My choice….

My first reaction: WOW! That’s it. Someone out there has said it all. Fantastic. About time we show the men that it’s a woman’s world now!

I was chatting with my friend Mona who happened to mention this video. She said, “What the hell? Who are these women? And what are they saying? This could lead to breakdown of the institution of marriage!”

I wondered what made her say that? So then…

… I watched the video again.

Who were these 99 women? I didn’t see any of our known sportswomen like PT Usha, or the first woman firefighter Harshini, or women astronaut, CEOs, entrepreneurs, pioneers in making it a better world. May be these women from different professions and walks are big names – but none known to me (I apologise for my lack of knowledge here).

It starts off well… until it reaches mentions sex. So it’s okay to have sex before marriage or after. Well, that’s a personal choice that each young woman makes anyway. But then, why do people – men and women – judge young men who go about sowing their wild oats all over the place? They are simply exercising their choice.

So, today’s modern woman can betray and cheat on her husband when she wants. No questions asked. Again – that’s always been a matter of her personal ethics. If he can, she can. Why point out at the infidelity of men? Why the gender bias? If he can, she can. Now I know what Mona had based her thought-provoking comment on.

Her man is her choice. She is her man’s choice as well. It is for him to accept her love – but, he could choose to reject it, too! Whether to love a man or a woman or both… well, sure it’s your choice. You don’t have to wear your sexual preferences on your sleeve. If you want to, sure you can. But you don’t have to. So what are you trying to say here?

And what was that about the snowfall and snowflake (did I miss something?)

I did not want to get too critical.

 So, I watched it another time to see the point of it…

Was this to mark gender equality: If he can, she can, too. If he is an insufferable fool, she can be one too. If he is good for nothing, she can be to? I saw nothing positively indicative here of taking a step forward to strengthen womankind!

To be on an equal foothold, does a woman need to stoop down?

Then I thought of the “My choice” phrase exclusively.

My choice – has it not always personal choice – whether driven by circumstances or a situation? We make our choices all the time. Irrespective of gender. And at times we flaunt them, at times we don’t!

The housewife chooses to be the homebody who wants to positively influence the tomorrow of the world by way of simply being there for her kids.

The career woman chooses to support the family financially and pursue her professional ambitions for as long as she wants; or until another more pressing option comes along.

The cleaning lady chooses to dole out her earnings to her alcoholic husband to keep him out of her way and to save herself from domestic violence. She could choose to beat him up and leave him. Many have done that, too! So yes, their personal choice has been exercised.

At every step, irrespective of gender, we make our choices. Even when we say we don’t have a choice… we have in effect made a choice. Situations, circumstances, external factors, emotions – they all come into play. Whether we feel forced to make out choice or we feel it a necessary step for personal growth, the point is that the choice is made. So what are we really going on about ‘My Choice’ here?

AH! Perhaps… perhaps, it’s to make us realize that life is all about choices.

Circumstantial choices, choices made consciously or otherwise, decisions taken spontaneously or after giving due thought. Irrespective of gender – and circumstances – the choices are ours. And we choose to live by them, or not as the case may be.

I suppose the point is – that the way we choose to live and love, is our personal choice. And that’s something we need to be aware of.

If that was the point, then the critic in me agrees that this is a powerful video. But the critic also says that it could have been created with another script and given different treatment.

That choice was not mine.

My choice was – to not create the video, but to create my blog and derive joy from voicing my thoughts here! More joy from receiving comments and ideas from you!