Upgrade Your Limit!
The sky is no longer your limit, yourself is.
I keep thinking about a piece of phrase that always appears in songs, movies, and books: "The sky is limit." When I was cooking this afternoon after teaching my morning class and having a chit-chat with green grocer near by my flat, a song randomly played on my Spotify. It's Backstreet Boys' Larger Than Life. Yup! Indeed, it said the sky is limit.
Somewhere I read this line is no longer valid because they are footprints on the moon. I can't agree more. Even before someone stepped on the moon, I could tell that there is no limit to someone's potential.
Thinking of the Women in the Past
Imagine if the women (such as Kartini, Dewi Sartika, Marsinah, Marie Curie, Hellen Keller, Mother Teresa, bell hooks, Mary Shelley, Louisa May Alcott, J.K. Rowling, Kamal Haris, Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, and you add by yourself longer list here) gave up? Would it be same now for us: girls and women? I believe totally big no no. We probably still could go to school, university, and work; but the struggle without their footprints of course would be much more harder, difficult, challenging, and even deadly.
What's Next After the Sky?
A step ahead after passing through the sky is oneself of every individual and group on earth. The theme of this International Women's Day (IWD) 2021 is Choose to Challenge. Two points that I understand from this hashtag #ChooseToChallenge: first is related to abundant challenges for each and everyone of us particularly for girls and women in time of pandemic that has struck for more than a year; and second is to openly invite cordially everyone to be allies and friends for one another — women support women and men become allies and friends.
The second point is crucial because there are still many women out there who support patriarchy and misogyny instead of supporting themselves and their tribes. Some of them get trapped and never and/or don't want to unlearn, relearn, and learn the idea of equity and equality. Some of them are basically closed minded possibly chained by culture and tradition that need to be upgraded. If human keeps processing and progressing, why not with culture and tradition?
Female genital mutilation, polygamy, pedophilia, child marriage, rape culture, regulating women's body, and many more are the products of expired culture and tradition. What's the point of education if at the end of the day it is politicized and ordered by the state who mostly led by men? Education later on used as the tool to oppress instead of free the people from foolishness and blindness of their humanness that leaving behind their humanity.
Besides the problem with patriarchy that controls culture, tradition, and education; religion is also another weapon to kill women's potentials. Take a look to the case of Princess Latifa and Shamsa in UAE where the neighbors like Saudi Arabia and Qatar shut their mouths up and keep suporting their best allies in the gulf. These gulf countries — nowadays — get attention of the giant of the so-called democracy police of the world: USA. USA also chose to shut up their mouth after the commemoration of two years of the death of Jamal Khashoggi. The current Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that IT'S ONLY THE LIFE OF ONE PERSON. IT SHOULD NOT JEOPARDIZE THE MORE IMPORTANT RELATIONS OF TWO STATES.
Golly Ghosh! How can they preach democracy through both soft and hard power (mostly hard though), but they are being ignorant like this? Holding two degrees of international relations and global politics give me enough reason to throw up that democracy is just a puppet show for unconscious patriarchal leaders to win their interests. Biden got attention and affection of his people after most of his campaigns talk about underrepresented and less privileged people of color, LGBT groups, and many more minority classes. But I know he is just picky. He picks what people care most. He picks what gain more votes. He picks what serves his interests and his political party best. Here I don't recommend to stand or vote for Trump though. He doesn't make any better than Biden. Honestly, he is the worst President of USA that I have ever known though.
So, What to Do Now?
You can start from yourself. Nothing's too small to act, to contribute. Just like Thich Nhat Hanh and Gretta Thunberg said. If more people will to learn like you and me, I believe this world can become more reasonable to be lived and to be shared as a peaceful home. (Happy) International Women's Day (IWD) 2021 though many of my friends in Myanmar, Thailand, Hong Kong, and many places on earth are still struggling, fighting, and suffering. One thing I know and feel (happy) for them: THEY DON'T GIVE UP (YET).
