From: ngopalas@ha14.eng.ua.edu (Nath S. Gopalaswamy)
Subject: RE: MEN OF EASTERN ORIGIN
Organization: The University of Alabama
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 19:37:35 GMT

In article <1992Jul28.132955@daffy.mc.ti.com>, a726226@daffy.mc.ti.com (savithri) writes:
|> I am at a loss as to where to start.  The first incident occured when
|> I was in the fifth grade and a father (in a convent) grabbed me and
|> tried to kiss me!(Please don't sart religious wars here!).  I was afraid
|> of relating this to my folks for fear of punishment. 

If true, that is sad. The mantle of respect is often misused by some people.

|> 
|> Several of my girl friends, my sisters and I (in college days) used to 
|> exchange our horrible experiences on the roads and buses.  The

One advantage here in the US is that almost everyone has his or her own
personal transport and hence chances for actual physical contact are
drastically reduced. If such a development took place in India, the hooligans
would have very little opportunity to do anything.


|> humiliating things that we were subjected to in terms of being 
|> made passes at etc.  I used to enjoy the circus as most kids do. 
|> However, after the one I went to in my seventh grade, I decided that I
|> would never go to any area where there were such a multitude of human
|> animals on the loose.  I still bitterly recall the several brushings and
|> fingerings from the sleezy characters who are in complete charge
|> because of their sheer number.  
|> 
|> I have travelled alone here and in europe alone on several ocassions and
|> I have never been humiliated even once.  However, even in my last visit
|> (1990) to India, I was not spared (next time I will have a stun gun).

What you say holds true for the West also. If you had been born as a white
female, chances are by the time you reached 18, you would have odds of
1/6 of being sexually assaulted. One needs only to look at the vast number
of child abuse cases and date-rapes in the US alone to get an idea of the 
magnitude of the problem. (Source US News). So it is not as if Indian men
have the monopoly over sexual harassment. Of course I am not justifying the
actions of Indian men, merely stating that it is universal.
By the way, I do not think stun guns are allowed in India. So before you
land in one of our famous police lockups just make sure.

|> If one wants to put down such behaviour
|> as being the result of illeteracy, then I have news for you.  Recently there
|> was a posting by a Mr. Natrajan from AT&T who proudly (in all his male
|> arrogance) claims that they used to taunt girls as a passtime.  Perhaps it

Again if this is true, it is sad.

|> hasn't gotten into their thick-heads that just PERHAPS girls don't care
|> to be taunted.  It is just like stating that women loved to be raped and
|> if they don't, too bad they have no choice.  Perhaps if something happened
|> to their near and dear ones it may sink in ( which I hope does not for the
|> women's sake).  Some people have said that time will bring about changes.
|> I must disagree, TIME never solved anything.  Humans create the problem and
|> only humans can solve the problem.  The first step in solving is in recognizing
|> that it exists, no matter how painful it may be.
|> 
|> Just as the scums on the road get their cheap thrills (from brushings etc!)
|> the more learned (?) get it from harassing or subjugating their wives to their
|> will.  I have spent a considerable portion of my time as a student trying to 
|> understand why women tolerate such atrocities.  All too often it is purely 
|> for economic reasons.  As it is the unemployment rate among the educated is

Not that alone. Women have had very little freedom to travel freely in India
and hence can take up jobs only in their vicinity, otherwise their options are 
limited. This significantly reduces the job opportunities for women.

|> fairly high.  On top of that think about the millions of women who were not
|> fortunate to recieve any (especially in poorer sections where the parents
|> do everything in their means to give the best for their male children).  These
|> women have no hopes for anything other than spending their life on this earth
|> under the tyranny of their husband and produce off-springs.  It is imbibed
|> in their blood that the male species is the superior one (having seen it
|> in their household from day one) and hence they go ahead and perpetrate the same
|> evil in the society.  Men have no intention or desire to change anything
|> since the society works to their advantage. 
|> 
|> Coming to the middle and upper classes, if one sees a happy couple who have
|> respect for each other, then the unhappy ones quip, " oh! he is a jorooh-ka-
|> gulam" (for those who do not understand the term, it means a hen-pecked
|> husband).  Just as a side note: for all you people who concluded that I am
|> a frustrated female who has been dumped or cannot find a good guy, I am sorry
|> to burst your bubble.  I have been happily (if that is  possible when one sees
|> the silent and hopeless sufferings of women) for more than 12 years and guess
|> what, that too to an INDIAN guy.  It pains me to see that men and worse still

I guess from your tone that you would have preferred marrying a Westerner. Well,
apparently Indian women find western men preferable. In this Univ itself I know of
three Professors who are married to Indian women. Hmmm makes one think. 

|> the women who are blind to all this evil in those socities.  I am fully aware
|> that there are numerous problems in this country, but having been a volunteer
|> for several years in a battered women's program, I know that there is always
|> help available here for women who want to break away from the abuser and
|> start a new life.  The welfare system together with counseling and jobs outside
|> have helped innumerable women. 
|> 
|> If even the less than 1% of the Indians guys and girls (out of the total Indian
|> population) cannot recognize or are unwilling to open their eyes to the prevailing problems in those socities, then there is NO HOPE! 
|> (The main problem I see here is that they have not looked beyond their noses to see the true situation.  The less than 10% of women in professional fields cannot represent the true status and then even among those the problems at home are little known to |> the outside).
|> 
|> I will not go into the horror tales from the women of other middle eastern 
|> countries or into bride-burning and dowry deaths in our backyards.
|> Suffice to say that I maintain my original position
|> that more than 98% of the MEN of EASTERN origin are SCUMS.
|> 
|> p.s.  Recently the postings on Are we that intolerant, Have you noticed that
|> in all the  cases mentioned, it was the MEN who were acting insufferable?
|> It is some chemical imbalance on that side of the hemisphere that seems to target the male species.
|> 
|> savithri

What do you mean by Eastern? Have you lived in Chinese, Burmese, etc societies too?
Or are you specifically referring to the subcontinent? Or do you want to include
Southeast Asia and Eastern USSR too? Before you reach any far reaching conclusions
about hemispheres having effect on the males, you might want to share some specifics
with us. If you think that the west is better in respect of treatment of women,
welcome to the real world. And I am sorry to shatter YOUR bubble.:) 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian