Beauty, Beheld

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” They said. “She’s ugly, who’ll ever love her?” They also said. They is society. They is us. They are the same people SJW’ing on Twitter whenever a fat-shamer has been outed, but don’t say anything when it happens in their own homes.

For centuries, probably millenia, women have been objectified and customised to They’s whim; “Be thin. No, not that thin!” “Don’t slouch, don’t sit like that, it’s vulgar” “You know, you laugh weird.”

Today, being caught on the seesaw of anorexic and obese, confident and cocky, bold and slutty is now a requirement for having a vagina. But of course, society doesn’t stop at spouting unwanted BS on weight or judging a woman’s moral character based on the cut of her top or length of her skirt. They want to poke Their nose in the ways of genetics now too.

The light skin/dark skin debate is thought provoking at best and ludicrous at worst. A pass-by comment at a wedding about how the man is fairer than the bride (the end of the world, no?) or how a poor man’s wife is 2 inches taller than him (heaven forbid! And she wants to wear heels, has she no shame?) can go a long way in keeping a toxic culture of judgey attitudes alive.

The worst part of this cycle is it’s perpetrators, Society, who are not limited to idle men on the internet, rather a wider expanse of women who have been a victim of the vicious cycle themselves. Thus, the attacked becomes the attacker.

Another false belief is that women do everything to make themselves pretty for men. No, Karen, I’m not wearing mascara so boys will notice, I’m doing it because I want to. Of course, the want stems from the philosophy shoved down our throats that women must be changed in order to be pretty, but it’s a lesser evil thought than that of breathing to please men.

And to clear this up, skinny shaming hurts just as much as fat shaming, calling someone a prude just as much as slut shaming or even labelling someone as quiet or loud.

And in honour of my newfound love for musical theatre, I quote J.D: “People will look at the ashes of Westerberg and say Oh, there’s a school that self-destructed, not because society didn’t care, but because it was society.”

The quote doesn’t really have anything to do with the topic, I just love it so darn much. Thank you for bearing through this word vomit =)

What is this?

You’ve arrived at the page of a really, really bored + exasperated teenage girl. Most of the stuff on here are nonsensical rants, so you’re welcome to slowly back away before making a mad dash for that escape key. (I’m kidding. You better stay.)

Of Poems and Of Babies

It was an average Sunday afternoon for me, reading poorly written fanfiction and blaring Billie Eilish (as you do), when I came upon a writer’s profile which had a poem titled  “A Baby’s Point of View”.(well written, just not my cup of tea) It’s a very heart wrenching refrain, at least until you figure out it’s scientifically impossible for the baby to have these thoughts, or feel pain.

Because, an unborn baby cannot feel pain until its third trimester (27 weeks) and typically abortions do not happen after 24 weeks, with obvious exception for medically threatening cases. They also do not experience complex emotions like sadness or hatred until after they are born.

Now that we’ve cleared up that much, let’s talk about the Heartbeat Bill which has been passed in three American states; It’s stupid. Most confirm pregnancies after 10 weeks. So essentially, it’s a thinly veiled ban on abortion. Alabama then abandoned all pretense and proceeded to completely restrict abortion.

Internationally, 26 countries prohibit abortion completely, 59% of women live in countries where abortion is allowed under circumstance and 69 countries allow abortion.

India falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, allowing termination with a time limit only in socio-economic and medical cases. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Moral implications aside, the common solution would be to legalise abortion everywhere. A woman’s decisions concerning her body should be none of anybody else’s business, especially not the state and definitely not 50 year old men. Pro-Choice does not promote abortion, it promote a woman’s freedom and their right to make their own decisions.

And to take away that right and force her to carry a child of incest, rape, or one that is harmful to her health violates that individuality and could physically and psychologically harm her in the long term.

Abortion is not murder. Abortion is not a privilege. Abortion is a choice.

