Ivy Jungi
5th Sem, DU
What is more outrageous than to believe the world is not safe for women?
We are not fragile on our own. We create life. Every man is born of a woman and yet these same creatures born of a woman, raised by a woman have labeled women brittle. And a list to check off if we have the superior ‘girl quality’ to prove our worth.
The very contradiction is absolutely disheartening. And even more disgusting are the crimes, the headlines and the silence that follows. The way women’s freedom gets questioned every single day.
Showing empathy is decent enough but what is the real cost of empathy given after the crime has occurred? And the solution we’re handed is always the same-lock woman up inside so that less chaos prevails. Where are we really headed towards? Or should I say how far backwards.
I looked for the Delhi case. I looked for the Bihar case. Lucknow cases-a 70year old woman ganged raped and murdered for objecting to men drinking outside her home. Nothing. No headlines for days. There are barely any takes by the Naga people on social media either. From what I recall, when it happens here, we stand firm. We see media and press coverages and even the society condemnations show that the outrage is loud.
This makes me question, and the question isn’t whether we care about women. It’s whether we care about women who aren’t ours. Does the care extend to women, or only to Naga women? Does the care protect women, or protect the image of Nagaland? Is it about the woman who was hurt or the name that got stained?
Why do we get to be selective on who’s case matters more, even when it’s of the same gender and same crime. The anger seems a lot more performative rather than actual concern, because if the anger was about women, then the care would have crossed borders.
One woman’s safety is not every woman’s safety. But one woman being violated is every woman being violated. One woman being silenced is every woman being silenced. Patriarchy doesn’t serve us. It never did. And we’ve been protecting the image instead of the Woman.
