The Woman who refused to be Insulted!

God chose Esther to save the Jews from genocide - her calling was to use her influence with the status of her royal position and help God help the Jews. Esther was truly a heroine of the Jews who did not forget her own people even though she was safe and held a very high status.

However in this propelling of Esther into the rank of a queen also saw the displacement of another queen. Her role model however has to be looked at, even though she loses her status and is the underdog in this episode. There is a purpose in the life of Vasthi or else what happens to her and her reaction would not have been recorded in the Word of God - The Bible

Vasthi stands out as a woman with immense courage and determination. She refuses to be used and displayed by her husband - King Xerxes. The king had called her to show off her beauty to his friends. This meant that he treated his wife as his proud possession. Since Vasthi refused to acquiesce and hence she lost her wealth, status and position as the wife and queen of the land. However this did not deter her for she refused to be used as a public spectacle, she refused to be manipulated and exploited. 

The behaviour of the King - her husband however underlines the way many men behave even today in our society. It highlights the fundamental problem of how men perceive women. In nearly all societies men tend to harness the women as they do farm animals, using them to suit themselves. Sometimes it is shamelessly and brazenly done and sometimes its done in the most sleek and subtle form! Bullies are cowards and men who bully their women folk are threatened by their potential and hence try to curb them and their freedom. The very rules laid down for women is a proof of such control.

Vasthi disappears from the scene but not before teaching us by her exemplary behaviour that if one refuses to be insulted, then there is a cost, but the cost is worth the life of dignity and self respect! We do not know what happened to Vashti, but all that we know is that she had the guts to defy a crazy, dominating, exploitative husband!

Note: Keeping in mind the extremely low status of women in India, it is definitely (at least i think so) not coincidental that the Book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that India is mentioned! Surely God had a lesson for the men and women of this land - India a message through the life of Vasthi

                                                                                                                        ~~~Crystal David John

She Came, She Heard, She Received, She Proclaimed!

Long long ago on a Sabbath when Jesus was teaching, in the audience was a woman with a terribly crippled and deformed back. Her problem was a longstanding one and she had accepted it and resigned herself to her sad plight, like many women today. In all probability she could see only the ground she walked on, and hence could not even look up to see the face of Jesus on that day! In spite of her condition though she had come to hear the word of God and meet her Master and Saviour. Had she stayed without coming out of embarrassment or out of pain or out of the very fact that walking was ever so cumbersome, she would have missed the most important day of her life! But she did not - she came. 

What is interesting in this incident is that the woman did not even ask for healing. She expected nothing. In a society where women were treated worse than animals she would not have expected the healing more so because it was the Sabbath. Jesus however, then, as He does now stands always for the sidelined, the dehumanized and the underdog.  He saw her, called her forward, touched her and healed her of her 18 year long bondage. The Jews had forgotten their covenant with God to treat the destitute with care, but Jesus by healing her elevated her status to that of daughter from a redundant individual, wasted away, and of no use to the society. In fact in the eyes of the corporate warriors of the society then, as it is now such people are of little value to be able to generate wealth. They are the liability of the nation and not capital assets -- not even assets like the beasts of burden or dairy animals!

Luke tells us that the woman was so grateful for her healing that the first thing she did was she praised God   ( Luke 13:13). This incident so many ages ago represents physical restoration of a woman's spine. However if one looks at the spine of society today we notice that it is bent and fractured. The ills of society occurs due to such fractures caused by all kinds of divisions and sin! A society is healthy if the women in that society are treated like persons - like humans! If not that society is sick to the core. The ill treatment of women is like a cancer that eats into the very system of the society.

Even today, in the 21st century, with the glorious dream of India shining, women are treated worse than cattle.For me, the crippled woman healed by Jesus stands for the Indian society. Women have and still are subjugated, harassed, molested, raped, abused, and subtly or overtly dominated in every manner one can dream of. This domination cast by the shadow of patriarchy is so entrenched in society that millions of women themselves do not realize that they are shackled - very akin to the bird in a golden cage!

Jesus healed her and freed her from her bondage. He has during his lifetime never ever spurned women. In fact women played a central role in His ministry. He can and will free us from the chains that tether us, but we must receive the freedom given to us. 

We sin if we agree to be bound too! We sin if we fight once for justice and equality and the next time round keep quiet and silent just because we don't want someone present to know the stand you take!! Jesus did not ignore the woman's presence though His critiques were all around waiting for Him to make a mistake or 'disobey' the law!  

Let us hence stand against any form of slavery, servitude, exploitation and subjugation. Let us do so honestly and not seasonally -- let us be constant is the change we demand and let us do so with God's help!!

