Average Reading Time : 5:00 minutes
Words : 1198
An average 21 year old, currently in my final year of Med School. I was judged to above average by the system in my country that grades intelligence based on the best of 4 options. I’m a diehard fan of Harry Potter and Breaking Bad, Tool and Paganini, as well as an ardent lover of Video Games.
But the part we’re gonna focus on - I am a Sexist.
Yes, you may well gasp at this revolting confession. I wouldn’t blame you if you were to shut this tab right now, rather than face the prospect of having a blog written by a sexist clouding your browser history - But bear with me till the end of this post. Ctrl+Shift+N if you must. I won’t judge.
I am an only son who attended an all boys school for 11 years, having had virtually no contact with anyone sporting more than a single X chromosome. Both my parents are educated and employed and have an equal standing at my home. None of which can justify the way I am right now.
In fact (like 99% of sexists out there) I did not consider myself to be one at all up until a few days ago when a female colleague of mine gently (extreme sarcasm) pointed it out. I demanded an explanation and an explanation I received. It shook my core beliefs about the world and, more importantly, myself.
I beg your pardon if I seem to be be making a generalization here. I do not presume to be the spokesperson for my generation of males. Neither do I accuse every guy of my generation to have the same faults I’m professing to. What I say, I say based on the experiences I have had up until this point of my life.
And what my experiences have led me to believe is that we have accrued 20 years’ worth of false perceptions about what it means to be Sexist.
“Sure”, you might say, “Now we need a sexist teaching us not be one?”
Ironical, I know. But who better than a sinner to to show us what sin is?
What is this sin I’m talking about? Allow me to elaborate:
We are an enlightened generation, no doubt.
Should we allow women to hold jobs, dress as they wish, choose their partners, give or deny consent? Most individuals of our generation will answer these questions - almost as a knee jerk reaction - with a resounding YES. This is, no doubt, a significant progress in the Indian mentality as compared to a few decades ago.
It was once unthinkable to provide women with opportunities. It is now just as unthinkable to deny opportunities to women based on their sex. Funnily enough, both these notions have been accepted by the general populace, half a century apart, unthinkingly.
The concept that we cannot deny a qualified person a job, or that we cannot dictate their fashion sense or control their sex lives, is not as much a matter of Gender Rights as it is of basic Human Rights. It is abhorrent that women were once denied these rights that we take for granted today. But simply accepting the fact that women are in fact, Human, does not absolve you from the sin of sexism. We have now progressed to a hypocritical stage - where a woman can pursue anything she desires; but will always struggle to receive the same amount of respect as a man in the same profession.
The same people who will vigorously nod their heads when asked if women should be allowed to drive cabs, will avert their eyes and walk away if offered a cab driven by a woman. Male surgeons and doctors are considered to be more trustworthy. The net result of female ambition is considered to be the attainment of a suitable groom.
The current trend in Indian society seems to be to allow women to pursue their heart’s desire - and then squash them and show them their place in society once a degree has been earned. A situation which seems more tailored to stop the protests of women than to grant them equal social status. A few decades ago, the ultimate aim of an 18 year old was considered to be marriage to a suitable groom. Now we’ve shifted from this ridiculously sexist aim to one of educating her, and then finding her a suitable groom. Much better?
We have made progress, no doubt, but we stopped caring halfway through.
We cannot expect our country to make giant strides in the field of Women’s Rights if even we, the ones educated enough to read this blog, consider the attainment of basic Human Rights to be the pinnacle of achievement for women. It is time that we take such things for granted and look ahead to see how we are going about discriminating against women AFTER we have allowed them to take up jobs and wear whatever they want. It is now time we stopped thinking of it as “allowing” women to do anything at all. Did we ever feel the need to “allow” men to become drivers or choose a wife? In fact, we consider it an oddity if a man does NOT do such things. We consider it odd if a man does not act like he is entitled to everything mankind has to offer. The time has come now to apply the same mentality towards women too.
The wave of pushing for Human Rights is, of course, a basic necessity in the socially and culturally weaker parts of our society, but at the same time, we must also ensure that we do not allow this wave to stagnate at the level of the enlightened population.
Absolutely. The glimmer of hope at the bottom of this Pandora’s Box is the fact that most of us, as a generation do not wish to BE sexist. We do accept that women deserve equal treatment. The problem lies in the fact that a century’s worth of false ideals have numbed our minds from perceiving inequality whenever it rears it ugly head. This blog is not intended as a rallying point for feminists. This is intended solely for my fellow sexists, trying to come to terms with and overcome their esoteric sexism. A chronicle of sorts as I explore the various patterns that exist in our lives where we default to acts of sexism without realising it.
