"I Am Astonished..."

"I Am Astonished..." (English Translation) I am astonished to think— why did no woman ever raise her voice against Tulsidas, the one who wrote: "The drum, the ignorant, the Shudra, the animal, and the woman— all deserve to be disciplined." I am astonished— why did no woman burn the Manusmriti, the text that placed the chains of slavery upon women. I am astonished— why did no woman condemn that Ram who, even after demanding proof of Sita's purity, banished his pregnant wife from his home. Why did no woman curse those who treated a woman as property and staked her in a game of dice? Why did the entire womanhood endure Draupadi's public humiliation before powerless warriors in the Mahabharata? I am astonished to think why no woman opposed the daylight abductions of Samyukta, Amba, and Ambalika. And I remain astonished— after all this, why do my mothers and sisters still worship them, revering them as gods? I am astonished by their silence. Should I call it patience, blind faith, or the highest form of mental slavery? I remain astonished... — Attributed to Mahadevi Verma