[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32817

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Period poverty and stigma
Period poverty is basically the lack of menstrual hygiene or shortage of access to menstrual hygiene or menstrual education and anything and everything in relation to it in terms of medical facilities, healthcare facilities, waste management, sanitation facilities, etc. Stigma, usually social in nature, is the negative attitude or opinion or discrimination against a person based on distinguishable characters that make him/her different as compared to others. Period poverty in today’s date is leaving a large negative impact on a huge number of children, men and women. Social stigma causes period poverty in a great scale. There are multiple ill-effects of the stereotypical thoughts that inculcate this stigma in people’s minds. The society has made this social stigma act like a curse to all women out there. Stereotypical religious, traditional and customary beliefs have made periods look like an evil and demonic process which causes the entire society to discriminate against women and females. It is considered taboo, which is the main reason behind the lack of menstrual hygiene, education, sanitation and healthcare facilities, etc. Some traditional beliefs say, women cannot enter the kitchen, or visit temples, or touch food and water, or some of them do not even step into their own homes when they are on their periods. In rural areas, girls still use old rags or pieces of cloth in place of pads or sanitary napkins. They’re treated like untouchables and this is a sort of torture. They fall ill very often and catch serious diseases and illnesses due to lack of education, facilities in the presence of these social stigmas. It negatively impacts women and girls as they have to drop out of school or work at times and they also lose out on a number of educational and economic opportunities due to the same. It should not remain to be considered taboo as it is a natural process. It should be normalized and children, both boys and girls should be provided free of cost menstrual education starting from primary school, carried on till later years in life. This would largely help the coming generations in the educational, medical and stereotypical aspect. It would free them of this social stigma and periods, sex and puberty will cease to be taboos, social stigmas and women will be able to gain the respect they deserve in the society.
A woman myself,
Shubhangini Shaktawat

[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32815

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Indian female role models
India is suffering from many viruses other than Covid-19, one of them being gender discrimination. Living in the 21st century has made no difference to one’s society and this is what is affecting our women negatively as it always has. Despite the limitations that the society imposes on women, the hardships they have to face in their daily life, the discrimination that pulls them down at every step of life, women never give up. They are strong individuals, bold enough to become what they have dreamed of. Women in India have some kind of a spark in them and they make great role models. From the ancient historic period till date, we have a history of strong, bold and highly influential women in each and every field. Talking about history, Rani Laxmi Bai, also known as Manikarnika Tambe or Jhansi ki Rani is one of the most talked about Indian freedom fighters. She broke barriers back then in the 19th century and became a leading figure in the freedom struggle, the revolt of 1857 was led by her and she terrified the British. Another mother, Mary Kom is the only female boxer to have won the World Boxing Championship title six times. She has a record of winning eight medals in World Championships and has also been awarded the Padma Vibhushan. From the services, we have Kiran Bedi, who is not only a mother, but also a politician, a social activist, a tennis player, former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry and the first woman to become an officer in the Indian Police Service. She has not only rendered justice to many, but also been a great human. Another such female role model is Lakshmi Agarwal. She is an acid attack survivor but she does not reflect that in her aura at all. She encourages women and says that more than the face, one’s dreams and desires will take one ahead in life. She is also the founder of the NGO, Chhanv Foundation which helps and empowers acid attack survivors. Another woman who is a role model for me, is my mother, in fact every mother out there, who works, handles the household, takes responsibility of each and every person in a family and carries that out like a pro. Each and every woman out there is not only a source of inspiration for a number of people, but also positivity. Let us thank all these women by respecting them and accepting them the way they are in the society, for lighting up India and making it how much ever great and marvelous it is today.
A woman myself,
Shubhangini Shaktawat

