BE A MAN, FOR A CHANGE

Greetings,

“Why are always men supposed to offer their seats?”

“Why only men are supposed to hold the doors?”

“They have their reserved coach- and yet they come and raid the unreserved ones.”

“I was just looking at her- tell me, what’s the harm in that?”

Hello men,

Well it’s a harsh world to live in right now- for us, definitely! Why do these women think they are better than us? Is it so hard to understand that god made us like this because of a reason? When he made us stronger, he automatically made us better than the women. Yet, we offered them everything we could- right to vote, work and what not? Girls, you should be grateful to us. But wait- is there something that I’m missing? Possibly not- I mean, you can’t really expect us to be grateful of the fact that you gave birth to us, right?

But I think I might be missing something else, as well. See, running our homes and families are your supposed jobs- you wouldn’t want us to be grateful for that. What am I missing then?

Oh, I got it- you women are doing your jobs, pretty well- it’s the men who have forgotten their job. Sorry, guys, but it seems like we are at fault this time. Let me start from the very beginning. You grew up in a household where your own mother wasn’t given the respect that she deserved. You always knew that it wasn’t fair but as you grew up, you realized that it is the way everything works. You were treated way better than your sister ever was. You could stay out for as long as you wanted- if you didn’t have strict parents- and she had to come back home by 6:30 in the evening. You, automatically, went to a better college and she did not. Your mother was the only one who understood her and you were too busy living your life at its fullest.

Now comes the turn of the other women in your life. Remember the time when you were travelling in metro and a girl entered at Rajiv Chowk Station? Yes, I’m talking about the time when some pervert (man) took advantage of the blue line crowd and groped her in there. You know what’s funny? I don’t remember you standing up for the girl; I don’t remember anyone else doing that, too. You remember what you did, don’t you? You turned away and plugged in your earphones- what a man.

I hope you remember the time when a female coworker got appraisal and not you. Remember bitching about her in the whole office, telling them how hard you worked for the projects and she got the promotion because of the “Extra-time” she dedicated to the boss? Well, what if she really did work hard for the post? What if your boss wasn’t a self obsessed narcissist like you? Oh and you surely don’t remember that her salary was way less than the other “men” on that post.

Your wife deserved more than a small kitchen and a television set. When you married in our eyes. There, you swore to be in her ups and downs and guess what? You turned out to be her biggest down. Your daughter needed someone to support her and not a constant reminder on how the world was unfair to them.

We have been seeing the world the way we wanted it to be. Maybe, it’s time to open our eyes and see it for what it is. They don’t want much from us- all they want is equality, not on posters or newspaper. Is it too much to ask for? They are fighting for something that should have been obvious and they are not going to win unless we men come and support them. They are not greater than us and we are certainly not greater than them but equal is something that we can work with. Stop cursing the feminists; it’s a rough world for them. And, if you support equality then you are a feminist, too (Thank you, Tanmay Bhatt), so why not cut the feminists some slack and do whatever we can to see a better future?

The life that you are leading is a hell lot easier than they are. They get raped, molested, discriminated but still they rise. I’m not saying men don’t get molested or discriminated but I thought it was your mentality that men are stronger than women. This is not an ideal world, my friends- but this is the only we have and if it can’t become an ideal world then the least we can do is save it from our demons.

Maybe, now, for a change try to be a man?

I hope you liked this post.

Writer: Ayush Tripathi

Editor: Bhumika Mewati