The Apollo-11 mission is forever entrenched in history as the human conquest of moon. But very few know the major and historic blunder that the mission committed.
The landing module of the spaceflight was left on the moon with a plaque that reads: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon, July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind.”
In one stroke, this plaque has deleted existence of women not only from the earth but the whole Universe.
If you find this cynical, then let me tell you that in 1789, one such humongous blunder was committed when the glorious French Revolution culminated in the declaration of the ‘Rights of Man and of the citizens.’ And it took Olympic de Goughes’s ‘Rights of Woman’ nearly 150 years to become a reality.
So imagine, if we ever face an alien invasion, then the aliens will spare all men because they have made that peace pact. But the rest of us will be razed to the ground. Or worse, ‘they’ too miss our existence and assign all the seats of that inter-galaxy parliament to mankind.
That would just bring us back to square one, to the day of declaration of rights of men.
As someone threw wisdom at me — men mean everyone. “Those Apollo group were all men that’s why they wrote so,” my wise friend simplified my agony.
“Don’t you see, that exactly is the problem,” I said.
Throughout my growing up years and adulthood, I have remained unsure when ‘he’ includes me and when he excludes.
Why can’t this be simple like those signs outside restrooms. ‘He’ for men and ‘she’ for women. You don’t need to hesitate outside the door, simply find the correct sign and barge in.
This looks simple but actually it is very complicated.
Like our political science lectures. The professor explained who is competent to contract under Indian Contract Act — He who is capable and forming a rational judgment…
It seems that it is not only me who is getting confused by the misplaced pronouns. Look around, you will find so many people distrusting the competency of women when it comes to finances and business acumen. Why? Because there is not a single illustration in the statute where a woman is entering into a contract.
This becomes further complicated when you read the Indian Constitution. The very foundation of our democracy, the Right to Equality. It declares that the state shall not discriminate against any citizen. And when you trace who is citizen, then Article 5 clearly words: “‘….every person who has his domicile in the territory of India….” The list is endless, you open any statute or Acts, it is always ‘he’ perched on the dias.
So, not waiting for the drafters to amend these errors, I took the matters in my hand during a lecture I was attending last week on the powers of the President of India.
“He is the supreme commander of the armed forces,” the professor explains.
“Can she apply her discretion in declaring war?” I interrupt him with pretended query.
‘No, he can only declare on the advice of Council of Ministers.’ The professor answers in a calm voice joining this ping-pong of pronouns.
‘Is this advice binding on her?’
Now do you see the complexity in this whole thing. Despite having a woman President, we choose to define things as per the words written in laws.
Thus, even if women get equal space, they will still stay invisible because we are invisible in texts. Secondly, by interpreting ‘he’ as both she and he, it brings the social conditioning that women cannot have an identity independent of men.
And the irony is that this social conditioning is so smooth that even we, women, are hesitant to claim that space even if it is given to us. It is like entering the hall and occupying the corner-most seat even if you are the only one in the room.
Not many people know about the pioneering role of women of Manipur in the social and economic sphere. You will find the markets run by women in almost all the districts. They are popularly called Ima (mother) markets. The Ima market of Imphal is the world’s only market run entirely by women. Another interesting feature is the Meira Paibis group. Meira Paibis means torch-bearer. These are community groups of women who keep a neighborhood watch on drug abuse and other social issues. In 2000, Irom Sharmila, a civil rights activist from Manipur, began her hunger strike against the atrocities committed under AFSPA. For 16 long years she was force-fed, kept chained to her bed on the charges of ‘attempt to commit suicide.’ It was because of her unrelenting defiance and the Meira Paibi’s naked protest that international and national attention was finally brought to this gross human rights violation and finally the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment. However, when Sharmila ended her fast in 2016 and contested the State election a year later, she got only 60 votes, lowest among the five candidates. Interestingly, Manipur has more women voters than men. Then why she lost? ‘Politics is not the place for women,’ this response that one of the women voters gave summarises how we have ourselves marked our lines. The paradox doesn’t end here. If we look at National Family Health Survey-4 records, Manipur tops in spousal violence. This brings back the core issue that the seen equality at the social and economic levels is illusionary till the time we do not claim the rights in letter and spirit.
It is as important as putting a nameplate outside your house despite having the legal papers, documents as proof of your ownership. Because what you own, that you want to claim.
Seeing the speed, the world is spreading, mankind has already began marking its territory on other planets. So, before they forget, let the rest of us, prepare the plaque with our distinct pronoun ready for the next space mission ready, announcing to the universe that ‘We came in peace for all.’
neovartika@yahoo.com
