The only place I’ve witnessed where women aren’t allowed and only men can go is the public toilet reserved for men. Maybe there are several examples like boys’ common rooms, etc. But my concern onto this was that discrimination between gender is a critical term to talk upon. A country like India, where women are enjoying various benefits provided by the government like reservation in public transport, non-neglectable forces, and even the National Commission for Women. There are nowadays pink police stations as well where all the staff, including the lowest as well as the highest authorities, are women only. It is a good initiative after looking upon our history with feminine energy. I am a student of history where the more I got deeper into the condition of women in our country, the darker and dirtier our history got. I became a feminist recently, but I was never a misogynist in the past. No educated man wants his women to suffer due to societal conservativeness. An example of Jyotiba Phule ji fits better in this context. But today, only when I was studying about the world, I got shocked to hear that there is a mountain called Mount Athos, an autonomous and self-governed region in Greece, renowned for its long-standing tradition of Eastern Orthodox monasticism, where women are forbidden and aren’t allowed to enter within 500m of the coast. After researching, the only reason I got to listen was to ensure celibacy. Extreme celibacy in the mountain doesn’t allow any feminine energy to enter the coast of Mount Athos. This fact made me realize why Athos is different from other monasteries. More research told me about a proven tradition as well; “One of the traditions is that the Virgin Mary was blown off course when she was trying to sail to Cyprus and landed on Mount Athos. And she liked it so much that she prayed to her son that she should be given it as her own and he agreed,” says Speake. “It’s still called ‘the garden of the mother of God’, dedicated to her glory, and she alone represents her sex on Mount Athos.” (BBC, 2016). Even female animals such as mammals are also not allowed on the Mountain. This strict adherence to feminine energy marks the grace of ancient traditions and rules as it is deeply rooted in the Orthodox Christian belief system and the monastic way of life. It makes me wonder how a society could work without the existence of women. It takes a lot of self-control and perseverance to achieve this much height as a man. This discipline in a monk’s life literally helps them in focusing on their own supreme energy without any distraction from their spiritual pursuit. This male-only atmosphere is a symbol of their extreme potential to mankind. But still, I wanted to know why this tradition was in existence, so I get to know that this exclusion of women dates back centuries ago when Mount Athos was designated as a sacred space exclusively for men. This tradition has been maintained and reinforced over the centuries, with the support of both religious authorities and secular rulers. This orthodox theology placed great emphasis on the current generation living in the Athos for maintaining gender roles and living with the art of self-control. It’s important to note that while the ban on women visiting or residing on Mount Athos is firmly entrenched in tradition and religious doctrine, it has also sparked debate and criticism, both within Greece and internationally. Some view it as discriminatory or outdated, while others argue that it is an essential aspect of preserving the unique spiritual character of Mount Athos. We, in a man’s world, still lack the art of self-control and hence, the crime against women is on the rise. I don’t support the women with a fake feminism label onto her glorifying the anti-man nonsense, but it is the duty of us as well to understand the need for self-control and perseverance so that we can become better each and every moment in the world of the present. This society consists of men, but we have to understand that this isn’t a tough man’s world with bigger biceps but a thinker man’s world with a bigger brain.
Mount Athos: A Place Where Women Aren’t Allowed
