An outpouring of self, a world of profit and patriarchy, a rough draft, another world vision

Wow. Yesterday we went to a women's court called "India Court of Women on Dowry and Related Forms of Violence against Women." My eyes and heart were ripped open to the suffering of millions of women around the world, but particuarly in south asia. I had heard of dowry deaths (actually murders) and knew a bit about it, but had absolutely no idea that violence and deaths have been increasing rapidly since the early 90s due to increasing commodification and value of profit over people. Dowry has become a way for a man and his family to increase their economic status, making the idea of "wife" and "marriage" into an economic, profit-maximizing endeavor. Some of the bravest women I have ever seen stood up yesteray to finally have their voices heard. An auditorium of hundreds of people sat all day just to listen. Listen to stories of intense brutality, deaths, torture, lies--things that have become so normalized that they aren't even shocking to the public or so common that they make no sound. Women are often burned by their husbands or in-laws in what is labeled by police as a "stove burst" or "kitchen accident" after which the husband can remarry another woman for another dowry.

It's really difficult to sum up the day, and certainly only your presence there would do justice to such an incredible experience.
Here is an article about the court.
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jh2t4dbgcca&title=Bangalore_dowry_court_hears_harrowing_stories_demands_stringent_law
And here is the website for the courts of women:
www.vimochana.in/blog

Anyways, as I sat there a fire was ignited (or reignited) perhaps within me. I felt so incredibly at home with such amazingly strong women. The historic oppression of women and its tight grip on the world today continually blows my mind. Sometimes the situation seems so hopeless, but it is AMAZING how many people are working around the world for justice and equality. Like Anu was saying, the greater the oppression the harder and more passionately people are fighting back. I had a feeling yesterday, that I must work for the rights of women. I cannot do anything else, I cannot live my life any other way. This is pretty incredible for me because I have been feeling pulled in a million directions for my whole life but this seems so clear. As I sat there I began spilling out all the things in my heart and this is what came out...

why should i not be crying
when my sisters around the globe are being sold as commodities--a slave for an awaiting husband and family.

why should i not be crying
when a girl of age 9 is sewn up again to be "pure" for an awaiting customer.

why should i not be crying
when the woman who claws her way up to leadership is beaten down by an entire nation,
when we live in a world where violence against women is so normalized that everywhere we go we must be afraid of being beaten or raped,
when a beautiful baby girl is murdered because the burden of a female-a dowry, is too great for a family to bare,
when my brothers are learning through pornography that women are objects--trashcans for the disposal of waste in the forms of violence, aggression, and objectification.

why should i not be crying
when my body is commodified, objectified, packaged, sold to greedy eyes, used and abused by media everywhere.
when people i love the most mark my pain as an overreaction, my passion simply the product of a far too "liberal, feminist" education (the daggers cut too deep for words to embody)

why should we not be crying!?!
because within a world of such pain and suffering there STILL exists hope.
why should we not be crying
to rejoice in the unity and solidarity we have created amongst so much fragmentation.

listen to our tears,
tears that hold light in a world gripped by darkness.
LISTEN, and you will hear the power to burn out injustice and inequality forever.


"I am a woman offering 2 flowers whose roots are twin hope and justice. Let us begin"
-Alice Walker