 

references

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion                                          https://www.livescience.com/54774-fetal-pain-anesthesia.html                                                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbeat_bill                                                                                    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Alabama                                                                      https://reproductiverights.org/worldabortionlaws                                                                          https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/14/abortion-bill-alabama-passes-ban-six-weeks-us-no-exemptions-vote-latest

Race with Racism

race

/reɪs/

noun

noun: race; plural noun: races

1. each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics. —————————————————————— racism

/ˈreɪsɪz(ə)m/

noun

1. prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. ———————————————————————Both of these terms have been around for a while now, and both of these practices have existed since time immemorial. From the 2019 Christchurch shootings to the Holocaust, its paved its way as a staple in our society.

But somewhere along the line, racism pretty much became non-exclusive (oh,the irony.) to just race. People were now discriminating other humans who had the misfortune of catching a bigoted turd’s notice, and were now facing the ire of the likes of said turd.

And before you dismiss the prejudice and discrimination to white supremacy, take a look around you; its not just what happens between African-Americans and the European-Americans, it happens in India too. This is where the part I mentioned the term racism being distorted to use comes into play. Here in our beloved Bharat, skin color is of utmost importance when it comes to marriage, finding a job, or just sitting pretty.

Its centuries of this conditioning which defines being fair-complexioned as beautiful and dusky-toned as not, drilled into the minds of most Indian children from since they were in nappies, that roots our country’s definition of being a third world nation.

What’s worse is that the importance placed on skin tones seems to be such a double-standard when it comes to gender. In a real life example, consider this; in all the five years of my grandma-like habit of reading the newspaper, the matrimonial section for grooms never mentioned must be fair as a requirement whereas the same couldn’t be said for the brides.

And who could forget those cringe-worthy ads on TV showing Yami Gautam go from a shade of brown she never was, to a shade of white she never will be *cough*? And having a grandmother who regularly gives into the shitty photoshop and slathers on that god-awful cream, believe me when I say it makes you look like a pasty vampire that could give Cedric Diggory Edward Cullen a run for his money.

Back to my original point, India too has it’s fair share of discrimination. And before my fellow Keralites go on a tirade about how educated we are and as most of us are dark-skinned, we are above such petty beliefs, let me ask you this: Have you ever considered a Bengali migrant laborer to be equal to you. If you’re not kidding yourselves, most will answer no.

But again, India does not have too many cases of racism, per se due to the fact that there are only two main racial groups ( Indo-Aryan and Dravidian) who have intermingled so much that at this point, there’s no telling who’s who. Actually, looking at it from a global viewpoint, we are more subject to prejudice. From hate crimes in America to sneers on the street in front of my childhood home in Muscat, we just have to accept that this social evil is omnipresent, unavoidable and maybe even a tad bit necessary for the functioning of society and that there is a hierarchy in every one.

Homosexuals & Homophobia

The title bestowed upon this rant is slightly inaccurate; when I say homosexuals, I mean the entire lgbtq+ community.

Ah, the things I do for alliteration.

In honor of pride month, I too, like the multibillion-dollar corporations seeking to be on trend, shall advertise my not homophobic views with the world.

I consider myself educated enough to acknowledge that what others do is honestly, none of my business. So it pisses me off to no extent when I see a restaurant chain put rainbow flags all over their Instagram pages, only for them to vanish come July 1st.

So, ignoring the blatant way they profit off of people’s identities, there lies the inherent problem; why is there a need for a pride month? Are the the LGBT+ oppressed for 11 months and put up on a pedestal in June? Well, yes.

And that raises the other question that many ignorant people have been asking:” what about straight pride?”

Well, have straight people ever been prosecuted, shamed, tortured or even killed for being who they are? If so, sure you can have a straight pride month.

In India, homosexuality was decriminalized last year. But therein lies the problem; it’s just the constitution and the law that believe homosexuality is not a crime, not who really matter- society.

