Is Mobile Phone Conversation The New Indian Green-Eyed Monster?
The Punjab State Commission for Women has issued a very odd advisory to Indian women, and it has prompted a sea of protest among newly wedded Indian brides.
The women have been warned to avoid too much conversation on mobile phones for fear of making their spouses jealous!
The controversial brochure was written in Punjabi and stresses the importance of focusing on domestic issues (whatever they may be) and limiting time spent on the phone with those other than the spouse.
It also speaks to in-laws and advises them to be less interfering so that the new bride and groom will be happier.
The warning did not come out of the air, however misguided it might be. It developed following a rise in complaints of domestic violence, sexual harassment and family discord due to rows about young brides constantly on the cell phone.
But the modern Indian woman is far more evolved than even her family may know, and many reacted very negatively and quite furiously to what they believed to be misogynistic rhetoric.
“’This is a very strange advisory and is no solution to save any marriage. Every relationship is built on trust and this advisory is itself planting suspicion in the minds of young men and women. This suggests that every woman is adulterous and every man is suspicious, which is really weird,” says Neelam Mansingh, a prominent Punjabi actress who also teaches at the university.
Punjab is not as progressive as other parts of India, and it is renowned for its intolerant attitude towards women and distorted sex ratio. The 2011 Census noted 893 females for every 1,000 males. The area has also been known as a hotbed for “honor killings” in the past few years.
It looks the days are numbered for Punjabi authorities having the power to push women around.
To sort of quote that old feminist mantra of long ago:
“They are women…hear them roar!”
(Link)
By MDeeDubroff on 31-05-2011
