The Sacred Feminine

The Gender Gap report of the WEF ranks India as 113th in a list of 130 countries...and we are still shining (oh that slogan's gone now isn't it, wonder what the Congress will come up with) We are 128th in mortality and health and 6th in unequal wages....The only positive thing the newspaper stated was that we were 114th last year...so there's an improvement.

My colleague Navin thinks until caste exclusion is reduced there can't be a real change....There is a lot of strength in that statement. Women are not a homogeneous group...there might be certain problems like domestic violence, property rights that are common for all women but the degree and actual impact changes according to the context.

Women are as divided into caste, religion, tribe, region, colour, class as men are... this also proves to be strong counter to the whole 'A Woman is Woman's biggest enemy' argument. Patriarchy is a set of values that anyone can ascribe to..and that's what often happens to a lot of woman who finally get power (political or administrative). They try and follow the same rules and methods that have been used till then to stay in power... Whats good for the Gander is good for the goose too! So stop complaining and start working on new rules

But then that's neither here nor there... All that I want to say is that we need to look at the whole issue of Women's rights from a new perspective...need to see them within their contexts..and Pleeease no sweeping generalisations or symbolism of yin and yang and the sacred feminine (that makes me really sick).

Sacred feminine does talk about feminine power, but it also strongly emphasises the reproductive part of it..its like a woman's power lies in her uterus...Does that make post menopausal woman.. men?

It is imperative that we demystify these theories and get down to more practical and tangible issues like public health care system and its accessibility to Dalit and Tribal women or freedom to choose what to do or not do with one's life or sex selection.

I also read about this reincarnation of Buddha in Nepal and how people are going mad to visit him...We are so stuck up with religion and religious leaders...