Today is 14th February - Valentine's Day
Hi girls propose and express your feelings.
Don't repress!! You have every right to express!

Seram Rojesh *

Today is 14th February - Valentine's Day

Hi girls/women, express your thinkings and break the wall of suppression by the male society

Department of Political Science, DU organized Young Scholars' Conference on Power: Perspectives and Contestation on 31st January -1st February 2014 at Department of political science, DU.

I could attend only two sessions, Session III – Power: Identity, Sexuality, Erotica, Gender and Session III (Day 2): Power: New Protest Culture.

On the session of Power: Identity, Sexuality, Erotica, and Gender, one speaker, Prerna Talukdar, Sociology, School of Liberal Studies, AUD spoke on "Scroll from the Vagina: Exploring female sexual desire".

I was wondering in that talk, that very unusually, an Indian female speaking very confidently on women sexuality and women's body in a conference. I was very glad to see a female was liberating herself from her body and sexual stigma to speak in public domain. A student of sociology is expected to study these and explain how it works in society. She was talking about how vagina had become a center of the discourse – a female looks her body as the way a male looks towards women's body. In the women's sexuality also women was forced to think the way the man think about sexuality of the man – vagina. As it said, women started thinking of her sexuality and erotica on her vagina.

What one found here was, even she was liberating from her body and sexual stigma but not from the perception that was created by male society- patriarchy.

After her presentation, during the question answer session, I asked a question to her. My question was "Congratulations to you! Very glad to see a girl is liberating from her body and sexual stigma. You said many right things about how women construct about her sexuality and erotica. I found one basic fundamental problem on your analysis. “If someone talks about sexuality of man and his erotica than a man imagine towards the body of the women. But you are talking about sexual desire of a woman on Vagina. I think women also imagine and feel sexuality and her erotica on man's body as man does on female's body. You are not talking about male body - on the penis, why?"

She looks thinking very deeply and responded to the question, "Yes, I did not think about the penis part. I will think next time on the penis".

Further asked. "Penis is important on the discourse".

She responded." Yes you are right, penis is important "

We all were laughing.

The problem in her presentation was, she was questioning within the framework that was set by the male society. She was forced to think the way male folk think. Because, women have been suppressed by the society – her feeling, her desire her sexuality etc. Rules are set that women "should do this and that". “Even a woman feels to like and love for someone, she was not allowed to propose and express by her mouth but by her eyes or by her body language but in the case of male were allowing expressing their love. She was told and set a rule "women can't express about her feelings" and made to wait till she was expressed and or she was proposed.

If you express or propose than you are not "a women", you would be considered" another species" and "not feminine". Women are forced to wait and wait and made a receiver. The concept of "beauties" is constructed by the desires of the male folk in the society. In Manipuri words - "nupidi tangjabe Urene" which is known as a parasitic plant. Women have to be dependent on a tree that is man. This is how women are suppressed. That is how the presenter was thinking the way the man thinks about the women's erotica and sexuality on vagina.

On the other side, man are also made a shameless person to express everything, and allowed to be a vulnerable and called it as "masculine". Man became a shameless person by male society in the process.

Here, the writer's argument is- this suppression should be end and it argues that every person male or female should have every right to express his or her desire. We can think a society to be free from patriarchy and suppression. One should question the material condition of the male folk. Society should make a space for equality between man and female and other trans-genders.

Equality is impossible without equal sharing of the parental property – sharing of property between sons and daughters in a patriarchal society like in Manipuri society or in Indian society or any other patriarchal societies around the world. One understands that it needs restructuring the society and revolt.

To start with, girl /women and anyone who feels so among the man should try to make a revolutionary change. Don't wait till you are expressed or to be proposed. Go strength and propose if you (girl/women) think that 14 February is one of the times to express what you feel. Take a step to break the wall of suppression of women in the society. You resist this culture of suppression by the society.