People living in this world never lived peacefully without a sense of constant argument or a movement for men and women. This will continue to co-exist in the future, but I believe that there’s a potential to make the effect less and acceptable.
The differences both share are vast and wide because men and women are meant to exist together.
Certain aspects I would like to point out are:
· Physicality (here visibly males are higher.)
· Population (There is 1.015 male for every one female hence if the population is in billions, there are a lot of men.)
· Governance (men are in more seats than women)
· Life expectancy (women live longer at an average of 81.2 years)
· Literacy (women score more but their achievements were less spoken about)
· Crime rate (at 78.7% of men are the homicide victims and more likely to be killed)
I can't possibly list all the aspects here, but you get it, right?
Let us go through the current situation:
Women are victims of multiple crimes like rape, dowry, domestic violence, acid attacks, etc. According to the national census 2012, 70% of women in India face various forms of violence from either sex, then what will be the number today? I bet you can imagine.
The reason rape is seriously considered to date is because women who are victims face unwanted pregnancy and humiliation as they are tagged as an impurity by society.
Men who had been victims, (not the offender) also face equal humiliation, although the density of such issues is brought out by women most of the time. Men face difficulties as well, but they just seem to be undermined because... well, stereotype.
But what made rape very common?
In my opinion, I've always felt that rape is the result of poor sex education, not just to men, but both genders.
A much bigger challenge both men and women face rather than just petty crimes and taboo is false accusations.
The laws in India were started to be gender-neutral, and then during the British East India Company rule (1757–1857), and the British Raj (1858–1947), measures aiming at amelioration were enacted, including Bengal Sati Regulation(1829), Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act(1856), Female Infanticide Prevention Act(1870), and Age of Consent Act(1891).
There’s a list of laws specifically made to protect women from serious harassment (Although they don't seem to stop predators).
But in India, there are no laws specifically designed for men to be protected. Believe it or not, this is not healthy, but it’s still happening and I hope one day that'll become a past tense phrase.
Here are some of the terms that I found on the internet that might support my reasoning for not having equality amongst both genders:
Sexism: Prejudice, discrimination against gender(biased)
Feminism: The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of all sexes.
Womanism: A form of feminism that acknowledges women’s natural contribution to society.
Men’s Movement: A self-help group movement which aims to remove discrimination faced by men from both sexes.
The transgender rights movement: Movement to promote transgender rights and to eliminate discrimination and violence against transgender people regarding housing, employment, public accommodations, education, and health care.
All these movements/terms are made to support the people who are singled out because of being less powered or easily used as a pawn. They don’t mean to overturn governments but to develop the community as a whole, to make everyone feel equal, and as a part of society. Yes, the very society that brought norms of inequality into motion, but what better way than to burn them up?
At least, the characteristics that people share are even bigger, it isn’t something that is reserved for any particular gender. The traits I’m talking about are:
· Leadership
· Analytical thinking
· Decision making
· Improvement
· Arts
· Research
There’s no good or bad, better or worse gender. Men and women are meant to be different. Men and women are destined to shape this world better, but in fact together and in unison.
In this turn of the 21st century, gender discrimination and inequality are inevitable.
We are the change. We wrote the past. We are writing the future. Let’s change it for the better.
- Arivoli Aravindhan Gurulingam