Sexist Attacks on Smriti Irani
- In Politics
- 03:02 PM, Dec 29, 2015
- Harpreet Kaur Mehta
Assam is where my soul rests. Gujarat is where my heart is. After Ahmedabad, my choice of home is definitely Guwahati.
When I lived there, one thing that came out boldly and prominently, is the equality and freedom that women enjoy there, just like the women in Gujarat. They are equals and sometimes superior. Meghalaya still follows the matriarchal family system. Feminity is celebrated and revered here. And why should it not? This is the land of Tripursundari and Kamakhya.
So when I read that Nilamoni Sen Deka (a Congress leader, and former Agriculture minister of Assam) seconded by Roopjyoti Kurmi (Congress MLA in Assam), levied an allegation that “Smriti Irani is PM Modi’s second wife,” I was taken aback.
Coming from an Assamese, it is an insult to the core idea of the Assamese Culture.
Firstly to imply that there are sexual undertones to a professional relationship is typically a misogynist view. She is the HRD Minister and he is the Prime Minister, their offices work in tandem and am sure she reached that position and is holding it even as I write, with due merit. The reforms she has brought out in her eighteen months in office are proof enough of her skills. Therefore, why can’t a woman be efficient and effective as a professional? As surprising as it may sound to these regressive politicians, women have brains too.
Why should she then just use only her body to further her career? It is typically Freudian to view it this way. And least to say that, the Freudian view to the position of women in society, is totally a Western cultural influence.
Secondly, Indian cultural history holds a very different picture. Right from Vedic times, women have held important positions in the political and scholarly sectors. The Indic culture reveres the female. Shaktism is its clear indicator. The female in India is an equal half (Ardhanareshwar), and at times the leader (Kaali and Durga), and the other times a faithful consort (Parvati and Skandmata). Therefore, please do not view this comment (made by Deka and Kurmi) as the mentality of lakhs of Assamese and North Eastern residents. They are far more liberal and sensible. And no, they do not resonate with the same sentiment for any woman
Thirdly, according to psychologist Gerome Bruner, “Cognitive growth involves an interaction between basic human capabilities and ‘culturally invented technologies that serve as amplifiers of these capabilities’. These culturally invented technologies include not only obvious things such as computers and television, but also more abstract notions such as the way a culture categorises phenomena, and language itself. Bruner likely agrees with Psychologist Lev Vygotsky, that language serves to mediate between environmental stimuli and the individual’s response.” (Source: simplypsychology.com, Bruner by Saul McLeod)
So basically elaborating and putting Bruner and Vygotsky into the current perspective, I think, both these politicians (Deka and Kurmi) are demonstrating their capabilities and their intelligence based on the stimuli they received. This stimulus is given by the culture they have observed and followed. Also, the language that they used is an indicator of the level of their capabilities and personal intellect.
Since definitely the stimuli for the “culturally invented technology” is not based on the Assamese culture or language, where did their Cognitive Conditioning come from? What made them respond to a leading, successful female Politician in such a derogatory manner?
No wild guesses there, both of these politicians, Nilamoni Sen Deka and Roopjyoti Kurmi, hold important positions in the Indian National Congress. Congress has had a very coloured history and definitely a culture of objectifying the female. The veteran of the party and the tallest leader of the party, still remembered for ‘playboy’ syndrome has been meat for loads of writers and political commentators. Digvijay Singh and his ‘tunch maal’ reference is quite recent to be forgotten by anybody. Also, to add up, recently I read an Article where Congress member in Kerala, Philip Cherian said, “Women in the party had to perform sexual favours to get a ticket to contest elections.” So then, based on the Cognitive Conditioning, these two Assamese politicians were responding to their party’s culture and ethos as a phenomenon and not that of the state they represent.
Assam is not a regressive state when it comes to women. And it is a pity that these two men hold important positions, giving views on behalf of a group of people, who believe otherwise.
So dear readers, do not shun all Assamese for this view. Assam celebrates the women and their qualities. It is totally a view of two people, who are enacting based on the stimuli and convention of a political party that held the reins of this country for almost 60-years, on full throttle.
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