Honour Killing Has Nothing To Do With "Honour"

The newspaper headline screams “Honour killing: 17-yr-old strangled by father; 3 held” — and, so yet another female life is snuffed at the altar of “honour.” Yes, the perpetrators may be prosecuted and jailed in this case, but it is high time we ponder on the deeper fact that maybe the “penalties” aren't deterrent enough. Maybe the core reasons why archaic incidents like these occur with impunity —again and again, in an age when we speak of travelling to Mars, lie elsewhere.

 Some takeaways

• All the rules and regulations in the world are automatically "female-centric" and all the rights and privileges are by default male-centric.
• Psychologists, activists, feminists and researchers have proven beyond doubt that rape is not only about sex but also about power.
• For most females, questions are “silenced” very early in life, as they grow up “silence” is thrust upon them as a supreme womanly virtue.
• In the spirit of sisterhood, do not hand over the “game, set and match” without a fight. In the spirit of humanity, let's be a sport and score our brownie points.

In this particular case, as in most, the father was against his daughter's friendship with a boy studying with her. So in the kangaroo court of patriarchy, the punishment for a teenage girl doing a "normal teenage girl" thing is death? Is this for real? And as you read more and observe more, it is extremely interesting to note that all the rules and regulations in the world are automatically "female-centric" and all the rights and privileges are by default male-centric. Therein lies the core reason for a host of ills plaguing the society, specifically the wide range of crime against women.

It is extremely interesting to note that all the rules and regulations in the world are automatically "female-centric" and all the rights and privileges are by default male-centric.

Take for instance, rape. Psychologists, activists, feminists and researchers have proven beyond doubt that rape is not only about sex but also about power. The power a man thinks he is entitled to. The power he wants to exert as his birthright. The “power” that the “skewed ways of the world” hand the man on a patriarchal platter. The power a man thinks is his middle name in a world where “equality” is a myth. According to an article in The Nation, “Sexual assault is symptomatic of patriarchy.” In the US, only one in four college age women report being sexually assaulted, because reporting sexual assault is often humiliating—another symptom of patriarchy. Experts estimate one in three women are actually survivors of sexual assault. The denigration of women is another obvious social symptom of patriarchy that includes the widespread reference to women as “bitches” and “hoes.” Honour killing has been therefore just an extension of this messed up thinking that has over the generations become part of the male DNA.

Experts estimate one in three women are actually survivors of sexual assault. The denigration of women is another obvious social symptom of patriarchy that includes the widespread reference to women as “bitches” and “hoes.”

The solution obviously lies in a genetic re-engineering of sorts. A mental mutation is the need of the hour of both men and women into rethinking their basic rights, responsibilities and powers.

The root cause, I personally think lies in “silence.” For most females, questions are “silenced” very early in life, as they grow up “silence” is thrust upon them as a supreme womanly virtue. Eventually, caught in marriage, motherhood and the unchanging meter of life, women start finding “silence” comforting, their coping mechanism against the little and large injustices surrounding them in a vicious chakrvyuh from which escape is impossible. The most damaging impact of one woman's “silence” is its role in actively perpetrating inferiority, misconceptions and abuse of women across the globe. And behind all this is the deeply ingrained thought that “I am just a female, I can't do anything.” It's the subliminal Gayatri mantra for girls.

The most damaging impact of one woman's “silence” is its role in actively perpetrating inferiority, misconceptions and abuse of women across the globe.

Right now I am reading a very interesting book on survivors of mass rape, throws light on the defeatist ideologies of a vast majority of women shaped in life's university of bigotry, where a girl is brought up with the belief that her role is “passive,” her life caged, her existence voiceless, her opinions unworthy and her silence crucial to her survival.

All of this then actually boils down to one straightforward question and that is: What are YOU aka everyone, doing to demolish such backward thinking so that a forward line of inclusive sensibility can finally spurt forth and multiply.

All of this then actually boils down to one straightforward question and that is: What are YOU aka everyone, doing to demolish such backward thinking so that a forward line of inclusive sensibility can finally spurt forth and multiply. So that a 17-year-old girl can openly “choose” to be friends with boys. So that a woman can dress up as she wants and roam freely without being “assaulted.” So that females feel free to voice their concerns, confident in the belief that their voices will be heard. So that once and for all the putrid perpetrators of the nefarious power game realise it's a no win situation now. In the spirit of sisterhood, do not hand over the “game, set and match” without a fight. In the spirit of humanity, let's be a sport and score our brownie points. Let's start right away. Love all...

The views expressed are the author's own.