This article has been submitted by Prithvi Joshi for the CLATGyan Blog Post Writing Competition. If you think it’s a good read, ‘Like’ the article (the button is at the bottom of this piece) or post a comment using the ‘Comments’ section below.
All of us are aware of the type of society we are living in and I don’t want to sound banal by describing the stereotypes and prejudices that prevail in our society. But I definitely want to unmask the mentality that the dominant gender has that makes our society highly patriarchal.
Indian men, although nobody bestowed them with such a right, assume it as an inherent right, to dominate women. They think that they are superior to women and are not to be messed with, simply because they are ‘men’. They remain overly attached to the dogmas of not allowing women to work outside (unfortunately, still prevalent in rural India) and not allowing them to pray in places of worship (a recent one) to name a few.
They still have the audacity to dominate women (in this case their wives) when they are on the brink of unemployment and are a big liability to the family. In a few families, the women are doing everything they can to support them.
Indian men (there are exceptions), tend to think of women as an object rather than as a human with feelings. This tendency, coupled with a degraded set of morals and ethics, according to me, is a major reason of rising crimes against women in India.
The reality is bitter and we know that even after the Delhi Gang rape case, a string of promises were made to keep women safe. These promises remain unfulfilled and crimes have not witnessed a downward trend in any state.
No law and order, however good it may be, can prevent such crimes unless men change their dominant and stereotypical thinking about women and give a thought to keeping them on an equal footing. But for this, they will have to abandon their so called paremparayein and will have to embrace some sense.
Such a society may be possible one day but as of now, it remains a far cry.
