(Music II, Shakti series, 2007)
“Women hold up half the sky.”
-Mao Zedong
This certainly isn't the first time I have written about India's gendercide on my blog...but every time I sit down to write about it... I feel equal parts furious, helpless and ...infinite sadness. Of course the war against girls is a worldwide phenomenon when you take into account economic disparities, lack of resources for females, violence etc etc. But nowhere else on the planet are they exterminating girls like in India and China!! It is happening at such an alarming rate...even I am staggered at the numbers...50 million...100 million...over 200 million... on and on. It is not a cultural phenomenon...it is sheer madness, hate and murder; genocide. Reading about it can seem so unreal...as if it's not really happening...that it's just words and numbers. But it's not!!
(my Tara)
It's tiny sweet faces like my Tara right here. It's little fingers and toes wanting to hold and reach and grow. It's eyes that want to see, voices that want to be heard...hearts that want to beat. It's tiny helpless faces that are trusting they will be loved and taken care of. And...it just doesn't happen. The gendercide in India and China are skewing gender ratios worldwide. In India...it is considered a curse to have a baby girl and being a woman in such a misogynistic society is dangerous right from birth onwards.
(self portrait-2010)
So...here I am...very much westernised but still...I come from these bloodlines + heart-lines + soul-linesof India and my heart breaks every single time I read about this. Now that I am a mother and I have a precious baby girl...it has become that much more personal to me. What can we do?? Become informed, advocate, sign the petition, spread the word. Please. We must we must we must. If we don't...who will?
4 comments:
Hate to think of this. Thanks for putting it out there.
I LOVE your art on this message...love the pure GIRL of it!
I can't understand why it is still happening. If the world knows about it one would think something would be done to stop it or am I just being totally naive. Looking at little Tara and thinking about this situation must send shivers down your spine.
This always breaks my heart! I sit here and think.... this can't be happening in our world can it? These poor woman who never know what it's like to be free and stand up for themselves without consequences. I want to wrap them all up in my arms and bring them home and show them how good life can be. Thanks for putting this out there. The picture is so beautiful!
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