When honour is confused with social standing, abuse becomes an acceptable form of saving face.
Beyond considerations of family honour, this toxic cultural practice convinces the individual that infidelity becomes excusable because divorce is deplorable.
It convinces the brute of the justification of their rage when their partner rejects dehumanising practices by their in-laws.
It replaces ideals of honour and virtue with ideals of being celebrated by the community for the facade that we create of an empty shell of a life.
It teaches our children that what others think of you is always more important than what you think of yourself.
Because we’ve convinced ourselves that it is the village that gives us relevance, we’ve lost sight of how toxic that village has become.
Izzat is the excuse for marital rape, because our rights are infinitely more important than our responsibilities.
Izzat is the excuse for honour killings, because appearing weak is assumed to be caving in to justice, while upholding injustice.
Izzat has eroded the foundation of society, in all societies and not just the Indian culture, because women are seen as symbols of the grandeur of men, and men have grown to be defined by how much his woman raises his stature.
And in the war for self-worth, the physically weak suffer most, while the physically strong destroy the people around them because they don’t know how to deal with their weakness.
Break the cycle.
Own Your Life.
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Honourable destruction
