A lot has already been said on how it is a man's duty to respect women and support them in every cause, why a society that doesn't respect is regressive in its thinking and why India is becoming unsafe with each passing day for its women. We know a lot of young men are all for women's rights, but chauvinism is much deeper rooted in the Indian society. While most men of this generation claim to be free of any sexist prejudices against women, there are a few things they still unknowingly do that contradict their support for women. This International Women's Day, we at MensXP bring to you a set of resolutions that every Indian man must make to make India a much better place for women.
Stop Staring
Okay, so the girl you see strutting across the road is beautiful and you cannot help but notice her. There is nothing wrong with appreciating beauty, but there is a very fine line that differentiates it from leching. While you're visibly discussing her with your group of guy friends even with no immoral intentions, she is feeling unsafe being stared at. Molestation is not just physical. Don't let your eyes make her feel uncomfortable.
Stop Blaming Her
Nobody is responsible for your behaviour. Nobody but you. No woman ever asks for it. Even if she strips down naked, she is not asking for it. Let us stop blaming women. Short skirts and vodka are not the reasons for rape. Rapists are. Every time you blame a victim, you're justifying rape and molestation. And that is totally the opposite of what we are trying to achieve, right?
Stop Gender-Stereotyping
The root cause of disrespect towards women begins at home. Most men take women to be the homemakers. It is not a woman's duty to do the dishes and cook food for her man. Do not associate roles with the female gender and feed the people around you with more gender-stereotyping than there already is. A woman can party all night, get drunk, sleep with men she fancies and still be the sacred being that the Indian society expects them to be.
Stand Up
From this moment on, do not let this fight for women be restricted to the women in your life. Women are mistreated every day - in your office, on the streets, in the market, in your own house. Speak up. Stand up for her every time you see a crime against women, regardless of who she is. Be man enough to stop what is wrong.
Stop The Abuse
Abuse of all kinds - verbal, mental and physical. You may not be physically violent with the women around you, but you might just be abusing them in a million other ways. Be careful about how you treat women. Something as trivial as hurling abuses at your friends can be demeaning to women. Of course, you're doing it all in good, harmless humour, but it is disrespectful to women, nonetheless.
Don't Look Down Upon Them
Let the battle between the sexes be fought only in good spirits. Women are not inferior to men. A penis doesn't make you any mightier than them. There is much more to a woman than her outer beauty. Do not objectify them. The day you begin to give them due respect as equals, half the battle against gender-bias will be won. Food for thought!
Don't Judge
Every individual has his/her own story. Just like wearing pink doesn't make a man gay, wearing a short skirt doesn't make a girl a slut. Even today, most men look down upon a girl who is in touch with her sexual side, while it is always an asset to be a sexually active man. Let's get rid of the hypocrisy please. It is high time that you accept that your wife/girlfriend/sister/mother can, just like men, be sexually aware and active. Come to terms with the fact that women need it and want it as much as you do, and it doesn't make them any less of a being.
Respect Her In Bed
Women aren't born to please men, in bed and otherwise. Her sexual needs are as important as yours, even though she may never pronounce them audibly. Porn may suggest otherwise, but it is not at all manly to look at women as your pleasure machines.
Support Her
We know you care about the women in your life, which is why you advise her not to be herself. But to think of it, doesn't this mentality strengthen the evil even more? Every woman has crazy expectations from life. Help her sail through. Give her the life she's always wanted to live.
Inspire A Change
The idea of a woman's position being behind the man is so deeply imbibed in the Indian culture, that most men take it for granted that their significant others would follow them wherever they go. Would you be willing to shift base to a strange city just because it opens new doors of opportunities for your working wife? Women have been doing it since ages. Be the man who changes the course of things in the country. Inspire a change today.
Here's hoping, the year ahead is much happier for women. To all our women readers, we salute you, for a world without women is like men without balls - impotent.
Source-mensxp