Blood Red Diamonds: Diya

I was lost for words when Natasha got up and walked out of the whole project. Just because I wasn’t researching about what I was supposed to. After all, we found the same information! Why did she expect me to get more information than her? I think she just needed an excuse to get out of it. Even in class, I tried pleading, but she ignored me. I did see her attention span decrease drastically in class, though.  So, if she too doesn’t want to be a part of this, I’ll do it myself. I am more than capable of it. But, inside I knew that Natasha had the brains I needed. And the connections. I was missing out on a lot. But, I convinced myself I could do it on my own. So, I sat down to research more in the night, shunning out all the other interests that were craving for my attention.

I slept while researching this topic, with no breakthrough. Even the internet seemed to give up when it came to this topic. No one knew what happened to the thief after he was caught, and the red diamond after it was stolen. I was getting depressed day by day. I needed to know more about this, to find out if the school held it. At this rate, I could slip into clinical depression!

The next day, I got ready for school with a heavy heart and was quiet till break. My friends coaxed me to tell them my problems, but how would they understand? That’s when Natasha came up to me, and said she was sorry. She said that she was intrigued by it against her wishes and would join back. She looked at me meekly, and I was just so grateful and happy, I bear-hugged her! She slipped and almost fell, but regained her balance. When I let her go, she was smiling at me. The first thing she said was, “Meet me at the library during our free classes. I’ll already be there. Come, and we’ll discuss about this.” She then, went and started reading her book, as was the norm.  I looked at her for a second and turned back to my friends, suddenly turning into the chirpy bird that I was. My friends felt weird about the whole issue, but as long as I had Natasha with me on this plan, all was well, and I didn’t care about anything else. 

Gender Bias Against Men

This is my topic for a project of mine in school. I was so disappointed when I started researching on it though. There was no material on this topic on the internet. Every time I Googled this phrase, the majority of links I found would indirectly go back to saying how feminism and women empowerment should be the focus of society in today's world.

I don't disagree. Feminism is an integral topic that needs to be looked at in today's society, owing to the fact that the world is evolving and growing, and gender equality is something the world should work towards. Notice that I used the phrase gender equality. And, I mean gender equality. Instead, what I find the world focusing on today is how to keep women on top of the men. Nope, we don't need a reverse situation.

Let's face it. Men face gender stereotypes everyday. And we choose to overlook it. They are everywhere around us. While we wouldn't stand a gender stereotype exercised against a woman, we would laugh it off if a gender stereotype was exercised against a man. Well, that isn't gender equality.

So, what is gender equality? Oxford dictionary defines this term as "The state in which access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender." That basically means every gender should be able to access what the world has to offer. 

But, gender equality is so much more than that! Its about demolishing all those "rules" we've built for each gender, its about both the genders embracing their selves. Its about the man being able to cry openly, and the woman not being judged for not marrying. Its about the man be a stay-at-home husband while the wife be the breadwinner. Its about a man not hitting a woman not because she is a woman, but because violence is wrong. Its about a woman trusting a stranger because we're all human beings.

Then why is it that men have to be under so much pressure from the society while the women slowly get liberated? Don't men deserve to be liberated? Shouldn't we, as human beings, even look at the other side of the coin?

Men have to hide their emotions in the 21st century. And, suffer questions on his manliness if he defies that rule.
Men can't branch out into a lot of jobs. Because, hey! They need to get the money for the family right? And, god forbid if they want to get into 'womanly' jobs. They would again have to go through the humiliation of not being 'manly' enough.
Men are still shown as lazy asses and irresponsible people on the television. They just have the woman to do everything!

Those are a minute example of what it is like for men. Add in the skewed concept of feminism. Life gets hard for a man. And we don't seem to acknowledge that. We think the men have it easy. Well, ask a man, and he'll have to think twice before even telling you something.

Out of those dozens and dozens of articles on how women are mistreated and deserve a chance, there should be one article about how men are mistreated and should be understood.

There was an amazing interactive show put up by Yours Truly Theatre in Bangalore focusing on this very issue. Name was Boys Don't Cry, and it was an instant success. It talked about three different issues the man faces in his daily life.

Gender bias against men isn't a small issue. Its thriving, and it affects men in the same way stereotypes against women affected us. And, its our duty to enforce GENDER EQUALITY. Not a skewed up version of feminism, or as they call it, feminazism.