Misogyny in Bhutan
The world has promoted “Gender Equality”, women have equal rights to every resource and opportunity.
One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals focuses on gender equality to build a foundation for a world
that is peaceful, prosperous and sustainable. But even with the constant reminders that tell us women
are equal, the world still shows contempt, prejudice and hatred towards women. This cancerous term
called misogyny exists even in Bhutan and it is an issue that confronts women from various backgrounds.
In ancient times, we lived in a system of patriarchy- where women were considered inferior to men. This
misogyny has been embedded deep into our own customs. In Bhutan, we have this Buddhist belief that
says a woman would have to reincarnate nine times to be finally born as a man making us revere this
gender. This is what causes this innate distrust amongst women themselves. Sometimes for positions like
the leader of the local government, we see that women don't even get support from their own females.
Women believe they are less capable than men not only owing to their physical differences but also
because they are sexually vulnerable.
We all talk about empowering women to take up roles in governance, leadership and development. Then
there are other opportunities that women are offered because we want women to stand in the same
position as men. We help women but the prejudice against women subtly exists. We want women to
become employed and work as men do but what do people call career women, a woman who does not
care for her family. We talk about how women, even girl children who are not a few months old get raped
but what does society say, “It is the responsibility of individuals, particularly females to avoid going out
during odd hours or in a secluded place.” Then tell us when even their own home doesn’t feel as safe
anymore, where is the safe place to be. There are also those who tell us a man had sex with a woman, but
rape is rape, why do we condone the behaviour of men.
This concept of misogyny is firmly rooted, if people change their thoughts on how women should be, if
women were given equal care and love (not just opportunities), if women were genuinely supported,
women would start raising their voices, women would be heard and that is where we earn our gender
equality.
To be honest I feel the idea of a Beauty Pageant has been distorted. People are more focused on how
pretty a girl is or how she can appeal to the audience. Contestants are focused on getting the title that
sets them apart from the rest. Beauty Pageants should empower women to come out of their shells,
become confident in their own skin and use that to empower the rest of the women who are out there
being clutched by the claws of patriarchy and misogyny. Only then would I feel the Beauty Pageant has
achieved its goal.
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Sonam Dema
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