                                                                                                                               ~~~Crystal David John

Woman's Identity

It is incorrect to allow others frame a woman's identity. In fact no one's identity should be tampered with especially if the person is an adult! It is ever so easy to set rules and regulate the behaviour of people, especially that of women in a patriarchal set up - but all said and done this is nothing but infringing on a persons right to being! The early philosophers were always chasing the answer to the question of being - if so why tamper with a person's ontology thus? 

Rules governing women should not be such that her ontology is framed and defined for her. In such cases she is not free to evolve her own identity from the changes that occur to her life and her environment. This then is her epistemology and no one has the right to tamper with that too! 

Rules such as codes of behaviour, codes of mobility, dress codes, codes governing choices the woman makes in her life time are all absolutely incorrect. Such codes MUST be done away with. 

The voices of women that have been voiceless for ages, must be heard - whether it is a statement she makes by speaking, or by working, or by moving, or by dressing - that is her identity and it must not be tampered with.

This then is empowering a woman to be herself! to think for her self and to make decisions in her life - this then is true empowerment! Empowerment for the new woman - who emerges with her own identity.

Socialized to Aquiece

How many of us often say yes to folks even when within we are not willing to agree.We find it difficult to say no to any request, though we are not inclined to carrying out what has been requested of us. 

Very often we just nod to another person's point of view, without voicing our own opinion which might be just the opposite. This we do either because we are cowards, or because we want to show people that we are with them. Doing so is nothing but being dishonest. Since we lack the guts to contradict or refuse or we do not want to displease the other, we simply nod and agree. One must remember that it is not possible to please all at all times. Quite the contrary  Herbert Bayard says "I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure -- Try to please everybody"

Women, in fact have been taught to be dishonest. Always say yes, always agree, do not argue, it is not good for a girl to state her point of view!! For this reason women find it extremely difficult to say 'no'. They have been socialized all through their lives to serve, please and acquiesce. They cannot have an opinion of their own nor can they disagree with the opinionated. In a patriarchal world if the girl falls into this stereotypical behaviour pattern of agreeing to do all that has been asked of her, then and only then she is supposed to have been brought up properly! The entire process of socialization of women is to make them internalize the concept of dependency which is crippling to the development of their personality. The 'robotization' of women is their incarceration in a patriarchal world. Such robots are then controlled by a remote that takes the form of customs, traditions, habits, superstitions, norms religion etc. All this stifles the woman's life into serfdom and serfdom alone!

However there are many men too who simply say 'yes' and are thus robotized, how else can patriarchy then perpetuate? If the man questions the injustice will women be socialized in this manner? well the man too has been socialized not to question the unjust order. Or may be he just prefers the unjust order, for that then gives him the power to reign!

It is important that we should be liberated - free from all kinds of binds and limitations. free from always having to say 'yes' having to 'agree' and having to 'obey'. We must be free from being told where and when to go, what to do, how to dress, what choices to make, how to behave etc. Norms - if they must exist for some kind of order - then such norms must apply to all! The Poem written by Barbara K. Bassett clearly underlines how one can get into bondage if one simply agrees since s/he cannot stand up and disagree when 

ANGELA'S WORD

When Angela was very young

Age two or three or so, 

Her mother and her father

Taught her never to say NO.

They taught her that she must agree

With everything they said,

And if she didn't she was spanked

And sent upstairs to bed

So Angela grew up to be

A most agreeable child;

She was never angry

And she was never wild;

She always shared, she always cared, 

She never picked a fight,

and no matter what her parents said, 

She thought that they were right!

Angela the angel did very well in school

And, as you might imagine, she followed every rule;

Her teachers said she was so well - bred,

So quiet and so good, 

but how Angela felt inside

They never understood.

Angela had lots of friends

Who liked her for her smile;

They knew she was the kind of gal

who'd go the extra mile;

And even when she had a cold

And really needed rest,

When someone asked if sh\d help

She always answered YES.

When Angela was thirty three, she was a lawyer's wife.

She had a home and family, and a nice suburban life

She had a little girl of four

And a little boy of nine, 

And if someone asked her how she felt

She always answered 'fine'

But one cold night near Christmas time

When her family was in bed,

She lay awake as awful thoughts went spinning through her head;

She didn't know why, she didn't know how,

But she wanted her life to end;

So she begged whoever put her here

To take her back again.

And then she heard from deep inside,

A voice that was soft and low;

It only said a single word

And the word it said was... NO

From that moment on, Angela knew

Exactly what she had to do. 

Her life depended on that word, 

So this is what her loved ones heard:

NO, I just don't want to;

NO, I don't agree:

NO, that's yours to handle:

NO, that's wrong for me:

NO, I wanted something else:

NO, that hurt a lot!

