Dear Gender Equality,

Are you breathing healthily as we masquerade with masks?

As the world collectively battles a pandemic attempting physical distancing and lockdown, you too are engulfed having suffered a body blow, bleeding in solidarity with Women. We hear that you have been tested positive with this virus leading to a major setback pushing you 25 years behind after coming all the way.

This is not the first time when you have found yourself shattered, forgotten, abused, troubled, and isolated. Humankind has disappointed you in more ways than one and yet, you never give up. Your courage and resilience give us hope.

You were promised a bright 2020 by the world – touting it as a landmark year for you, celebrating you on commissioned days, conferences, and global platforms. But the year decelerated into a downward spiral. Our hearts ache as we witnessed in the last two months an escalation of domestic violence, women burdened with the disproportionate workload, wage gaps widen, and workforce participation decreases. The world discusses, with varying passion and frequency threats to your existence during and post this pandemic. As if all of this was not enough, a misogynistic locker room in the dark cyber world brought the spotlight back on you with questions, claims, and one of your quintessential nemesis – plain arrogant masculine disregard.

But in this struggle, we continuously remind ourselves to not miss significant victories. There were times this year when the world came closer to truly understanding and respecting your soul. We celebrated as you shone brightly in the courtroom where survivors were brought to justice as Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted. We cannot forget your radiant smile when the Indian Supreme Court struck down the government’s submissions reeking of patriarchal notions and acknowledged that courage and bravery have no gender by ruling in favor of permanent commission to women officers in the Indian Arm, the Hindu Succession Act giving women equal rights over the ancestral inheritance, and extending state protection to the same-sex

couple in Orissa.

Your surging presence met us in the corridors of power, jostling streets, and bustling markets across the world. Finland invited you to the parliament to guide the nation. Your strides walked the talk for the Aurat March in Pakistan. Closer home you opened an iteration of courage in the Shaheen Baghs of India. We live for the day when you have omnipresence.

Your torchbearers across the world are united by this collective belief that we won’t wait for another 250 years to meet you. The road to revolution is long and challenging. We are up against centuries-old rigid social structures and deeply embedded patriarchal mindsets, topped with leading economic markets and acquiring power taking precedence over you.

But we believe that your time has come. We cannot progress as a generation without you. And to achieve the feat of finding you everywhere in the world we have to understand that every action counts – dialogue, awareness, campaigns, law, redressals, policies, representation – at a global and an individual level. TARA believes that you will shine upon us one fine day with sparkling finesse. We will hold ourselves accountable to you as we fully commit to our mission of building a world which practices and adorns you every day.

Until then, stay strong.

With faith in the revolution,

TARA Foundation

Written By: Achalika
About the Author
Achalika is a part of the TARA Foundation, primarily responsible for designing and facilitation of Gender Sensitization Workshops. Outside sessions, you’d find her with a dog, behind a book, staring at a wall (and) or laughing at a meme.