Devastatingly Beautiful

I feel like it is the perfect time for me to dress up in Elsa costume and sing Let it go to the massive pile of snow in my driveway,maybe then it will move. Spoken like a true New Englandner,eh? Seriously tho, it has been snowing for over 24 hours now,the historic blizzard is on full swing. It is not supposed to stop till 1 am today,the roads are blocked,thousands flights are canceled and I'm lovin' it. Not because of the two snow days,but because I'm getting to feel raw nature after so long,and nature,like pain,demands to be felt.

Ever since I have come to 'Murica I feel like I have stayed away from raw nature for a long time. Don't get me wrong,it's not like there are no trees or whatever,but it just feels artificial to me. Like everything is planned,thought out.Nature isn't something that should be planned,it isn't something to be tamed,it is something to be left on it's own,to run wild. And we humans are yet to learn that.

I have said enough times how much I miss the rain of Bangladesh. One of the many reasons I love the rain of Bangladesh because it is so reckless. It would cause power outage, blocked roads and basically it would leave you helpless. I remember one time it rained for 5 days constantly,and everything just came to a complete stop. Only then did I realize,no matter how technological advances we get,we are helpless in front of nature.And there is a certain kind of beauty in that.

When I was 12,we went to a place called Rangamati in Bangladesh for vacation. It is basically a mountain-y place,with lots of mountains towering over. I remember standing in front of a 70 foot drop,and I was scared to death but I couldn't move from that place.It was so beautiful,that you just calls you closer,even when you know that a couple more steps and you are gone.Standing in front of that 70 foot drop,my 12 year old self finally understood the meaning of "devastatingly beautiful." I love speaking 3 languages you see,and in Bengali "devastatingly beautiful" doesn't sound nearly as lame as it does in English. But you get the idea.

Nature is scary and beautiful at the same time.It has always been.That's what that draws us to it. Sometimes we think we are too cool for nature and try to control it in our way,and you see the result for yourself-global warming,green house effect all those stuff. My point is,we all should just accept the fact we are not so much different than our ancient ancestors who had no protection against nature.They survived because they adapted to nature,not the other way around. All our fancy technology ain't going to do any good when you have a power outage cause of a blizzard or hurricane. Evil? Maybe.But beautiful,too. Only nature has the power to be devastatingly beautiful.

That is so STRAIGHT!

I was volunteering at this ELL program in my school last Wednesday,which is basically helping the families whose first language is not English. Let's be real,I was not volunteering as much as I was taking selfies or preparing for my History quiz (Yes,I was studying,I had 3 quizzes the following day). Anyways,I am at this table,the kids are drawing and coloring some stuff we printed out,and this boy,who cannot be older than 8,points at another kid's painting and goes "That is so GAY." I stared at the boy for a couple of moments then glanced over to see what was so "gay" about that painting,and it turned out to be nothing but a monkey wearing a pink shirt. I was just shocked to hear a kid saying "gay" to insult something. Yes,call me naive,but I was.

Which brings us to the matter that why a 8 year old kid saying gay in order to insult something? Option 1: That kid is a jerk.
Option 2: He has picked up this habit from someone older
If looked at this matter logically,you will probably agree that Option 2 makes more sense.

That being said,we now have a new issue. Why is an older person,who is more mature,using the word gay to insult something/someone? Let's forget that person,before we accuse someone of something we should look at ourselves. How many times do we say "That is so gay" to insult something? I have heard people doing it,and I myself is guilty of doing it in my not-so-mature teen years. As I grew up,I looked at myself and thought "Wow I am so stupid." and then I stopped saying that phrase. We always talk about changes in the society,but we do not understand the fact that society will not change if the change is done from the very root. Like,stop using that stupid phrase. Accepting homosexuals and gay-rights is a big thing now,and it will not be achieved until we change our little habits. Yes,this may sound very lame,but huge changes do begin from a shift in the mindset. And what we say/do reflect our mindset. Gay rights will not be properly established until we stop using the word gay(which actually means Happy,if you didn't know) to insult,female rights will not be achieved until we start going to the girls basketball game. It might be hard for some of you to understand why I am repeating the fact that we have to stop saying gay to insult someone,but let me tell you,I have met countless males who would not wear a pink shirt cause it makes them look gay. How ridiculous is this? Just like how wearing yellow doesn't say what kind of pizza do you prefer,wearing pink doesn't say anything about your sexuality. We live in a society where we are trying to establish gay rights,while simultaneously refusing to wear pink because it is a "gay color." The last time I checked,there was no color for "sorry I don't do hypocrites" cause if there was,I would be wearing that color every.single.day.

