Re: [nukkad] Lamenting the state of women and the men ....

["Samira Razdan" <>]

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Easy reading is damned hard writing. -Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (1804-1864)
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Ravi wrote...
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How well do Hindus's treat their women? ...
Think again. It is the status of women in most of India that needs to
be thought of.
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Well said... Ravi !!
Couldn't have said it better... :-)
"People who live in glass houses should not throw rocks at others."

Yes ... Hindu women suffer and sometimes to the most hideous forms
of violence.

All the points you mentioned emphasize the powerlessness of women...
and combined with poverty... we have a deadly disease... AIDS.
AIDS is spreading fast in India and that is a matter of grave
concern.

The low status of women, the economic dependence, the marriage
patterns... all of these factors contribute to their exploitation.
Recently I read an article (related to Gates' visit). It said that
...women in India, especially rural India... are often totally uninformed 
about sex when they are married... that the marriages
are often to older men and arranged by their families. They are also
under great pressure to give birth to sons... so the use of
contraceptives, specifically condoms... is out of the question.

This ignorance on their part makes them all the more vulnerable to
AIDS... which some research groups are now calling a women's disease.

So... the solution is more education in sexual behavior that emphasizes 
gender equality and power relations and sexuality... not just
biological knowledge. And this education must be for women AND men.

Everybody realises that the need to get information to young people,
women etc. ... is highly critical. But... there are a still a lot of
taboos against doing that. And the major one is that the political will
does not yet exist. What a pity...

Yesterday... Sidd quoted...
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged
by the way its animals are treated." - Mahatma Gandhi

To this I add...
"You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status
of its women."  -  Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru

Sincerely,
-Samira Razdan.














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