tulip
October 17th, 2005, 10:43 PM
This is a rather contentious issue to raise on a public forum but it is something I feel strongly about. A lot has already been said here in the thread started by Dev Dahiya regarding the exploitation of women and their status in society. It is still not enough.
About the Dance Bars, prostitution was not an issue. It was made an issue by banning the DBs. It was like an open secret and both sides of the business were profiting and happy. They weren’t bothering anyone. In the name of moral-policing the bars were slashed and the section of women who weren’t earlier into flesh trade were forced to join it for their daily bread. It’s sad the authorities chose not to see this side of the situation.
Lt. Col J S Malik sir points that the biggest enemy of a woman is another woman. Perhaps. It may be true in certain cases but does that take the blame off all men? The other day I was watching a documentary on Travel and Living about the position of women in Pakistan’s society. I was scandalized, to say the least. A woman was beaten up badly by her drunk husband, her ears and nose were chopped off and her eyes were taken out of sockets. Such gruesome acts are commonplace there. Did you know that there a man can get away with rape in the name of avenging his honor??!! One might argue such things don’t happen in India. But really, look around and open your eyes. The Imrana case is still fresh in our memories. There was Special Report in Sunday Times not very long ago on how safe women are in our country. There was an article about incidences in Muzaffarnagar of atrocities against women, a report on a village in Punjab where a single woman is married to all brothers in a family and is subjected to all sorts of injustice and exploitations. The list is long. Deciding which country is better than another in this context would be like choosing the best from the worse.
I don’t know much about how women were treating the world over in ancient times but I’ve read that in India during the Vedic age and the Samriti period, women were treated with equal respect to men. Whatever the reasons may be that led to such vast change in our attitudes towards the fair sex, they need to be now rectified. Just talking about the issue wont help. Actions need to be taken. Our outlooks need to be changed.
The way I see it is, girls in many well-to-do families are educated so that they can be married off well. They are then denied the prerogative to take decisions regarding their lives. A woman asks for only two things: she wants to be treated with respect and she wants the freedom to take her own decisions; regarding her career, her marriage, and everything that matters to her.
Its great to see men like Dev Dahiya who have a progressive outlook and who feel this is something worth discussing. Any change in society can never be sudden. It is a gradual process and I think if every person shelves conservative views, small changes would culminate into a bigger visible change. Perhaps slowly, but surely.
About the Dance Bars, prostitution was not an issue. It was made an issue by banning the DBs. It was like an open secret and both sides of the business were profiting and happy. They weren’t bothering anyone. In the name of moral-policing the bars were slashed and the section of women who weren’t earlier into flesh trade were forced to join it for their daily bread. It’s sad the authorities chose not to see this side of the situation.
Lt. Col J S Malik sir points that the biggest enemy of a woman is another woman. Perhaps. It may be true in certain cases but does that take the blame off all men? The other day I was watching a documentary on Travel and Living about the position of women in Pakistan’s society. I was scandalized, to say the least. A woman was beaten up badly by her drunk husband, her ears and nose were chopped off and her eyes were taken out of sockets. Such gruesome acts are commonplace there. Did you know that there a man can get away with rape in the name of avenging his honor??!! One might argue such things don’t happen in India. But really, look around and open your eyes. The Imrana case is still fresh in our memories. There was Special Report in Sunday Times not very long ago on how safe women are in our country. There was an article about incidences in Muzaffarnagar of atrocities against women, a report on a village in Punjab where a single woman is married to all brothers in a family and is subjected to all sorts of injustice and exploitations. The list is long. Deciding which country is better than another in this context would be like choosing the best from the worse.
I don’t know much about how women were treating the world over in ancient times but I’ve read that in India during the Vedic age and the Samriti period, women were treated with equal respect to men. Whatever the reasons may be that led to such vast change in our attitudes towards the fair sex, they need to be now rectified. Just talking about the issue wont help. Actions need to be taken. Our outlooks need to be changed.
The way I see it is, girls in many well-to-do families are educated so that they can be married off well. They are then denied the prerogative to take decisions regarding their lives. A woman asks for only two things: she wants to be treated with respect and she wants the freedom to take her own decisions; regarding her career, her marriage, and everything that matters to her.
Its great to see men like Dev Dahiya who have a progressive outlook and who feel this is something worth discussing. Any change in society can never be sudden. It is a gradual process and I think if every person shelves conservative views, small changes would culminate into a bigger visible change. Perhaps slowly, but surely.