Friday 23 December 2011

Woman or Woe-Man


Recently we had a get-together and my friend S had this interesting question. It may be worth mentioning that S is a 'She'.


"Every woman would want to be born a man but the opposite is not true"
                                                               

The reasons according to her being, for the pain a woman undergoes (mainly physical), for the things she would have to forego in her life, for fulfilling numerous expectations, for playing multiple roles throughout her life. Should I mention my wife supports her??. Fair enough. Undeniable! however only for the women part.

I don’t see a reason why a man would not want to be born a woman in his next birth (never mind about the birth theories). Perhaps it is only that the societal pressure (which is nothing but our foreFathers’ and foreMothers’) or practise or belief or whatever has created us to think, "To be Man is a prestige, a privilege" that he cannot complain the form of his existence. Tell you what? Whatever privileges that you think man enjoys, he has lost the power to speak, express, complain and crib. Now it is dependent up on your perception to determine if these traits are "Virtue or Woe". Classic would be, when a boy cries, he is immediately given a bashing, why are you crying like a girl? From that day he loses the power to cry, power to express his desire to shed tears.

I definitely salute woman for the physical pain that she endures. There is nothing that man can bear or do to match it, however, for the rest there is an equal if not greater problems for a man too. As I said before, it still looks green here cos, we are not known. We have lost the power (or never had it) to say things out. We still are under the hood when it comes to discussing our problems even our parents, siblings, partner, wife, kids, friends. Perhaps it is the last resort.

Just a simple toss of the coin, does the Father enjoy the same affection and attachment as a mother? The way I have seen, it takes years for the baby to realize that he is not alien. The father has to prove his baby that he is part of the family and he adores, plays, cares. But for the mother it is there for the taking, written on the wall. Haven't you realized that every father would cry (unfortunately internally) that his baby is afraid of him? Isn’t it worth the pain?

4 comments:

Maya Rishi said...

Belonging to the S category, not all S's want to be H.

Ya poor men!

But a comment on the flip of the coin - my son dotes his father more than me. I guess it has more to do with how you are with the kid.

Partha n Preethi said...

@Maya Rishi - Thanks for letting know that there are S's who wouldn't want to be H :-).
Guess you and your son are exceptions. Thanks for commenting.

A said...

Something you might find interesting:

“He didn’t come out of my belly, but my God, I’ve made his bones, because I’ve attended to every meal, and how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I’m so proud of all those things. He is my biggest pride.

John Lennon

Partha n Preethi said...

Thanks A.
Ofcourse, it is The biggest pride. But as I mentioned it takes the baby all these proofs to realize the father. For this to happen, the father had to wait till the baby becomes a toddler.
Ofcourse, it needs no mentioning, exceptions are always there.