Rama: Hardly the 'Perfect Man'

I know I have a tendency to make faces whenever I hear that Rama is the ‘perfect man’, but I feel like I haven’t had a chance to explain my reasons for not agreeing with this sentiment. So what better way than to post it to the blog? Perhaps when The Ramayana was written, Rama was the perfect man, but in today’s society (mainly western society), I believe Rama would be considered a misogynist. I say mainly western society because I know in other parts of the world baby girls are still being murdered because they’re seen as lesser than a man and women are still treated worse than animals.  But in terms of the liberated female and women’s rights, Rama clearly has a thing or two to learn.

                My main issue with Rama’s treatment of Sita is the moment when he’s reunited. One would think that after all of the trouble he went to in order to save her, he’d be overjoyed to have her back. But this is not the case. In fact, it’s almost the opposite. He turns her away! He tells her that he can’t take her back because she has been living with another man for so long and may be unchaste. Well, here’s the thing. If she was unchaste, it was because Ravana raped her; he did kidnap her against her will and he is a monster. It’s very obvious that Sita loves Rama, so why would she choose to cheat on him? Therefore, Rama is saying that he won’t take her back because she might have been raped. In our culture, we know that rape is never the victim’s fault and that victims should be treated with love, respect, and caring.  Turning them away is the last thing anyone should do.

                Rama’s second mistake is when he listens to the community’s opinion of Sita’s moral character. Again, if she was impure, it was a result of rape. Instead of standing up for her innocence (which should be unnecessary anyway) and swaying the people’s opinion, he bows to them and sends her away for real this time. And Sita, the ever loving and faithful wife, agrees to leave. I have a feeling she was probably sick of the rumors and just wanted to get away.

                Unfortunately, in today’s world there are still places where a woman’s chastity is more important than her well being. Our final show for the year, Ruined, shows us this very world where victims of rape are cast out of their community because they are “damaged” or “ruined”. And the man who would do that to his wife is hardly the “perfect man”.

I wish that I was going to be here next year, because I would have loved to have been a part of the creation of The Sitayana, considering how strongly I feel about her side of the story.