Gender Discrimination Starts At Home: A Daughter’s Rant

Being a girl or a woman in our society is quite challenging. If you are one, then you can recall a number of things which your parents and society says to you but not your brother. In every family, every girl faces discrimination to some extent. It is not necessary that parents are discriminatory, but our surroundings make them over cautious. This is because, they want their daughter to be safe and secure all the time. However, the conditions for REMAINING SAFE, sometimes seems very unfair. And the worst fact is that boys/men seem to be discounted of such “protection“. Ultimately, these things turn into gender inequality.

The following are the things which a girl/woman faces most of the time, but not a boy:

• Don’t wear short and revealing clothes. What will the people think about us if they were to see you in this state. Wear a jacket or scarf and hide your face while traveling
• If anyone comments or whistles at you, just ignore. Don’t create a scene, it could turn harmful for you after all you are a girl
• Call me, when you get an auto or bus and text me after you reach
• Before taking a bus always check if there are women inside and don’t talk to the strangers. Never take anything from unknown people
• Never take any drink which is not made in front of you. Don’t trust anyone
• Get back home before it gets dark. If you are getting late, call your dad and brother, they will pick you up
• Don’t drive alone at night. It is not safe for a girl
• If you want to party late night, your brother should accompany you
• Always carry pepper spray and a small knife
• How can you do night shift? Ask your company for the day shifts
• Travel and hang around with other girls. Don’t go with your guy friends, you can not trust anyone

And also some other things like you can’t opt for sports or any technical career and many more, which are faced by women. The question we need to ask is, why the responsibility of being safe is on the woman’s shoulder that she should avoid “situations“, when there are ample security and safety schemes like, the Women’s Helpline etc.  Many couples prefer to have sons for precisely the above complicated and convoluted reasons, these constricting concepts attached with girls seem to be too much to handle and put up with. Couples think it is “less of a headache” to having a son rather than a daughter. This is and has been a major influence on Female Foeticide and child marriage in India.

India ranks 132 out of 187 countries on Gender Inequality Index, according to UNDP’s report, 2013. And as per the report, 2014, the sex ratio of India is 934 females per 1000 males. The Girl Effect states that 31 million girls of primary school age around the world are not in the school.

Why such discrimination among son and daughter in the name of safety and security? Should daughters trade their freedom for being ensconced in a thick blanket of security forever? We got independence 69 years ago, still we are slaves of our sick mentality and narrow minded thinking.