Skip to main content

Superwoman


The biblical god stopped his creative spree with the manufacture of Eve. Eve put an end to god’s creative imagination apparently. At any rate, Eve was quite a force to reckon with: she changed the history of the entire human species. She upset the entire divine apple cart.

It’s a different matter that men used this tale to control women for millennia. The fact remains that women were essentially superior to men. Probably one of the major purposes of the Bible was to rein in that superiority and set up man as the patriarch. Not only the Bible, but also lot many other scriptures elevate man to a higher pedestal and subjugate women to the missionary position.

When Nietzsche regarded Jesus and Buddha as effeminate in contradistinction to the macho conquerors in history, was the philosopher missing a point? I think so. The conquerors have lost the limelight and the effeminate Jesus and Buddha have ruled the hearts of the faithful for centuries.

Nietzsche’s great error was to associate the gentle virtues of love and compassion with women and ascribe the tougher ones like assertiveness and domination to men. That association was one of the many perverted creations of man. If the woman was given equal opportunities, if she was not relegated to the biblical labour room with the sole tasks of bringing up babies and pandering to men’s egos, Nietzsche’s Superman would as well be a Superwoman.

If Nietzsche lived today, he would surely create a female Zarathustra. Today’s women have proved that they are in no way inferior to men. On the contrary, some of them have proved to be superior by virtue of their better dedication and readiness to toil.

So there is really no need for dedicating any particular day to women. The women’s day – national or international – is as obsolete today as the gargoyle. Soon the world may need to dedicate a day to the men folk; the poor creatures seem to be fast losing out in the ratrace to capture the pies in the skies.

Even as a commercial opportunity, women’s day is quite redundant. Any day is woman’s day now. Any day is good for a tango and its tangible delights. Just order the goodies online and have the fling on the go, on your way to your own paradise – feminine or masculine. We are all supermen and superwomen now, all of us, if we want to be.

PS. Written for Indispire Edition 264: #takebackwomensday



Comments

  1. pranita deshpandeMarch 13, 2019 at 9:55 PM

    Beautiful post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sonal's PalletteMarch 14, 2019 at 10:02 AM

    I agree any day is a woman's day! Loved this post! You have a way with words :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Arvind PasseyMarch 14, 2019 at 11:44 AM

    So men are 'the poor creatures seem to be fast losing out in the rat-race to capture the pies in the skies'... loved that. I guess it is the same with examinations, job opportunities, and promotions where 'categories' are finding an in-road even for 'general' candidates. Where does this end?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 14, 2019 at 8:09 PM

      That's the point. Where does this end? Our notions are perverted and policies skewed.

      Delete
  4. wingsMarch 15, 2019 at 11:29 AM

    What is redundant is that contradistinction made by Nietzsche. Why comparison anyway? Both genders are complementary to each other. The problem lies with those who cannot understand this symbiotic relationship between both the genders. The last few lines well delineate this. Unfortunately, the majority of the so called thinkers cannot even perceive this idea clearly. A very well written blog driving home this point as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 15, 2019 at 7:30 PM

      It is only in the latter half of 20th century women were given some sort of equality which changed the entire social structure and outlooks.Nietzsche lived before that and he took the given reality as the basis of his argument.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Death as a Sculptor

Book Discussion An Introductory Note : This is not a book review but a reflection on one of the many themes in The Infatuations , novel by Javier Marias. If you have any intention of reading the novel, please be forewarned that this post contains spoilers. For my review of the book, without spoilers, read an earlier post: The Infatuations (2013). D eath can reshape the reality for the survivors of the departed. For example, a man’s death can entirely alter the lives of his surviving family members: his wife and children, particularly. That sounds like a cliché. Javier Marias’ novel, The Infatuations , shows us that death can alter a lot more; it can reshape meanings, relationships, and even morality of the people affected by the death. Miguel Deverne is killed by an abnormal man right in the beginning of the novel. It seems like an accidental killing. But it isn’t. There are more people than the apparently insane killer involved in the crime and there are motives which are di...
7 comments
Read more

When Cricket Becomes War

Illustration by Copilot Designer Why did India agree to play Pakistan at all if the animosity runs so deep that Indian players could not even extend the customary handshake: a simple ritual that embodies the very essence of sportsmanship? Cricket is not war, in the first place. When a nation turns a game into a war, it does not defeat its rival; it only wages war on its own culture, poisoning its acclaimed greatness. India which claims to be Viswaguru , the world’s Guru, is degenerating itself day after day with mounting hatred against everyone who is not Hindu. How can we forget what India did to a young cricket player named Mohammed Siraj , especially in this context? In the recent test series against England, India achieved an unexpected draw because of Siraj. 1113 balls and 23 wickets. He was instrumental in India’s series-levelling victory in the final Test at the Oval and was declared the Player of the Match. But India did not celebrate him. Instead, it mocked him for his o...
6 comments
Read more

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

In this Wonderland

I didn’t write anything in the last few days. Nor did I feel any urge to write. I don’t know if this lack of interest to write is what’s called writer’s block. Or is it simple disenchantment with whatever is happening around me? We’re living in a time that offers much, too much, to writers. The whole world looks like a complex plot for a gigantic epic. The line between truth and fiction has disappeared. Mass murders have become no-news. Animals get more compassion than fellow human beings. Even their excreta are venerated! Folk tales are presented as scientific truths while scientific truths are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. When the young generation in Nepal set fire to their Parliament and Supreme Court buildings, they were making an unmistakable statement: that they are sick of their political leaders and their systems. Is there any country whose leaders don’t sicken their citizens? I’m just wondering. Maybe, there are good leaders still left in a few coun...
12 comments
Read more

Whose Rama?

Book Review Title: Whose Rama? [Malayalam] Author: T S Syamkumar Publisher: D C Books, Kerala Pages: 352 Rama may be an incarnation of God Vishnu, but is he as noble a man [ Maryada Purushottam ] as he is projected to be by certain sections of Hindus? This is the theme of Dr Syamkumar’s book, written in Malayalam. There is no English translation available yet. Rama is a creation of the Brahmins, asserts the author of this book. The Ramayana upholds the unjust caste system created by Brahmins for their own wellbeing. Everyone else exists for the sake of the Brahmin wellbeing. If the Kshatriyas are given the role of rulers, it is only because the Brahmins need such men to fight and die for them. Valmiki’s Rama too upheld that unjust system merely because that was his Kshatriya-dharma, allotted by the Brahmins. One of the many evils that Valmiki’s Rama perpetrates heartlessly is the killing of Shambuka, a boy who belonged to a low caste but chose to become an ascetic. The...
8 comments
Read more