We could call God “rock, fire, light, wind, door, key and father”, but never, ever “MOTHER”. It was a moment of soul-shaking revelation for me.
Sr INIGO SSA
When Dalits are attacked and they take out a rally, we don’t bother about it. It is their problem. When the Tribals are affected and demand their rights, we don’t see it as our problem. When people of other religions are killed, we don’t join them to protest, as it is their issue. When women are affected and come out in public to raise their voices and demand their rights, men label them as ‘prostitutes’ and leave them alone as if it is their issue. We cannot alienate ourselves in this way and see only our problems as real problems. Such a selfish world has to disappear and a new world order has to emerge. Wherever human rights are violated and whenever human beings are reduced to objects, it becomes everyone’s issue. So gender issues are not merely women’s issues. They are human issues, moral issues and spiritual issues. I am not a feminist. I am neither an anti-feminist. What am I? I am a realist, a humanist! We are not talking only about the issues of women among marginalized communities but our concern here is just “Women”. We are not talking about marginalized women but the marginalization of women.
Most vulnerable marginalized groups in almost every society are women. Under different economic conditions like poverty and under the influence of specific historical, cultural, legal and religious factors, marginalization of women is one of the manifestations of a Patriarchal society. Basically India is a Patriarchal society which is dominated by men. Sex is natural; being man and woman is natural but gender inequality is a man or a human made discrimination. Women Face Challenges from All Fronts Nowadays we find women working in all kinds of fields like space, banks, schools, the police, the army, politics and so on. Even after so much progress, women face a variety of issues and challenges. The major challenge is a patriarchal and a stereotypical mind-set. Rape is the fastest growing crime in the country today. As the country talks about smart cities, we also need inclusive cities. The endless incidents of rapes coming to light both in society as well as in the Church should make us ponder over the issue in depth and work out a strong strategy to deal with it. I feel as if Sodom and Gomorrah have been reborn in our country. Women also suffer from dowry deaths. They are vulnerable to trafficking, subject to torture— both mental and physical—marital rape, genital mutilation, demands of dowry, polygamy and forced marriages.
They are being forced to commit suicide, undergo virginity testing and endure unwanted pregnancies. They are subject to honour killings by their own people to save the reputation of the family or the community. They are abandoned by partners and found in brothels in cities for their livelihood. The children are the victims in this system. There are also problems associated with domestic work and with the migration of women in search of jobs. These women are exploited: long hours of work, poor wages, no annual leave or medical facilities, sexual or physical abuse, treated as inhuman beings, etc. Nearly 40% of female suicides in the world occur in India. There are 30 million missing women in India. 21 million girls and women are unwanted. “Even the mother’s womb is not a safe place for girl children”. Girls can be named this way: My name is kachada, I am a piece of waste, an extra. Selective female foeticide is still rampant in India. From acid attacks to raping and burning them alive, women are being pushed to the margins of society. The reason is gender inequality and gender injustice. The women are treated as the weaker sex. Our socio-cultural system is such that it gives special priority to a male child and the birth of a girl is considered a curse even in this ultra-modern world. Women have been victims of violence – be it at the domestic level or in the public sphere or even in the Church. Since the legal provisions were male oriented until the recent past, females and their roles were defined conveniently in a way favourable to the males. It is necessary to address its root cause. What is wrong with the Indian male? Is he unable to deal with modern empowered women? Does he feel that he can get away with crimes against women? Almost no woman is safe. This should be frightening us.
It is a very sad reality of the country that its women citizens are living with fear all the time. The women are still treated as the weaker sex, though she is inclusive – weaker sex, opposite sex, complementary and Reciprocal (S/HE, WO/Man, Fe/Male, M/Adam) This is a spirituality…..Though the leadership in the church condemns violence against women in the country, it seems to condone violence in religious institutions. The church leaders silence the victims. This leaves us in disbelief and shock. The time is now for the Churches to demonstrate that they have zero tolerance to any form of violence, especially sexual violence. A vast majority of women are still in bondage. They are economically dependent, poor and illiterate. Women belonging to the lower castes and Dalits, women from tribal areas fall under this category. In this context, the Church’s primary path of mission needs to be the same as that of Jesus who became the voice of the voiceless. To be the leaven in Indian society today urges the Church to recognize the contribution of women and to create structures that will enhance the greater participation of women in all aspects of ecclesial life. Jesus took sides with the women: Mk: 14: 4-5. But even after 2,000 years of their existence, half of the followers of Jesus are not counted. They are neither visible nor audible in the Church.
In India religious women constitute nearly 82% of the Consecrated people. “Women as Victims” is further problematized in the light of contemporary issues in India. We had been singing God’s praises as “Morning Star, rock and refuge of sinners and gate of heaven” for century after century. And always, always, God was “our Father”. In the book “Called to Question”, John Chittister says: We never ever prayed to “God our Mother”. God, the source of creation, God the eternal womb, was never, ever recognized as a Mother God. We could call God “rock, fire, light, wind, door, key and father”, but never, ever “MOTHER”. It was a moment of soul-shaking revelation. Where were women in these images of God? And if they weren’t there, what kind of God was this? I had given my life to a God who did not see me, did not include me, and did not touch my nature with God’s own. The system never changes because the people with the power to change it know that they would stand to lose power if they did. So they say they can’t change it because it has always been this way. And the circle goes round and round. This means God is a pure being. God is Father as well as Mother. Therefore nobody is going to empower women or speak about equality.
We have to prepare women and women religious ‘through drip irrigation’ to get enlightened. Such on-going formation is important. Gender inequality has been everywhere for centuries in different societies in different dimensions. Whether or not a society is literate or illiterate, progressive or non-progressive, religious or non-religious, every society has invariably been practicing some sort of discrimination against women, though the degree and category might differ. Thanks to the hard and sustained efforts by several social movements, women’s organizations and enlightened men and women with a liberal mind-set, we see a great drive to establish equality among the genders and eradicate any type of discrimination against women. Nonetheless all these good efforts very often stop only at the institutional level and don’t percolate among the common masses to move towards a society that is liberated from such gender discrimination and prejudices. To achieve this goal what is urgently needed is to have attitudinal changes, both in men and women. Human beings are basically good. All of us are in the divine image, divine power and divine energy. We need to develop this positive spirituality. Once a person recognizes the divine presence within the human person, then that person will see the other person with dignity and respect. They are called empowered people. An empowered person can motivate others to become empowered. We see that the bisexuality ratio has grown over time and so has discrimination. It has become one of the hot topics for debate even internationally.
Do we know the challenges they face? LGBTQ discrimination has been encouraged by the Indian Law till recent years. Section 377 in 2018 has led to a new opportunity and would help a great deal in the future. From the theories of X and Y to the hormonal theories, we can say that it’s a revolution in the human sciences. Instead of blaming them for something that wasn’t their mistake, let’s rather understand them and encourage them so they can make their contribution. This community deserves the dignity and respect that most people take for granted. Finally: This is the Age of Information. I feel both men and women should be given a radical on-going formation to understand the signs of the times. Both men and women in the church are called to be prophets, the conscience of society. Then only both could be courageous, creative and compassionate missionaries in the world. Ultimately, it is women who must determine what a woman’s worth is. To wait for a husband, a father or a brother or a religious man to undergo an attitudinal change might take too long, if at all there is a change. Into that heaven of freedom, my Father and Mother, let my brothers and sisters awake!
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