Change - first and foremost in mindsets

Over the last few days, post the Delhi brutal gangrape case, we have been able to get an idea around how even in today's world, the male members of our society in India still consider the womenfolk as a second grade citizens of this country. When Malala Yousafzai was attacked by the Afghan Taliban, we were quick and sharp in pointing out that the incident is barbaric and how Taliban is trying to opress the womenfolk in Afghanistan.

Then, when a Delhi girl is raped and brutally assaulted, the highly regarded male members of the Indian society come out in the open and shamelessly display their hypocrisy. Be it self-proclaimed Godman Asaram Bapu who claimed that the victim is equally guilty as she did not beg the rapists to spare her and did not address them as "bhaiya" (brother); or be it Mr. Sharad Pawar who bashfully declares that all males have a sexual need which should be fulfilled at least every 15 days, else such incidents might take place; or even one of our esteemed courts who recently ruled that forcing someone into prostitution is not equivalent to abetment to rape; we have witnessed such a spate of reports and statements giving us sheer examples of orthodox male dominance. We hear reports about proposals to ban jeans / skirts in schools and colleges. We even heard someone suggesting overcoats to be made compulsory for girls elsewhere. What is this? Is this not equivalent to imposing burqas and head veils on women? It makes me think whether India is heading for some kind of non-religious Talibanism to say in the least. In fact, for every male supporter of equal female rights, we have about 3-4 voices of orthodox male chauvinists.

Then, I came across this picture of Nelson Mandela and his beautiful words and I can't help thinking that the same logic applies to gender bias. Just like no one is born with hatred or discrimination for people on the basis of caste, colour and creed; no one was born with a gender bias. It is the same society that has engraved this in its own DNA. The upbringing the kids are provided at home is responsible for this mindsets. Every day, we shout out and demand protection for women, and reservation for women. Why do we not instead discuss respect and equality for women. We worship our deities and call our daughters and sisters as "Lakshmi" but in practice we do not have basic respect for the females.

Let us first work to change the mindsets. It is a humongous task ahead but we will not be able to bring about the change we want to bring without taking the first step towards the right mindset. And that step begins within our own homes.