"Is the conflict among women precisely because of women’s several diverse ways of providing for themselves or being provided for? Do conflicts among women drive from their different occupational, educational, class, or ethnic backgrounds and individual values."
Do you also think that women are less sexist than men? Then, you and I have been very good allies of this belief. However, in light of the recent developments in the country, I have come to believe that women are just as likely as men to show sexism and biases toward women in all aspects of life and work.
Furthermore, it leads me to deny the assumption that women constitute one coherent group. Unfortunately, there is also a set of subtler and more ingrained cognitive biases deeply rooted in our evolutionary and cultural past. However, I am of the opinion that most of these conflicts among women are primarily if not necessarily, shaped by male-dominated institutions and structures.
Thinking of conflict among women against women, let’s consider a few recent instances.
Bishop Franco Mulakkal who is accused of raping a nun from Kerala was welcomed in Jalandhar by ‘Nuns’ after being released from Kerala's Kottayam jail on 17th October. They, even, celebrated his release.
Weighing in on the ongoing Sabarimala protests on 23rd Oct 18, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said, “it’s just plain common sense. Would you take sanitary napkins steeped in menstrual blood and walk into a friend’s home? You will not. And do you think that it is respectful to do the same when you walk into the house of God? While everyone has the right to pray, not to desecrate.”
Thousands of women in Kerala are protesting the entry of women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala Temple.
Though these are very specific cases and I fully understand that a few instances cannot form a general opinion. My doubts remain stubborn and un-answered, however. Is this conflict among women precisely because of women’s several diverse ways of providing for themselves or being provided for? Do conflicts among women drive from their different occupational, educational, class or ethnic backgrounds and individual values?
Instead of standing by the law, or even choosing to be just and fair, hundreds of women in the above-mentioned instances have rather gone with the lynch mob mentality and a patriarchal reaction than to defend those women who’re fighting for a more equitable and fairer world for women. These instances tend to strengthen popular biases against women and weaken the very movement that is meant to empower women.
Women must unite to reject being subjugated by a society long ruled by men.
Women must unite to reject being subjugated by a society long ruled by men. Otherwise, forget about your daughters and sisters, the future generation of men will not forgive you. This is precise because this entire movement is not about an individual’s rights but far greater than a single person, a single-gender, a single state or a single nation for that matter. Fight women. Unite in the fellowship of womanhood for a fairer world that is no more a Utopian idea.