- It must be frustrating being a woman in India or for that matter anywhere else around the world. Despite reams and reams having been written about improving the lot of women, certain incidents and/or policies planned by the government authorities make one cringe in disbelief and wonder what’s happening with all the talks about gender parity, equality, unbiased treatment, and level-playing field laid out to the other sex. It might appear cliché, but the gender bias favouring males over females is a fact that cannot be brushed aside despite the modern-day world having moved ahead so much on the back of revolutionary technological advancements in every field. Why does society continue to fail in upholding the virtues of gender parity even now?
PC: Deccan Herald
- That’s a million-dollar question that cannot be answered easily. Yes, humankind and every society have progressed along favourably over the millennia, but women continue to be subjected to misogyny since the widely prevalent patriarchy hasn’t been conquered. As the situation changed any better in India? Not really as incidents of male chauvinism keep cropping up perpetually despite innumerable efforts to address this malaise bogging the society. The latest on the subject is an Uttar Pradesh body telling women their safety only lies in segregated spaces which is not only absurd but also counterproductive to the efforts of introducing all-encompassing gender parity. Little wonder, women’s commissions across India should have their hands full.
- Mind you, from crimes against women to other injustices, there is so much work to be done on their mandate to enhance women’s status. And yet, what do these commissions mostly make headlines for? Partisan actions. This dysfunction speaks to how appointees serve causes other than gender justice. Even by this underwhelming yardstick, the UP State Women’s Commission’s proposed guidelines for improving women’s safety in public and commercial spaces are disgraceful. The core idea is to segregate women from men – to get her hair cut a woman should only depend on a woman, to go to a gym only on a woman trainer, to get clothes stitched only on a woman tailor. This is a complete mockery of equality. What’s happening?
PC: Freepik
- Down this path, male doctors will not treat female patients, male teachers will only educate male students, and all male and female workers will only work with colleagues of their own sex. Indeed, this is straight out of the Taliban’s playbook. And look how that’s going for Afghanistan. Commonsense should suffice to say this is not safety but the opposite. Instead of policing the exception who is guilty of bad touch, it’s telling women to feel fearful of all male tailors, trainers, and hairdressers. That it will improve women’s employment is a further jumble. Across societies, when diversity is straight-jacketed by segregation, it lowers growth alongside social trust. We owe our children a world where they thrive in mixed company instead of dreading it.
