Gender Inequality and Equality

1. Why are women declared unclean during periods?
2. Menstrual flow and religious beliefs
3. Gender inequality
4. Gender equality

Introduction

Menstrual period is the 4 - 5 days of flow of menstrual blood in women. This is just part of a normal cycle of 28 days during which the inside layer of the womb sheds itself in the event of a lack of receipt of a fertilized ovum. During this stage of endometrial shedding the protective cervical mucus is shed first followed by the unfertilized ovum and the matured inner layer accompanied by blood. The menstrual blood in a healthy female, despite its color and odor, is sterile. But it is a good culture medium for micro-organisms. The inner layer regenerates after the flow stops. The opening of the uterus to the outside gets sealed with fresh cervical mucus which acts as a barrier for the uterus protecting it from any invading micro-organism while at the same time permitting any sperm that may be deposited in the vagina later to enter and fertilize the next ovum.

1. Why are women declared unclean during periods?

The protective cervical mucus is absent during the menstrual flow and any micro-organism present outside can easily enter the uterine cavity which, during this part of the cycle, has a raw lining bathed in degenerated endometrial cells and blood, an ideal medium for growth of pathogenic micro-organisms. Retrograde migration of micro-organisms can cause infection that will destroy the normal functioning of the uterus. The change in pH in the vaginal mucosa together with the proximity of the outlet for faecal matter, which contain all sorts of  opportunistic micro-organism, increases the chance of infection. Hence the necessity for practicing cleanliness during periods and avoiding all activity that might cause excessive sweating and injuries to the external genitalia.

Many practices have been adopted over time and has been insisted upon by the society to observe such cleanliness during the flow. But such practices aimed at cleanliness, which are not applicable for men, have always been considered at least by a few women as a male chauvinistic attitude. The facts of medical science has often been misinterpreted, misrepresented and subjected to never ending debates by people who are who have little knowledge of medical science but consider themselves experts. The situation is actually very simple. It is easier to enforce strict cleanliness on women, for her own health, by labeling her as unclean during menstrual periods rather than trying to explain to her the intricacies of medical science.

Cleanliness practiced by the use of disposable diapers has been proven to be better than washable and reusable cloth. Any physical effort like horse-riding, cycling, wearing tight dress etc that can cause microscopic injuries of the external genitalia added together with the accompanying sweating increases the risk of retrograde infection. Sexual relationship also should be avoided. There was a time when household kitchen duties involved a lot of physical effort which leads to sweating. Hence women in periods were forbidden to enter the kitchen. The advent of several machines like grinders, mixies, gas stoves, electric stoves, induction cookers etc has reduced the physical work load in the kitchen. The evolution to the unit family system with the other members sharing the work in the kitchen has dramatically changed the outlook for women to remain outside the kitchen during periods.

2. Menstrual flow and religious beliefs

All sacred rituals and holy places of worship demand sanctitude. If viewed from a different perspective the menstrual blood can be equated with any other form of excreta like faeces and urine. The outflow of urine and faeces can be controlled voluntarily. But not so the menstrual flow that may sometimes make its appearance irrespective of time and situations. Hence women prefer to stay away from holy rituals immediately before and during periods and advice other women to do the same. Attempt at forceful entry into holy places happen very rarely. This is often done by women who question the existence of a divine power whose nomenclature differs from religion to religion. Such persons care very little about the sanctity of holy places. Their main aim is to attract media attention, come what may.

SABARIMALA - Women who firmly believe in Ayyappa just do not go to Sabarimala during the reproductive age even if compelled to. It is partly out of empathy for Malikapurathamma and her eternal wait and it’s also out of respect for Ayyappa's commitment to answer the prayers of his devotees. There is also a scrict code of conduct preceding the 42 days prior to pilgrimage to Sabarimala which is difficult for any woman to practice.

If one contemplates visiting Sabarimala Hills as a tourist one does not see any reason why these rules should be strictly adhered to as long as one is not planning to tread the 18 holy steps or enter the sanctum sanctorium. Such an act is reserved for devotees who have firm faith in the Idol and have observed the preparatory holy rituals. One who thinks that denial of entry to holy places of worship is forceful should remember that there are many places other than holy places where entry is restricted viz : Establishments like military, space research, nuclear power stations, prisons, Intensive Care Units, Labor room and Operation Theaters in Hospitals whose beneficiaries are free citizens.

Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.

The places of worship that restrict entry for women are Nizamudin Dargah in Delhi, Shani Shinganur Temple in Maharashtra, Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, Sabarimala in Kerala, Patbausi Satra in Assam, Lord Karthikeya Temple in Pushka, Ranakpur Temple in Rajasthan.

3. Gender Inequality

The debate shall never end as long as all males and females do not feel proud to be what they are and never wish that they belonged to the opposite sex.

Men and women are unequal in anatomy, physiology, bio-chemistry and pathology. The entire reproductive system is opposite, but complimentary between the sexes.

The basic difference between the sexes is in the genetic composition. Women carry the sex chromosome XX while men carry XY. An unfertilized egg in the female or a spermatozoa in the male carry only one of the sex chromosome. Fusion at fertilization makes it a paired whole. The combination of the pair of sex chromosomes possible is either XX or XY. The sex of the offspring is decided by the presence or absence of Y chromosome. The Y chromosome has to come always from the male and never from the female. The female is helpless, though she is often put to blame for not bearing a male child!

No man has the ability to bear or give birth to children. Though the woman needs a man (or his sperm in cases of artificial insemination) to become pregnant she is the only sex capable of carrying a pregnancy, giving birth to a child and breast-feeding the new born. Man is capable of only helping the woman to bring up a new-born. He is totally incapable of carrying a pregnancy or giving birth to children or breast-feeding them.

Males and females are similar in most, if not all, psychological aspects. Majority of women are proud to belong to the female sex. They have their own way of body language, dressing and speech. Women are better at understanding and dealing with the opposite sex, whether it be at home, public places or office. Males have difficulty in understanding women and either overestimate or underestimate them.

Though men and women have equal IQ and calculation skills, women worry more about past events while men are more anxious about the future. Women are more sociable than males, remember well all emotional events in the past, have more verbal fluency and the rate of unsuccessful attempt at suicide is more. Males are Physically stronger, more prone to perpetuate crime, more successful in suicidal attempts. Men are biased against reporting themselves to be victims of crime especially when victimized by Women. Men have low levels of self control.

Women are more emotional than practical, find it difficult to forget past ill feelings and become emotionally biased when planning their future. Men are more practical than emotional and analyse past events to plan for the future. Women tolerate and recover from negative situations like separation, bereavement, failure, divorce or loss of job better than men.

Women have a longer and healthier life span. They can take stress better than men and are less susceptible to diseases, especially stress induced diseases She can tolerate pain more easily. Women recover faster from illnesses.

In finance situation women prefer spending and not worrying about the future while men prefer saving money in preparation for any need in future.

Women are more cautious while males are more willing to take risks.

The situations where one sex is weaker is compensated by the other sex being stronger, though either one of them is weak or strong independently in different situations. In short both sexes are neither weak nor strong without the other.

But majority of women, even strong ones, prefer to enjoy the role of a weaker sex with their male counterpart taking a supportive role though she may not acknowledge this in public. The situations where the opposite state of affairs prevail is rare.

Why do women demand reservation for women in offices, transport, public positions, elections, sports etc? Having separate public toilets is of course logical. Reservation is for the weak, not the strong!

Some women, who talk of equality, are often seen smoking, drinking and using mens' wear. Why? Because it is the trend! Anything that a man does women can do better! She wants liberty. Liberty from what?

Gender equality :

Gender equality in terms of health, dignity, education, job opportunity, pay, economy, freedom of speech and transport, marriage, divorce, child custody is necessary for advanced development, better living conditions and reduction of poverty in society. Taking the population as a whole, women are more likely than men to be poor and illiterate and have less opportunity to ownership, credit, training and employment. They are more likely to be victims of domestic violence. Women are more vulnerable to reproductive health problems than men. The health problems inherent in pregnancy and childbirth is entirely a female portfolio.

Women organisations should aim at achieving these goals rather than trying to be males which they are not and can never be. Men should be more supportive and respectful to women as a one would to his mother, sister or daughter.

Teaching the men how to behave properly with women would be a better approach to the problem of violence against women rather than teaching women how to protect themselves from violent men. Such a teaching should begin at home right from childhood long before the child grows to be a man.

References
Menstrual Hygiene Management