rage...

I didn't talk much about it.... probably because I believed that talking did not solve issues.
Recently, my friend had blogged about it, and I thought I'd write this, if not for anything, at least for mental catharsis. the original post was made as a comment on this blog.
what follows is a personal opinion and might be a bit idealistic,insane,etc.
I'm a feminist, rather I try to lean towards "equality among sexes". So the other day among friends, I encountered "women are physically weak" while discussing recent events. Are women physically weak?? Maybe they are. I don't know; most women are stronger than me physically. But that’s beside the point. I don't believe most men are in the pink of their health either.
Rapists are cowards and hunt in packs. And when you are faced with danger, your mental makeup comes into the picture, not just the physical build. In my opinion, The Indian women are mentally weak. They have been fed on the traditional values that border on sycophantic worship of the male and their superiority. A female has to adjust & adhere to the societal mores. A female has to be accommodating; a female must know her place. A dignified female should be silent and composed. Bullshit et. al.
From a very early age a male companion is sent with her if she goes out alone. At college, male friends accompany the female group (most cases) and later you have the male friend or colleague accompanying her back home from work. After all this when a woman finds herself alone, she comes up with questions that are on the lines of: “how can I walk back home alone?”, “can I call him and ask him to drop me home??” .
Yes I agree the streets are not safe and the men are responsible for it. But when the women already feel insecure, I don’t believe there is much to be done. I don’t blame the women for this mind set, the need to cower rather than stand up and fight. I blame all the fathers, I blame all the brothers I blame all the male colleagues who convinced her that she was helpless. Personally, I have told at least a handful of my female friends to get a pepper spray for themselves; as far as I know none of them have got one. They are pretty comfortable,the men are always around.
Sometime back a guy asked me "will you let your daughter out??" . My father gave me a lot of freedom and it increased with my age; so did the responsibilities associated with it. What would I do if I had a kid? I would like her to enjoy this life with the same freedom. Would she roam around after the dark? Yes. She will.
Life is too short to forgo small pleasures. If something has to happen it will. But I’ll make a difference. I’ll tell her about the dangers that lurk; I’ll ask her to stay calm when they present themselves. I’ll give her the first can of pepper spray, I’ll teach her the value of self defense. I’ll tell her not to be afraid of the dark. My wife might curse me for all this and I might lose many a night’s sleep over it. but when faced with a pack of lecherous cowards, she might be able to fight them off and I would have made a small contribution towards the “confident women” ideal that I really wish was visible. I’m not talking about the ‘confident at work’, ‘confident around guys’ types. I am talking about a truly self assured woman who can command the respect she has been denied for so long…