Week 2 Reading Diary A: Ahalya's Story

Although I am thoroughly enjoying this story, I see so much sexism in this story and male-bias. The story of Ahalya is one prime example. For one, she is made of pure beauty. The text does not reference her intellect or her kindness, simply her beauty. That is all that is valued. Then, when the god Indra took her, she was helpless. There was nothing she could do about it, yet she was still punished. She was turned to stone for a millennia until A MAN came and relieved her of her punishment, which may I mention that after she had undergone this she was instructed to go back and serve her master, the one who had inflicted this upon her without even pausing to hear her side of the story. I adore this epic already but I am sincerely saddened by the amount of sexist views in this epic. Every villain is a female. Soorpanaka (Ravana's sister who tries to seduce Rama), Kaikeyi (The king's wife who makes him give up his son and eventually causes his death), Kooni (Kaikeyi's maid who convinces her to enact her evil upon the king, and Thataka (a demon). It gets a little frustrating when we oscillate between female villains and "thousands of women eager to serve their master in any way". Okay. Rant over.

Ahalya by Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906)
Web source: Wikipedia