Fe-male/ Iron man

After that evening combat on the ride home, I finally reached my destination. I just had to walk about 15 minutes to reach my place after getting off the most luxurious experience in Dhaka: the public bus. However, as a female, Dhaka can be assumed to never be a “kind” city. Although I don’t think Dhaka, like the people living in it, is as much of a gender-prejudiced one. It is, in fact, unkind to every gender and element living and breathing its air. Anyways, I (female) was just going to cross my road with an overbridge, thinking that it is my duty to be the “right” citizen and follow rules. Just at that specific time, the electricity went off and made the whole street go all black. I don’t remember what I thought at that exact moment, but it definitely was something that should be censored. I did not have the privilege of appreciating my own company at that dark, crowded overbridge, as many male species were just simply existing and doing their business around me. Their business includes chores like peeing right next to the staircase of the overbridge, staring at women (with or without the intention of harassing them), or even just smoking at that random place where children and women are constantly pacing around. I also want to give that place the benefit of the doubt, as nothing really happened to me and I reached home safely. However, the thought of female safety and loadshedding was just buzzing inside my head.

When it comes to female safety, Bangladesh has suggested and attempted many ambitious, plausible solutions. However, conceivably, only females never really had the opportunity to experience the result of those attempts. Perhaps every government still has that narcissistic trait in them when it comes to providing many attempted solutions. They always consider themselves the most righteous of them all. Dhaka’s loadshedding during the dark can still be debatable based on women’s safety, as the overcrowded element of Dhaka has its own perks. But imagine the kind of complications a woman may face in the rural sides of Bangladesh, where the crowd is still not that visible in the dark. What may a woman face if the lights go off and they were just going back home from work? Maybe a doctor, after a harsh duty. Or maybe a female farmer with her day’s payment. Does this government, or any other government, give us the privilege of safety to perform our duty without the tension of impaired touch? Does our society have the cognitive stability to provide what they consider “extra” for women at home and outside the home? Do we have the area to have more fear of darkness than we already face even during a hot, sunny day?

I am not sure if I have the mental capacity anymore to discuss women’s safety in my one-liner thoughts. Just like the Bangladeshi reading through this, I also proudly hold an impaired, unkind speciality in me. This discussion of safety can only be understood when it comes to extreme rape or sexual offence cases, not the mere safety of mind. The safety that a woman can’t afford inside her own house. The safety of being confident and vocal. The safety of not having insecurities growing from their own spouses after a harsh day of transportation abuses. Or the mere empathy of health. As female citizens, we never asked for a bus that could keep us away from filthy hands and eyes. We asked for reforms of mind and no more added darkness.