In one of my rants, I ask the question - How can a society that fails to protect its women and children ever hope to progress? Unfortunately, most Indian societies do not ask this question. While there are some pockets in the country, divided by region or economic affluence and small in number compared to India's population, that do nourish and protect their boys and girls without prejudice, most of our society is simply too deeply ensconced in an institutional discrimination against women.
Many people who comment on gender issues in the country also ask this rhetorical question - how can a society where the Hindu's worship so many Goddesses treat its women so bad? I know I called it a rhetorical question, but the answer would be that in today's society, I feel people only use religion when it suits them. I think gone are the times when humankind used religion to reach a higher state of being.
Coming back to my point of institutional discrimination against women in our society, the fact that we account for one of the highest instances of female infanticide in the world is a more glaring and visible national shame, but discrimination when it comes to opportunities, protection and our attitudes occurs daily and subconsciously. For example, our national capital, New Delhi is notorious for being one of the most women-unfriendly cities in the world. Girls are regularly harrassed on trains, buses and on the streets, yet that society has not been able to come together and provide even an iota of support to its women. For most of them, its just another day and they learn to ignore it. It only strengthens the crime.
Numerous studies have been done on gender issues in India, by anthropologists, economists, Indians and outsiders, and all more or less find that imbalances exist in every part of the society. This study presented under the United Nations Population Fund, and done by a European researcher, talks about the growing gender ratio imbalance in the country.
Till a few years ago, the widespread belief in India was that the reason why so many families, especially the poor families, preferred the boy child was because that brought another earning member into the family. Numerous studies exist now that prove beyond doubt that the regions that show the most gender imbalance in their populations are actually some of the most affluent regions in the country. (are you listening, Punjab and Haryana?)
Firstly, in a country as populated and crowded as India, it is impossible to be vigilant against any banned practices such as sex determination tests and female foeticide. These evil practices occur regularly and probably in all corners of the country. Secondly, most Indian societies are patriarchial, and it is very difficult to break this mindset of according priority to the boy child. The only change I see is in the urban environment, where families are not concerned about their child's gender, and women have greater opportunities to do well, and do so independently.
This decade, everybody was talking about the Women Empowerment Bill in the Indian Parliament, a bill that will reserve a certain percentage of Parliament seats for women. Last year, it was passed in the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, but the Lok Sabha has not passed it yet. People against it present one point - women in our society will only end up becoming proxies for their husbands to stand in these elections. Yes, it may happen, but I also strongly believe that it won't take long for such women to shake off the yokels and stand up for themselves. The social studies all stand united in confirming that stronger women lead to stronger societies, economically and socially. Given that Indian men are not much of men themselves, the women will have to stand up for themselves. My own family has fiercely independent women, and I want to see the same in every woman in the country.
Many people who comment on gender issues in the country also ask this rhetorical question - how can a society where the Hindu's worship so many Goddesses treat its women so bad? I know I called it a rhetorical question, but the answer would be that in today's society, I feel people only use religion when it suits them. I think gone are the times when humankind used religion to reach a higher state of being.
Coming back to my point of institutional discrimination against women in our society, the fact that we account for one of the highest instances of female infanticide in the world is a more glaring and visible national shame, but discrimination when it comes to opportunities, protection and our attitudes occurs daily and subconsciously. For example, our national capital, New Delhi is notorious for being one of the most women-unfriendly cities in the world. Girls are regularly harrassed on trains, buses and on the streets, yet that society has not been able to come together and provide even an iota of support to its women. For most of them, its just another day and they learn to ignore it. It only strengthens the crime.
Numerous studies have been done on gender issues in India, by anthropologists, economists, Indians and outsiders, and all more or less find that imbalances exist in every part of the society. This study presented under the United Nations Population Fund, and done by a European researcher, talks about the growing gender ratio imbalance in the country.
Till a few years ago, the widespread belief in India was that the reason why so many families, especially the poor families, preferred the boy child was because that brought another earning member into the family. Numerous studies exist now that prove beyond doubt that the regions that show the most gender imbalance in their populations are actually some of the most affluent regions in the country. (are you listening, Punjab and Haryana?)
Firstly, in a country as populated and crowded as India, it is impossible to be vigilant against any banned practices such as sex determination tests and female foeticide. These evil practices occur regularly and probably in all corners of the country. Secondly, most Indian societies are patriarchial, and it is very difficult to break this mindset of according priority to the boy child. The only change I see is in the urban environment, where families are not concerned about their child's gender, and women have greater opportunities to do well, and do so independently.
This decade, everybody was talking about the Women Empowerment Bill in the Indian Parliament, a bill that will reserve a certain percentage of Parliament seats for women. Last year, it was passed in the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, but the Lok Sabha has not passed it yet. People against it present one point - women in our society will only end up becoming proxies for their husbands to stand in these elections. Yes, it may happen, but I also strongly believe that it won't take long for such women to shake off the yokels and stand up for themselves. The social studies all stand united in confirming that stronger women lead to stronger societies, economically and socially. Given that Indian men are not much of men themselves, the women will have to stand up for themselves. My own family has fiercely independent women, and I want to see the same in every woman in the country.
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