Misogyny

Published on 25th November, 2018, in Mid-day. Typically, in storytelling, the main characters, the hero and the villain, are male, and the victim is female: a damsel in distress who needs to be rescued by the hero, from the machinations of the villain. But, from time to time, one does see gender shifts in the nature of hero and villain. While traditionally, we find the male Indra defeating the male Vritra, or the male Shiva defeating the male Andhaka, or the male Vishnu defeating the males Madhu and Kaitabha, we do come across in medieval literature, Durga and Kali, who defeat male villains, such as ..

Published on 22nd April, 2018, in Mid-Day. Some feminists expect me to 'explain' Hinduism's misogyny. Typically, a verse from Manusmriti will be thrown at me. For example, verse 2.213: It is the nature of women to seduce men in this world; for that reason the wise are never unguarded in the company of females. Or verse 5.151: Girls are supposed to be in the custody of their father when they are children, women must be under the custody of their husband when married and under the custody of her son as widows. In no circumstances is she allowed to assert herself independently. My response involves ..