From: rekha@iastate.edu (Cinderella)
Subject:  Re: More About India/ Whither Patriotism
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 18:27:33 GMT


Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: More About India/ Whither Patriotism
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Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
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In article <susanc.719076172@keckiris> susanc@rice.edu (susan chacko) writes:>
>Not ubiquitous? It's happened to me in Bangalore, Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay,
>Trivandrum, Kottayam, buses, movie theatres, lines outside movie theatres,
>IIT, shopping centers, commuter trains, long-distance trains, streets,
>and parks in some form or the other. As far as I can tell, this is a 
>pretty average situation for most women; we don't talk about it constantly
>in India simply because it's so much a fact of life. 

That is true, and I feel that after coming here I have realised how much
better it feels to go around by myself not having to worry about such a
thing happening here. It maybe be that one has to be careful even here
and avoid lonely places etc but still, in comparable situations,
I  think the average woman here is much more comfortable and safe where
such incidents are concerned.

>OK, I can think of a number of situations where there's been no harassment
>whatsoever, so if one's being picky, 'ubiquitous' is perhaps not totally
>accurate. How about 'commonly and generally occurs'?
>
>No-one's denying that harassment occurs in the US too. But all of the
>women who've spoken here feel that it's considerably less than in India. *All*
>the situations that you describe happen consistently in India. We live 
>normal lives in the US. If we've just not happened to be in situations
>where harassment occurs, doesn't that imply that it's considerably
>easier to avoid such situations because they're less common? 


Exactly my point . Recently there have been a lot of discussion on 
whether India or US is a better place as far as harassent is concerned.
And there have been a lot of people on the net flaming the women nettors
because they think the Indian women don't realize that the conditions in 
the US for women are bad too..

No, We do realise that there is a lot of harassment here too,
but the point I and maybe my fellow woman nettors would like to
emphasize is that the media is much more aware of such problems here,
and because of that incidents which might have demanded media attention
here, do not in India.

And that just might be one of the reasons why the guys in the net disagree
when they are countered with the opinion that conditions for women in India 
are really bad.
I am not trying to imply that the guys here are absolutely unaware of
the situation back in India, only that such incidents happen so frequently
and are so much a part of our daily lives that, at homes and other
places many of us just don't think it is worth mentioning...specially
to our parents and brothers. Because by doing that they would only be
concerned and worried. Even they know nothing can be
done about it apart from taking the necessary precautions.

>
>Note the word 'relatively'. The women posters have been comparing their
>experience here to that in India. If one only read the papers, one would
>think that roadside harassment was completely absent in India, simply
>because it's never important enough to be reported. Extremely serious
>abuses like dowry deaths do make the papers, but not the common hassles
>we face every day. Compared to something like the dowry deaths, the
>roadside stuff is minor, and I do feel that the more egregious problems 
>need more attention. The US isn't perfect by any means. But there's no 
>way I can agree that it's as bad here.
>

I second that opinion. For quite some time I have been wanting to
support this debate, but the fact that people flame others because
they just don't see what a person really has to say, and instead take
everything in a very literal sense, really put me off till now.

>I've used the word 'we' in this post because I feel that my experience 
>is pretty representative. However, I don't claim to speak for anyone but
>myself.
>
>Susan
No, you are right in assuming that your experience is pretty representative.
Here is one more person who feels the same.

--Rekha




Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian