← Back to portfolio
Published on

Rebels and Battles

The world is an unfair place for all, but not in the same way.

All rebels are brave warriors of change. But, not all rebels are created from the same battleground.

For a person of privilege, any rebellion of societal or traditional norms is purely personal and experienced largely from that lens - As an individual's fight or victory against the world. At least at first. Irrespective of the intent or authenticity, their collective lived experience and heritage is still birthed in privilege. Privilege could be by birth, gender, colour, race, economical, religious, linguistic, geographical or even simple a secure home or family where one was held, before rebelling. In some sense, rebellion becomes a personal choice. A must do, a duty almost but nevertheless to self first before it turns social. The rebellion therefore becomes one of walking away from the tribe literally and figuratively. A painful process of isolation. A disdain for what the tribe stands for and an intense desire to isolate oneself from it, to create a fresh new meaning on one's own terms. A large part of the battle is about surrender or rejection of unearned privilege and a desire to even out the unfairness. The desire to unprivilege oneself to feel authenticity. It is the struggle to create a brave new tribe as unlike one's own as possible.

For an oppressed person with the baggaged heritage of suppression, any rebellion of the societal or traditional norms is both personal and a reflection of the progress of the tribe. The lens from which the battle is fought is dramatically different. One is disadvantaged by more reasons than one - birth, economical, gender, race, colour, geography, education, religious, linguistic or even lacking the basic security of a stable home, shelter or food or support systems. Here, every battle even if personal becomes one of the community. Every gain too becomes one of the community.
Every step forward is for the collective. Prosperity or success is never personal, always reflective of the progress of the tribe. Always the desire is to increase the value of the tribe. To validate one's identity. To first go past shame and labels. To not merely belong to a tribe but to lift the entire tribe along. Authenticity is to find meaning for the tribe and oneself as leader of the pack or part of the tribe. It is the struggle for a brave new world where the disadvantages no longer exist or at least the ground is a fair one. The battle is for acceptance first.

The journeys, rebels from each side make, are so vastly different. And, yet society moves forward only when there are rebels from both these camps.

For young girls and women born into some privilege, it is a grey zone. Both privileged and oppressed at the same time. There is the journey to reject the tribe of family, culture or race to gain authenticity and traverse the lonely road while fighting against patriarchy as the oppressed gender.

The challenge then of girls and women from the oppressed camp is unimaginable. So many hurdles to cross to comprehend identity.

To honour the progress of humankind at every stage, is to be grateful for every rebel who dared. To show a mirror within, a mirror to the communities and tribes they came from and the burning desire to make a brave new world. Either by rejection or acceptance.

Are you a rebel or a follower? Are you fighting for yourself or your tribe? Are you rejecting or seeking understanding? Do you understand your privilege?

Do you make it a bit more fair or merely protest that your privileges are being lost?

- SS

Image Courtesy - Pexels, Cottonbro

0 Comments Add a Comment?

Add a comment
You can use markdown for links, quotes, bold, italics and lists. View a guide to Markdown
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. You will need to verify your email to approve this comment. All comments are subject to moderation.

Subscribe to get sent a digest of new articles by Welcome to Srividyasrinivasan.com !

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.