Patriarchal World

'Tis a patriarchal world,

Where women have no say.

Where all decisions made

Stand by what men do and say!

This is the stage set for her,

By values, codes and norms.

She goes through life shrouded, 

However facing the storms.

Only in his shadow,

She's made to think she's secure, 

But even in such cases, 

it is never ever sure!

For senior women and girls, 

Young women and infants

Are all molested, 

Though it  was never ever meant

To treat women this way -

For our Constitution

Has spelt equality --

That justice reigns supreme

As its  firm foundation!

~~Crystal David John

Unbeaten

So often snipped in the bud

Not allowed to take form and grow

And when the snipping is not done

Then the growth is rather slow,

For want of proper food,

And nourishment

                                                      In spite of this

If growth does take place

Obstacles are placed

In this life’s race

Yet if she does overcome

And finds herself the space

To grow and blossom

By assiduous effort and strife,

What awaits this tragic life?

An awful sacrifice

At the altar of greed

This life?

That of an Indian woman- -

Yet through the ages

She has stood her ground

To be unbeaten

And she continues to persevere

Making her mark

In the Indian social atmosphere.

 ~~ Crystal David John

The Books that have Influenced my Life

1.  A Thousand Splendid Sons by Khaled Hosseini – The life of Mariam in the book is so tragic that I can never ever forget the ordeal she went through. Yet she fights all the evil forces personified in her husband and in the society around and finally sacrifices her life for her husband’s second wife, who is another victim in the entire scenario. There are millions of women who face a life such as this or even worse and it constantly troubles me, especially when we in the academic circles are so much into theorizing and evolving models that are supposed to solve problems for people.  Being an economist and a feminist I am often in a state of angst as the philosophy of the two  tend to vie with each other to a large extent. The sociological and the economic underpinnings of the economic agent are crucial in any setting and this is exactly what Economics tends to ignore (especially the classical and the neo classical schools of economic thought). However all is not so bleak, for there are meeting grounds for the two disciplines that looks at the reality of the millions of Mariams around. The meeting ground has to be recognized and evolved by researchers and thinkers. The process in on but needs to be developed and applied in policies much more.

2.      The above takes me to the next book that has truly impressed me and it is a book that I keep reading off and on viz. Beyond the Economic Man edited by Marianne A. Ferber and Julie A Nelson. This is a collection of papers written by various authors on Feminist Theory and Economics. In fact it is an investigation into what really is wrong with my discipline Viz. Economics. Many of the papers in the book look at the interweaving of gender into the epistemology of economics or a critique of the lack thereof. It examines the androcentricism within the discipline and the invisibility of women in economic theories. In fact what I honestly must state is that all the variables we tend to hold constant or are apt to ignore in economic models, do have an extremely significant role to play in reality. The book helps in highlighting the ‘sound of silence’.

3.      Another book that has always been my favorite is To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper lee. This is a book I read when I was a child and it made a deep impression on me. It taught me various little things that have fallen in place as I faced life. In fact the concept of don’t shoot the mocking bird taught to the children in the book has impressed me so much for it was at that time that I learned the song “When the sun in the morning peeps over the hill, and kisses the roses round my window sill, then my heart fills with gladness when I hear the trill, of the birds in the treetops on Mockin’ Bird Hill” From my mother. The mocking bird never harms plants or fruits, all it does is sing and make music! It also signifies the vulnerable in society who are often victimized by a rude callous world. The characters Boo Radley – the recluse, Jem Finch an innocent child who is forced to face the tough reality with injustice around, and Tom Robinson the black man accused of raping a white girl all represent the vulnerable mocking bird. Tom Robinson is denied justice and is convicted of raping Mayella Ewell by an all white jury!! In this world justice is rarely obtained – a hard lesson I have learned from this text.

~~ By Crystal David John

This was published in the Indian Express (EDEX) on 19/11/2012

Labour for Love!

Whenever there is  talk related to national human resources, it is common for resources to be described as manpower because it is believed that men are the creators of economic wealth, and are the sole contributors to the national income and national product. Hence it follows that they alone have the prerogative to be rewarded for the work done. 

Women however constitute half the world's population and contribute to  two thirds of the worlds working hours, but they receive only one tenth of the world's income and collectively own one percent of the world's total-wealth

Now why does this happen? The main reason for this trend is because women tend to work or get pushed into the unorganized sector of the Indian Economy and get underpaid or not pay at all.

Consider for example the role the mother plays in creating and 'maintaining' human capital. Not only the mother but many women folk do participate in looking after children and the senior citizens, but are not paid  at all for the numerous jobs they perform .Well all this is considered work rendered out of love. Then how is it possible to pay for such work ? can love remain love if it is monetized?

All of us buy cows milk but is  the mother's milk marketable? Is it not a little ironical that even the cow is considered to be of greater economic value than the woman? Has economic theory stooped so low? The concept of labour for love has relegated women to the rank of second class citizens and has subjected her to exploitation within the family.If one believes that love cannot be monetized then is there some way out to recognize the contribution of women within the home. The work they do at home is highly priced if done by hired hands. Is this then not an indication to the extent of exploitation of women? Economic Theory per se has not been able to resolve this issue. Most theories promulgated by men have cleanly left women out of agency behaviour. After all Rene Descartes as also many a classical and Neo classical economist were of the opinion that women cannot think rationally. The patriarchal backdrop of most knowledge has drawn out the life of women on a canvas of androcentricism, and this has led the way to women's doom.

~~Crystal David John

Bend Not!

Bent for eighteen long years

She lived in agony

Looking but at the ground

That was her destiny.

Crippled by a spirit

Her mangled body

Could not stand erect

Until she met her Lord

Who her bent form did detect

And set her free!

Of her terrible

Infirmity

Many women today

Are bound by spirits -

Call it sexism,

Patriarchy,

Misogyny,

Bent to see the ground

No chance to grow, or learn, or live

They remain bent

By patriarchal norms

Passed down

By descent

Our Lord straightened the bent woman

Long long ago

Yet in this time and tide

Women are suppressed

And kept bent and tied

To suit the dominators

God’s gift to us is liberty

It is not your decree

To not let women be free.

~~Crystal David John