Being a Woman in the Land of Goddesses

child dressed up as a goddess

Sara Melotti, in her blog Documenting Violence Against Women In India with ACTIONAID, says “Being born a girl in India is a dangerous business. Although the law protects women’s rights there’s still a patriarchal society that devalues women as human beings and countless of them have to face violence on a daily basis.” 

In a country which worships the woman, the mother and the womb, there is no place for a girl. 

Oh Durga! The Invincible Durga, she rides a lion…We, however, shudder at the thought of the next bus, train, tram, flight and cab journey.

We worship Lakshmi, call her the Goddess of wealth, while women, they fight to get access their own incomes and their own father’s property

Kali she was the destroyer, while we are still fighting is to protect ourselves from being raped in our own beds by the men the world has assigned to protect us. 

We worship Saraswati, while our women aren’t allowed into schools, colleges and most often outside their homes. As they invoke the goddess of learning, 89% of our girls continue household chores.

Mary was a Virgin mother. We mortals struggle to birth our children, some desperate to have a child, some desperate to see through their pregnancy, some afraid to make choices that affect their own womb and vagina.

Venus, The Goddess of Love and Desire was the embodiment of sexuality and love. We have to be afraid of the choices we make, lest we be called names and abused and trolled in ways unimaginable. 

Radha was the companion and friend of Krishna, we struggle to be considered worthy of equal conversations in our homes, with our partners, at our work, with our colleagues. 

Do us a favour…Stop worshipping women. 
Forget the Goddesses.  Bring us down from the pedestal.
And for your sake and ours, treat us for who we are. 
Simple humans who just deserve to live and be.     

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