Sania Mirza Agree With Me – Or Be Wrong
Sania Mirza is an Indian tennis champion and UN Goodwill ambassador for the South Asian region, about the need for a cultural shift in the way society looks at women. “Women’s equality should be a coordinated effort from all walks of life.” said Mirza who speaks with deep passion and dedication.
With the emergence of power house activists and Nobel Prize winners like Malala Yousafzai who stand on courage, young Indian girls are empowered to speak out with a louder voice demanding to be heard.
“Parents need to teach their sons to treat women with respect,” she continues. “We’re not their property, the same goes to companies about the need to offer women equal salary for the same amount of work.” Mirza, won’t be intimidated and you better be on her side because the slogan on her t-shirt shows her philosophy, “You can either agree with me – or be wrong.”
In Indian culture, a woman’s family should provide dowry when getting married. In essence she’s a burden on her family. As a result, the family looks at her with resentment. She immediately becomes economically worthless. One of the reasons for the proliferation of girl deaths is the use of ultrasounds to determine the sex of the child; which is an illegal act under Indian law.
In an effort to reveal the on-going hidden crime, two activists wore hidden cameras recording a couple going into a clinic to learn the result. Immediately, the doctor told them the grim news, “It’s a girl” looking dismal. He asked them to pay between $1,100 and $1,300 to abort.
Unfortunately, women who try to change the stifling beliefs are met with aggression. Mitu Khurana 34, a pediatrician and a mother has faced death threats for filing a lawsuit against her abusive husband and his family. “When I became pregnant, they told me an excuse to take me to the hospital to determine the sex of the child” She continues, “Once they learned it was a girl, they treated me like an animal”.
While women in India are treated like scumbags of society, there’s hope on the horizon: government funded orphanages such as Unique Home have started expanding. The condition of these baby girls is terrifying.
“They’re my little princesses,” says Prekash Kaur with a smile. She’s the supervisor of Unique Home, who looks after 60 newborn girls. “I have to educate them so they don’t repeat the mistakes of their parents.” She continues, “It’s absolutely unacceptable to go against Mother Nature. As long as I’m alive, I will keep drilling that message into their heads until they get it,” she adds.
We hope she does and wish her the best in her future altruistic endeavors.
Young stars like Sania Mirza bringing awareness to the issue means more progress can be made.
Works Cited
- Gibbs, Lindsay. “Fatwas, Feminism, and Forehands: The Life of Indian Tennis Superstar Sania Mirza | VICE Sports.” VICE Sports. N.p., 15 Jan. 2015. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
- Goldberg, Alan B., and Sean Dooley. “Disappearing Daughters: Women Pregnant With Girls Pressured Into Abortions.” ABC News. ABC News Network, 09 Dec. 2011. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
- “Sania Mirza Named UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia.” Zee News. N.p., 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.