The angry young woman

Anger. Women aren’t associated with that kind of strong emotions.

She’s expected to be the epitome of love, patience, sacrifice. And if she is a wife and a mother, the sobriquets just make you want to gag and die. So, while the whole world is allowed to raise its voice and make its grievances heard, the woman is expected to bottle it up and endure.

Haven’t you seen how at public spaces an angry woman is viewed with disgust? So much so that even other women are embarrassed by her brazen outspokenness. Whether she’s making her dissatisfaction evident with the service at a restaurant or is pulling up a driver for rash driving on the road or is haggling with the guy at the snacks counter of a cinema hall for balance change that is rightfully hers, people around her just want to judge her. “Look at that fightercock!” “Women these days are impossible!” “Gosh, her husband looks so embarrassed, see!” Comments come aplenty.

But clearly, this is the age of the angry young woman. Her anger is fitting for an era that pretends to be modern and open, but its bedrock is still some archaic set of rules and regulations. Women today are “allowed” to be liberated. They aren’t born free. So if their fathers, brothers, grandfathers, uncles, boyfriends, husbands and sons “allow” them to enjoy a sense of freedom, then they can have it. But they can have it only as much as they are allowed to. Anything more, then what was offered on a platter will be taken away as a form of punishment. What a truly enjoyable game!

Why wouldn’t the woman of today be angry then! You say it’s okay to work and earn your own money, but it ain’t okay to choose your life partner. You say it’s okay to be out at night, but you rape her and leave her to die. You say it’s okay to dress the way you like, and then look at her like you are going to tear her apart, and do. You say she can speak her mind and then remind her that women should be mild-mannered and soft spoken. Honestly, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO MAKE THESE RULES ANYWAY? Did she ask you for your “permission” to live her life? And who the hell gave you the right to humiliate her, abuse her and violate her?

Women don’t want your bloody rules. They just want to be left alone. Just don’t pretend to be their benefactor. Don’t try to bottle her into constricted gender roles. Remember, women are unlearning, and it won’t take too long to turn the tables. Don’t push it too far for your own well being.