The Vanishing Woman

Like elves and djinns and other mythical creatures, who were once believed to inhabit our lands freely, the female human is facing a gradual loss of significance and space.

There will come a time when men will run with their cameras to capture a stray strand of long, golden hair or a set of feet with painted toenails. The sudden sighting of kohl-laden eyes or a whispering anklet will lead to a mad frenzy. “Stray woman! Come, see for yourself!” What? Where! “Here! I can smell her skin. Her bangles are clinking too!”

And someone will murmur about stray women being highly sensitive to excited groups of men. “She will come out if we pretend not to look.”

But because men, in an excited state, are allowed to have no control over their bodies or brains, the strategy will fail. In an attempt to cover this failure, an elder will shout out loud: But what is she doing here?

Little boys, who would never have known stray women, would imagine some creature from hell trying to barge into their world—a world filled with men. The all-male task force would be summoned to look into this dangerous specimen with seductive qualities. Social media would go haywire with everyone sharing videos of men standing around with sticks and stones.

“Don’t worry,” some wise leader would say. “They are not known to attack or eat men.” Someone would then chime in with how interesting it would be to catch hold of a stray and cage her. “Perhaps there are more?” another would exclaim.

Unbeknownst to them, the stray women of the world would have created their own hide-outs—below the scorching earth, in the bright blue waters of the sea, atop whirlwinds of silvery dust that zip through deserts. The world of men would sense the vanishing woman in the warm glow of a sweet sunset or the beautiful colors of the rainbow. She would hum with the songbirds on trees or laugh with the waves surging from seas. She would be everywhere yet nowhere—lost, strange and mystical—like those elves, djinns and mythical beings whom we banished with such ease.

Image: Dancing Fairies, Wikimedia, August Malmstrom