? What is this tradition of silence that one speaks of? Your boyfriend doesn’t hit you out of love. It is his mere fragile male ego that he refuses to break solely because his parents have pampered his penis.

I’m only 21 and I’m not ready for marriage. I have a career to make and I’m sure you do too. Serials like ‘Manmarziyan’ could probably talk about how a girl should be independent before her dependence is transferred from her father to her husband, but it’s senseless. Do you see the protagonist as yourself? Does she reflect you in any way? What is this really? Where men always become defensive when asked about why they stare at women, and then you also have women who pester you to behave in a certain manner. No, I’m not going to join my thighs and sit, I’m not going to wear a Sari and I’m certainly not going to close my mouth and laugh silently. I will laugh like a maniac and eat like the clumsiest person. Why is a woman stared at and commented on when she smokes or when she dresses up the way she wants to. Who said, yellow skirt and pink shoes don’t match? Where do these labels originate from? What are the zero size figures? Disintegrating and decaying your suppressed thoughts in time are the only things that lead a girl to become a patriarchal woman. Feminism is war, it’s fighting for a woman’s rights, be it legally or illegally, or for that matter, it doesn’t really concern the Indian Government anyway. If you are a celebrity and you kill someone, you’re destined to go back home and sleep on your comfortable bed. That’s precisely how our government functions.

I am not a subaltern anymore because I will stand for what is right and rebel against the wrong. I am intolerant to your bullshit but empathetic to the needful. I am disinterested in being labeled because only the cowards label people. I am not a subaltern only because I am a woman in a patriarchal society. No matter how many arguments support men victimized under the same crimes as women, it will never be enough. A woman undergoes much more than any man, her daily life. There’s no request for respect today, and the demands for regard have already been unnecessarily sky high. Women don’t wish to be treated as queens and neither sexual objects. They demand to be perceived as individuals, just like any man in this ridiculous country. So, calling out to all the women out there, we are not going to be subalterns. We are human beings and we demand to be treated humanely.