Stories & More
Menu

Where are the women?

9/4/2011

7 Comments

 
Picture
The census is a chance once a decade, for a country to reflect on itself. The recent census of India show us facts and figures about ourselves, that give some indications of our culture and mindset. The gender ratio, is still pretty skewed, especially in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan where the odds are really stacked against women. For some strange reason, large parts of India are obsessed with the male child. Mothers and fathers do not consider their families complete or 'blessed' till the arrival of a male heir. Occassionaly this male heir will grow up to be an unemployed, wife-abusing drunk. And the abused wife is once again craving for a son, ignoring her daughters, recreating the whole cycle. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same. One can somewhat understand the centuries-old desire for a male child in rural areas, or amongst the uneducated. But what is more (and seriously) alarming is this desire for a son even amongst educated, wealthy citizens, living in cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Female foeticide is still prevalent, among all sections of society. A brilliant paper by Amartya Sen titled More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing, (title self-explanatory) sheds light on some some alarming realities.

Moving closer home, where are all the women in design? I studied Applied Art, where there were mostly women. Then I came to study at NID, where there were still more women! Some disciplines such as graphic design and textile design, have women in greater numbers than their male counterparts. But one sees very few women at top level positions in design, or running design firms. Off-hand I can only think of Sujata Keshavan (Brand Union) and Divya Thakur (Design Temple) in India. There are some women running businesses, media houses, ad agencies, publishing etc., but not much is known about them. On the other hand, one can immediately think of several foreign female designers: Jessica Helfand, Paula Scher, Zaha Hadid, Leila Vignelli, Debbie Millman, Marian Bantjes, Ellen Lupton, and more. There is a dearth of female role models in design in India. Type 'famous female designer India' and Google throws up a list of interior and fashion designers, with Tarun Tahiliani as the seventh link. (guess Google still can't tell gender apart ;-) 

What happens to the thousands of female students at these design schools? Where do they all go afterwards? Is it so hard for women to climb the success ladder? Probably yes, with long work hours, family pressure, and the occasional man who resents a women's success. India may be a rising nation, the next economic superpower, and we may even be able to finally do something about our corruption, but the basic attitude towards women is still stuck in the Dark Ages. Why else do men on the street behave the way they do? Why do foreign visitors get harassed even when decently dressed? Make no mistake, even at the best of places, anywhere, there is always a creep hanging around the corner. 

Maybe it all stems from the fact that a girl has to be married fast and young. Before she grows a mind of her own. Career is acceptable, but upto a point. Independence is not preferable. Read the ads in the Matrimonial section of any paper and you will know what I mean. There are fixed words used in almost every matrimonial ad 
1) Everyone wants 'fair' in a country of wheatish complexion.
2) 'Domesticated', because women are wild animals that need to be lassoed and tied up. No 'junglees' wanted.
3) 'Homely', as opposed to what? Shop-ly? Collegely? Stupidly?
In the matrimonial zone, its a man's market at the moment. Personal friends, perfectly decent, intelligent, wonderful women, can't find prospective grooms because they aren't fair enough, homely enough, or (the worst) earn too much! 

I would like to place a new matrimonial ad. 
Wanted: Dark, wild and undomesticated woman. Must not give a dam about her face, hair, skin, the beauty parlour or men. Must possess independent, fully functioning brain. Preferably has a career. Cooking, cleaning and housekeeping skills non-essential. Must look like a healthy Indian girl and not a plastic doll.

If you say you are 29, and unmarried, you get a pitying look (even though its your choice). If you say you have only one sister, you get another pitying look along with, "What! No brother! How sad for you and your parents." I tell them, show me a dutiful son, and I can show you ten dutiful daughters.

Gandhi was right when he said, "Unfair treatment of women is a disease as bad as untouchability."  It's the worst form of racism. Yet, things are much better for women now than they ever were in the past. Meanwhile, I'm still hunting for that top-shot female design person in India.
7 Comments
Shivani Gakhar link
3/5/2011 09:23:27 pm

True, Tripper..
It is lonely at the top... and are we too scared of being lonely up there... being the rare kind..?
What stops us?

Reply
Armeen
4/5/2011 05:33:45 pm

I think women also fear they will be perceived as 'aggressive', if they are very ambitious. Women get labeled far more easily than men.

Reply
Kamal Dave link
7/5/2011 05:03:11 pm

100% agree with you...
Being a women there are 100's of questions we face each and every day...
But at the end of the day 50% we forget, 25% have no answers and remming are never accepted by the world...
But this mentality is only change when as woman change her own attitude...
I do that have you??? I want to ask all the women who believe in herself...

Reply
Caroline Sudan
9/5/2011 07:49:07 pm

I so agree with the kind of remarks mentioned here. A girl has almost negligible chances of being single and happy... thanks to the 'society' and its 'concerns'. Very well put Armeen!!!!

Reply
its bitter but truth of our society....
30/9/2011 11:28:33 pm

Reply
Gunjan Joshi
14/11/2011 01:34:30 am

The remark about aggressive women is true. What is "aggressive"? Being ambitious? Being able to spell out correctly and accurately what it is they want? NID itself exhibits various forms of sexism, for all the SLAs and "sensitivity" we claim to have. Wonderful article.
I want to be a dark, wild and undomesticated woman now :D

Reply
armeen kapadia link
14/11/2011 04:54:50 pm

Thank you Gunjan :) Please do be the dark, wild and undomesticated woman, because she will be more real than anything else!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2018
    May 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    May 2015
    September 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    December 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010


    Categories

    All
    Advertising
    America
    Animals
    Apple
    Art
    Bakery
    Behaviour
    Book Review
    Books
    Business
    Commemorative
    Communities
    Computer
    Conference
    Consumerism
    Content
    Context
    Culture
    Democracy
    Design
    Diploma
    Disaster
    Driving
    Editorial
    Education
    English
    Entertainment
    Equality
    Ethics
    Feminism
    Film
    Font
    Food
    Gandhi
    Gender
    Global
    Government
    Graphic Design
    Habits
    Healthcare
    History
    Image
    India
    India Post
    Information
    Interaction
    International
    Japan
    Knowledge
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Literature
    Local
    Media
    Mediums
    Mobility
    Modern
    Monument
    Music
    Nid
    Parsi
    People
    Phenomenon
    Plays
    Politics
    Poverty
    Publication
    Rape
    Reading
    Religion
    Review
    Rights
    Royalty
    School
    Sleep
    Software
    Steve Jobs
    Story
    Tarantino
    Teaching
    Technology
    Travel
    Typeface
    Typography
    Unity
    Veterinary
    Visual
    Web
    Women
    Writers
    Writing


    Links

    The New Yorker
    Writing For The Web
    A List Apart
    The Better India
    Wordnik
    Design Is History
    The Grid System
    Chicago Manual Of Style
    APA Style
    Motivated Grammer
    Thinking For A Living
    Philatelic Database

    Old Blogs

    Designscene
    Parsee
    Visibility

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • Blog