India has come a long way from being
one of the backward nations at the time of its independence to its imminent
global position in the world today. It goes without saying that behind a
progressive nation is the progressive minds of its citizens. To call the people
of a country progressive, which is otherwise known for its conservativeness is a big feat, but I wouldn't take back my words. Though, I have to say that this broad mindedness is not an
absolute phenomenon. Indians may be ready to take bold steps when it comes to
their businesses but their social life is still ruled by their old fashioned
beliefs of the gone era. And the leash of customs and traditions is the tightest
around the necks of Indian girls. Be it big city or a small village, deep down, it is still the thinking of most that girls are best fit to stay at home and
bear children. You go to a house in a small town and you’ll find that the
freedom females have in every aspect of their life, from the type of clothing to
wear to the choice of career, is nonexistent. If these bounds were set up by the parents who
were illiterates, who haven’t seen or known any better way to live and think, then to an extent you might understand. But, what is
absolutely shocking is that a lot of this hugely prevalent gender
discrimination is by the well educated doctors and teachers of our society. So, the
young boy can go out to America or Europe for his education and job, but god forbid
if the girl wants to study in a college which is outside of the 10 kilometer
radius of her house. I understand that parents want to keep their daughters
safe from the big bad world, but they go about it in the wrong way. By confining
them they are sending out the message that you are weak and can’t cope with the
outside world. This thinking does nothing but encourage discrimination and
horrors inflicted on women all over the country. If our own parents won’t
teach us how to survive the difficult world out there how would we be able to
know any better? Moreover, this reinforces the notion that female is the meeker
gender and men have the right to dominate them in whichever way they want. With
these kinds of beliefs shaping our society, we might as well be living as Neanderthals,
not in the 21st century global India.
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| Girl empowerment plays a large part in attaining gender equality |
Having vented about the unjust
ways in which girls are treated, it needs to be mentioned that we girls don’t just sit back
and let others decide our lives. Some of us, in their small ways, and some with
their big bold steps, fight male chauvinism every day. Be it a big city girl or a girl in the dusty remote village, each one faces bigotry in their homes,
offices, in markets, on roads, in play fields and daresay even in politics. The most
effective solution to eradicate this illness from our society is for all the
girls to claim the beautiful gift our constitution has granted us- RIGHT TO
EQUALITY AND FREEDOM. Each one of us has to be a Sonia Gandhi or a Kalpna Chawla
or a Chandra Kochhar in our own way to set an example for ourselves and for
others. As the former president of Chile and the head of the UN Women, Michelle Bachelet
said,
"When you see women playing an
important role, you not only change the mindset of girls who see that there is
another possible future, but you also change the mindset of men."
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| This was an inspirational poster for american workers in 1943 but is now used to promote feminism. |
On a lighter note here is a song for
the girls (yey to us!) and all the chauvinists out there (boo to you!).
P.S.- This post was the outcome of a visit I recently took to a small town in India, where I saw, first hand, gender prejudice being played out; a well educated father manipulated the career and life of his daughters.
