Thanthai Periyar used to say time and again that women should not be treated as dummy models for display of clothes and jewellery. He stressed that they are biological facts in flesh and blood – not mere show-pieces and specimens. During the wedding of E.V.K.Sampath (the nephew of Periyar; the Son of Periyar’s brother E.V.Krishnasamy) and Ms.Sulochana, held on 15th September, 1946 at Thiruppattur in North Arcot District, Tamil Nadu, Periyar delivered a speech glorifying women and insisting on their existing on a par with men. The content was as follows in brief:
Dear cadres, guests, friends, followers and well-wishers, on this occasion I wish to share my views with all the women and their parents at this venue today. Unless women are free from the shackles of slavery, our society would never ever flourish. This is my firm belief.
Unjust indifference
Women are almost half of our population. They may be different to some extent only biologically compared to men but as far as emotions, desires and feelings are concerned they are equal to men, undeniably. Until baby girls learn to talk and walk, we too treat them on a par with boys but once they grow up and attain puberty we begin to treat them in a disinterested manner. They become an unwanted burden to get rid of. They are denied a fair treatment at home and also away from home. We look at them as if they are inanimate insensitive objects. We keep them at home like mannequins, which they are certainly not. We consider boys assets but girls liabilities. Is it not an injustice?
Worthless doormats
Women are not storehouses of pleasures. Nor are they door mats of little worth, just to dust our feet. They are infact much more than flesh and blood. To cook and feed the family alone is not their duty. Under the name of conjugal rights we have enslaved our women. Most men look at their wife as an unpaid female chef and nothing more. Is she just a farm to grow the family-tree? Is she a human hanger to hold gold and silver ornaments? Is she just a generator of heirs? Parents should think deeply about this. Men should bring about a drastic change in their outlook.
Wireless telegraph, radio and even nuclear explosives have been invented but we are still unabashed conservatives clinging to outdated codes of life. We do not feel guilty about treating our women as show-pieces for display. None of the female species among birds and beasts gets enslaved by the male species. This atrocity exists only in humankind.
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Disastrous pandemic
The ill-treatment being meted out to our women seems to be a deadly disease that could not be cured by any sort of drug or by any bizarre treatment. It needs perhaps a deep incision, dissection, and a complex surgery, not tried so far. Most men and women at this venue would obviously be furious over my words but I just can’t help it. I say what I mean and mean what I say. I am serious about causing a reformation during my life time. I am not sure how long I shall continue to exist. I must see a new dawn in the lives of our women before I breathe my last. Hence I urge upon you all to avoid fury and think over the crucial problem.
Women should realise their own pitiable condition. Unless this awareness crops up, their sufferings would not be mitigated at all. In none of the other countries in the world women are being belittled as we find happening here. Civilised and cultured world countries do not consider women an undesirable burden. The situation here is sickening. Nowhere-else women are persecuted atrociously. The literate as well as illiterate women here, willingly exist as mannequins. Their parents and husbands are contented seeing their women as show-pieces. This is really baffling. I wonder how they think women are content merely by expensive clothes and glittering jewellery. This is an illusion and a false belief.
Intellect ignored
Authors too write at length describing the appearance of female characters. You can find fifty sentences in praise of their beauty but not even five sentences commending their intellect, latent talent, knowledge and skills. Readers do not even realise that the inner harmony and inherent virtues of the women characters are totally ignored by the writers. Not even one of a thousand readers ever notices the degradation of women even in a fiction. Why do these writers assume that the mind of a woman operates on the lowest level of intellect?
Obnoxious objectification
Women here are denied property rights but we do not find women questioning this gender bias. They willingly depend on men for their survival. What a pity! Why should daughters move around clad in glossy apparels drawing the attention of prying onlookers? Do parents ever think about this? Women should refuse to exist like consumer articles. Objectifying women is certainly obnoxious. Women should raise voice against the ravenous men who stare at them like snakes. Intentionally making daughters look provocative is an unpardonable crime of the parents. Women are not fodder for blind lust and animal instinct. Squandering money over glamorous apparels and sparkling jewellery does not make any sense at all. We must concentrate on empowering our women by augmenting their literacy and enabling them scale great heights in life. Their competence should be used for constructive purposes.