Coming back to that kid,he didn't have any fault. He has obviously learned the phrase from someone else and used it to prove his worth. But what about that person whom he learned it from? He is probably an adult and has the ability to think logically. That kid,he represents the future. And if that is the future,I am not sure if I want to see it. And that adult,he is the present. And it disgusts me. I am not even going to talk about the fact that you do not have a say in another person's sexuality and life,I am just saying, we need to stop using the word gay to insult somebody. Because I am sure I have never heard anyone saying "That is so STRAIGHT". Why this discrimination? All this gay rights people are talking about,they will do nothing,until we change our mindsets. Until we change ourselves.

Am I right or am I left?*

-Mourin

*(Just had to throw in that pun right there,I feel I have let my anger control my writing too much)

If not now,when?

I'm quite a mess when people ask me if I'm a feminist or not. Part of me wants to BURN them(not literally,sarcastically) for asking such a stupid question, part of me wants to sit down and talk about life of them and part of me just wants to say "Obviously" in Severus Snape's voice. I don't know about others,but I just don't see the reason for NOT being a feminist.

Feminism,by definition, means equality of the genders. It does not mean considering women to be superior than Men, nor does it mean to interpret men as some blood sucking demons(I mean, hating them). Feminism simply means equality of the genders,and nothing else. Personally,I do not like the name "feminism".It implies that it has something to do with solely Women,like it's about worshiping Women and disdaining Men,while it clearly is not. Of course much of the inequality affects Women,it does not mean that Men are in heaven or something.The society has come limiting factors for them too.

My view is that,our life should not be decided by one single chromosome. We should be able to do and think whatever we want,regardless of our X & Y chromosomes. 

I am just going to mention some "small" issues today,which in fact,do not seem very small to me. You know,in Disney movies,how the Princesses marry the Princes that save them? It's all very romantic and rainbows and sparkles,but before we even think about why a Woman would marry a Man she just met, why does ALWAYS a Prince save the Princess? Why does she need to be "saved"? It plants a seed in little girl's brains,which results in a humungus tree,and I tell you,that tree ain't doing anything to reduce Global Warming. Forgive my dark sense of humor,but there is no better way to put it. It just pisses me off so much,seeing that Disney is making all the girls think that there will be Prince Charming to save them. As much as people would like to believe it,this is NOT true. Believe me, I have seen many grown-up Women,waiting for their Husbands/Boyfriends to solve problems. It's almost like,they do not even BELIEVE that they can do it. Let me tell you something,if you want equal rights,you have to put in equal amount of efforts,lady. That might sound harsh,but I am not about Sugarcoating,for Diabetics is a filthy disease. The point is,Disney needs to change.The media needs to change. Instead of picturing girls as beautiful,vulnerable Princesses, picture them as beautiful,strong Warriors. We need more Elsa-s, more Hermione-s, to inspire our girls. 

So when we are talking about Gender equality, it's quite hypocritical to leave the other gender behind. As I said,we cannot assume Men have it easy (though they kinda do,but still). SO,in our society,since their early childhood,boys are taught not to cry. "Aren't you a strong man? Of course you are. And let me tell you, strong Men do not cry." I mean,have you heard anything RIDICULOUS than this? And yet,all boys at some point of their lives are told this,directly or indirectly. I just do not get the logic behind this. Men maybe physically stronger than Women, but does that make them invincible? It does NOT. How do you expect a person to survive without letting some of their pain,their anger out? Is it even humane? And why is it okay for Women to cry? Because they are weak? I am speaking from personal experience, I have met far more stronger Women than Men (not a generalization, just experience)

So,what's my point? My point is to make people realize when they make that face when they hear the word feminism is just WRONG. How can you not want gender equality? Seriously,if you are not a feminist,you need to look at yourself in the mirror and explain "Why not." And like Emma Watson said, "If not now,when? If not me,who?" But we should not just promote #HeForShe,but also #SheForHe because,well,Y chromosomes and testosterone is not always going to be enough.

If my mere try made you even think about this issue for a minute,I would consider myself successful. It is high time you thought about this. "If not now,when?"

-Mourin