I am a sexist.
A sexist engrossed in a struggle not to be so, a boat a lot of us are sailing in without knowing it. Join me as I try to steer this boat towards safe harbor, one where we may truly consider all humans as equals, one where we may finally claim to be sexists - no more.
PS: This is my debut as a writer of Non-Fiction. Kindly leave me your thoughts, comments and criticism below. Thanks a lot for sparing the time for reading :D
Words : 1198
Who am I?
An average 21 year old, currently in my final year of Med School. I was judged to above average by the system in my country that grades intelligence based on the best of 4 options. I’m a diehard fan of Harry Potter and Breaking Bad, Tool and Paganini, as well as an ardent lover of Video Games.
But the part we’re gonna focus on - I am a Sexist.
Yes, you may well gasp at this revolting confession. I wouldn’t blame you if you were to shut this tab right now, rather than face the prospect of having a blog written by a sexist clouding your browser history - But bear with me till the end of this post. Ctrl+Shift+N if you must. I won’t judge.
How’d I turn out to be so bad?
In fact (like 99% of sexists out there) I did not consider myself to be one at all up until a few days ago when a female colleague of mine gently (extreme sarcasm) pointed it out. I demanded an explanation and an explanation I received. It shook my core beliefs about the world and, more importantly, myself.
I beg your pardon if I seem to be be making a generalization here. I do not presume to be the spokesperson for my generation of males. Neither do I accuse every guy of my generation to have the same faults I’m professing to. What I say, I say based on the experiences I have had up until this point of my life.
And what my experiences have led me to believe is that we have accrued 20 years’ worth of false perceptions about what it means to be Sexist.
“Sure”, you might say, “Now we need a sexist teaching us not be one?”
Ironical, I know. But who better than a sinner to to show us what sin is?
What is this sin I’m talking about? Allow me to elaborate:
We are an enlightened generation, no doubt.
Should we allow women to hold jobs, dress as they wish, choose their partners, give or deny consent? Most individuals of our generation will answer these questions - almost as a knee jerk reaction - with a resounding YES. This is, no doubt, a significant progress in the Indian mentality as compared to a few decades ago.
It was once unthinkable to provide women with opportunities. It is now just as unthinkable to deny opportunities to women based on their sex. Funnily enough, both these notions have been accepted by the general populace, half a century apart, unthinkingly.
Is there anything wrong with this mentality?
Absolutely not. But this mentality alone does not imply that we are not Sexist.
The concept that we cannot deny a qualified person a job, or that we cannot dictate their fashion sense or control their sex lives, is not as much a matter of Gender Rights as it is of basic Human Rights. It is abhorrent that women were once denied these rights that we take for granted today. But simply accepting the fact that women are in fact, Human, does not absolve you from the sin of sexism. We have now progressed to a hypocritical stage - where a woman can pursue anything she desires; but will always struggle to receive the same amount of respect as a man in the same profession.
The same people who will vigorously nod their heads when asked if women should be allowed to drive cabs, will avert their eyes and walk away if offered a cab driven by a woman. Male surgeons and doctors are considered to be more trustworthy. The net result of female ambition is considered to be the attainment of a suitable groom.
The current trend in Indian society seems to be to allow women to pursue their heart’s desire - and then squash them and show them their place in society once a degree has been earned. A situation which seems more tailored to stop the protests of women than to grant them equal social status. A few decades ago, the ultimate aim of an 18 year old was considered to be marriage to a suitable groom. Now we’ve shifted from this ridiculously sexist aim to one of educating her, and then finding her a suitable groom. Much better?
We have made progress, no doubt, but we stopped caring halfway through.
What’s the solution then?
The wave of pushing for Human Rights is, of course, a basic necessity in the socially and culturally weaker parts of our society, but at the same time, we must also ensure that we do not allow this wave to stagnate at the level of the enlightened population.
Is there any hope then, for our generation of neo-sexists?
I am a sexist.
A sexist engrossed in a struggle not to be so, a boat a lot of us are sailing in without knowing it. Join me as I try to steer this boat towards safe harbor, one where we may truly consider all humans as equals, one where we may finally claim to be sexists - no more.
PS: This is my debut as a writer of Non-Fiction. Kindly leave me your thoughts, comments and criticism below. Thanks a lot for sparing the time for reading :D
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