Women’s Day In India: Going Beyond Tokenism
No token observation of Women’s Day on March 8 every year will alter the course of India’s destiny unless it gets its priorities towards and treatment of Indian women right. Starting by respecting and honouring women is an urgent need of the hour
The 8th of March is around the corner again. Within a couple of days, the world will observe International Women’s Day. This day commemorates women’s fight for equality and liberation along with the women’s right movement and puts the focus on issues such as violence and abuse against women, gender equality and reproductive rights.
Women’s Day has its origins in labour movements in Europe and North America during the early 20th century. In India, from being an obscure holiday once, it has acquired momentum in the past two decades and now has a place of its own.
However, whether observance of this day has made any real difference to the condition of women in India is highly debatable. Setting aside a day dedicated to women and their irreplaceable standing in society, and amelioration of women, are two different things.
Unfortunately, in India, the status of women remains secondary in the scheme of things. Yes, they now have the freedom to dress in a more ‘Western’ fashion and yes, they are employed outside the house in well-paying jobs.
However, if you scratch the surface just a little, you will find that not much has changed from the days when women were shown their ‘place’ and were expected to toe the line, in all senses of this phrase.
While earlier, women in India were groomed since an early age to exist in a ‘supporting’ role, never putting their own aspirations above those of their family, today, on account of one-upmanship, families ‘allow’ their female offspring limited freedom in choice of career. But all talk of ‘empowerment’ stops at that.
Once a certain age, usually past 25 years, girls are expected to ‘marry and settle down’ and have very little say in the matter. In the decades leading upto the 21st century, women were ‘duty-bound’ to give priority to their family life; their professional aspirations were relegated to the second place.
In the past two decades, however, a more insidious change can be witnessed. Now, women are expected to land high-paying jobs AND get married to someone who enjoys the consent of their families. And once married, to keep that job – in essence, carry the cross of familial responsibilities and high-pressure professional obligations stoically.
This is where talk of feminism begins to sound hollow, atleast in India. This is because no matter how successful professionally, Indian women are made to feel ‘inadequate’ if they have not entered into matrimony by a certain age.
Add to this the social ostracisation a woman faces if she decides to take a divorce or opt for single parenting and you have a less-than-appetising situation at hand. Divorcees and single mothers are still treated with extreme disdain in India. Somehow, their marital status is used as a marker of their character and their decision to demand alimony in case there are children from the marriage as vile and opportunistic. Here I am talking about the vast majority of Indian women, not those privileged enough to grow up in a cosmopolitan milieu, where the thinking about the topic is only slightly better.
While the condition of women may not be ideal in Western societies and therefore any comparison with them is misplaced, the fact remains that the worst place to be born a woman is India (and other South Asian nations like Pakistan and Bangladesh). The crimes against women in India are many and varied. From child sexual abuse to marital rape and all other kinds of criminal activity – overwhelmingly sexual – the nature and scope of the deep hatred that India harbours towards its women and girls is stupendous.
Not for nothing does a case like that of Nirbhaya take place in India, that too in the capital of India, supposed to be safe(r) for women. Strikingly, on one hand, pre-pubescent Indian girls are considered ‘devis’ and worshipped as such. However, in the same culture, self-assured, independent women are branded as being ‘insubordinate’ and treated with barely-disguised misogyny.
It is this evil dichotomy that stops India from fully realising its true potential. After all, even if India does become the 4th largest economy in the world in the near future, its treatment of women will hang like an albatross around its neck and will hold it back from ever realising its true potential. All talk of being ‘Vishwaguru’ will therefore sound delusional and hollow.
Additionally, no token observation of Women’s Day on March 8 every year will alter the course of India’s destiny unless it gets its priorities towards and treatment of Indian women right. Starting by respecting and honouring women is an urgent need of the hour. The sooner Indians realise this, the better for them and their future.
