SMS TEXTS GALORE
I'm in the state of bankruptcy.In terms of mobile phone credit.
It's this "please 4give me" thing, gnawing at my credit with every beep of SMS texts. It's this noble, humbling custom of welcoming the sacred month of Ramadan with the purity of hearts. Thus, you ask forgiveness from each other. Thus these SMS texts galore if you don't happen to live precisely side by side with all your friends. Thus this state of bankruptcy.
What is kindly meant is not always practical, or so it seems.You have your mailbox full of texts that sound (sender, wording and font may vary):
"As divine as the purest soul.. As crystal clear as the deepest thoughts.. As shimmering as the will to do good.. With the approaching holy month of Ramadan let us be thoroughly cleansed of sins. Do accept my apologies for any inconvenience I have imposed on you. Intensify our worship acts in humble serenity and may God bestow the blessings of Ramadan upon us all."
Mind you, English will be the last language of choice. Indonesian is still the common lingua franca, though lately its position has been seriously undermined by the extensive use of Arabic language. The poetic attempt and the verbosity yet remain.May God forgive my impertinence, but keeping such boring, clichéd texts to pile up in my mailbox doesn't seem very inviting. And there comes the obligation to send similar texts in return. It's an impoverishing, cliché-ridden triviality, and who'll wear the widest grin in the end? GSM provider companies only.I mean, suppose it's been over a year since the last time you see a person, no calls or emails in between, and the two of you are not even in SMS-ing term. Why on earth do you send a "pls 4give me" SMS text to that particular person? What mischief have you probably done him/her? Or perhaps you understatedly apologise for failing to keep in touch over the year? Nonsensical. Yet ignoring him/her could be perceived as an effort to eradicate the very person from your friend-list. Another social casualty. No, you wouldn't like that. So you buy that nonsense for the price of (generally) Rp 350. The price of claiming friendship.OK, I'm being cynical. Nothing's really wrong with SMS texts galore; they add a touch to the glorious season, and besides, I'm always in the constant state of mobile phone credit bankruptcy anyway. In the spirit of Ramadan, do accept my apologies for any inconvenience I might have imposed on you by writing this rubbish. Then let our soul be divine, our thoughts be crystal clear, our goodwill be shimmering, blah, blah, blah. :-D
TO SMILE OR NOT TO SMILE
A reason to smile this morning: I came across this amusing little poem. Listen.The girls that are wanted are good girlsGood from the heart to the lipsPure as the lily is white and pureFrom its heart to its sweet leaf tips.The girls that are wanted are girls with heartsThey are wanted for mothers and wivesWanted to cradle in loving armsThe strongest and the frailest lives.The clever, the witty, the brilliant girlsThere are few who can understandBut, oh! For the wise, loving home girlsThere’s a constant, steady demand.(from “The Girls that are Wanted”. J. H. Gray, c. 1880)So true, so true. Even the passing millennium can’t change the truth in it. But after the nodding smile, here come the questions.Like, should I be upset about such idea? Should I be offended? In terms of gender relation, I KNOW some people (umm.. ladies, mostly) would.The feminists.But of course. It is their job to be infuriated by any minor violation to the concept of equality of gender. Even I can count a few reasons of their rage.1. You cannot say “the girls that are wanted”, since it indicates that some girls are unwanted and it is bad for the dignity of women in general.2. Plus, girls are not objects on display for men to choose from. Girls CAN also choose their men if they wish to.3. The patronizing voice of the writer urges girls to be “good” and “pure”, and emphasises the expectation for girls to take the roles of mothers and wives. Which is deplorable. Girls should have the freedom to choose their own roles; their own ways, their own points of view, without being browbeaten by the patriarchal society.4. The writer clearly discourages girls from taking more intellectually challenging roles. Domestic girls are stated to be preferable; they were, they are, and will always be.Frankly, I’m bored of this never-ending battle. Say no more of “women on top”, for women are not supposed to be on top if it’s just because men used to be. I mean, it’s so childish and meaningless. Mere revenge will get you nowhere.But then perhaps I said all that because I didn’t really know what it felt like to be oppressed, abused, subjugated. I am lucky. Lucky girls don’t usually end up being feminists.Which reminds me of a hate-mail I received a couple of months ago. An anonymous person accused me of being a half-hearted feminist. Mind you, he/she might be right. But it depends on how you define feminism, right? Depends on whose glasses you’re wearing, and how verbose you are.Which leads us to yet another question: What REALLY makes a feminist?Honestly, I dunno and I don’t think I care. Jammy as I am, I do have compassion for the less fortunate girls. I’m all supports when it comes to fighting for the rights of women, for them to be treated with respect and dignity, for better niche within the society. Only I want also to cherish the right of smiling at amusing things that come my way.Because once you get too focused, you take the fun out of everything, and the world grows bitter.What is so hard about admitting that we live in a patriarchal world, that women are still the second gender? It might not be right thing, but it is the truth. I want to make peace with the truth. And smile at it, even whilst I’m making efforts to change it.This morning, I learned that domestic girls were always preferable, and that perhaps I was indeed a half-hearted feminist, but the world was still indulging.
