I am tired of this world created by men, ruined by men. I want a woman now to build the world or mess it up.

I also realize that a woman is the Dalit in every case. Even when you look at savarnas [forward castes], the woman is secondary. Even a Dalit man would look down upon a savarna woman. Yet, the fact is that half the world is populated by women. We are fighting small fights — Hindus versus Muslims, Dalits versus upper castes. Gender is the bigger battle. I am tired of the man within me. I also want to change. You get unconsciously trapped in male values. You are superior only because you happen to be a man. I want a break from this male-dominated world.

I would like to ask a question: how is women’s status in India?  Today India offers a lot of opportunities to women, with women having a voice in everyday life, the business world as well as in political life.

Nevertheless India is still a male dominated society, where women are often seen as subordinate and inferior to men. However, even though India is moving away from the male dominated culture, discrimination is still highly visible in rural as well as in urban areas, throughout all strata of society. While women are guaranteed equality under the constitution, legal protection has a limited effect, where patriarchal traditions prevail.

India’s Patriarchal Traditions :Dowry Tradition, Women as a Liability, Discrimination against Women (Before Birth / As an Infant;  As a Child; After Marriage; As a Widow)

Education: Literacy Rate for Women: 54%;  Literacy Rate for Men:       76%

Discrimination against Women: After Marriage

There is no cultural or religious tradition behind one of the most ghastly incidents of female oppression, but the prevalence of the dowry tradition has supposedly lead to “Bride Burning” (or other form of murdering) of the newly-wed wife by the husband and his family, who would claim, that she died in a domestic accident, so that the widowed husband would be free to marry again and collect another dowry.
Indian law demands a formal criminal investigation when a newly married woman dies within the home within 7 years of marriage. According to Indian National Crime Record Bureau, there were 8,239 dowry death cases, 1,285 cases of attempted dowry deaths, and another 4,890 cases with pending investigations in 2009. The punishment for dowry deaths is a term of 7 years, which may extend to life imprisonment. Indian law clearly distinguishes the offence of dowry deaths from the offence of murder, for which a death sentence might be declared.

The concluding questions are: which nation can claim to be a free and prosperous society, where half of its population is being oppressed? And which striving nation can afford to oppress half of its population?

Vandana

Department of CEMS, Patna Women’s College

  discrimination, Gender, male domination, Patna Women’s College, women