Woes of women ( Patriarchy : a scholarly perspective )

Patriarchal mindset and its influence :

It is the core reason behind molestation , sexual crimes , domestic violence , embryonic murders , bride burns , dowry etc.

Recent case of mass molestation in banglore , assassination of more than 2.5 crore girl child inside the womb or just after birth , tandoor kand where a husband literally grilled his wife , nirbhaya kand where rapists killed the girl by inserting an iron rod , everywhere at the core patriarchy is working . all these incidents are offshoots of a patriarchal mindset which pervades almost all humanity ( including both genders , yes females also have patriarchal mindsets : No bride can be burnt without mother-in-law’s complicit role ).

I wish to draw your attention towards certain startling statistics :

NCRB report (national crime records bureau ) : a crime against a woman is committed every three minutes
Every 20 minutes, a woman is raped somewhere in India.
That’s over 848 women who are either harassed, raped or killed after abduction every single day. Some are sold off to traffickers.
Child rape cases have increased by 336% in the last 10 years.
65% of Indian men believe women should tolerate violence in order to keep the family together, and women sometimes deserve to be beaten.
Marital Rape: is not a criminal offense in India.
20% of Indian men admit to forcing their wives or partners to have sex.

IMF report says that in India out of 100 men , only 27 women are involved in recognized economic activities ( 27 percent labor force participation rate brings us in same category as of saudi arabia and iran ).

Indian parliament have 9 percent women parliamentarians (lesser percentage than Pakistan and Bangladesh ) .

By definition patriarchy means : ” systemic dominance of males in social , political , economic , cultural and psychological dimensions of human society ”

Evolution :
Anthropological view is that physical superiority in terms of muscular power was the main reason behind advent of patriarchy. Some scholars like Harold Gould suggested that patriarchy was an economic response . In horticultural societies where role of women in economic activities is dominant , matriarchy exists ( female dominance ) and surprisingly these societies have moments for equality of men and to curb harassment of Males from females . If you google you will find many such news articles where men from matriarchal tribes like khasi , jaintia are fighting for there rights .
Gould further writes that with development of agriculture , role of men increased in economy and this created male dominance in this dimension . he proves this with concept of dowry , in horticultural societies where women’s role is dominant bride price is paid , while in agricultural societies where male role is dominant dowry is paid .

Ernestine friedl in her book ” man and women : an anthropological view ” provides 3 interesting insights :

1- in all societies certain degree of male dominance exists . she writes that in some societies tasks like weaving , pot making are done my males exclusively and in some societies they are considered as women’s jobs . but surprisingly the same task when performed by men have higher prestige in comparison to women who do them .

2- Due to reproductive roles , women cant be involved in warfare , as a population can sustain loss of men , but cant sustain loss of women as one man can marry multiple women and ensure society’s survival . this enhanced warfare utility consolidates male dominance .

3- In all patriarchal societies , males have superior control over goods exchange systems. as only scarce goods are exchanged , this control provides more power to men .

Religion is a social concept which reflects the general mindset of  societies in many ways . patriarchy in religion is clearly evident ( shabrimala issue , denial of women in temples in there menstrual days , considering menstrual process un-sacred or profane ).

How patriarchal mindset can be changed ?

All heinous crimes against women have there root in patriarchy . A mother who provides better food to her son in comparison to her daughter , a father who denies equal access of resources to his daughters , a husband who frowns when his wife demands help in domestic jobs , an old women who helps in extracting more dowry for her son , a sister who forgets all feminism and favors her brother over her sister in law , a boyfriend who feels irritated when his girlfriend provides equal weight age to her career as of his ……………..They all are responsible for groping and molestation of bengaluru , they all have certain role in the rape and murder of a girl in moving bus , they all are an accomplice in cold blooded murder of unborn angels . Reason is that there acts fuel the process of patriarchy , and all such heinous happenings are extreme offshoots of patriarchy only .

5 major changes which are required :

1- 33 percent reservation for women in all legislative and executive bodies

2- Society must resolve the issue of dowry . no dowry should be taken , rather an equal part in father’s property need to be given to daughter . concept of “paraya dhan ” need to go.

3- Females of all ages , in all roles must understand that any act of discrimination supported by them which causes negative impact on an women will definitely snowball on there own daughters and sisters .

4- Males must understand that all societies which had unbound patriarchy are perished . its in the interest of all humans that women must be given there rightful place.

5- All social institutions ( like religion , marriage , language , law , customs ) need to be seriously analyzed and all symptoms of gender discrimination should be removed from them , no matter how much disruptive they are .

Irony is , that the most evolved species is breaking a basic law of nature . in whole nature , all species save there mothers / female members , unfortunately we smart humans are the ones who are killing our mothers either implicitly or explicitly .