- Aditi Choubey
Are women and men really equal in eyes of law?
Yes! I am aware that Article 14 to 18 of our Indian Constitution talks about Rights to
Equality, but the question here is whether the women of our society get the equal
stage or equal platform or equal opportunities still living in this 21st Century as
compared to men?
Well, the answer is a big NO.
Although everyone is well aware of the fact that men and women are equally capable
in every walk of life, in every field but still discrimination is seen. And yes talking
about discrimination does not mean that I support “Pseudo Feminism”.
I never said that men should step down and give the share of their success to women.
There is a very thin line of difference between Feminism and Pseudo Feminism.
Feminism is a belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes and I
support it.
Well, it’s a shame that we live in a country where a minister the so-called leader of
your country, Yogi Aditya Nath said, and I quote “ Women not capable of being left
free or independent”. I am aware that I am a woman a free soul and have my own
rights and liberties, but are the so-called men of this society aware of that.
It’s high time that these kinds of thoughts, of such men in our society, need to be
cleaned and changed at the same time. They need to understand that women are
equally capable enough to protect themselves. If they really want to do something for
us they should probably change their mentality and accept the above fact.
It is very rightly said that awareness or a sense of respect for others doesn’t come
from education rather it comes from the person’s upbringing. It’s right that India is
still lagging behind in its literacy rate but what about morals and ethics?
The mentality of such stereotyped people is that the reason behind such high rates of
rape happening in our country is no one but the women because they are wearing
clothes of their choice and have been given more independence than what they
deserve. These people forgot about the rape case where children of seven to eight
months are being raped and also women of the age of sixty are being raped. What was
the reason behind them being raped?

Its high time that the so-called men of our society with such low mentality that they
are physiologically more capable than women and therefore they need to protect them
should be changed. If they really want to protect us, they should change such thinking
and give equal respect which we actually deserve.
The Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister has also written that “A home gets destroyed when
women become as effective as men”.
“Evaluate how it affects the necessary and important role of women in family and
upbringing of children. Decide that if women are given participation equivalent to
men in politics and life. Outside, then whether our mother, daughter, and sister would
lose their form and significance”, he wrote.
And this is just not the end a few days back there was a protest that took place where
students from Jadavpur were there, the women protesters were molested by ABVP
activists, the WB’s BJP Chief Dilip Ghosh said that the women were “shameless” to
participate in the protest
He said, “ Those who fear so much for their modesty, why did they go there?” He also
stated the phrase “ low standard” in this statement.
Just because women went to the protest and stood firmly with their opinions for their
rights they are of “ low standard” as per our so-called MLAs and MPs. Whereas the
men who were at the same location with the same moto were of high standards just
because they are men and they are free to do anything and everything they want to. If
women are weaker sex then why God have given them the ability and power to give
birth and take the legacy of this world ahead.
It is also very important that the women get to know where they stand and should also
support other women do not behave in a misogynist way as others do.
Gender inequality has been the biggest societal issue in India for centuries. That in
many parts of India, the birth of a girl child is still not welcomed is a known fact. It is
a known fact too, that discrimination starts from even before the girl child is born and
sometimes she is killed as a fetus, and if she manages to see the light of day, she is
killed as an infant, which makes up the highly skewed child sex ratio where for every
1000 boys in India, there are only 908 girls. In such a scenario, it is but obvious that
for myriad reasons, many girls across the country are forced to drop out of school.
Patriarchal norms have marked women as inferior to men. A girl child is considered a
burden and is often not even allowed to see the light of the world. It is hard to imagine
this state of affairs in the 21st Century when women have proved to be strong leaders
in every field possible. From wrestling to business, the world has been revolutionized
by exceptional women leaders in fields that were until recently completely dominated
by men. But in spite of such progress, even today, the girl child is discriminated against in
most Indian households. The birth of a baby boy is celebrated with great pomp and
ardor, but the birth of a girl child is received with dismay. The practice of female
foeticide through sex selective abortion continues to be practiced in spite of the
Prenatal Diagnostic Technique Act of 1994. In India the child sex ratio is at the lowest
it has ever been with just 914 girls for every 1000 boys (Census, 2011). And this discrimination continues in every aspect. Be it education, be it health, be it
protection,sex-selective or participation, the girl child is always treated unequally. Indian society still hasn’t been awakened to the importance of empowering the women. The statistics still narrate a grim story of female foeticide, girl child discrimination, and gender bias.
42% of married women in India were married as children (District Information
System for Education (DISE) 3)
1 in every 3 child brides in the world is a girl in India (UNICEF)
India has more than 45 lakh girls under 15 years of age who are married with
children. Out of these, 70% of the girls have 2 children (Census 2011)
The need of the hour is to make a change in the mindset of the society and destroy the
prejudices that damage the future of the girl child . What is required is a concerted
effort to sensitize the society in eradicating this issue of gender inequality. It is high
time that every child is treated equally and given every opportunity required to grow
to his/her full potential.
Recently, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Tirath Singh Rawat said that women or
girls wearing “Ripped jeans” are characterless and are a shame for our country.
Seriously? I really feel such a ripped mentality should be mended no matter what
because we as a part of this country won’t tolerate this at any cost.
And after all these people say that if a girl or woman raises,their voice for their rights it
is said that she is playing “women card” or she is “manipulative”. No one once thinks
that such misogynist would not lead to our country or this world to the path of
progress. On one hand, these people worship Goddess Durga and Kali and on the other
hand disrespect the women of the house abuse them and also no one is unaware of the
fact of “Domestic Violence”. There is not many case that is registered against this
violence because the girl from the very initial days taught to be suppressed and to shut
their mouth to whatever wrong happens to them. And why only blame the society in a
country where still “Marital Rape” is not a crime and this shows that women are still
considered men’s property and are still objectified no matter how far we have come
and how much educated we are.
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It’s high time to come up and raise our voices as women and show the world what we
are and how much capable we are. I am aware about my rights and liberties and also
want other women to get aware of them.