A baby girl is born in our society. She is taught that she is supposed
to be beautiful. Gender stereotypical behaviors are
taught to the children. Boys will be given toy machine guns in their birthdays
whereas girls will be given Barbie dolls. Girls are supposed to be delicate and
beautiful. Boys are supposed to be
strong. Values like men are supposed to protect the women are injected in the
minds of men whereas women are taught that they are delicate and not strong
enough to protect themselves so they need men to protect them. Women are
supposed to be feminine. When the girl menstruates then she is not allowed to
enter in kitchen, not allowed to enter the temple and sometimes it is even said
that she is allowed to touch the male members of her family. Menstruation, the
biological process is treated as an evil act and she is treated as impure. After
marriage, she is supposed to act inferior to him. She is supposed to have
babies as per the wishes of her husband and her in laws.
This may sound dramatic
but still many of we Nepali women have been living our life this way. For the
patriarchal society like ours, beauty lies in getting socially confirmed to
this culture.
As per the tentative data, 20 percent of 70,000 abortions in Nepal are
done because of the preference of son over daughter. This action definitely is
not beautiful.
As the very famous phrase goes like “Different people different
perception”. I believe beauty is action. If my action can bring smiles in the
innocent faces of people then my act is beautiful. I do not believe that beauty
lies in the amount of melanin in your skin or the zero figure. No matter you
are blonde or brunette. No matter you are five feet five inch or not. The only
thing that matters is you are able to help people in need. You are not the one
who believes that innocent female foetus should be killed in the name of patriarchy.
Beauty is about being bold enough
to take the decisions of life. In the patriarchal society like ours beauty for
me is to be bold enough to speak against discriminatory practices in society. Being socially deviant and be able to speak for
justice is the beauty as per my opinion. Generally this behavior is considered rebellion
but if my act can motivate the people to speak against injustice then that
rebel is beauty for me.
There might be injustice in our society but that injustice is not
because of the bad people who actually are unjust rather because good people
are silence. To be ballsy enough to speak truth is beauty for me. Every
individual who is engaged in making this world better enough for oneself and
others are beautiful. People who are engaged in bringing peace in this
naturally beautiful Nepal are beautiful.
