A man said something to me recently that stuck:
“I don’t know… for everything we’ve been through, and all the years we’ve had, I feel like we should be a lot further ahead by now. Like, technologically, socially — we’re behind.”
It wasn’t a complaint. More like an observation from someone who had quietly done the math. And it made me stop. Because he’s right — we are behind. But maybe not for the reasons we usually hear.
Who’s Been Holding It All Together?
We like to talk about progress in terms of invention: steam engines, the internet, space travel. But rarely do we ask who’s been keeping the ground steady while all that was built.
In so many households, boardrooms, temples, and battlefields, there’s been someone in the background. They have been cooking, tending, supporting, and stabilizing. Meanwhile, someone else gets the title and the credit.
Often, that someone in the background was a woman. Or someone from a lower caste. Or someone never taught to read. They didn’t invent the lightbulb — but maybe they held the family together so someone else could. Maybe they had ideas, too, but no one asked.
The History Books Only Have One Lens
In ancient East Asia, literacy was limited to certain castes — mostly elite men. In many parts of the world, including India, oral traditions carried stories and knowledge forward when writing and education were out of reach for the majority.
Songs, rituals, and symbols were how wisdom survived. Women passed down entire systems of healing, birth, death, and transformation — in kitchens, fields, and over cradles. But you won’t find their names in textbooks.
And in yoga? The irony runs deep. A tradition born from connection and awareness has been filtered through a male, often elite, gaze for centuries. The feminine perspective — intuitive, communal, and practical — was pushed to the sidelines. Even today, the language and lineage we use can feel strangely disconnected from women’s lived reality.
The Backlash Reveals the Truth
When I mentioned online that women had been historically held back, and that civilization would likely be further ahead if they had been included equally — the comments came rolling in.
“Men built everything.”
“We’re the inventors, the soldiers, the engineers.”
“That’s just biology.”
But that reaction proves the point.
If we agree that men have been the ones building the systems and holding the power, then we also have to admit that they wrote the history. Therefore, women weren’t given the opportunity to contribute equally. The door wasn’t just closed — it was bolted shut.
The real question isn’t whether men have contributed. It’s how much more advanced we might be if everyone had been given a fair shot.
“We’ve been moving slow because we’ve been moving unevenly.”
Progress for Whom?
And it’s not just women who were sidelined.
Many men — especially Black men, Indigenous men, and men from working-class or immigrant backgrounds — have also been kept out of decision-making rooms, stripped of credit, or left out of the narrative entirely.
They fought wars, built roads, invented tools, and kept communities running — but were denied patents, protection, and political power.
When we look at how modern policies — especially those from Trump-era rollbacks — have affected education, reproductive rights, environmental protections, and civil rights, the legacy becomes clearer. These policies didn’t just slow down progress. They protected privilege and punished those already pushed to the margins.
Progress hasn’t just been slow. It’s been uneven — by design.
So Where Does Yoga Come In?
Yoga is often seen as a personal escape — a mountain retreat, a candlelit studio, a solo path to peace. But real yoga is relational. It asks us to look at how we live, not just how we breathe.
We can’t talk about liberation if we don’t ask: Who has been doing the invisible work? Who’s been keeping the fire lit while someone else gets to meditate in silence?
Yoga is political, whether we like it or not. Because yoga is about truth. And the truth is — many voices have been missing from the story.
Maybe It’s Time We Listen Differently
This isn’t about guilt. It’s about curiosity. About finally asking:
Who was never invited into the room? Who was busy fixing neckties, making dinner, or calming children while “progress” marched on? And what wisdom have we missed because we never stopped to ask?
We’ve been moving slow because we’ve been moving unevenly.
What if the real revolution isn’t about going faster — but about widening the circle?
Niki Kaur Yoga & Wellness 