Being an Indian is not easy and being a woman in India is definitely not everyone's cup of tea! Whether you are a 16 year old teenager, curious about sex, or a 46 year old woman, tired of handling her husband's daily tantrums, every woman in India must have met a man (or more), at some point or the other, who tried to act like he owns her. Such men can be found at every nook and corner of India, whether we talk about the Metropolitan cities like New Delhi and Mumbai, or the small towns, such as Kanpur or Amritsar.
Now, before you judge me as stereotypical feminazi, I would like to declare that I have nothing against men. Being a feminist has never meant that we hate men. I have met a number of guys who are pretty respectful towards women, whether they are their sister, mother or a random stranger. However, it's unfortunate that such men are less in number and many of them still believe that we belong in the kitchen.
I can recall an instance when I was having a chat with all my female colleagues, when one of them said that she had never gone on college trips. When asked why, she told us that she came from a conservative family and it was a must for her to return back home before 6 PM during her college days. I was pretty stunned to know that as my parents had never implied such a rule on me. However, the distressing fact was that her elder brother was allowed to go out for parties, college trips and other entertaining activities.
Another disturbing fact that we all must have seen at some point or the other is that most of our elders preach about ignoring the eve-teasers instead of fighting back. This only makes them think that women are scared of them and they fearlessly keep on eve-teasing women. And has it ever mattered if she is wearing a mini-skirt or a salwar kameez?
While we are busy teaching out daughters to dress properly and avoid going out at night, we completely forgot about teaching our sons to respect women and be a gentleman. It's high time that we start teaching our sons about equality and the right to respect.
