Women in India: Victims? Or Victors? [Part I]

[Guest guest]

Sept 13, 2004 - India's Women: Three steps forward or three steps

backward? Here, the Delhi Times looks at a new show that examines

the status of women in India, circa 2004:

 

Analyse this:

 

* The female is the mother goddess in ancient texts. Today, she's

the weaker sex.

 

* The country in which goddesses are reigning deities is home to

rape and the practice of Sati.

 

* Whereas brides are 'blessed with a thousand sons', female

infanticide is rampant in India.

 

That's the duality of contemporary India. If, as a society, we've

taken three steps forward with the likes of Indira Gandhi, Kiran

Bedi and Naina Lal Kidwai, we've also taken three steps backward in

that women are seen as sex symbols and raped in broad daylight.

 

With "About Turn" -- a pop graphic show set to evaluate the status

of Indian women -- the Delhi Times zeroes in on the what and why...

 

* TWO SIDES OF THE COIN

 

"Women in India are either deified or commercialised," says art

curator Alka Pande, "Released from the role of domesticity, they

have entered the market as a label for consumer titillation."

 

Adds design consultant Arjun Sawhney, "The progress made by Indian

women is primarily confined to urban areas. Also, it's mostly women

down south who are seeking the benefits of education. This two-toned

status is exemplified by the juxtaposition of the prominence of

woman politicians like Uma Bharti, Sheila Dikshit, Jayalalitha and

Vasundhara Raje with the numerous rape cases we face."

 

* THE 'MAKE IT HAPPEN' GENERATION

 

Says novelist Shobhaa De, "The seeds have been sown and this makes

me proud to be today's woman -- secure in the comforts of her

gender. We're the 'we can make it happen' generation."

 

Adds entrepreneur Roshni Jaiswal, "We've progressed, but real

progress won't be seen unless there is proactive legislation to give

women the final push for that extra jump.

 

* WHERE TO FROM HERE?

 

"Fear of men defined my mother's generation but, in many ways, she

was more 'today' than a lot of the so-called empowered women," says

De, "We were compelled to participate in a feminist movement that

originated in the West and, hence, did not have much relevance to

the society we were living in."

 

Says design expert Angila Puri, "The rural woman has more of a

dynamic spirit than the party-hopping woman who takes her

circumstances for granted."

 

According to Pande, "Today's woman is in a transitory passage of

empowerment, from which will emerge the New Age Indian woman. What

will help is that our women -- like Aishwarya Rai, Mira Nair -- have

acquired an international status."

 

Source: The Times of India. Woman, no cry? By ALLEN O'BRIEN. TIMES

NEWS NETWORK [MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2004 09:44:35 PM

URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//articleshow/849651.cms?

[Guest guest]

Just my own personal thought :

 

I tend to believe that the Asian concept of feminism is very much

different than that of a Western Version.

 

Does being a feminist means you must remove your feminity and

becoming more manly? Or must we use the same tactic as the man such

as violent, physical suppression or force domination to prove our

strength?