As mentioned in our Gender Stereotypes post, men play a “vital” role in the South Asian Community. “Men will bring the money.” “Our son will help us financially.” There are many factors that are considered “manly” but in reality, women can do the same things as men. Women can definitely support their parents. But, girls weren’t wanted in India. It’s very conservative minded, but people would be extremely unhappy if they were given a baby girl. Why? The girl’s family must pay for dowry, the girl “won’t make as much money”, parents are scared of the risks that their daughters may endeavor in their life, and the girl’s family must live alone once she gets married. You may think these are silly things, but in reality, these are defining factors for many parents. Boys are more desirable, and that is what society has carried on.
Gender roles and societal expectations for both men and women have affected India for countless generations. The idea that men are stronger and more capable while women are weak and belong in the house dates back to ancient India. Research shows that gender roles favor men in the workplace, but in India they also affect education, household duties and jobs. In India women are robbed of the opportunity to pursue a higher education. They are considered a burden from birth and getting them married off is like a task on a to do list. Marriage often affects women pursuing an education because once they get married, they are expected to take on household duties and take care of children. How come marriage never gets in the way of a man’s education? Indian societal standards are teaching girls and women that cleaning and cooking are more necessary than pursuing a job and career in order to be successful in life. A statistic from Facts and Details states that, on average the man in the household works 56 hours a week (when he can find work) and the woman in the household works 84 hours doing chores around the home. If the woman in a family works for a greater amount of time, why are men still considered superior?
Things started getting extremely out of hand that families started aborting their child if they found out they were having a girl. Because of this, India created many restrictions against abortions.
Women are allowed to have abortions, but only before 12 weeks (sometimes between 12-2o weeks depending on circumstances), if the woman’s health/mental health is at risk, if the baby’s life is at risk, or if the child is conceived through rape.
Another law was created (PNDT Act), which prohibits the couples to know what sex child they will have. This law is extremely strict, and although the doctor knows the sex the child is, if it came out that the doctor told his/her patients that they were having a girl, and then the parents had an abortion, both parties (the parents and doctor) would get in trouble.
India has one of the highest incidents of female infanticide (deliberately killing females). Again, if anyone were to find out that parents intentionally killed their daughter, the parents would have severe consequences, as India takes this crime seriously.
There are several movies and other forms of media that portray gender roles in India. However, one movie that broke the standard was Dangal. Dangal is a movie based on a true story that was released in 2016. It shows how a Mahavir Phogat, who was a great wrestler, failed to win the gold medal for his country but aspired to coach his future son to achieve his goal. He waited and waited to have a son for his dream to be fulfilled, but he gave up after he had three girls. One day his two oldest daughters came home and the family got a complaint from the neighbors. The neighbors’ sons came home beaten up with bruises. Initially, Mahavir went to scold his nephew, but then his wife told him that his two eldest daughters actually beat up the neighbors’ sons. At this point a light bulb went off in Mahavir’s head and the idea that girls could fight too and wrestling is not just a man’s sport clicked for him. The rest of the movie goes on to explain how he trains his girls and they went on to compete and win and the oldest won the gold medal that he initially intended for his son to win. We believe movies like Dangal are important in breaking the standard because otherwise these values will forever be passed onto future generations without any conversations. Since everyone consumes media through multiple different platforms on a daily basis, they need to be able to form their own opinions and movies like Dangal will help to change perspectives.
Toxic Masculinity is a set of attitudes and ways of behaving stereotypically associated with or expected of men, regarded as having a negative impact on men and on society as a whole. To be born a boy in India is a privilege but it comes with several expected masculine qualities. For example, especially in India a “real” man is someone who is ready to pick a fight with anyone. However, in today’s society with more awareness about mental illnesses like anxiety, most people are aware that some people might be non-confrontational and they don’t expect a man to be immediately aggressive and pick a fight as soon as they don’t agree with something. Society has always taught men that “real” men don’t cry. They shouldn’t show any emotion because that is a sign of weakness and men shouldn’t be weak because they are the leader of the house and hold the power. Along with the idea of holding power, Indian men especially are taught they should not have to compromise and that everyone else should adjust to their desires. No one is allowed to question or negotiate with them because their wants get priority. The most frustrating part of this is that boys and girls are treated extremely differently from birth. For example, girls are always told not to speak out and to stay quiet and to dress modestly. However guys are never given these warnings and their families treat them like they are superior, which gives them the mindset that it is okay to talk down to others and treat them as if they are property.
Because of the new laws that have been placed, there have slowly been less incidents of female infanticide. Not only have India’s laws helped, but over all, the country has become more progressive ever since the the abortion and sex selection laws were put in place. More girls are stepping out of their comfort zones and are going to college, fulfilling their education, and getting a job. Men aren’t the only ones doing the dirty work anymore. However, in many rural, uneducated areas of India, these abortions and murders of babies and young girls continue to happen. In fact, a few years ago in 132 villages in the state of Uttarakhand, not a single baby girl was born for 3 months. To this day, no one knows what happened in the villages; it all could’ve been a mere coincidence, but officials say that there were definitely illegal abortions done in the villages. Although dowries and other gender gaps still exist, we applaud the upcoming generations of women for doing what they believe in.
We won't be posting next week because of Thanksgiving, but come back on December 6th for our next post! Celebrate Thanksgiving safely this week!