Ever since women liberation is on rise, men are looked
upon as a main villain who will move heaven and earth to ensure women are confined
to their domestic duties and kept under veil. Before we say men are evil when
it comes to women liberation, let’s ask in the first place how women have been
treated since centuries.
As per National Crime Records Bureau report of crime registered in year 2013, of total 114 thousand rape cases 33 thousand cases were reported during year 2013 only. Crime of rape is 1.2% of total criminal cases reported in India, but the acquittal rate is as high as 75% in case of crime against women. There can be two arguments to that fact, one that judiciary is not efficient to deliver proper justice, and second that there are too many false charges made in case of crime against women to take advantage of judgemental views and stereotype of genders prevailing in society.
The first ever
social formation was to protect women
Anthropologist and archaeologists have proposed many
theories as to why marriage was invented by our Stone Age ancestors. Men by law
of nature were physically stronger than women and were supposed to hunt for
food and look after their family while women, capable of giving birth were
supposed to produce children and raise them (like it or not it was by “law of
nature” and not imposed by “male dominated society”). Any efforts for individual
survival of our Stone Age ancestors would have likely been suicidal, because
during conflicts between Stone Age groups if women and children would keep dying
there was no way humans would have made it to this day. SO, MARRIAGE WAS INVENTED TO PROTECT WOMEN. Marriage was way to
obtain in-laws and expanding relational networks rather than growing increasingly
autonomous or independent which could have been fatal for early human settlements. Family expansion served to further social,
material, territorial and political gains.
When one of the very fundamental of human civilization is
to protect women, how all the laws of “male dominated society” can oppress
them?
What amount of
respect would be enough for women?
Lord Rama fought and killed Ravana who attacked dignity of
Sita (For those who wants to argue that after that Sita was subject to “Agni
Pariksha”, would you discount all the sacrifice made by Lord Rama and his army
and accuse them of discrimination, what would you say on Sita crossing the “Laxman
rekha” which was created to protect her, and her crossing that made so many
people lose their life. How much respect would be enough?)
Pandava fought and killed Kaurava to revenge Daupradi’s
insult (For those who wants to argue that she was made object of gambling and
was humiliated by Kaurava, here again would you discount all the sacrifice made
by Pandava and their army, what would you say on Daupradi insulting Duryodhana
by saying "A blind man's son is also blind" which led them to insult
her back and the resulting war. How much respect would be enough?)
Queen Victoria was monarch of largest empire the world
had ever seen. By the end of Victoria's reign, the British Empire extended over
about one-fifth of the earth's surface and almost a quarter of the world's
population. If there were no respect for women, how did it happen?
Our religions teach us to respect women, our parents
teach us to respect women, our cultures teach us to respect women, there are numerous
provisions in society like separate queue, reserved seats in public transport, etc.
to protect women dignity. Women have held highest posts like prime ministers
and presidents in world’s largest democracies. During the times of war and
distress, women safety is one of the prior concerns.
The society has not been and is not that bad towards
women, and when I say that I don’t deny cruelty and violence against women, nor
I deny their suffering in particular cases, but just like we say that “Every
terrorist is Muslim does not make every Muslim a terrorist” similarly “Every
rapist is a man does not make every man a rapist”.
All kind of gender stereotyping is dangerous to society
With every changing generation, our society has faced
social evils and challenges like religious extremism, slavery, racism, world
wars, dictators (likes of Hitler, Stalin and Mao), discrimination and
exploitation of the poor, terrorism, etc., there has always been a section of
society, which becomes threat to the harmony and peace of the world at large,
but does that mean the entire society is bad and everyone’s motive are same. If
there were no good and all bad in society, there is no way we could have ever made
it to such beautifully evolving civilization.
Good men have always fought, suffered and sacrificed to
protect the good of the society. Today when it is the age of women
liberalization, should men be looked upon as evil? I am asking all women, who
protects you? Is your father bad person, is your brother bad person. There are
instances of antisocial elements around you but should you stereotype rest of all
on basis of that? It is similar to the fact that there are some 3000 species of
snakes but most of them are not poisonous but still we are afraid of all
snakes. So our fear of snakes is result of our own ignorance but that does not
make all snakes poisonous.
With the changing generation and rise of information age,
we are evolving to become a better society which gives everyone equal rights.
One of the dire challenge our society facing is gender stereotype left by old
cultures. Gender stereotyping is dangerous when people automatically apply
gender assumptions to others regardless of evidence to the contrary, and this
is equally dangerous for all genders. If all women shouldn’t be seen as someone
who look after home, produce children and obey men; all men also shouldn’t be
seen as someone who objectify women and oppress them.
Moreover, in today’s information age and free media
world, stereotyping becomes even more dangerous. Mass media play a significant
role in a modern world, by broadcasting information in fast pace and giving
entertainment to vast audiences. By creating a certain type of message, media
can manipulate people’s attitude and opinions. Although females and males are
still not equal, the differences between genders are not so vast anymore.
Nevertheless, mass media still use gender stereotypes, basing on the
assumption, that they are well known to everyone and make the receivers believe
in the content. Thus mass media has made us make opinions and judgements based
on information rather than facts. Is it correct to paint everyone in same
colour based on assumptions, is it correct to convict anyone based on
accusation, should we not go through the facts before we pass our judgement?
The other side of crime
against women
Why does it sound like nobody cares about violence
against women? The government, Police, the Judiciary and every good person is
in this together to bring down every ugly faggot who inflicts any harm on women.
Infact the mass stereotyping of males have created a situation where innocent
men are subject to cruelty and injustice. The recent incident of Rohtak girls
where the girls were declared instant heroes and the boys were judged as molesters,
while later on it was discovered that the boys were innocent. This incident has
thrown light on many of these kinds of incidents.
As per National Crime Records Bureau report of crime registered in year 2013, of total 114 thousand rape cases 33 thousand cases were reported during year 2013 only. Crime of rape is 1.2% of total criminal cases reported in India, but the acquittal rate is as high as 75% in case of crime against women. There can be two arguments to that fact, one that judiciary is not efficient to deliver proper justice, and second that there are too many false charges made in case of crime against women to take advantage of judgemental views and stereotype of genders prevailing in society.
Credits:
The final side of Rohtak bravehearts
Disposal of IPC Cases by Courts During 2013
