Intersectionality
Theories and Cultural Impacts of Media and Technology — Reflections from Week Eight
I learnt a new word last week — Intersectionality. A lot of factors hold position and value when we say this word, a lot of factors that differentiate people. Thinking about factors that differentiate people, I don’t know if we need such factors, if we need more criteria to come to the conclusion that people are different.
I have seen and been in situations when differences become the base for discrimination, hence I’m not so sure if we need factors that are universal and require people to fit in. I believe nothing is universal, nothing should be.
I have always been rebellious and gone against my family’s traditions, rituals, norms, and rules. It is imposition that I hate. Freedom is what makes us feel like we own our lives according to me and I have very strong opinions about the same, again, this is everything I believe in, and I believe that beliefs are subjective, relative, every single person in the room can have different opinions about the same thing and there is no right or wrong when that happens.
When I think about the case study about female circumcision shown to us during class, just thinking about a practice like that makes me want to put an end to it because I wouldn’t want that, but no matter how much I would want to stop the tradition because that to me is a violation of individual rights, I know that I’m not the person who has seen it and experienced it firsthand, I am not part of the community that practices it and I have to respect that. I, as an outsider cannot go and ask a community to stop believing in what they always have. Why would anybody trust me? Have I experienced it? No, have I ever been with anyone who has? No. My opinion doesn’t matter because it is not up to me to decide for someone else. This practice involves someone’s body and only that person should get it decide if they want to go ahead with it or not. Going back to our class where we talked about abortion and who’s decision should it be, I do believe that only the person who is involved directly, who’s body is involved, should get to make that decision.
I recently started watching Bridgerton and the other day I was watching the 3rd episode of Season 2, the part where Anthony is asked to decide whether to save his mother or the baby in her womb. There are real scenarios where the birth giver is unconscious and the father or any immediate relative is asked whether to save the child or the mother, this is confusing and not fair in my opinion. I understand that if the person is unconscious, someone has to make the decision for them, but why should anybody get control of someone’s life like that.
Imposing something and banning something, I believe are the same thing
I was talking to my friend last week, and she told me about France being the first country to ban full-face veils in public areas. The thing is, forcing someone to wear a full-face veil and restricting someone from wearing a full-face veil is the same thing, you are taking away their choice. I come from a very religious Hindu Brahmin family and there are a lot of traditions and rituals that have been passed over by our ancestors. One such ritual is when a woman gets her period, she must be in an isolated environment, not meet anyone, not touch anyone, not enter the kitchen or any other part of the house, not pray. That is violation of basic human rights to me and enforcing something on someone doesn’t seem like the right thing to me in any scenario, but like we know now, right and wrong depends on the situation.
