Tame the Shrew?? Really??

via Daily Prompt: Tame

Who is a shrew?


The best way to understand its meaning is by either reading Shakespeare’s work – Taming of the Shrew play or by watching the film with the same title.

The first time, i was introduced to this play was in my English classes when i was in my 8th grade. From then on, i was fascinated by the style of work that Shakespeare portrayed, i loved the depth of all his plays. However, now after understanding the concept of equal rights i’m questioning  myself! How did i like this or become fond of this?

So is this write up an analysis of the play? Not at all, but is an analysis of how have we been perceiving that one set of women who have always been termed as Shrew and yes, taming them has always been the task of guys.

Unfortunately we live in a patriarchal society where women have only been seen as the cultural scapegoats. Out of curiosity, i wanted to check if there is any male version of the word shrew, to my surprise i couldn’t find any. Anger is common for all the species that are in this world, it is an emotion. Not sure why can it not be expressed by woman. An angry woman is never like by any one, oh yeah, men have their own regulations too but women has got so much on their heads that denies the basic right of a living being – Emotions.

I don’t support using force or violence to express one’s anger, it is definitely an emotion that imparts negativity on self and on those on whom it gets inflicted. I’m only against the restriction imposed on it. Who is termed to be a shrew in real life? Almost every woman who asks questions, stands up for herself, denies to adhere to a lot of norms that doesn’t make sense, questions why should she always wear a veil on top of her head, wonders what is wrong in speaking, why should she be the only person doing chores at home, why should she be married so early, questions why is the society so worried about her biological clock etc etc.

Taming is to domesticate. Are women prone to be domesticated? i was so baffled to watch the movie because the story line focused on the below

  1. Getting a woman marry which happened to be the biggest responsibility of a father
  2. A shrew can only get married to a drunkard
  3. Its absolutely okay for the dear husbands be rude to their wives to teach them a lesson
  4. An angry woman is never a gentle lady
  5. When dear husbands command a lady, she has to report immediately
  6. Not even one person has the brains to figure out the reason that the girl is angry

I cannot blame Shakespeare for this, after all he was part of the big lot that had like thoughts! The society that has been denying almost everything that a species require. When i say requirement, it is not just basic needs – Self Identity, decision making, independent and liberal minded.

Almost all the cultures in this world praise a woman’s beauty. For those women who are beautiful beyond words either get into power or become subjective to objectification. But those women who had only been focusing on internal beauty were given the title of perfect homemakers and were indirectly stopped from using their talents.

At least now we have come to live in a society where there is a sect of men who do disagree to associate the word tame to women and equally respect them, well, that’s the start!

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