As seconds flew in air, she
was inching very close to me, close I could ever fantasize. My nerves trembled
when the air between us was rushing its way out, as it penetrated through my
senses. She was deliberately compressing the space between us, as the people in
the bus stand saw with disgust and dirt. I do not know who she was? Why she was
embarrassing me and what was she up to? Thousand questions lined up one by one
haunting, but being a fun loving person and social minded devil, I continued to
escape eye contact, still noticing her acts of sexual innocence. I slowly
crawled away from her, wishing I could hypnotize myself when she repeats her
act of disguise. My mind, which for most of the time was a vacuum prone base,
wanted to travel to the deepest, underlying thoughts of a woman, considered out
of question by the majority, tried and flopped by the minority. She was casting
herself as a person who she never was, she had something that her eyes never
reflected and her lips perfectly faked her heart. Catechizing out her thoughts
was impossible at that very instinct because of the situation I was put into.
My ears unmuted when the genius and humane part of me accurately synchronized
with my thoughts and woke me up from dilemma and yes, she was a Sex-Worker. If
not for her profession, people would also take pride in calling her a
PROSTITUTE. Minutes later, I started to walk towards light, not because she was
in darkness but because I met someone who has taught me to contradict between
light and dark. She is a part of womanhood seldom respected, often misused and
molested. She thrives for her living and yes, she too is a WOMAN born blessed,
facing hazards, speculations and insults all through.
Two extreme contradictory
faces of womanhood that happened to come across my livelihood, gagged my unstable
mind and insensitive heart, humping a big question within me.
One tried to seduce, enchant
and take me to some cop- free lodge so that I would reward her to sleep with me
and would pay suitable wages for the pleasure of having her body. She didn’t
even torment about the fact that I was way too younger for her. She was trading
her sexuality for the money that could get her a meal, her ailing husband the
required medical treatment, habitation for her children and her parents a
chance to thrive in this ruthless society. Now, are the words slut, whore and a
bitch suitable enough to describe a woman of such stature fighting all odds in their
life? Thus we equipped her with a more furnished and modest name
"SEX-WORKER". Somewhere deep within she wanted to live a transparent
and authentic life, but society?
One, tolerating all the
bullets, still remaining firm and breaking all the barricade has bestowed women
with the maturity that age is not a part when we fight against anti-social
elements. A sixteen year old, probably one of the strongest girls by heart has
ensured that all Pakistani women would be literate in the years to come. Malala
Yousafzai is not only a girl, but a complete woman. Weakness, hopelessness and
fear died. Strength, courage and power were born. Her words are a source of
wisdom anytime.
Both are women combating
with diversified attitudes, fighting out for their own rights and living. What
makes the difference is all what matters. We are people who always talk and
revolutionize good and that is the sole reason one is standing in United
Nations and the other in some stupid roads waving hands for consumers of SEX. Ethos
of men has never changed over the years, desiring to just sleep with women
anytime and anywhere. If ever we tried to bring parallelism in thoughts and
made men perceive the fact that virginity is not a symbol of womanhood, Prostitution
would have never been the big game of filth, in survival today. Prostitution is
not only a conviction, but the act of penetrating a woman both sexually and
mentally by one man, another man and it goes on. That’s what it is.
What does feminism have to
do with the work of sex? Are sex workers feminists? Aren’t they concerned about
their own sex, striving and falling to the wickedness of men? Many questions
evolve when we go deep inside. Only 30 percent of the total women living are
feminists. The remaining still fall prey to some inadequate and idiosyncratic
mindset of man. If feminism is all about equilibrium of sexes, why are all
women not feminists? The problem is when women don’t care about their liberties;
men stab them with their power of dominance, prostitution is no different.
Feminists are turning out to be egotistical and self-seeking, difficult to
interpret. Most women don’t like to presume themselves as helpless victims and
even after years of battle against men, the unethical prostitution can never be
displaced from the society. Instead of reasoning and winning over arguments
with men, if feminists could have accommodated women with proper sex education,
termination of prostitution would have been very much possible. Still they put
up a struggle to prove that the profession of sex is degrading and only serves
to enhance male supremacy. They present facts, but refuse to bring a change
ahead. Feminists are not willing to accept SEX WORKERS as their own selves. But
somewhere deep within there is a feminist within each of the sex-worker, only
buried amidst the evils of the society. They are feminists in disguise.
Women, a symbol of love and
power, have learnt to face odds but are they equipped well enough to fight it
out themselves, is a big question. Society is creating an ambiance that places
sex workers at risk, not their profession. If it was the other way round,
feminism would have had its share of success, but literally demanding equal
rights and speaking that sex work is degrading our customs and some saying that
it is also like any other profession, we have forgot the women caught in
between the extremities. They have had their own dying situations and speculations
for being pushed into the sex industry, and we instead of providing them with
an option of educating and spreading awareness, have insulted them all the way,
calling and addressing to them as a prostitute, whore, slut etc. They are prone
to rampage and insult everywhere. Sex workers are not given a platform to voice
their opinion about themselves. Being women, they are not even allowed to speak
about women. They are a part of womanhood, turning out to be OBJECTS to be
spoken for and about, sometimes by feminists themselves.
Women would be truly unchained
only when the male hold on clutches of influential power are relieved. They
need the power to echo their ideas, tell their own stories in their own way and
perspective, rather than through male dominant mirrors. A recent study shows
that men’s self-esteem is hurt if their opposite sex succeeds at something that
they themselves fail at. Feminism for sure, would see an increase in number if
so, but whatever the profession of sex is never going to be impacted unless the
male dominant mentality of men and equality demanding feminists go hand in hand
and work together for the well-being of the marginalized community of sex
workers, pliable to all the anti-social elements.
Like every girl, she too
would have wanted to become a doctor, activist, engineer or a painter, only to
find herself in a place that she was propelled into. Sex workers are not criminals;
they are just women who lack resources and dignity in the society. Instead of
showcasing and discussing about her purity, it’s high time we cleanse and
retune ourselves before we pay to sleep with them. Until and unless the temperament
of men keeps trading them, they would be the same workers, sweating for payable
SEX.
