Does it shock you when a girl is questioned for her behaviour even when it's the males who misbehave with them? Does it bother you that girls are out-casted after being raped even when they are the victims and not the culprits of the atrocious act?

In the recent past numerous statements by senior members of the society have brought up the same old questions. To top it all even top authorities of the police say that women should not move alone at night without being accompanied by men. Even women suggest other women not to move out of their homes at any given time before considering their safety. And yet, we claim we have equal freedom for men and women. Isn't 'right to free movement' one of our fundamental rights provided by the constitution? Then how come men walk away freely even after they tamper with this right again and again?

Of late there have been numerous discussions and debates about how women should dress in order to avoid any attention of males. Right from her childhood days, a girl is taught the manner in which she should behave all the time in order to maintain her honour, although her honour is battered with every eye that belongs to a man. Ever wondered why all the abuses are always related to women? A woman's integrity is a toy at the hands of the society, which she is supposed to save at all times while the society keeps playing with it the way it wants. The extent to which the society has become inhuman to females is proven by the fact that even after being raped, a girl is accused of dressing in a particular manner so as to attract the attention of the rapist. It's "OK" for a man to zip down his pants and pee in public, but when women so much as wear skimpy clothes because she wishes to do so, it's a fault? Are we human or animals that we cannot control our behaviour? If women are supposed to hide their carnal desire, the least that we can expect out of men is that they contain their carnal desires.

The vital question is- shouldn't men behave because it's them from whom the females have to safeguard themselves? Shouldn't there be a change in men's thinking process so that they start respecting women? With more percentage of literate men it should but be obvious that we expect them to behave in a mature respectful manner. Come to think of it, they are the ones who have been allowed all sorts of freedom and thus are more eligible for such a change.

Is it not enough that women world-wide have accepted the patriarchal way of life. Men anyways dominate the society. Is it important that they establish this domination by disrespecting women? We claim to be a country which respects women and respect our goddesses who bring good luck and money to the family. We glorify the past of women like Rani Lakshmibai and Sarojini Naidu. The least we can do is let the females live a decent ordinary life without objectifying them at every instance of their life.

MSN She Reader
Isha Raghunathan