Being Woman = Being Unequal

In as diverse and complex a country as India where multiple cultures prevail, the one thing that is pervasive across states, cities, towns and villages is gender discrimination and biases against females. On International Women’s Day, RIDHIMA MALHOTRA opines on the oxymoron of women not being given their dues in a land where goddesses are revered.

- Ridhima Malhotra

If there is one particular thing, just a single factor, that strongly determines the course that people’s lives take, what would it be? Let’s not try to answer this question in several words or sentences by spelling out the various decisive factors. There certainly is a wide range of elements that shape the lives of people. However, if we have to name just one most important facet that is not only crucial but also inexorable in governing every individual’s life, what do we think it is?

Is it the person’s economic status, that is subject to change on several occasions in a lifetime, or one’s religion or, especially in the context of our county, one’s caste? Is it the family that one is born into or the amount of education that one acquires? Or is it the person’s inherent nature or the decisions that one takes for oneself over time? If we think hard enough, the one logical factor that is ought to come to our minds, that at least comes to my mind more often than not, is ‘gender’ or the ‘sex’ that one is born with.

During birth announcements, the only thing about newborns that is sought to be known is whether it’s a girl or a boy. There is no doubt that the sex we are born with — our biological characteristics — lay the foundation of our lives. However, our sex — male or female — is usually blown out of proportion and is the basis on which various conditions and restrictions are imposed on us. Does nature simply assign males and females distinct biological roles or does it also assert a gender-based ranking system as assumed by humans especially in parochial societies and countries like ours? In creating mainly two distinct sexes, isn’t nature’s intention to create two halves or two equals that complement one another in together bringing life to a full circle?