The textbooks of history are filled with the accounts of oppressed communities and their struggle for freedom.
There is one universally oppressed community, which, however, does not seem to be acknowledged by historians and that is women.
Their struggle for freedom has for long met with ridicule even from the members of their own community.
The reason perhaps is a failure on the part of most women to understand and appreciate the meaning of freedom and its significance.
In several parts of the Third World, the struggle is yet to begin and in some parts it has made good progress.
However, in no part are women totally done with it.
The destination is still miles away.
Freedom is a comprehensive word and can be tricky.
To think of it as a simple word is simplistic.
In several ways it is synonymous with health, happiness and success.
It sounds good to hear about the types of freedom like social freedom, economic freedom and political freedom.
But the fact is that one cannot have it in parts.
Parts put together do not make a whole, as far as freedom is concerned.
It is indivisible, like peace.
We either have it or lack it.
There is no third option.
Defining categories looks like a manipulative attempt to appease, misguide or distract women from their focus.
Friedrich Engels put the idea of freedom in very simple words: "Freedom is the recognition of necessity.
" The great quote, in spite of its simple words, is as profound as freedom itself.
It projects freedom as a law of the nature, as a point of harmony between nature and conscious thought.
As long as one fails to recognize what is naturally and rightfully due, there is no possibility of understanding what freedom is all about.
For women, this is easier said than done because the world that we live in has already set standards as to what a woman should be and what she shouldn't be, what she deserves and what she doesn't, so on and so forth.
A little investigation makes it evident that the definitions and parameters in vogue have a chauvinistic and opportunistic flavor.
It follows that, without shaking off the existing paradigms, it will never be possible for women to set their new direction.
It also follows that there will be a lot of confusion, threat, conflict and apparent contradiction when the existing paradigms are examined vis-a-vis the natural and absolute nature of freedom.
The contradiction is only because we are forced to answer questions that we have, for long, evaded or avoided.
Once we, women, muster the courage to face the realities as they are, the contradictions dissolve.
Such clarity is a precondition for any fight to succeed.
The sooner this awareness dawns on women, the faster they will get to their point of emancipation.
There is one universally oppressed community, which, however, does not seem to be acknowledged by historians and that is women.
Their struggle for freedom has for long met with ridicule even from the members of their own community.
The reason perhaps is a failure on the part of most women to understand and appreciate the meaning of freedom and its significance.
In several parts of the Third World, the struggle is yet to begin and in some parts it has made good progress.
However, in no part are women totally done with it.
The destination is still miles away.
Freedom is a comprehensive word and can be tricky.
To think of it as a simple word is simplistic.
In several ways it is synonymous with health, happiness and success.
It sounds good to hear about the types of freedom like social freedom, economic freedom and political freedom.
But the fact is that one cannot have it in parts.
Parts put together do not make a whole, as far as freedom is concerned.
It is indivisible, like peace.
We either have it or lack it.
There is no third option.
Defining categories looks like a manipulative attempt to appease, misguide or distract women from their focus.
Friedrich Engels put the idea of freedom in very simple words: "Freedom is the recognition of necessity.
" The great quote, in spite of its simple words, is as profound as freedom itself.
It projects freedom as a law of the nature, as a point of harmony between nature and conscious thought.
As long as one fails to recognize what is naturally and rightfully due, there is no possibility of understanding what freedom is all about.
For women, this is easier said than done because the world that we live in has already set standards as to what a woman should be and what she shouldn't be, what she deserves and what she doesn't, so on and so forth.
A little investigation makes it evident that the definitions and parameters in vogue have a chauvinistic and opportunistic flavor.
It follows that, without shaking off the existing paradigms, it will never be possible for women to set their new direction.
It also follows that there will be a lot of confusion, threat, conflict and apparent contradiction when the existing paradigms are examined vis-a-vis the natural and absolute nature of freedom.
The contradiction is only because we are forced to answer questions that we have, for long, evaded or avoided.
Once we, women, muster the courage to face the realities as they are, the contradictions dissolve.
Such clarity is a precondition for any fight to succeed.
The sooner this awareness dawns on women, the faster they will get to their point of emancipation.
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