International Women's Day!

"The Stigma Of Womanhood" is a book which impressed me right from the moment I started reading it.Written by an Assamese writer Mansi Sinha,the book looks into the problem of existence that a woman faces if she does not get married at a reasonable phase of her life.
It is a fact that women who are not married at least by their late 20s are viewed with suspicion by the Indian society or in fact,the Oriental society for that matter.Marriage is the destiny traditionally offered to women by the society.Most women are married,or have been,or plan to be or suffer from not being.The celibate woman is to be explained and defined with reference to mariage.Thus,marriage decides the image of a woman in the society.But why does this factor not apply to a man?Independant and unmarried men are often refered to as "intellectuals".If a man goes into moral and sexual anarchy,the society overlooks it.But,if a virgin,disciplined woman stays unmarried,she is called vamp.
The purpose of this post is not to profess feminist ideologies because I am more a Humanist than a Feminist.It is just a thought that came to my mind while reading Manasi Sinha's book and I was quite disappointed to realise that tomorrow,if my marriage prolongs because of my intention to study more or maybe find my space in the world,I too will have to go through the same situations.What an ironic realisation at the time when the whole world is celebrating the 100th International Women's Day!