Women's lib

All the talk about women's lib has died down. They once used to be 'cool' words associated with rebellion. Now, these words are laughed at. The word 'feminist' is considered almost derogatory. It could be because it has been around a long time now. It is no longer a cool, unique 'fashion' statement that beauty pageant models use to win crowns. A lot of people have accepted that women play an important role in all aspects of a society, its government, its economy and growth.

But listen to this.

I met a lady who was working in villages in Maharashtra. She narrated to me some of her observations in the villages she visited. Like most other villages (and sometimes elsewhere), the women there get married at 15. They couldn't study after that even if they wanted to. Here's one reason. Because their husbands were 7th standard pass outs and didn't want a better educated bride. You will never guess why young men were only too eager to get married? It was at the prospect of getting a bike and cellphone for dowry! And of course I won't miss the opportunity to add - free, approved sex!

So what do young men do after getting married? Go on thrill rides on their shiny, new bikes. If they survive the rides, they get back home drunk, beat up their women, impose themselves and have a peaceful nights sleep. How does the family survive? On money from the girls parents. What does the woman do? Subject herself to pain, neglect and misery; give birth to children; suffer the agony of bringing them up in a pathological environment. If it is not the husband, its is her in-laws. And when she becomes a mother-in-law, she supposedly repeats the same cycle of hatred, misery to her daughter-in-law.

This does sound like a very generic, biased and silly narration to me. There are so many holes in the description. Who is the "responsible" father/mother who saves/borrows and offers the daughter the money she needs. Why should the girl grow old to be yet another hatred-filled, cynical, vengeful mother-in-law? Aren't there equal chances of the girl turning out to be the savior of her daughter-in-law for the very same reason having faced the agony herself and having learnt from the experience?

Whatever is said, clearly all is not well. Hopefully things will change in a decade or two.