[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32794

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Decriminalization of Section 377 IPC
Section 377 IPC stated that any sort of ‘unnatural’ intercourse or intercourse with any man, woman, transgender or animal against the ‘law of nature’ would be legally offensive and a punishable crime, with a term that could extend up to 10 years and fine. On 6th September, 2018, this Section 377 was decriminalized and restored by the bench, stating that using the section of the IPC to victimize, assault or ostracize homosexuals was unconstitutional, hence a criminal act. Post this, consensual sexual activity between all genders was legalized. This was no doubt, a very big step towards achieving gender equality, justice and freeing the society of discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community. Yet, India seems to lag behind the rest of the world when it comes to acceptance and respect towards homosexuals, transgenders, etc. As they all ask, “What part of love don’t you understand?” Women all over India are already suffering from a lot of social issues in terms of respect, equality, justice, strata, position, etc. On top of that, if the woman concerned is a queer woman, life is even more miserable. Being a queer woman is a tough job in India; families would refuse to accept them, society would sideline them, they would remain to be discriminated against at every step no matter how much we say we have developed, they would always lack education and lose employment opportunities, they would never be respected for who they are and they would always be oppressed as their rights never mattered to the society. The decriminalization of Section 377 of the IPC has not turned out to be of great help to them. It was just the first stepping stone towards achieving full rights for them. They are fighting a battle against the entire nation here as the society refuses to accept them and give them the respect and status that they deserve to get. It is not questionable how they struggle even at the glass root level when their families make them undergo conversion therapy to rid them from their ‘disease’ or ‘mental disorder.’ The society needs to change its perception of queer women. It needs to accept them the way they are, without being afraid of the fact that they are ‘unnatural’ or ‘abnormal’ and they deserve to have a place in the society too. Love is love and there is no natural force stronger than it. Hence, they are absolutely natural and normal. We must understand that patriarchy and pro-men beliefs cannot prevail over our minds and the society as they are spoiling thousands of life all over the nation. We cannot afford to lose more lives. We must change and make a difference.
An ally and supporter,
Shubhangini Shaktawat

[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32792

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Why is homosexuality against Indian culture?
Homosexuality is basically the attraction towards one’s own sex or gender. Although it is a widely known and recognized type of sexuality all over the world and people are well versed with it, India is yet to cope with it. India is famous for it’s culture and heritage but the society says homosexuality is against Indian culture. There is no proof or evidence that it really is, but its just the people talking in the name of ‘culture.’ It is also said homosexuality came to India as a disorder or disease when the British came to India. As far as it is concerned, I do not believe it to be any sort of a disease or mental disorder and a number of medical and psychiatric associations and organizations have agreed on the same. People in India are just afraid and doubtful of the society’s reaction to their actions in aspect of homosexuality which is why they all say it is against Indian culture, even though it is not. Where is it even written? Indians have also been attempting to ‘cure’ people of homosexuality through various psychological, emotional and physical and spiritual methods called the conversion therapy. That too has been proven by medical associations and organizations from all over the world to be ineffective and absolutely harmful as it leaves ill-effects and scars people, resulting into innumerable people taking their lives. As we say, “Love is love,” homosexuality is love too. Where does Indian culture say that love is wrong? It does not. In fact, opposite to that, Hindi scriptures and epics have spoken of non-heterosexual sexualities through a lot of characters in them. A lot of Hindu deities and heroes, also demons have showed bisexual, homosexual and transgender characteristics. Kama Sutra, the ancient text on sexuality, emotional life and eroticism has identified lesbian women and gay men, calling them ‘swarinis’ and ‘klibas’ respectively, stating that they would marry and raise children too. They were accepted and respected by the society back then. Also the sculptures in the Khajuraho temple in Madhya Pradesh are known to reflect homosexual imagery with enough clarity on the intimacy between homosexual couples, even more than just two in number sometimes, called polyamory. This clearly shows it is not against Indian culture as it is included in the Hindu scriptures and Vedas, making it pure and stating that it was widely accepted and respected by the society. If it could be respected back then, then why not anymore? We must stop demeaning and ostracizing homosexuality and homosexuals in the name of culture to drop a cover on our narrow-mindedness, lack of knowledge and stereotypicality. Homosexuals deserve acceptance and respect so they shall have it.
An ally and supporter,
Shubhangini Shaktawat

[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32767

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Laws on transgender are really helping them?
India definitely counts as one of the developing counties in the world and it definitely is on top among the third world nations today, yet, it is far behind the larger part of the rest of the world in the social development sector. India is very well known not only for its rich culture and heritage, but also for its stereotypicality and narrow-mindedness. The Indian law recognized and declared eunuchs, intersex, hijras and transgenders as the third gender in 2014 when we had a population of about 490000 transgenders. Our society is very capable of sidelining people one moment and mainstreaming them the next. In fact, it can do both simultaneously. People belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community have been suffering in India for over a number of decades now, out of which transgenders have gotten a separate set of rights and laws. Despite these, they suffer from gender discrimination, oppression and violence in all senses. According to the law, any sort of discrimination against them in the matters of health, education, employment and services has been prohibited and welfare measures have been adopted to look into the same. Constitutionally, they have equal rights as men and women, but, are these laws and rights really helping them? These laws and rights make sense only as long as they exist in paperwork because in real life, only they know how hard they try to survive despite the impositions of the society on them. They suffer in every way possible; lack of employment, social boycott, discrimination, untouchability, shun and outcast. What can one do about the way one is; nothing. This is very difficult for the society to understand. Law provides for the freedom to choose one’s own gender and identity. Being different doesn not mean being wrong. Although there is prohibition against discrimination and provision for employment, education, health care and welfare measure, yet their rights are violated. They suffer from the same social issues back at home as children and after growing up, at their work place, out in the streets and everywhere they go. They face harassment and bullying at every step in life for no reason and end up becoming sex workers or addicts or beggars and are ridiculed for this too. Where do they earn a living from? Transgender people eventually feel that they have no other option than to commit suicide and give up on this society. It is time we understood and accepted the transgender community and gave them their respect and position in the society, away from discrimination and oppression.
An ally and supporter,
Shubhangini Shaktawat

