What if she were a man?

What if she were a man?

     "Sen-jo and her soul are separated". Story is about a girl and her cousin. Chokan, who was Sen-jo's father, had told his nephew Ochu and his daughter when they were children that they would be a perfect couple. As a result, Sen-jo and Ochu were growing up with a feeling that they were a couple until they fell in love. Sen-jo had had that feeling for a long time then suddenly her father told her that she had to marry another man named Hinryo. Ochu, therefore, was sad to hear that, so he decided to move away from his lover. Sen-jo followed Ochu and went away with him then got married. Later, after they had two children, they decided to go back home. Once they arrived, Ochu decided to go by himself to Sen-jo's father to apologize for what they did, but he was shocked when he saw another Sen-jo there. It turned out that her soul was separated from her body, and either her body or her soul followed Ochu, but the one that did not follow him was so sick because he left her. From this story, Sen-jo was wronged and treated unequally by her father and her lover. Nowadays, women are being treated unfairly by fathers, lovers, and society.

      By going back and reading Sen-jo's story, we can see that she was treated unfairly by her father and how that would match what is happening nowadays. Even though Sen-jo was supposed to obey her father, he also was supposed to let her choose the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. To connect Sen-jo's story with what is happening currently, we can see in some communities; for example, my community that there are females being forced to marry their cousins just because they are socially equal, and from the same family. Without even looking for his manners or behaviors some females are being forced to marry old men because they are rich. If they were men, they could marry whoever they. In other words, men have the choice to choose whoever they want to marry, but women do not.

      In the story, we may assume that Ochu had nothing to do with Chokan's decision and we cannot blame him. That is totally wrong; both Sen-jo and her soul were faithful with Ochu, but he was not faithful to her. What Ochu did was just walking away. If she had not followed him, he would have been married to another woman. It was easy for him to walk away because he was a man and he could have run away, and forgotten about her, and then married any woman. That is not only, ancient it is still happening in my society. For example, when a man and a woman fall in love, then decide to get married, but are rejected either by of their family, the man will not fight for his lover. The only thing he will do is find another woman and then marry her and forget about his past relationship. However, the woman would suffer from that love, and she would not forget it even if she marries another man; moreover, she would name her child after him.

     Women are punished unequally when they commit a crime or go to jail for some reason, and that is because of some traditions in my society.  For instance, when Sen-jo was asked to wait and Ochu went to her father to apologize because he is the man, he would not be blamed for taking Sen-jo and being a man, and mistaken at the same time is not a problem. It is a problem and shameful if a woman were mistaken. That explains what is being done in some societies. For instance, some prisons are full of women who have already finished their sentences, but are rejected and refused by their community because they are females. Nevertheless; in my community, they celebrate when a man finished his jail time and being released. Even though he had committed a crime or was a drug dealer, they party like he is a hero. Both genders should be punished and treated equally; not because he is a man and she is a woman it is because they are human beings.

      Briefly, what happened in the story gives parents and men in general some lessons. For the parents, your sons have rights and obligations on you. Also, if you do not want them to act like Sen-jo, let them marry whomever they choose as long as they have strong morals and behaviors, and their families are known as respectful families. The other lesson is for men who are in relations with women now. If you are in love with her, stand with her and stay with her if you love her.