Invisible Barriers

The Indian woman today lives in a modern world.

She’s allowed to go out. She’s allowed to work and be a part of the economy class.

She doesn’t have to remain a widow all her life if she becomes one.

She’s allowed to speak her mind.

INCOMPLETE REALITY

Enter complete reality! Enter corrections for all of the above statements: 

The Indian woman today lives in a semi-modern world developing to understand a woman. Not developed yet, mind you.

She’s allowed to go out, but before dark. She’s allowed to work; but mostly in an industry the choice of her parents or husband and in-laws. A field considered ‘decent’ by the ‘society’.

She doesn’t have to remain a widow all her life if she becomes one. But once she remarries after her husband’s death, she’s looked down upon.

She’s allowed to speak her mind only as long as it complies with her man’s opinions.

Some years ago, we lived in an India that was male-centric. It would not be exaggeration to state that the Indian female was down-trodden and oppressed. The Indian woman had rights lesser in number and much different from the Indian male’s. The society was patriarchal; still is. And so on and so forth.

Over years, things changed. The Indian woman gained more power. Gradually, she began to step out of the house, to work, for leisure. Unbelievable evil practices of the past like Sati and widows not being allowed to remarry were abolished. In the Indian family, the status of a wife, daughter, and daughter -in- law rose. She got the chance to educate herself and think.  She gained a voice, an opinion. No denying that things did change and for the better.

But, look around your world today.

As an Indian woman, representing the section of Indian females, do you feel you are a free woman? Are there barriers in paths to your growth- spiritual, mental and social?

We may have done away with the seemingly basic restrictions on the Indian woman. But invisible barriers remain, unfortunately. The Indian woman, as has been always, is expected to be gentle, not ‘too-outspoken’, flexible and adjusting.

We, as a society unabashedly boast of the changing society and the shift of rights in the female department. But we claim not to see the invisible barriers holding back the Indian woman. The examples of such invisible barriers are too many to count.

A divorced woman- ‘loose character, not adjusting’

A woman stepping out of her home in the dark- ‘indecent’

A woman with strong, unconventional views - ‘headstrong’

Right from childhood, a girl in India is reared up, inculcating in her a sense of sacrifice. She’s preached lessons of sacrifice and compromise. More than often, the sacrifice is not meant to be one driven by the heart; it is sacrifice driven by duty.

A newly wedded girl is burdened down by her duties of being the home-maker. Regardless of whether she’s working to support the house financially or not, the duties of the house are solely hers. In a fight between the husband and wife, she has to submit. She’s the female after all. And Indian females are reared to adjust always. Invisible barriers of the sort hinder a person’s individual growth. They suppress any growth in her. It’s clipping the wings of a bird who so wants to take flight, some day at some time!

And since this has been going on since years- both the male and female have easily become accustomed to this and accepted this as the way of life. Men have seen males in their family have all the freedom they want; they readily follow. And the females have seen their mothers lead lives of suppressed emotions and dreams and believe that this is the convention to be followed.

Needless to say, there needs to be a change. Invisible barriers are even more dangerous than the basic barriers that have been eliminated because these are barriers many pretend not to see. Those who can see claim there’s a need for such barriers. There may be a need for the barriers, considering an example where women aren’t generally allowed out at night. Definitely, it is for her safety. But isn’t there the need for the society to change that has made it unsafe for her to go out at night?

The truth is that such invisible barriers can be eliminated by none other than the Indian woman herself. These are barriers she can understand best and for her own rights, she must learn to raise her voice!