It’s not cool to care.
The actual act of not giving a shit implies an emotional investment of sort. If someone is cool, they’re okay with the world the way it is. If someone is cool, they don’t have expectations of others or society. Being cool is so damn cool. I wish I could be cool. I wish I didn’t care about people. I wish I didn’t care if someone suddenly decides to peace out of my life. I wish I didn’t care if someone hurt me.
But yeah, like I said, by this definition of cool, I am not cool.
And I’m so grateful for that.
I keep going to the same types of conferences. The idea of gender equality is so damn appealing. But you say, Ritika, It’s 2012, of course the sexes are equal. Women can do anything they want. And I’d agree. Except, the inequality of of sexes is still very much ingrained in the ways we think. The scary part is that we don’t even see it, we don’t even realize…Wow – this is so wrong! We’re part of it this weird acceptance of social norms.
The simplest example of this is going out at night. If you’re a girl, apart from the usual pain and pleasure of getting ready, there is the heavy consideration of safety. This skirt is too short, this top is too revealing. I can’t walk home alone wearing that. If this was an equal world, why would we still need to be so careful about the image we portray? To be honest, even 6 months ago, even now, I have some difficulty understanding that it is never the victim’s fault. If she’s wearing clothes that are too revealing, if she’s walking at night by herself, if she’s walking in a dangerous part of town….if she put herself in that situation, isn’t it her fault? No.
Another example of this blind acceptance of social norms is a popular double standard. If guys can “get” many girls, he’s a stud. If girls do the same thing, she’s a slut. I’m not trying to question whether the behavior should be deemed right or wrong. That’s irrelevant here. I am just trying to point out that the treatment is very different for each sex. This shouldn’t be the case.
I’m pretty sure there are tons of other examples. But, my goal here is to make you question the societal norms we just blindly accept.
Why should we care? Why give a rat’s ass? Because the world would be a better place if women were in leadership positions, if women had the same stance as men.
Why, you ask? What is so special about women? Kavita Ramdas, CEO of the Global Fund for Women, says that women approach problems in a manner of non-violence. This is due to the extremely long history of oppression. We were the underdogs, and we still are.
So why should we care? Why can’t I just be so cool and dope. Because, I truly think that having beliefs is cool. I think that not being part of your society and not examining its flaws, and not wanting to challenge them, is really uncool. We live for a short period of time. In our time here, yes, it’s important to experience life and be happy, but it’s also equally important to leave the planet better than we entered it. But hey, what do I l know?
But, things will change. (Maybe caring will be cool one day too.)
It’ll be small baby steps, but I assure you, it’ll happen.
Let’s just hope we see it in our lifetime. Let’s face it – it’s 2012, these shenanigans are ridiculous.
ritika 