SMALL decisions by men can make a big difference in a woman's life. This is about decisions that affect women directly but are taken without consulting the very people it is directed towards. They can be decisions on small matters or matters big.
Because men are not women, even with the best of intentions, they cannot see things through the lens of a woman. The sooner this fact is recognised by those whose pen is mightier than the voices of the less fortunate 50% women of this country, the better. For then, and only then, will they hear a different set of voices and pay attention.
Men take thousands of decisions every day within the household, work places and at the national level that do not reflect
the feelings, conveniences, aspirations and needs of women of this country. Think of men who have no clue about cooking meals. The woman in the kitchen has to improvise every day to provide the best meal she can to her family with whatever groceries the "master of the house" has brought in that day.
Imagine if a man has the authority to decide what a woman can carry in her handbag! Imagine if he decides she can carry no handbag at all! Would you be surprised? Would you condemn, criticise or admonish him for enforcing such a decision on a woman? Perhaps you will call him an arrogant, insensitive and irrational person?
Will you then ask him not to carry his pockets with him? For he carries pockets -- lots of them -- wherever he goes. He has
pockets in his jacket, pockets hidden in the inside of his jacket, in his trousers --back, front and on the sides -- and on his shirt! Would you want to know what he carries in his pockets?
He probably carries business cards and a handkerchief, pens, note pads, car keys, office keys, keys to his cabinet and perhaps the house key. For sure, he carries his eye-glasses and sometimes his sun glasses in his pockets too! These are harmless items so he gets to carry his pockets --full of personal but important items as these - - along with him wherever he goes, even when he goes to see very important persons of the republic.
Would you now like to know what a woman carries in her handbag? Surprise, surprise! She carries the same stuff in her small little handbag. In addition, she probably carries her lipstick and a compact. She carries a purse or handbag as an integral part of her outfit for she has no pockets. Bangladeshi women wear saris, in case some people have missed it.
Can she carry a gun or a bomb in her handbag? Perhaps she can. So, can a man carry similar objects in one or several of his numerous pockets? Of
course, the likelihood of his carrying these items through the scanner as he walks past it when he goes to meet very important persons is as remote as a woman carrying her handbag in the same situation.
So, why is it that women are specifically asked not to bring in their handbags when they are invited to state parties, national day receptions, and meetings where there are WlPs? Don't they need their personal items as men do?
Has anybody ever given it a serious thought as to where will women put their business cards, pens and note pads? Or keys, if they leave their handbags behind in the car? Surely men wouldn't leave their keys in the car with the chauffer, inviting him to rob them off while they are attending a state function? But then, men are never asked to leave their jackets or pockets behind!
It is high time to do away with discrimina -tory decisions; decisions that are taken through the stroke of a pen by mighty men, without consulting those who are affected by these decisions; decisions that impinge upon the fundamental rights of a person. Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution ensure equality
and forbid discrimination on grounds of race, caste or sex Article 28 (3) clearly states: "Women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of state and public life."
Equal access is a fundamental right, and it is a duty of those who hold the authority to decide to respect this right.
No country in the world that believes in equal rights has such words written on invitation cards!
Thank you gentlemen. You can bring in your pockets!
Nasim Firdaus is a former Ambassador and Executive Director, Bangladesh Alliance for Women Leadership.