[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32766

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The Cruel Practice of Conversion Therapy
In the typically unfair and unjust world that we live in, the society is just another stepping stone making it far difficult for people to survive; terrorism, global warming, casteism, xenophobia, homophobia, society issues and what not? One of the major problems our coming generations will have to face is homophobia. It is prejudice against gay people or hate for them. Our society has judged all gay people and almost everyone belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community. It never accepts such people and that is why they have this thing called ‘conversion therapy.’ It is a cruel practice used to try to change the sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual through psychological, spiritual or even physical means. A number of psychiatric and medical associations and organizations have opposed the idea of conversion therapy as it proves to be emotionally and psychologically harmful without any guaranteed positive results. Attempts to change one’s sexual orientation are not only unethical and morally incorrect, but also give out the wrong idea into the society. People out there in the society justify this therapy like it were a medical success and absolutely explanatory. Various religious reasons have been given to justify it, although, unsuccessful.
Earlier, homosexuality was thought of as a mental disorder and it was criminalized in 1861 in India during the colonial era, which changed in 2018 after it was decriminalized and various psychiatric associations and organizations confirmed that it was not a mental disorder. Even after Article 377 was removed and consensual homosexual activities between adults were legalized, India still remains to be as outdated and stereotypical as before. Prejudice and backlash against the LGBTQIA+ community remain to prevail in the society. It is why this pathetic idea of conversion therapy remains to exist in the heads of narrow minded people all over India. It has ruined the emotional health of millions of people across the world and remains to do the same in India as well. It has taken lives of people too by giving birth to a number of suicidal thoughts in the minds of people. After Anjana Hareesh, a 21 year old committed suicide as her family in Kerala forcibly made her undergo conversion therapy and gave her strong medical doses to ‘cure’ her, it caused a large uproar all over India, although, it was not enough for the cruel conversion therapy to be declared illegal and unethical officially. Let us make a difference and bring justice to all those who have lost their lives and self respect by raising a voice against it. It must be banned and criminalized.
An ally and supporter,
Shubhangini Shaktawat

[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32717

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Female actresses should not use their femininity for promotion.
Female actresses should not use their femininity to promote themselves or their career, although men can use as much manliness and masculinity as they want. Is that the equality that our society has? Is that the gaze of the society towards our gender-discrimination based mindsets; absolutely not. Why should women suffer in every possible way the society wants them to, while men have all the fun and enjoyment in their plate?
Our society has a thing against women. It is clearly misogynistic to think that it is wrong for women to use their femininity for promotion. In fact, if a woman is already feminine, how is she exactly ‘using’ her femininity for promotion? She is feminine and she is working hard in order to get herself promoted in whichever aspect of life. It cannot be called ‘using’ her femininity.
A man is promoted on the basis of his hard work and skills and abilities in his career and in his life. Well, he can also be promoted in competitive fields when there are women standing in competition on the basis of being a man, but he definitely cannot be promoted on the basis of being a man alone. He works hard in his life and gets promoted. That cannot be called ‘using’ his manliness for promotion. The same way, we cannot say that women are ‘using’ their femininity for promotion.
Actresses in our film industry are actresses and actors are actors for a reason. There is a clear distinction between male and female celebrities. It is not called ‘using’ manliness or womanliness, although a woman is a woman and she has the right to her own body, so she shall do whatever she wants with it, even if she has to ‘use’ her femininity for promotion for that matter. The society or the people have no right to pass judgment on that and even if they do, women shall not lend them ears. People are used to talking about women and judging them.
A woman myself,
Shubhangini Shaktawat

