Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Women Reservation


 Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn't have what it takes.’ They will say, ‘Women don't have what it takes’ — Clare Boothe Luce


Enthusiasm is not a reasonable substitute for clarity. The willingness to be politically correct has overtaken the directive to be politically sensible. Why do women need reservation? Taken purely as a demographic identity, they constitute the most powerful force in electoral politics. Every second voter is a woman. If she were motivated purely by gender, the majority of MPs would already be women. 
    
 
But women do not constitute a homogenous group, and all women are not equal. Just as men have the advantage over women in what should be a gender-neutral election to the Lok Sabha, some women have an in-built advantage over others, owing to caste or faith, or socio-economic factors. The logic that provides reservations for women also sustains the rational, logical and objective argument for sub-reservations. The principle is the same.
    Empowerment must be the right of all women, not just some women
  So, i  am asking all those who say yes to women reservations, including me, " Are we ready to provide sub-reservations to women from backward, downtrodden and oppressed classes within the 33% share they have won now? Isn't the real women empowerment constitute the representation of women from all social spheres and classes of the country? Just having some political and legal measures will not serve the real purpose, we need Attitudinal Reforms. We want to see a scenario where women would be competing against other women and not men.

Though i ended the post here, one of my well wishers suggested me the quote..

"There are only two kinds of people in this world..FEMALE and NON-FEMALE...which category do you come in..?"

I dont support this quote as it sounds irrationally feministic and it doesn't mean that i support Masculinism ..... I dont support any isms.... Is it mandatory that we need to take sides and keep on arguing which is the better half rather than reaping the profits of being a one single entity called Humans

The above quote leads to the contrary and obvious quote advocated by some groups....... "There are only two kinds of people in this world..MALE and NON-MALE...which category do you come in..?"..... It depicts Masculinism and hence the clash of isms keeps on popping for ever..... Why comparison? Why we need indefinite oscillation in Complex gravity?

I would prefer "There are only two kinds of people in this world....FEMALE and MALE". In fact i would go one more mile to say "There are only two kinds of people in this world..Humans and NON-Humans...which category do you come in..?"

So i vote for Heads/Tails rather than Heads/non-heads or Tails/non-tails
and i call it wisdomism which is meant to demagnify all isms....
Now i guess u may ask Why Wisdomism if at all i dont support any isms...? Any que?

Anyway, I strongly advocate the strategy "We should use isms as a means to reach the end called humanity, rather than allowing isms and end in itself and making humans as a means"

PS : I thank Rachana for her constructive feedback without which this post is less comprehensive.

10 comments:

BK Chowla, said...

I am personally in favour of the bill.But,I also have my reservations on if it will go through the LS in near future.

Roshmi Sinha said...

Well... the attitude and perspective towards women need to change. And that needs to happen from the society as a whole.

Mere legislation will not do. Centuries of parochial beliefs/attitudes and a certain mindset will not change overnight... due to a legislation only.

Saurabh Panshikar said...

The first quote really said it all... Can I use it?

Nethra said...

I liked Clare Boothe Luce's quote.
Nice post! :)

Mahesh Aadhya Kalal said...

@ Chowlaji...
But how abt the sub-reservations within the women reservations?

@ Roshmi...
Hi buddy....after long time.....thanks for dropping by....yeah we need change in societal mindset

@ Nethra....
Yea, i wrote this post jus coz of that quote :)

@ Saurabh...
The quote is by Clare Boothe Luce....so i dont have any copyrights...:) :)..... please use it wherever u want it buddy. :)

geeta said...

Firstly..
If we just talk about the bill ,looking into the present scenario I am in favour of it.And talking about the sub reservations they could also be considered.
Secondly ...
Other way round MEN-tality towards women need to change from the grassroot level(as ROSHMI said and as mentioned in my post-WOMEN AND RESERVATION) .If this change could happen we won't need these reservations and could talk about equality then.

Rachana Shakyawar said...

@ Mahesh

All I want You to see this link:
http://cartoonistsatish.blogspot.com/2010/03/every-indian-woman-now-comes-with.html

Your post goes just fine with the above link provided:)

Bwt: My friend also does not have any copyright...so I use her quote anywhere and everywhere;)

Taking a view over your post and link..I want to say...and ask..

"There are only two kinds of people in this world..FEMALE and NON-FEMALE...which category do you come in..?"

Hope u like that :)

~Keep the spark Alive..

Mahesh Aadhya Kalal said...

@ Rachana....
Thanks for the link and the quote which is enabling me to give some clarity on the topic...

I dont support the quote as it sounds feministic and it doesnt mean that i support Masculinism ..... I dont support any isms....

The above quote leads to the contrary "There are only two kinds of people in this world..MALE and NON-MALE...which category do you come in..?" ....... Which depicts Masculinism and hence the clash of isms keeps on popping for ever..... Why comparison? Complex gravity?

I would prefer ""There are only two kinds of people in this world....FEMALE and MALE......

In fact i would go one more mile to say ""There are only two kinds of people in this world..Humans and NON-Humans...which category do you come in..?" "

So i vote for Heads/Tails rather than Heads/non-heads or Tails/non-tails
and i call it wisdomism which is meant to demagnify all isms....

Now i guess u may ask Why Wisdomism if at all i dont support any isms...? Any que?

Anyway, I strongly advocate the strategy "We should use isms as a means to reach the end called humanity, rather than allowing isms and end in itself and making humans as a means"

Mahesh Aadhya Kalal said...

@ Geeta...

I totally agree with every alphabet u said....

Rachana Shakyawar said...

I was having fun..buddy..
Anyway...

Bow to U and isms...without much ado!

U truly rock!