Dr Asangba Tzudir
The Book of Genesis 2:21-22 (ESV) elucidates the second narrative of the creation of man which says, “so the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.” For God saw that Adam had no helper fit for him. Then began the mistranslation and misinterpretation in tune with tradition and culture where women for so long were domesticated, and in context, became the “second sex” or the ‘weaker sex’ subordinate to man and not as ‘equals’ in the likeness and image of God.
To a large extent, this mistranslation and misinterpretation continues within the domain of religion which is attested by the various forms of misrepresentation in Naga society today. The taking of the man’s rib in the creation may be seen not as a symbol of subordinate or a help but rather as a symbol of companionship. Culturally too, in many of our communities, we remain prisoners of our tradition confined not by walls but by inherited norms that dictate who should speak, and who must remain silent, and women have borne the heaviest chains where their roles are predetermined by customs that prize obedience over opportunity and continuity over change. Women continue to live as quiet prisoners of tradition and woven through generations. Customs that once emerged from specific historical needs now linger as invisible chains, and even as education, mobility and technology expand horizons, traditions continues to demand sacrifice and therefore individuality.
Within the fold of cultural and traditional practices, if not for the cultural domestication, Naga women would have been baptized along with the men much earlier. It was difficult for women to create their own narrative within a naturalized setting other than to bow and even propagate in defense. This cultural and traditional roots coupled with domestication was so strong that women especially the mothers from their own domesticated confines were at the fore of prohibiting man and more so women from becoming Christians. Even today there are the mothers that liberate their daughters, so also those that domesticate their daughters within the culturally constructed image of an ideal woman.
Within such subjugation, Naga women continue to struggle for space and pushing against inherited boundaries by reinterpreting culture and religion thereby reclaiming agency while also proving that traditions be it culture or religion should be a living, evolving guide and not a cage. For so long in so many ways culture and traditional practices continue to keep the Naga Society imprisoned and Naga society cannot and should not continue to stay in chains.
To release from the bondage of this imprisonment there is a lot of rethinking to do. It requires reexamination of our traditions with honesty, sincerity and courage because it is within our traditions that hold the seeds of liberation that encompasses values of dignity, mutual respect and a shared responsibility. The challenge before us, therefore, is not to discard tradition, but to free it and ourselves from the constraints that have long limited women’s rights, voices and potential. This will led to the creation of a balanced and harmonious society and for the well being of everyone.
(Dr Asangba Tzudir writes a weekly guest editorial for The Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
