As a strong advocate of feminism and one of the few female writers of this gang I take [almost forcibly] the privilege of posting the inaugural post. After all, the adage ‘Ladies First’ wasn’t coined for ‘no reason’.

It dawned on me though, today, that a wrongful usage of that phrase has been invading our pop-culture, since forever. And you might think in such a day and age, of political correctness where societal norms are no longer blindly accepted; a point where the figurative ‘pants’ in the relationship get tossed back and forth along with the rest of the unisexual laundry; one would not find such a blatant disregard for the feelings of others.

Of course, all this dawning, per say, happened while I was watching a movie. A movie, about a startling modern day crisis which could potentially destroy our planet, that is, earth. The plot was so ‘fresh’ and ‘unconventional’ that you could imagine my surprise when I realized that my sensibilities were being offended without apology. When the handsome young genius of a hero, [hereinafter referred to as ‘luckysonofabitch’], in the face of dire calamity, [with a pristinely fearless/glowing face] proclaims to everyone that the women and children need to be evacuated first, I was sure there was some mistake. Surely Adonis here didn’t mean to imply that women and children are to be considered as the sub-standard humans that need to be saved on account of their weakness. But within milliseconds his loud manly man voice proceeded to yell disconcertingly “Didn’t you hear me… we need to get everyone out of here. Women and children first!”

Gosh! I waited to see some of the ‘female actors’ pummel him with the metal debris but there were merely exclamations of utter relief from the kids and then a rush of elfin bodies scampering to safety… along with their children.

So, there I sat wondering, what has changed in so many years? Generations of women writers and politicians working heedlessly to be taken seriously and the world refuses to pay attention. What has changed? I wonder. Well, dunno about you, but it sounds to me that my-man-valor was trying to suggest that all the women required and coveted his protection, the comfort of his ‘well-toned’ arms. And the thought is disappointing if not shocking… disappointing and quite frankly politically incorrect.

Whatever happened to sensitive? Has feminism and gender equality really got no takers? Nah… that can’t be true… since I have to ‘ethically’ go Dutch at the dinner table, on every date. So what’s the problem? Maybe it’s the fact that the lines of female and male expression are so blurred nowadays… who really knows what’s correct and incorrect. Either way, I’m beginning to lose track. I mean as much as I hate being insensitive, what I hate even worse is being confused.

Take for instance the fact, that it’s politically incorrect to call a woman a house-wife nowadays… she is a ‘home-maker’. Feminism kept aside, this is just plain useless. As if calling her some different name would make her work less demanding. Give her a man who calls her a housewife but does the dishes every night and I think she’d renounce the title of ‘queen’ for it. She’d appreciate it because there’s something caring about that, something terribly sensitive in helping out your spouse, be it a housewife or homemaker.

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And needless to say, maybe this way we could have lesser distortion of our own expression. I mean a time will come when I will have to insult someone by calling them ‘selectively perceptive’ as opposed to insane and the world will go to the dogs… umm I mean… our non-human canine companions.

But seriously, do we really want these ineffectual terms to enter our conversations when no real changes are being made in our mindsets? These ‘supposed’ correct terms that are used to water down the ‘supposed’ insensitivity of the actual words without considering the further repercussions of it? Frankly speaking all these shenanigans are just a clever rouse to avoid the main issue at hand.

And the time is not far away when some burly protagonist, in the face of danger, will be yelling to a crowd “Everybody out… Persons of gender and young people first” accompanied with hooting and whistling from a crowd of ‘knowledge-challenged’ cine-lovers.

Suffice to say the adage ‘Be afraid…’ was not invented without reason either.