Alright so now that Teej is just around the corner, I see women having Teej parties, Celebrating and shopping for this so called festival which has been established many years ago for women. but the quesiton is whether it is jus a festival for women, or just another symbol of women's dependence on the whole system of Patriarchy?
with much respect, i wouldn't want to sound rude or discriminatory to any other people's religion or case, but my family has never celebrated Teej, maybe coz Newars dont. But the whole concept of Teej: fast to get a good husband, or fast to prolong their husbands lives sounds a bit too odd for me. I know in the nepalese culture men are always considered the superior humans and we women have to do a lot to please them. but in the 21st century, fasting to get a good husband; this idea or concept sounds just too stupid for me( no offense). If women did fast to get a good husband, then I think everyone would have a good husband and there would be no acts of violence against women. and the whole idea of fasting for a good man, again tells us that we women need to work hard or remain pure to get a good mate, whereas its not the other way round. so like we work hard, do all pujas and fasting and hopefully get a good husband, but the men do not have to do anything to get a good wife? now that's jus ridiculous.
the other issue is that with Teej women need to wear Red and adorn themselves with good clothes and ornaments is just another symbol of how women are being percieved as objects or commodities. I mean ofcourse women may say we dress up/do fashion to look good for ourselves, but honestly if that was the case, then women would be looking good all the time, be it at home doing laundry or dishes or cooking. so the whole idea of make-up and looking good is another way of patriarchy telling us we need to look our best to get a possible mate. whereas the significance of color red is deep rooted with the concept of sexuality. Red is the color of sexuality. that being said, women are always considered as objects of sexuality. I hope I'm making some sense now. well even if I am not. there might be atleast 1% of the total ppl who read this and would understand what my point is.
and nowadays, the way Teej is celebrated, its become a luxury rather than just a normal festival. the capitalist market has found another way of exploiting women and making their business boom profits. the amount of shopping done for this one day festival is unimaginable.
well these are just the little things that I noticed, I'll be glad if people would give their perspective and add on to it. I'm not saying celebrating Teej is good or bad, but we need to see how we can refine or redefine the meaning of cultural celebrations. do we stick to the age old practice of how women are being dominated or create new practices with the essence of our culture intact. My professor, and she is very famous in the whole feminist/gender equality movement in nepal,Dr. Chandra Bhadra once told me, that she used to follow teej, but since she became aware and so did her husband, on every Teej day, her husband takes her to a lunch/dinner date. And that is something revolutionary, I mean it may not make a difference in a bigger scenario but it is a small step towards change. And because they have made that change in their lives, their daughters will not have to bear the brunt of the to dos and don'ts of the Nepali society.
It makes us think as to what we follow on a daily basis, what society tells us to do has a lot more deep rooted meaning to it. and we as women may not realise it but we are being percieved as the weaker human beings. and its not jus limited to the Nepali society, its everywhere, it might not jus be because of Teej but other various reasons and factors play a role to this being.
So what is it? we the second generation feminist aware women want to do? Conform to the given culture which has trained our eyes to see what they want us to see or create our own existence/identity through a various choices that we make. My religion I would say is not hindu or buddhist or christianity but it is what my heart tells me is right and it is the choices I make that defines me as a person.
with much respect, i wouldn't want to sound rude or discriminatory to any other people's religion or case, but my family has never celebrated Teej, maybe coz Newars dont. But the whole concept of Teej: fast to get a good husband, or fast to prolong their husbands lives sounds a bit too odd for me. I know in the nepalese culture men are always considered the superior humans and we women have to do a lot to please them. but in the 21st century, fasting to get a good husband; this idea or concept sounds just too stupid for me( no offense). If women did fast to get a good husband, then I think everyone would have a good husband and there would be no acts of violence against women. and the whole idea of fasting for a good man, again tells us that we women need to work hard or remain pure to get a good mate, whereas its not the other way round. so like we work hard, do all pujas and fasting and hopefully get a good husband, but the men do not have to do anything to get a good wife? now that's jus ridiculous.
the other issue is that with Teej women need to wear Red and adorn themselves with good clothes and ornaments is just another symbol of how women are being percieved as objects or commodities. I mean ofcourse women may say we dress up/do fashion to look good for ourselves, but honestly if that was the case, then women would be looking good all the time, be it at home doing laundry or dishes or cooking. so the whole idea of make-up and looking good is another way of patriarchy telling us we need to look our best to get a possible mate. whereas the significance of color red is deep rooted with the concept of sexuality. Red is the color of sexuality. that being said, women are always considered as objects of sexuality. I hope I'm making some sense now. well even if I am not. there might be atleast 1% of the total ppl who read this and would understand what my point is.
and nowadays, the way Teej is celebrated, its become a luxury rather than just a normal festival. the capitalist market has found another way of exploiting women and making their business boom profits. the amount of shopping done for this one day festival is unimaginable.
well these are just the little things that I noticed, I'll be glad if people would give their perspective and add on to it. I'm not saying celebrating Teej is good or bad, but we need to see how we can refine or redefine the meaning of cultural celebrations. do we stick to the age old practice of how women are being dominated or create new practices with the essence of our culture intact. My professor, and she is very famous in the whole feminist/gender equality movement in nepal,Dr. Chandra Bhadra once told me, that she used to follow teej, but since she became aware and so did her husband, on every Teej day, her husband takes her to a lunch/dinner date. And that is something revolutionary, I mean it may not make a difference in a bigger scenario but it is a small step towards change. And because they have made that change in their lives, their daughters will not have to bear the brunt of the to dos and don'ts of the Nepali society.
It makes us think as to what we follow on a daily basis, what society tells us to do has a lot more deep rooted meaning to it. and we as women may not realise it but we are being percieved as the weaker human beings. and its not jus limited to the Nepali society, its everywhere, it might not jus be because of Teej but other various reasons and factors play a role to this being.
So what is it? we the second generation feminist aware women want to do? Conform to the given culture which has trained our eyes to see what they want us to see or create our own existence/identity through a various choices that we make. My religion I would say is not hindu or buddhist or christianity but it is what my heart tells me is right and it is the choices I make that defines me as a person.
No comments:
Post a Comment