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A review by starryeyedenigma
Chup: Breaking the Silence About India's Women by Deepa Narayan
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
This book is a work of non fiction, based on 600+ interviews that the author and her team carried out from Indian women living in metro cities in India or abroad, belonging to rich or upper middle class families - aka, families earning more than 20L rupees per annum. Educated women. Financially independent women. And what their thoughts were on "what it means to be a woman in India."
The discussion topics are categorized into these areas: Body, Voice, Pleasing, Sexuality, Isolation and Identity. Similar to the book I read recently on disability in fairy tales by Amanda Leduc, the author Deepa Narayan, uses facts and arguments to build a strong case for societal and cultural changes instead of asking individual women to fight for their rights or blaming men.
I appreciated the fact that along with interview snippets and research based statistics, the author clearly articulates the deeply ingrained societal issues when it comes to women's rights and safety and also suggests workable solutions.
Majorly triggering for me was the first chapter on Body, that talks about molestation, rape and physical abuse. How 50% of Indian women (yes, me too), have been molested or abused once or more and have to be constantly on fight/flight mode, which is absolutely exhausting. That education and financial independence still do not equate to respect and safety for women. In this regards, instead of asking women to change, stay indoors, cover herself more, attract less attention, the society as a whole should emphasize men to behave and keep their lust and rage in check, or better, use it in a boxing ring!
Finally, the key takeaway for me as an individual woman from this book was, that we women need to encourage and champion other women and stand up for each other. When I was younger, I also used to think men were cool, or made better friends and that women were jealous and gossiped too much, until I grew older and realized when push comes to shove, only women stand up with you, beside you. Now I have female friends who are like soulmates to me. Women who are simply amazing in every aspect.
The discussion topics are categorized into these areas: Body, Voice, Pleasing, Sexuality, Isolation and Identity. Similar to the book I read recently on disability in fairy tales by Amanda Leduc, the author Deepa Narayan, uses facts and arguments to build a strong case for societal and cultural changes instead of asking individual women to fight for their rights or blaming men.
I appreciated the fact that along with interview snippets and research based statistics, the author clearly articulates the deeply ingrained societal issues when it comes to women's rights and safety and also suggests workable solutions.
Majorly triggering for me was the first chapter on Body, that talks about molestation, rape and physical abuse. How 50% of Indian women (yes, me too), have been molested or abused once or more and have to be constantly on fight/flight mode, which is absolutely exhausting. That education and financial independence still do not equate to respect and safety for women. In this regards, instead of asking women to change, stay indoors, cover herself more, attract less attention, the society as a whole should emphasize men to behave and keep their lust and rage in check, or better, use it in a boxing ring!
Finally, the key takeaway for me as an individual woman from this book was, that we women need to encourage and champion other women and stand up for each other. When I was younger, I also used to think men were cool, or made better friends and that women were jealous and gossiped too much, until I grew older and realized when push comes to shove, only women stand up with you, beside you. Now I have female friends who are like soulmates to me. Women who are simply amazing in every aspect.