Women in Incredible India

                                                              

Once again India's less than sterling image has been tarnished with its latest record breaking feat; its capital city, Delhi, has be named also as the unofficial rape capital of the world. Adding insult this injury, India comes 4th in the world most unsafe place for women. The report comes as the result of a survey conducted by the Thomas Reuters's Foundation Service's Trustlaw Poll.
Troubling Trends Paying the Price

How did a nation, called "Mother" by its people, fall so low in its treatment of its women? How did it come to join the ranks of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Pakistan and the African Republic of Congo?

Did it start with the Sati in 300AD during the Gupta Empire? Or was it the persistent abuse of bride price (dowry) which began during the British Raj in the 1920's? Perhaps the Indian government should do a follow-up study to determine how these trends began and how to correct them.

Amongst the variety of ways that women have been exploited since the advent of capitalism, the most pernicious of them all is the selling of sex as it is embodied in the feminine form to sell everything from cigarettes to democracy.

Starting with Miss World competition in Bangalore in 1994 when Aishwarya Rai's wins the crown in 1994. Leading to the exploitation of 200 million middle-class women who dream of being the next bronzed beauty via bleaching creams, deep conditioners, and plastic surgery. This begs the question, how can a society that views women as liability, treat women better if they treat them as objects of desire?

This was the concern of a group of feminists who at the
time, threatened self-emulation in protest to the first Miss World pageant in Bangalore. Yet, almost two decades later, the feminists' threats haven't worked. The drive for glamour, fashion, desirability, and idolizing Bollywood stars, is currently the occupations of many young women.

Right now, the social morale is low. The instances of molestation of infants and young girls are on the rise. In rural India, the scourge of dowry persists. In states such as Kerala even highly educated women are putting of marriage until they are in their late 20s and 30s. This is a new phenomenon in contrast to tradition in India when girls marry much younger. The condition of the women in the lesser developed states in the north, such as Rajasthan or Assam, is even more deplorable. Also, there has been a rise of promiscuity and illicit affairs amongst young women. And this has had frightening results.

From the moment a baby girl is born, she has a debt hanging over her head. This is the dowry. In India, for those who follow the female dowry tradition, to having a girl is equal to having bad luck. Fortunately, the mindset is slowly changing. The Anti-Dowry act of 1961 outlawed the dowry completely-as it is practiced by the Muslims (mahr), where the man gives the women a gift to keep in case of anything happens to him such as death or disability. Then, there is the Hindu tradition (dahej), where the man is the one who receives the dowry, which today means the potential groom and his family getting paid to take the girl off her family's hands. In any case, the Indian government has failed to enforce the law and both practices are still in existence today.

This notwithstanding, some organizations such as, All India Democratic Women's Association, has been partially successful in resisting this trend spreading awareness, and encouraging its members to boycott "dowry" marriages and conduct community marriages instead.

How can Indian society be re-programmed into thinking of women as guardians of a nation's moral value and preservers of the culture?

This latest generation of youth fails to understand that when they try to ape the West (amply seen in Bollywood's encouragement of particular styles of dress and acts of sexuality), they are unwittingly being reshaped into mutant- an unhealthy mash of the worst of the East and the West.

High paying jobs and low cut dresses don't necessarily lead to female empowerment and independence. Many women, despite their attaining careers, have in some part sold off their moral values. But what about the values, morals, and cultures of India? Hit by the potential abuse and poverty inducing dowry some will opt out for the high life of runaway love, fashion, and quest for eternal beauty. How strange in a land that is called mother, has now thrown Ammi under a bus, and doesn't even care to pick up her pieces.

-Shaheen Shah