Should women become invisible to be recognised?

When the glamorous actress Marilyn Monroe died in 1962, the press had a field day carrying lurid stories and photographs. Was she not the sex symbol of the Fifties, wooed by the high and mighty? The public and the press failed to recall that she was a superb actress too, a titan among film stars. All except one newsmagazine, which published her face and head alone on its cover page. This recognition of a woman’s intellectual strength was the greatest tribute paid to
this gifted actress by a thoughtful editor.

Similarly, there must be countless women scientists, economists, or writers of high career distinction. They simply do not exist on the male radar. Take Marie Curie, who did pioneering research on radioactivity. It took seven prestigious awards before she was recognised by the Nobel committee. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a graduate student of radio astronomy in Cambridge, discovered pulsars and unravelled a new branch of astrophysics. The Nobel Committee recognised her seminal work by rewarding her supervisor!

Women scientists are not the only victims of gender bias. It cuts across every profession. They are admired, even honoured for their beauty, grace, and poise. Their brains and related skills simply do not seem to exist in a man’s line of vision.

Consider that dazzling film star Hedy Lamarr, whose beauty was legendary and who catapulted to fame with her stunning performance in the Biblical movie “Samson and Delilah.” But who would expect to find an inventive brain behind that lovely face? Here was a self-taught scientist who invented radio-skipping technology and telecommunication inventions that have given us conveniences like GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi today. Yet Hedy Lamarr continues to be the femme fatale, a siren with a lovely face. Her brains won no international recognition.

Have we appreciated our own women achievers in this country? Be it sports or science or medicine or literature, how many have been recognised and rewarded? The Bharat Ratnas and other national awards have been showered on men who excelled in their field. A mere five women - two of them politicians - have been selected for national awards when we have had illustrious women scientists, sportspersons, writers, economists, engineers, educationists, freedom fighters – the list is endless.

We gush over our women who became Miss World or Miss Universe, but do not celebrate a tax expert who became the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund. Nor a scientist who successfully launched the Agni-V missile project or led a medical team to Bhopal after the gas tragedy. While we applaud women who won beauty pageants, we ignore achievers like Avani Chaturvedi who piloted a fighter aircraft by herself, or Mary Kom who made India proud by her boxing skills or Saina Nehwal who became the first Indian woman to become a world champion in badminton.

Captain Lakshmi Sahgal is the best example of misguided male perception of women in India. She was a fiery participant in the Indian independence movement as an officer of the Indian National Army. She led many of its campaigns against the British and was even taken prisoner in Burma during World War II. Yet, the public only viewed her as the mistress of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose. Public perception of this extraordinary woman was sad, if not disgraceful.

Our women writers who have contributed immensely to the country’s literary scene, should have been rightly appreciated and rewarded for their vision, fearlessness and originality. Instead, we find them hiding behind pseudonyms like C S Lakshmi, the feminist writer, who had to call herself Ambai in order to be published and read! A scholar recognized in leading American universities, an internationally acknowledged champion of women’s rights, C S Lakshmi (Ambai) is not even given a prominent place on the shelves of book sellers!

Again, there is that sparkling writer, Triveni, known for the subjects she specially chose of interest to women in her novels. She was originally known as Anasuya Shankar, and not so well received in literary circles. But, hidden behind a pseudonym, her work received enormous credit which speaks volumes about prejudices. Triveni had to transform herself into a new person just to be recognized as a writer.

Then there is Mahasweta Devi’s bold voice speaking for those other voices not heard, She pleaded the cause of women who were suppressed. She too, like the other women writers, fought endless battles just to be heard! Ignoring or downgrading talented women cuts across nations, languages and professions. Emily Bronte wrote her one incandescent novel “Wuthering Heights” behind closed doors and called herself Ellis Bell just to be published and read! If women have to hide their identity in a male dominated world even two centuries later, they must sadly learn to walk invisible always.