Read This Article

I mean this article.

I was furious enough as it is, although delighted by the brave women taking a stand and refusing to be forced to abort their beloved children. While there are many brainwashed daughters-in-law and tradition-hardened mothers-in-law venerating male children, there are also many women who recognise that girls are equally - and sometimes more - valuable, and many who WANT girls.


However, this bit made me almost lose my mind:

'Vaijanti and Nupur call on Renuka Chowdhury, the minister for women, who says: "This is a very, very grave situation."

She adds: "In many places, boys are unable to agree to find girls to marry. Because of this, the nation will soon face an unimaginable crisis."'


INDIANS! INDIANS AND SHAADI! Why doesn't anything else matter? Desi Italiana commented somewhat more humorously on this topic on her blog. Seriously though, it makes me really sorrowful that the situation is only grave now because people won't be able to get married. What about the whole 'killing females because tradition says so'? It's doesn't rate high enough on its own because it involves the messy aftermath of marriage (and believe me, it frequently is messy for a lot of Indians) and not the fucking build-up to it.

The notion of women as burdens and property is one that sorely needs to be blasted apart as the unadulterated bullshit it is. Even in this country, I have heard my parents talk about many people's marriages (my dad often gets dragged into these things because he's a prominent community figure) and they find that more often than not, it is actually girls who come back and care for their parents, EVEN AFTER THEY ARE MARRIED, and they - might I add, a pair who subscribe to the 'boys are best' bollocks - also admit that when you look at how much girls are made to do, just in terms of sheer household contribution, for example... If we're going to look at everything in terms of 'value', they become worth more than a lot of Indian men. WHADDAYA GOT TO SAY TO THAT, EH?!

I will say that women are probably more responsible for this state of affairs than men are, though. Women are the ones that enforce it, policing each other's behaviour while men sit back and enjoy the benefits. It is just twisted.

Finally, might I just ask, for a country that is so often stereotyped as 'spiritual', an ideal destination to 'find yourself', why the fuck is India so money-obsessed? You can't just blame it on the poverty, because even the middle-class people seem to be obsessed with making more of it. It's ironic that 'Westerners' go to India for religion and spirituality, while Indians emigrate to make more of the paper stuff. Comfort is one thing, but excess is another and the love of gold, flashy cars, big TVs and expensive dinner sets is something I am never going to get.