Bodily functions

If you could not bear any children, would you steal little kids to pass them off as your own? That is what one Indian woman actually did in New Delhi. Because she was barren, she kidnapped baby boys to please her husband and in-laws. There is only one thing that could have driven her to do such a thing: extreme fear of abuse for "failing" her womanly function.

This is just a microcosm of the effects of patriarchy. Why should a woman be judged solely on her ability to reproduce, or worse, be abused for the lack of such an ability? It would be a bit like beating up a right-hander for not being able to write with her left hand. Are men judged at their ability to produce a harvest of healthy sperm? While erectile dysfunction can cause emotional distress and shame, rarely has it caused a fear of physical and mental abuse from others. In society's eyes, he is still a man, albeit with sexual problems.

But, a woman's core identity as a female, a woman, is ripped out from her just because she cannot bear children. This is more than shame; this strikes so deep into her spirit that she is willing to kidnap other children to hide this "shameful" part of her. Who has ripped out this woman's identity that she has to go to such lengths?

It is all of us, really. The condescending remarks that we make about a couple who doesn't have children, the pressure that parents or in-laws put on women with unending questions like "When are you going to have children?", the constant portrayal of mothers feeding happy children in cereal advertisements, the assumption that we place on people who get married that they're going to have kids or else they're just plain weird etc. If you get married, you must have kids. If not, stay single.

It's about time that women are judged for their characters and what they can do, not on their bodily functions.