Not only common middle class parents but also families of eminent scholars, political leaders and stalwarts are to be blamed in this regard. They too have done nothing for the upliftment of women. These celebrities have not cared for eradicating gender bias in society. They have not helped their daughters or wives to become achievers in any particular field. They kept women almost under house arrest, preventing their progress. If these eminent people themselves are against the advancement of women, what can we expect from small people? Naturally, these common people also make their wives and daughters live like caged birds.
Denial of education
Most parents bother much about the education of their sons but are indifferent towards the education of their daughters. If sons can acquire knowledge, why can’t daughters born to the same parents acquire literacy? Conservative parents bring up the girls as illiterate morons. This atrocity is a great obstacle on the path of our women. Failing to use the skills of women is certainly a huge loss to the society.
Some parents have begun admitting their daughters in colleges for higher education but I would say that they are wasting their hard earned money if they do not allow them to make use of education for their progress and economic independence. If they have to get married, beget children, cook for the family and serve their husband, was not the entire amount spent for their education, a criminal waste?
Some other parents spend huge amount and make their daughters learn dancing or playing the Veena, fiddle etc; Once these girls get married the music instruments would lie unused, gathering dust. If they sing and dance at home, mothers-in-law would shriek and scream. If they learnt all these arts merely to get an enviable married life, was not the money spent to learn them a colossal waste?
Making girls become graduates and post graduates, only to suffer as unpaid cooks or domestic help is sheer waste of tax-payers’ money. I shall say that it is a financial loss to the government and hence a national crime too. People who call themselves social reformers do not bother to redress the grievances of women. Erudite scholars and academicians too are indifferent towards their suffering. As the result, our women languish as heir-generators.
Large families
I find many women attending functions and family events with four or five little children troubling them endlessly. I pity such helpless mothers. They suffer from inexplicable embarrassments in public places. Large families are unbearable. Instead of insisting on a small family, most women crave for apparels and ornaments. Why can’t they save money in a bank and make use of the interest accrued to employ domestic helpers to take care of the kids? Such savings can also be used to employ a cook and be relieved from the drudgery of kitchen work. By employing someone for baby-sitting, women can rest and relax. All that I mean to say is that women should stop existing like restless machines. They must reach glorious pedestals in life and lead a truly dignified life. It should be proved that they were not born to exist like mannequins. The hand that rocks the cradle can also become the hand that rules a nation, can’t it?
Self confidence
Women should believe in their own capabilities and be self-confident at all times. They can brush shoulders with men and excel in any chosen field. I firmly believe that none of the careers is unsuitable for women. If they place their trust in themselves, the sky is the limit for them, but they should protest against a life of servitude and swim against the cross-currents in the sea of life. They have to daringly smash all the stumbling blocks and go ahead with an unflinching resolve. Under no circumstance should they ever lose their self-respect. They must acquire an exclusive identity and command respect in society.
Freedom of existence
Women should be allowed to dress and appear in public places, as they like it. Let their hairstyle be of their choice. They must not be victimised by double standard attitude of the society. Why should men alone have all the fun? Women too have the right to participate in games, sports, recreation activities and to indulge in their hobbies. They deserve an impartial treatment at all times by all of us. They are the supporting pillars for men. A house becomes a home only by a woman. Therefore, it is our duty to take care of our women in the best possible manner.
Wishing a peaceful married life to the couple on this occasion, I advise them to lead a harmonious life adhering to the noble principles of equality and self-respect. My dream is to find our women reaching the zenith of progress, pride and prosperity.
– ‘Kudi Arasu’ – 21st September 1946
Translated by: M.R. Manohar
