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| Fancy dress competion, it says "I argued with my wife" |
No, not me. I am a woman. This is about the picture posted
here which is circulating in whatsapp with the caption ‘fancy dress competition; it says “I
argued with my wife” with laughing smileys. At first I ignored it as an
ignorant joke. But when I got it from other groups, I was kinda irked and asked, “What is fancy
about it?”
“That’s for a laugh, don’t take it seriously” I was told.
There’s nothing fancy when you get a little boy dressed up
in plasters and bandages. It’s a depiction of a wounded person who supposedly “argued
with his wife”. Seriously!!???
Is that how men end up when they argue with their wives? Unless
of course if the wife is a wrestler/ boxer with an ill temper. There must be
hardly a handful of women who beat their men. And men who beat their women?
Countless. Women are always at the receiving end and when you reverse it, it
becomes a joke sometimes, and other times the reactions vary questioning “what
kind of a woman she is?” and the man is not spared either "what kind of a man he is getting beaten up"; henpecked, joru ka ghulam, etc, etc...
Reverse the scenario and have girl dressed up as “I argued
with my husband”. How would the viewers react? I don’t think that would make
them laugh at least the women would not laugh I am sure. That’s domestic
violence they would say for sure.
So is domestic violence a laughing matter?
And what about the children especially the child who is dressed
up like that? What kind of impact it would have on them? What are the messages
we are sending to the children when on one hand we want gender equality and on
the other we make light of violence at home whether inflicted on men or women.
Sure, I agree this must be just one event in one school somewhere
in India. But every step counts when we want to create a gender just society.
Or have I lost my sense of humour as my friend chided me
when I put across my view.
