Patriarchy or a psychological dilemma?
I always find patriarchal or misogynist behaviour deep-rooted into psychological darkness. Lack of respect, love, empathy and humanity enforces regressive thought process. Individuals exhibiting rigid fundamentals are not mentally stable or contented people; they either have gone through a chaotic childhood or have seen disaster in relationships. Regression of basic instincts and desires sits back and comes out as a stingy monster implying repression as a rule of life. Such thought not only springs from psychosocial roots but gives rise to a whole generation of psychotics exhibiting multiple abnormal behaviours as societal norms. We establish abnormal behaviours as norms and then normalise those for generations to follow involuntarily and unquestionably.
Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s words resonate with a guilty reverberation, Bol kay lab azaad hain teray. The permission to speak or silence, exist or exit, choose or chase has to come from an authority because a lesser gender was born incomplete and incapable. A self-sufficient understanding of life and choice to decide the course of life is by no means a treacherous act. It’s an instinctive right to all genders as the patriarchs boast of conserving.
Subtlety of patriarchal implications makes the whole idea justified by the patriarchs and the very subjects too. These impressions are transferred as inheritance which stays with generations. More interesting is the fact that power, liberty and immunity endowed to subjects of a patriarchal system do not qualify to be a right rather implies broad-mindedness and yet another privilege of the higher order.
This psycho-socially normalised behaviours cannot be justified as innocent and involuntarily operative. It is an individual’s contribution towards normalising norms which are actually human and based on equality. Innumerable research patterns have found an equable part of environmental influences and an individual’s own understanding of his existence and experience. It is his own peculiar understanding of life and people which will ensure his liberation from the peril of a patriarchal trap.
As a society, we might need a better and advanced mental health awareness regime. Extremely talented people spend their lives fighting a mental issue and ruining not only his/her life but of the many people associated or dependent. They can be precious beings with a little bit of clinical or therapeutic help.
Our society thrives over the concept of shame and is driven by emotion. We need to inculcate emotional intelligence to act right in the middle of chaos. Along with feminist and patriarchal confrontations, we might need a serious overview of the psycho-social aspects of individuals who fail to understand or adapt to the normal strata of society. Healthy minds give rise to healthy lives and sick minds infect everyone related and even affect society by setting up another sickening instance of disease. Honour killing, harassment and abuse are just a few instances of these situations. Problematic is the issue of never realising that human beings can and do suffer from mental illness and it is as sickening as any other disease. We don’t need sermons about piety and grandeur of women in religious or cultural doctrines. We need an accelerated instruction of the psychologically challenged individuals exhibiting misogynistic demeanours.
Power and paradigm of patriarchal enterprise isn’t a plateau to be fertilised with a singular idea rather it is a rocky hill to climb with a novel strategy at every step. This has to be done through media, literature and curriculum based on human understanding rather on the basis of gender, race or colour. An in-depth study and therapeutic instances may help the souls suffering from patriarchal disorders by ensuring that their prestige and value will be handled with care being terminally fragile.