Thursday, September 29, 2011

Too disappointed for words India...

I came in this morning intending to follow up on a suggestion given by blogger Kunal in the comment section of my previous blog post, to write about the 10 things that make R2I worthwhile, I like the idea because it is both interesting, as well as an exercise in happy thoughts ...but was brought up short by the results of a Newsweek Survey that I happened to see online.

The survey was conducted to find out the worst countries in the world for women and India ranked as one of the very worst...not quite but very close to the top ten worst countries. Of the 165 countries surveyed in order of women's status, India ranked 141...falling behind our neighbors Nepal and Myanmar, politically chaotic countries like Libya and Syria and impoverished ones like Haiti and Malawi...

(I mention the countries compared above to reflect that women's status, unlike popular belief, does not have much to do with the political/economical/religious reality of a country...instead it is culture and societal norms, values, mores and expectations that matter...so well, something's rotten in the culture of India)

There goes my happy thoughts for the day! Sigh...maybe I'll come back and attempt the R2I post sometime later...after  the disappointment over this "status quo" has somewhat faded...

Also, this one has me in a puzzle, so any thoughts, reflections, comments, opinions would be really appreciated!

P.S. DH (Dear Husband) is of the opinion that this is very ambiguous...so to be precise, the question is, What makes this country such a difficult place for women and why?





4 comments:

  1. I think it's cuz the average Indian woman is expected to do everything in th house.. And if sh is working, she still has to manage home n. Work n kids with men seldom, more often than not, pitching in to help... It's worse in low income societies or where men are abusive..
    Also, i think the patriarchal inheritance, in which the properties legally belong to the sons of he household, and the daughters can contest, if they choose to.

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  2. Don't let such surveys bog you down, every country has its own flaws... And these surveys, more often than not, are taken by a selective few..

    I, personally, feel you moved back at the right time.. There's nothing unwise about returning to your own land..

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  3. Thanks Swati...I guess it's still very much a culture in transition and we can't wipe out centuries of cultural growth in a decade or two...and you are right...those survey results should be taken with a pinch of salt!

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