Chavunism of the worst kind

We keep harping on the fact that we are ushering in new thoughts in this new century and India is planning on being a global power by 2020. We keep making politically correct statements on empowerment of the weak and down trodden and empowerment of the neglected sections of society. Den outta nowhere we begin harping about women's reservation bill in our legislatures and how we need to make women equal to men and give them equal opportunities; give them the right to fight for their country and die for it.. etc etc.. the list is a long one. It almost seems that women have become a underprivileged section of society and this assumption does not sit right with me.

I do not understand why does logic not prevail and why do we need legislation to stamp the rights of women on resources that comes naturally to men. Its like even the fundamental rights like right to live, right to freedom of speech and most recently right to education comes naturally to men and in case of women it needs a man to ratify whether they get these rights or not. Why do more than 70% of women population not look "free" in an otherwise "free India". Why do people keep writing about these issues and no one wants to solve them. Well the answer is simple, WE ARE CHAUVINISTIC. Its not like you guys are and I am not.. its like we all are.. but the intensity is different. We grudge the rights of half of the worlds population.

Most of us are unknowingly doing this, some of us are using culture as a basis and rest of us are doing it because they just don't want women on equal footing as them. Women themselves have accepted this and have moulded themselves to fit into these pigeon holes. In our society where arranged marriage is a common practice, we see this quite evidently when we look up on matrimonial sites. Men with questionable backgrounds, unimpressive jobs and sloppy personalities are looking for "fair", "homely" and "cultured" women for marriage. The sad part is, the women are made to feel obligated that they are chosen by a man for marriage even though he does not match her on any level. This systematic brain washing continues even after and at some point every woman starts believing that she needs a man to support her all through her life.

Women who are independent and have a view on life are seen as a threat to man's world and when faced with this threat all men resort to one weapon i .e. questioning her morality and integrity. Most women care about their reputation and it works favourably for people to edge her out or kill her spirit. At some stage all of us have used this method to belittle a woman's achievement not stopping to think why is a woman's achievement linked to her morality and why are men not expected to have any morals in life. To add insult to injury, we supposedly worship women in India in various forms and treat her as a holy cow. How about giving her due respect and not raising her to a pedestal where you keep highlighting each and every human flaw she has.

Women rights activists must stop taking up cudgels with western media for corrupting the minds of our women and showing them in bad light, but in turn try and fight chauvinism in all its kinds and not selectively ignore some things as part of our culture because no culture teaches us to bulldoze half the population with gender specific rules. Its made for one and only one purpose... superiority of man over woman.


So long..