“Writing those crazy articles every week, what is this girl even trying to prove? All this rebellious stuff, it never got anyone anywhere.”
Well, I am not a rebel; I don’t intend to be known as one, thank you. All I have been trying to portray through my articles is that we are meant to be on the regular side of the same society that takes us as rebels. This is not limited to single women only. I am talking about and representing females from all walks of life. Whether you are 14-year-old, or a 24-year old, or 34, 44, even 54, if you have read any of my pieces and were able to connect to even one sentence, trust me, we are all in this together. I have only meant to represent us as the part of society that it should accept us as ‘normal’ and not ‘rebellious’.
Always shushed, we, the females of this society, are advised to ignore the never-ending demeaning comments from everyone around us. We are always expected to stay quiet and calm. There is nobody speaking for us, and the moment we raise our voice for ourselves, we are rebels.
There was no point in time when a female was not taunted or accused, whether you were a mother teaching your child to be an independent individual, or a daughter taking care of your family, or a career driven woman stepping up the social ladder, or even an ideal traditional woman living by the rules of the society. Sadly, this isn’t exclusive to our society only, but applicable to women all around the world since the beginning of our existence.
We are blamed for not being ourselves, we are blamed for being ourselves. We are blamed for staying silent if something wrong happens, we are blamed or called rebels to raise our voice against something wrong happening to us. And mind you, the blame-game does not take account of our age, marital status, or occupation.
I have seen mothers being blamed for raising girls as humans to coexist in the society on an equal footing as boys. They are taunted for raising children independent of society’s expectations and follow their own set of dreams. It upsets me how the certain blocks of the society spare no opportunity to bash her and treat her like a failure. Or even at times, too ‘rebellious’ for a mother of daughters. After all who will even marry daughters of a ‘rebellious mother’?
The society forgets that without this mother, they would never even have advanced into the constantly-changing world in the first place. So, to the mothers who are victims of such dialogues, trust me when I say, you have every right to be proud and confident. Never doubt yourself or your capabilities. Please do not be ashamed if they term you as a rebel.
Now to the crazy women born with ambitions, aspiring to break any glass ceiling and set an example. There are people who wouldn’t let you breathe for a second in peace, but it is not because you went wrong somewhere, no. These people will always be set to make your life look like a mistake because you are breaking norms, not living the way they expect you to live and not letting their toxicity control you. You will be called ugly names for earning too much. You will be accused of being ‘courtesan’ for getting promoted in a job before a male gets promoted. You will be called manipulative because you know how to negotiate. You will be called names but that won’t take away your dignity.
Yeah, I just said that! It does not matter because eventually, we know it is true. You are aware that whether a rebel or not, our only aim is to make the world a better place for ourselves, for womanhood.
This world is both the best and the worst. However, the moment we are born as females, it gets ten times worse for us. It is a battle for a lifetime. I do not accuse the whole society of being negative as I write this, but today I talk about the ones who do need to realize that the constant criticism is not helpful it is rather destructive, we really aren’t here to fight. Rebel or not, we only want to convey the message that it is not only a man’s world. It is not only the world where women are supposed to stay suppressed or without a voice for the betterment.
And yet, if a rebel is what you want to call me, or us, we accept it with honour.

Sanjida Tanny is the founder of Contentier (more known as The Raconteuse/Storyteller) and a passionate art curator.