Sometimes we listen or read stories in the newspapers and imagine they are stories from the distant past, legends, events that would never happen in the 21st Century, a time when we are supposed to be evolving as a human race. Not this time.
Gatherings serve many purposes. This one was an eye opening event where real stories were revealed by those who have gone through these experiences, those who were lucky enough to escape the girl factor. The story started with a sad but true revelation; being a girl is still considered to be a curse in India. Females are seeing as weak and useless human beings. Many of them are killed within hours of being born. Others are not even given the chance of a first breath, killed inside the womb. Technology has increased the chances of selectivity and, amazingly, educated parents with more opportunities and resources to pay for a sonogram or other kind of test are the ones paying for terminations of girl fetuses.
In a country still rule by patriarchal norms, women status is the lowest of the low. It is the preference for strong males the main threat for women survival. The main cause of death for girls is precisely gender discrimination. Medical care for them is almost unknown. They are the last ones to receive immunizations. On top of this entire calamity, many of them, too many, are sexually abused by the age of four, labeling as worthless. They represent a sin, a humiliation, and a punishment for male dominated families.
Once more, to hear the stories of these women was heartbreaking. At the same time it reminded me the hymn of Isis I am so proud to exhibit in one of my pages. Maybe I could recite it to the men in this country and remind them that they would have not been here if it wasn’t for a woman!
“I am the mother and the daughter
I am the arms of my mother
I am the sterile one, and my children are many
I am the well-wed and the spinster
I am the one who gave the light and the one who never gave birth
I am the wife and the husband
And it was my man who bore me in his belly
I am the mother of my father
I am the sister of my husband
And he is my rejected son
Respect me always. I am a Woman.”
That is SO sad, Norma! One has to wonder how the race survives without women! I met with Grandfather Yellow Horseman a few weeks ago. Every time he referred to the female, he called her 'the life giver'. I thought that was beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThat's what we are, Sacred Live Givers my friend.
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