Juairia Haque Mahi
Napoleon once said,
”Give me an educated father, I’ll give you an educated nation.”
Sultana dreams of a utopia where prejudices and bigotry are in a reversed state, where Napoleon urges to educate men the same as women. Sultana portrays a gender-biased person who perpetuates subjugation and grilling in her chimera. She gets interrogated in her utopia by a meninist.
“What is your notion of parental-equity in nurturing children?” Martin asks.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, children need their fathers around them more than their mothers. It’s what males are biologically programmed for, and the highest they can become.
How does it feel, being a working dad? Corporate men cannot render enough time and care to their children. Kids come first. They should drop their high ambitions. Women can choose to remain blind to their men’s achievements and career-oriented desires. Terms such as: womankind, often get questioned by meninists. I don’t get why people get offended with gender-neutral terminologies,” Sultana replies.
“What qualities are to be sought in a male partner for marriage?” Martin asks, to figure out her vantage.
“In the market of marriage, the trite traits in men that are sought for are as follows: being young, educated, slim, fair, and submissive; possessing a good financial background, and not being career-driven at all. If men are not trained to stay silent and not be outspoken at home, how would they survive at their in-laws’? The world can rant about racism and body-shaming, but attractive physical features make boys stand out in the marriage-market, and help cost less in dowries to bid them off. Hence, 25-step skincare routines must be followed strictly, which include spending an hour behind improving complexions and weight-loss before benevolent women marry them before men’s expiry date of marriage. If they’re over 30, they should accept the life of a lonely, old sheep. Men owe it to us to be pleasant to look at and to allow us to lasciviously leer at them. #notallwomen.” Sultana sounded like a bigoted, sexist ideological person who refuses to gender-parity.
Martin keeps his cool, and carries on his interrogation. “What are the prime roles and expected lifestyles of husbands?”
“Men should stay indoors. Husbands must be submissive to their wives, and their ultimate purpose in life is to serve their family. Without fathers devoting their lives to raise their kids, what sort of future would we have? They may have to drop out of the workforce, and give up silly interests like spending time with friends, co-curricular activities, or hangouts. But embracing their new identity — “dad” — is fundamental to the fabric of the society.
A colleague of mine said: ‘Surely, they’re caring but I need them to come running at the drop of a hat. After being a dad, they forget putting their wives’ needs first. I don’t like waiting for my man to be done with the household chores.’ I completely agree with what she shared.
To dads, wives and their children are the most relevant thing; what else can they hope for from life! The pinnacle of male desire and expectation lies in being a dad to serve and nurture children. This is what they’re born to do. Some might attempt to have careers, but who are they kidding? Being at home the whole day with kids is absolutely ideal because of science.
Do men who don’t father children truly fulfill their purpose of existence on this earth?
Well, once they become fathers, they don’t appear beautiful anymore. They need to maintain skincare routines to glow as if they never had children, and make their wives feel like they’re not ageing.
Surely, women are doing enough as parents. Look at them, they manage a weekend to stay at home instead of caring about their personal space.
Holding kids is a tedious task. But I’m humble enough to hold my kid, and let my husband eat. I cooked a meal during summer vacation when he had to attend to his relative urgently. I think he should be proud of it,” Sultana womansplains, “Let me characterise male-players now.”
“Why are we labelled male-players instead of just ‘players’?” Martin gets pissed off at this point.
“Men’s reflexes are not fast enough to play competitive games. They might get too emotional at nerve-wracking stages. Also, men can only claim to be gamers if they’ve played every single e-game that has ever been released, and watched every match to date. Men, mostly, get roles of being candy-men beside women protagonists dealing with antagonists, and waging wars alone while they seek rescue every time due to their delicacy. Delicacy and fragility are manly traits. History has proved that adventurous and dangerous tasks only suit women. Men who work in defence sectors lose their manly beauty. Men are like flowering plants. They should grow and spread their beauty in their provided place. They can play the supporting roles from indoors. But women will be women — pragmatic, objective, and tough. Also, we know how men persuade their bosses to quickly bag promotions in workplaces. My brother and father never slut around wearing ties and tight jeans. Respectability is earned through modest attire, and men these days seem to care least about it.” Sultana blatantly persists womansplaining her sexist remarks.
“Why does every query end up asking us our personal issues regardless of the job we’re in and how much effort we put in? We are asked if we were planning to have kids or marry during our interviews; if not, then we’re asked when we are going to plan for it. Our creative tasks are presumed to be accomplished by others, and we don’t get due credits. Our wages, in most cases, are not the same as women having the same job titles, even if we toil the same as them or more. Our achievements are compared to our wives’ professions, and society makes us ponder if our spouses mind us having careers. We even get quizzed regarding our wardrobes i.e. what sort of clothes we put on, and what deodorants we use that appear masculine but do not effuse distracting impressions. Somehow, career-commitment is often scoffed at indirectly through concerns of our inability to spend enough time during events and unanticipated situations.
Staying indoors or aspiring careers should be individual life-choices. None of us can decide what people are meant to do with their lives,” he replies, taking umbrage at her disparaging statements.
Sultana mumbles in her slumber, “Irony, what irony.”
The writer is a part of the TDA Editorial Team.