No, I'm tired, and NO I'm busy, 

And NO, I'd rather not!

Well, her family found it shocking,

Her friends reacted with surprise;

But Angela was different, You could see it in her eyes:

For they've had no meek submission

Since that night three years ago

When Angela the Angel 

Got permission to say NO.

Today Angela's a person first, then a mother and a wife.

She knows where she begins and ends, 

She has a separate life.

She has talents and ambitions,

She has feelings, needs and goals.

She has money in the bank 

And an opinion at the polls!

And to her boy and girls she says, 

"It's nice when we agree: 

But if you can't say NO, you'll never grow

To be all you're meant to be.

Because i know that I am sometimes wrong

And because I love you so,

You'll always be my angels

Even when you tell me NO!

~~~Barbara K. Bassett

                                                                                  ~~~Crystal David John

Patriarchal World

'Tis a patriarchal world,

Where women have no say.

Where all decisions made

Stand by what men do and say!

This is the stage set for her,

By values, codes and norms.

She goes through life shrouded, 

However facing the storms.

Only in his shadow,

She's made to think she's secure, 

But even in such cases, 

it is never ever sure!

For senior women and girls, 

Young women and infants

Are all molested, 

Though it  was never ever meant

To treat women this way -

For our Constitution

Has spelt equality --

That justice reigns supreme

As its  firm foundation!

~~Crystal David John

Unbeaten

So often snipped in the bud

Not allowed to take form and grow

And when the snipping is not done

Then the growth is rather slow,

For want of proper food,

And nourishment

                                                      In spite of this

If growth does take place

Obstacles are placed

In this life’s race

Yet if she does overcome

And finds herself the space

To grow and blossom

By assiduous effort and strife,

What awaits this tragic life?

An awful sacrifice

At the altar of greed

This life?

That of an Indian woman- -

Yet through the ages

She has stood her ground

To be unbeaten

And she continues to persevere

Making her mark

In the Indian social atmosphere.

 ~~ Crystal David John

The Books that have Influenced my Life

1.  A Thousand Splendid Sons by Khaled Hosseini – The life of Mariam in the book is so tragic that I can never ever forget the ordeal she went through. Yet she fights all the evil forces personified in her husband and in the society around and finally sacrifices her life for her husband’s second wife, who is another victim in the entire scenario. There are millions of women who face a life such as this or even worse and it constantly troubles me, especially when we in the academic circles are so much into theorizing and evolving models that are supposed to solve problems for people.  Being an economist and a feminist I am often in a state of angst as the philosophy of the two  tend to vie with each other to a large extent. The sociological and the economic underpinnings of the economic agent are crucial in any setting and this is exactly what Economics tends to ignore (especially the classical and the neo classical schools of economic thought). However all is not so bleak, for there are meeting grounds for the two disciplines that looks at the reality of the millions of Mariams around. The meeting ground has to be recognized and evolved by researchers and thinkers. The process in on but needs to be developed and applied in policies much more.

2.      The above takes me to the next book that has truly impressed me and it is a book that I keep reading off and on viz. Beyond the Economic Man edited by Marianne A. Ferber and Julie A Nelson. This is a collection of papers written by various authors on Feminist Theory and Economics. In fact it is an investigation into what really is wrong with my discipline Viz. Economics. Many of the papers in the book look at the interweaving of gender into the epistemology of economics or a critique of the lack thereof. It examines the androcentricism within the discipline and the invisibility of women in economic theories. In fact what I honestly must state is that all the variables we tend to hold constant or are apt to ignore in economic models, do have an extremely significant role to play in reality. The book helps in highlighting the ‘sound of silence’.

3.      Another book that has always been my favorite is To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper lee. This is a book I read when I was a child and it made a deep impression on me. It taught me various little things that have fallen in place as I faced life. In fact the concept of don’t shoot the mocking bird taught to the children in the book has impressed me so much for it was at that time that I learned the song “When the sun in the morning peeps over the hill, and kisses the roses round my window sill, then my heart fills with gladness when I hear the trill, of the birds in the treetops on Mockin’ Bird Hill” From my mother. The mocking bird never harms plants or fruits, all it does is sing and make music! It also signifies the vulnerable in society who are often victimized by a rude callous world. The characters Boo Radley – the recluse, Jem Finch an innocent child who is forced to face the tough reality with injustice around, and Tom Robinson the black man accused of raping a white girl all represent the vulnerable mocking bird. Tom Robinson is denied justice and is convicted of raping Mayella Ewell by an all white jury!! In this world justice is rarely obtained – a hard lesson I have learned from this text.

~~ By Crystal David John

This was published in the Indian Express (EDEX) on 19/11/2012