I saw this movie this evening, and i couldn't take my mind off it for a long time. I'm sure most of you might already have seen it, or know the story. For me, it was a completely new 'experience'. I studied in an all-girls school. And since childhood, I've always been up for women liberation, and safeguarding women rights. I'm more of a passive activist. My school had no men around the campus, except for maybe 5. So i have been used to living without the help of men, and going to college was a blow for me. I hated men, and used to say, that if I had the power, I would wipe all men off the face of this planet. I'm not sure if my view of men has changed altogether, but i now know that not all are bad, there are a few exceptions, ones, that I'm pleased to say, i know of. If only all of them could be like these few..
The movie, Mona Lisa smile, taught girls to think out of the box, and question their traditional societal roles. I completely agree with that. The movie is set in the mid 1950s, but i think that even today, we are not completely free. Women, especially, from a country like India are still held back by social inhibitions. Who should we fear? It's a free world! Men and women are equal, and co-dependent. In this society, a woman is always answerable to the men surrounding her, and influenced by them, in every phase of her life: father, brother, employer, co-worker, husband, son....Have you ever wondered why all the main deities in every religion across this globe are male? or why there is no religion led by a woman? Why is it that change is something that is so alien and hard to live with?And how long should we wait to make this change happen? When a woman steps out of her doorstep, to fulfill her dreams, everybody in the society, call her too daring, and irresponsible. The first and foremost duty of a woman today, is to raise a family, and look after it's welfare. Although I should say, that the condition has improved greatly as opposed to the past century, the barriers, still, have not been completely removed. A woman, is always seen second to her male counter-part, no matter, now greatly developed, the country is. It is a fact, that we all refuse to accept. I am not talking about complete female domination. I talk about co-existence. But that realization, is a far away dream...one that i never wish to wake out of..
The only thing that we can hope for, is the day, when every woman believes in herself, and steps out, and breaks every barrier that holds her back, to exercise her rights, to live the life that she wants to live! That is the day, we can truly call this world, a civilized planet...
