I have no hesitation in confessing that I’m a very confused man these days. It has nothing to do with Mr. Amit Shah’s suggestion of a “middle path” for the BJP and the Opposition to engage in a dialogue, which is perplexing enough. For Mr. Shah’s middle path is not the one propounded by the Buddha, it is more akin to the one Confucius warned us about: Man who walk in middle of path get run over. Which is what happened to others who chose to take Mr. Shah’s advice – Sukhbir Badal of the SAD, Udhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena and Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP. Confusing suggestion, you will agree, but not what is the source of my current ataxia.
My mental disarray stems from this new Woke culture being thrust upon us by a society gone berserk. Its latest manifestation is a handbook of guidelines issued by Oxfam, stipulating for its employees a whole new terminology in order to respect social, racial and gender “sensitivities.” Take just one example. For the last 72 years I have held the belief that I was born as a male child (even though the good wife may have had a few doubts about that occasionally); the last time I looked, the evidence also pointed in that direction. But Oxfam has now put a huge question mark on that: it says that it would be more correct to say that I am AMAB (Assigned Male at Birth); my sister is AFAB (Assigned Female at Birth). The reason: no one should presume someone’s sex, for he/ she/ they may change their mind at any later stage, and prefer to be a transgender ! I wonder what my mom and dad would have thought of that. Actually, I’m also out of line in referring to them as mother and father- Oxfam says I should refer to them only as “parent/s” since we have no business assigning gender roles to any one- the mother may decide to be the father and vice versa! Is it any wonder that kids go around these days with a vacant look on their faces? My elder son is not getting married just yet because he is still trying to figure out which gender he belongs to, though he was AMAB.
I’m afraid the Book of Genesis may have to be re-written very soon if this goes on much longer. In those non-Woke days God created just two sexes or genders, male and female, and asked them to go forth and multiply, which they have since done with remarkable success, considering that we are now topping five or six billion soulless souls. (There may be a slight reduction in the figures now that the BJP’s emphasis is more on divide than multiply). But the good Lord himself had got it all wrong, we are now told, because there are 15 genders forms, not two ! Other than the old fashioned male and female, the others include cisgender, transgender, calcigender, non-binary, etc. among others. It’s little wonder that my son can’t decide who to get married to- its a problem of plenty, if you ask me. In my time one married either a boy or a girl; now one needs AI or ChatGPT to figure it out!
This Woke movement started sometime around 2010 and was meant to create an awareness and response to social inequalities, racism, sexism, slavery, white supremacy, discrimination and other social injustices. This was certainly a laudable objective; two of its manifestations have been the Black Lives Matter and the ME TOO crusades. In recognition of this the Oxford English Dictionary even added WOKE to its inventory of words in 2017. But one can’t help but feel that in trying to change the Queen’s English to the Drag Queen’s English these reformers may be stepping beyond their remit and intruding into the realm of the ridiculous.
What, for instance, is the point of splitting hairs and refining concepts till all that remains is a meaningless desiderata of neulogisms ? Take, for example, what used to be called “lack of self-confidence”. It’s not so simple, folks: the condition is now linked to your “sexual identity” (whatever that means) and has been given all kinds of names- gender dysphoria, transphobia, transmisia, and so on. Conversely, if you happen to feel good some morning, it’s not because the BJP lost in Himachal or you have finally found Sunny Leone’s phone number, it’s because you have gender euphoria ! Is it necessary to link everything to, or explain everything in terms of, sex or gender ?
It’s a language thing, you know. What worries me is not the robust response to the inequities and prejudices that the Woke generation is mounting: that is welcome and perhaps more than overdue. But as a student of literature (entire English literature, in current parlance) I am completely flummoxed by how the English language is being changed to suit the Woke lexicon. Language will always reflect the prevalent values and principles of society, but it should not become hypocritical, biased or evasive of the truth, as the inimitable George Carlin had explained in one of his videos about “politically correct” language. Here are a few examples from the Woke lexicon, make of them what you will:
Heteronormativity (presumed to be straight unless proved to be otherwise- in an adaptation, presumably, of the legal principle of presumed to be innocent unless proved otherwise!). Other words are just as confounding: nonsumer (a minimalist consumer), greenwash (cheating on environmental brownie points), white feminism (calling out people who espouse feminism but stay mum on issues that effect less privileged women), slut shame, toxic masculinity, Madonna/ whore complex, Queer baiting, pansexual, gaslighting (emotional abuse- abuser undermining victim’s perceptions and abilities by constant peddling of untruths).
Conversely, some words are a no-no because they convey prejudiced ideologies or misogynistic mindsets: headquarters (colonialism), prostitute (looking down on a legitimate profession), sanitary products (implying unclean), expectant mother (should be gender neutral, as in-people who become pregnant), ethnic minority (fails to convey the complexity of ethnicity), and so on.
Are we re-writing the English language in the light of our own, current prejudices ? In this reformist zeal, are we not imposing a new gender ideology in place of the old one (at least the older one was easier to understand!)? Does anything change substantially by merely replacing one word or phrase with another? Can semantics themselves eradicate long held prejudices? While these questions occur to me I am also conscious of the fact that perhaps I’m now too old to appreciate the dynamics of cultural evolution that are at play here, or that my dad forgot to tell me that I was ABDAB (Assumed Brain Dead at Birth). (It took the UPSC to confirm this when I was selected for the IAS in 1975). Maybe all this Wokism is just the new political correctness in changing times. In which case I can’t help but recollect the words of Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the United States of America: Political correctness holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end ! Is this, then, a case of the ends justifying the mean(ing)s?
| The author retired from the IAS in December 2010. A keen environmentalist and trekker he has published a book on high altitude trekking in the Himachal Himalayas: THE TRAILS LESS TRAVELLED.
His second book- SPECTRE OF CHOOR DHAR is a collection of short stories based in Himachal and was published in July 2019. His third book was released in August 2020: POLYTICKS, DEMOCKRAZY AND MUMBO JUMBO is a compilation of satirical and humorous articles on the state of our nation. His fourth book was published on 6th July 2021. Titled INDIA: THE WASTED YEARS , the book is a chronicle of missed opportunities in the last nine years. Shukla’s fifth book – THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER’S DOG AND OTHER COLLEAGUES- was released on 12th September 2023. It portrays the lighter side of life in the IAS and in Himachal. He writes for various publications and websites on the environment, governance and social issues. He divides his time between Delhi and his cottage in a small village above Shimla. He blogs at http://avayshukla.blogspot.in/ |
