19 Prerna Majumdar
It Feels Like a Losing Battle I acknowledge that there has been significant progress in women’s rights over the centuries. I know that as a woman in this time, I’m lucky to be able to do all the things I can do, and do them freely. I can date, work, go to school, and choose not to get married or have children. However, I also know that even now there are communities that still have back-dated views that they force their daughters, wives, and sisters to follow. There are numerous stigmas ingrained in our societies that women are still forced to follow because if you don’t, you’re shunned. You are called a ‘slut’. You’re seen as shameful. For women, it just feels like there’s no winning. We will think we have solved one issue only for another to appear. I just feel so defeated.
How I Was Raised I’m a twenty-three-year-old woman, I’m Hindu, and my culture is pretty conservative. The rules that women and girls in my culture are expected to follow are strict. They can’t wear overly revealing clothes, they have to wait until after marriage to have sex, and it is considered a great sin to have a child outside of marriage. I was raised the way I feel like most of us were raised. I was taught to cover up in front of men from the age of six. I distinctly remember putting on my favorite outfit at the time, which was a wrap top that showed my belly, a headband, and jeans. I loved wearing this outfit because I felt like my Barbies wore similar clothes. Unfortunately, my grandmother burst my happy bubble when I went downstairs after putting on this outfit. She told me that there were men in the house: she was referring to my grandpa and uncle. She explained that we shouldn’t wear clothes like that because it was inappropriate. She took me back up to change into a more ‘modest’ outfit out of respect for the men in my family. That particular situation stuck with me my entire life. I think that was the first time ever, I started being afraid of men. My grandma never went into detail about why I shouldn’t wear revealing clothes in front of men, but I was quick to fill in the blanks even at six years old.
