having to do so many steps as a woman before you step out of the house— wearing a bra, putting on makeup, shaving if you plan to wear sleeveless tops or skirts, setting your hair, wearing a hijab/niqab/both if you're a hijabi muslim, pulling down your veil if you're a hindu, married woman in certain parts of india, wearing heels, carrying a handbag bcoz our pants don't have pockets, and not to mention the constant discomfort of being in public as a woman etc, etc; while men can just ✨walk out✨ — is a deliberately-crafted shrewd plan of the patriarchy to make women "want" to be indoors, away from the same financial, social and economic opportunities that men have. sneakily serve us the poison then blame us for not knowing better before consuming it.
we might have the right to walk out of the door more freely now (for relatively privileged women) but even for those who get to enjoy that, we don't and won't get to do it at par with men, under a patriarchy. i've seen my mom cover her chest with a duppata, or as white people call it, a "scandanavian scarf," before opening the front door to her own house, lest the stranger who knocked finds out she... has BREASTS?! sacrilegious!
the public, that is full of opportunities is way more accessible to cis-het able-bodied men than to anyone else, while women & everyone else feel safer and more comfortable in the confines of their own homes. the same home that comes with endless opportunities like cooking for the man, cleaning his underwear and dusting his books. as long as this divide persists, gender oppression will persist.
we women need to start going out without makeup, without bras, without shaving, just like men do and normalise the female body and feminine existence in its raw, natural form in public spaces. we also need to ban any products and companies into oblivion that are innovating on new ways to make women insecure instead of funding women's health projects. hopefully then, maybe one day, our daughters will not be ashamed of the same bodies we are fighting so hard to love!
titsay
blakekathryn
kaledo-art
origamiaround
kianamaiart
