The twitching of my eye is invariably a premontion of an impending shock. Hence my queer eyelids in the morning the other day told me something is amiss. Soon enough I got a call from one of my closest friends. I didnt know someone could be terrified and angry until I heard her that day. She was terrified because she was struggling to save her marriage after her husband apparently discovered that she had an 'affair' before tying the knot; and angry because she felt she was a victim of 'gender dscrimination'. "Hello! Did you say gender discrimination?" I didn't quite get her. "Yes puzzle-head", pat came her reply. "Do you think I would have been in such a predicament if I were not of the fairer sex? The few innocuous dates that are now termed as an 'affair' would probably have been magnified and glorified as a medallion of male verility. The person who coined the phrase M-C-P was a prophet I guess."
We have seen the issue of gender bias and gender discrimination both extensively debated and glossed over. Is it really an issue or just a convenient topic for coffee table discussions? Though things are changing fast problems still remain. Glass ceilings still exist. Albeit at a subtler level. May it be in the form of the indiscreet innuendoes passed at the girl who 'switched' boyfriends at college or the corporate star performer who was passed over because a pretty face seemed incongruous in a board room - gender discrimination can have several manifestations.
The discrimation starts right from her childhood when she is expected to play wth a doll while her brother shoots away to glory with a mock machine gun. As she enters her teens the curfew is a little more stringent for her and her friends are a little more scrutinized. Further along the timeline her demeanour is monitored and so are her clothes. Eventually she is expected to marry 'into' the groom's house and practise chastity if her husband passes away before she does. All this might seem a little blown up. It probably is to some extent. But just to push the idea through. The fight against gender discrimination and several other maladies makes imperative the fight against our prejudices and a change in the way impressionable minds are taught.
What we have been doing all these years - through reservations for women, waves of feminism and greivance forums for women - is providing symptomatic treatment to the problem. It is like trying to straigten a crumpled piece of paper. However well we might be able to do it the scars will still remain. What we need to do is recycle the paper into a fresh one. The process will take time. But we are not facing any apocalypse. We don't need shortcuts. Let the change be gradual. But lasting.
We have seen the issue of gender bias and gender discrimination both extensively debated and glossed over. Is it really an issue or just a convenient topic for coffee table discussions? Though things are changing fast problems still remain. Glass ceilings still exist. Albeit at a subtler level. May it be in the form of the indiscreet innuendoes passed at the girl who 'switched' boyfriends at college or the corporate star performer who was passed over because a pretty face seemed incongruous in a board room - gender discrimination can have several manifestations.
The discrimation starts right from her childhood when she is expected to play wth a doll while her brother shoots away to glory with a mock machine gun. As she enters her teens the curfew is a little more stringent for her and her friends are a little more scrutinized. Further along the timeline her demeanour is monitored and so are her clothes. Eventually she is expected to marry 'into' the groom's house and practise chastity if her husband passes away before she does. All this might seem a little blown up. It probably is to some extent. But just to push the idea through. The fight against gender discrimination and several other maladies makes imperative the fight against our prejudices and a change in the way impressionable minds are taught.
What we have been doing all these years - through reservations for women, waves of feminism and greivance forums for women - is providing symptomatic treatment to the problem. It is like trying to straigten a crumpled piece of paper. However well we might be able to do it the scars will still remain. What we need to do is recycle the paper into a fresh one. The process will take time. But we are not facing any apocalypse. We don't need shortcuts. Let the change be gradual. But lasting.