Centuries of conditioning towards what’s wrong and what’s right can often be mistaken. As times change, people change too. And there are core values that should stay the same, but homophobia is not one of them. Because of the twisted way we work, internalized homophobia has driven people to self loathing even.

The good news is, things are a-changing. More and more countries are decriminalizing being different and people’s mindsets too are changing, at least in the city.

But the path to what we call equality in it’s true sense has a long way to go.

“Where the mind is led forward by thee” “Into ever-widening thought and action”. “Into that heaven of freedom, My Father, let my country awake!”

-Rabindranath Tagore, Where the Mind is Without Fear

Why Suicide Prevention is a fucking joke in India

Suicide prevention is not nearly as talked about as it should be in our country. The reasons for this range from lack of education in the matter, to social stigma associated with that presumptuous word mental health.

Now, one notion that exists in many Indians minds’ that every individual with mental health problems is nutty. Not true.

And before you offhandedly denounce the people who suffer from these conditions to the loony bin, maybe just listen;

Nobody commits or attempts suicide for no fucking reason. There’s always a cause or a catalyst. It’s also stupid to brand all suicidal people in one category, because there are always different reasons. i.e one person may consider suicide due to personal trauma, be it emotional or physical. But another person could be depressed because of unexplainable chemical imbalance.

Simply put, it all comes down to the fact that we cannot control our feelings, only the choice on which to act on them or suppress them.

And when it comes to depression and suicide, neither is a good idea. That’s where suicide prevention comes in. And we suck at it.

Talking to your family and close friends is probably the best chance you have; explain how you’re feeling and get it across that you need (even if you don’t want) help. Understand that it’s not a huge taboo, and it’s a lot more common than you think. And anyone who thinks otherwise is unimportant.

But again, this is not always an option.

So, following logic, your next person to call for help should be a suicide helpline. At least, in that perfect world.

India does not have a government appointed hotline, but there are non-governmental organisations like Roshini and COOJ, but come with working hours from 1pm to 7pm, which frankly, is stupid. Then there are the more notorious ones like ASRAA, who drop calls like hot potatoes.

And these missed calls are not even accounting for the people with anxiety, social or otherwise, who cannot find it in themselves to dial a number and on the off chance that they muster some courage up, only to be met with an automated response, for whom hope can seem bleak.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t try. Every chance is worth it.

Now let’s look at the stats: In India alone, there are 60 million mentally ill people, 13 million of which are suffering from depression specifically (that’s 6.5 percent of the country’s population) and 800,000 suicides a year.

So, next time you see someone who could use some help (professional or even a pep talk), don’t ignore it, you could have just lost an opportunity. And if you’re the one who needs help, don’t be scared to reach out; if one person seem unavailable, there’s always another.

 

Global Warming and The Idiocy of the People.

Despite more and more people sitting up straight and noticing it for what it is, there always seems to be a never ending supply of unique individuals who don’t see what’s in front of them.

Now, usually it’s either due to stupidity or just plain denial, but then there’s the more dangerous combination of the two. I rank these people only slightly above “flat earthers” in terms of IQ level.

A common argument I hear is that global warming is simply a work of mother nature, i.e: “After the Ice Age, the Earth warmed up, right? So, what’s happening now is just Nature taking it’s course.”

Now, I’m no climate scientist but I’m sure that while the Earth could be warming naturally, Nature wasn’t counting on humans to throw a pile of coal and dead trees to heat it for her.

And something tells me that all of the so called “natural disasters” that have happened in the past year was not the work of, say, anybody but humans.

And just when Nature gives you an out, we manage to fuck it up; remember the Kerala floods? Well, one good thing to come out of that was all the waste in the rivers. Guess where all that went? Back into the river, you betcha.

But there’s only so much people like Greta Thunberg can do, because until the people in power decide to pull their heads out of their posteriors(?), there’s not a lot hope to go around for saving the environment.

Now, if you happen to be an Indian, there’s a link down below to sign a petition to declare climate emergency.

Click here