[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32715

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Compromise and kill your dream in silence, just because what will people say?
In our society, ‘people’ have shattered innumerable dreams. ‘People’ have broken homes. ‘People’ have slit through relations. ‘People’ have taken lives. Who are these people; our very own society. Our society has been so fond of ‘talking’ about things and sort of cursing people by just talking about them. Probably that is why they say, “Kuch to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna.” The society has forced people to compromise and kill their dreams in silence, just because they are afraid of what people would think or say.
Because of the society we live in, we have to follow a certain protocol that is unwritten, unjustified, and absolutely illogical and makes no sense. We happen to doubt over what the society will think of us before every task we do, every decision we make and every conclusion we take. Why do people not understand the principle of ‘live and let live?’ Is it so difficult to let others just be the way they want and do what they want? It is clearly evident how our society is more interested in lives of others than their own.
It is absolutely wrong on our part to actually consider the opinion of the society in our personal matters. It is we who will have to work after taking up a job. It is we who will suffer if the decisions we make, go wrong. It is we whose life will fall apart if we take a wrong step. Why do we listen to the society that has job other than just judging us all the time? We work hard every single day in order to achieve our aims and reach our goal points. Why should we let all that sweat and tears go in vain?
We must not compromise. We must not kill our dreams in silence, just because ‘what will people say.’ It is time. We must speak up against the pressure and limitations that the society is imposing on us. If we suffer alone, if we alone are responsible for whatever losses come our way, it must be us alone to decide for ourselves, no matter what people say, because ‘kuch to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna.’
Shubhangini Shaktawat

[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32689

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Should prostitution be made legal?
Prostitution is the practice or act of indulging into sexual activity with people and receiving payment in return for the same. In India, prostitution as such is not illegal as no part of the constitution covers it but managing or handling a brothel is definitely illegal. Even though prostitution or ‘sex-work’ is not illegal, prostitutes in the society are treated like untouchable objects. They are looked down upon and they do not ever gain any respect in the eyes of society, the sole reason being, sex is considered taboo in our society, hence also prostitution and prostitutes.
I think, like all other occupations, sex work also must be respected, keeping in mind, someone out there is literally working so hard in order to earn a living to raise children, to cure a sick husband, to live the life they desired, to stay at par with the rest of the world and they are still called names when they come home after work. Prostitution should definitely be legal in India but only if it is not forced. It is not only serving as a source of income for about 20 million people in India, but is also something that will prevent a lot of other mishaps.
Out of these very 20 million, about 16 million females are working as prostitutes as a result of sexual trafficking and slavery. As long as prostitution is somebody’s will, it is fair and just and must remain to be legal. As soon as prostitution turns into sexual harassment, sexual trafficking, sexual slavery, it turns into something illegal and that should be made punishable. It should be treated like a normal occupation and source of income and to earn one’s living. Just because our society’s mindset is fixed and stereotypical, it does not mean we can declare people untouchable and characterless on the basis of their work source.
It is a matter of one’s willingness and wish. Let us let it remain as simple as it is and not complicate the lives of those who are already struggling in such tangled ways to earn livelihood. It is a matter of kindness and humanity. Hence, just because sex is considered a taboo in our society, it does not mean prostitution can be banned. It is legally correct and it shall remain to be so.
A woman myself,
Shubhangini Shaktawat

[Shubhangini Shaktawat]

#32686

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Innovative ideas for gender equality
Gender equality is the state of equal access to things like education, opportunities, resources, liberty, etc. to everyone regardless of their sex or gender. It is also called equality of sexes. Looking at the current scenario from all aspects, our society still lags behind in social understanding and acceptances as compared to other developmental and advancing features. While men are considered superior by everyone in the society, women are underestimated and looked down upon. Women are objectified and seen as a commodity. They are tortured, not only physically, but also mentally and it is sad to see our society in this state.
A number of social activists, reformers, feminists and responsible citizens have made efforts to make gender equality a real thing in our society in the past, yet our society finds it difficult to understand and grasp new things. In order to promote gender equality and change it into a reality from just a dream, we need lots of innovative ideas that turn out to be efficient. If the youth of the nation tries to look into the matter and gives it a thought, the innovative ideas that will then come up will be the ones causing a revolution.
I believe the first place where this change needs to be brought, is the minds of people. It is the glassroot level and if we are successful in curbing gender based discrimination in the minds of people, it will become a lot more easier to make changes at a higher level. We not only need to organize awareness campaigns and camps, but also make people aware of how well our women are doing in each and every field in the present times. Also, girls and women at home need to speak up against discrimination and need to make a place for themselves out there without being dependent on men.
On a larger scale, we require the government to make proper policies and schemes that would help women prosper not more than men, but equal to men. Discrimination against women should be declared a punishable crime and there should be reservation for women in institutions and work places, without looking down upon women or without making women feel worse about what is already bad enough. Women should be treated with respect.
A woman myself,
Shubhangini Shaktawat

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