Mars and Venus??? Gimme a break…

Is all the hype and hoopla surrounding gender discussions genuine??? Or is it just a social set-up that has been created, so that it can be twisted according to one’s convenience.
Men and Women alike have been victims of this so called gender bias, with a substantial skew towards female bias. How many times have we heard expressions similar to, “He cries like a girl” or “She argues like a man”. Have the Vedas scripted that men shouldn’t weep and that women shouldn’t fight???

Gender bias!!! Did god bestow this art on us, or is it a complete human creation??? Is it inherent or cultivated??? Is it a societal practice or is it a conscious effort??? Some would argue stating that it is purely a human creation, whereas some would brazenly say that god created man as a superior being. Some religions even subscribe to such a theory, but that’s not the point of discussion here. I shall save that debate for another post.

Women have always been a point of ridicule in SMS jokes and funny e-mail chains. Gender jokes have emerged as the most popular vote bank for every TV show contestant trying to elicit a few laughs out of fellow men, who are somehow always victims of domestic violence at home, in some form or the other. I watched a popular show on TV whose central focus on stand-up comedy by children below the age of 10, and astonishingly, gender jokes made a recurring appearance there too. Well, and I thought children were the only faction of the society who were free of all biases. Go figure…

You might want to turn around and say, “Hey, why are you reacting so vehemently about an issue as trivial as this??? God!!! You are such a feminist”. Well, I have heard that before. And maybe I am over-reacting to the jokes bit. But having said that, the issue that needs serious consideration is here is that, this culture so widely publicized percolates very deep into the homes of people who have witnessed a world starkly different from yours and mine.

These are homes where women are ridiculed and humiliated on a daily basis. These are homes where a girl child is sent to earn daily wages, so that her brother can go to school. These are homes where a daughter is considered a burden, and the sooner you rid off her to another equally chauvinistic male, the better. These are homes where women are slaves and have no life, so much so that a woman having an identity is an idea as alien as thinking of a size zero south Indian actress. These thoughts are truly oxymoronic in nature.

It is often observed that, a lioness is always the one who hunts for the prey and drags it to the lion to feast on. The lion has its share, and then the leftovers are fed to the cubs and then the lioness eats. Did humans learn this tradition from lions or vice versa??? Hell… Just eat together man. Big Deal!!! At the end of the day, it’s just another animal.

Dowry is another such wonderful invention that has made lives of many miserable. And without any heed to the havoc its wrecking on our society, we continue to practice it with little shame. It is said that, a few centuries ago, a man had to give dowry to a girl’s father, as he was sacrificing the “light” of his house to another man, which is why our ancestors called it “Kanyadaanam”. Well, during some point in time, the men got greedy, and decided that it was revenge time!!! Lo and Behold, dowry was in place faster than lightning on a stormy day. Logically then, “kanyadaanam should become “purushadaanam” and men should marry and move into the girl’s place. A process reversal should include all aspects of the ritual.

I can go on and on… and I know the answer to my own questions. Sigh!!! Why am I even trying???