Sexist World

Posted on February 20, 2004 20:58 PM EST

We definitely live in a sexist world. I was listening to the radio this afternoon. Advertisement for some bar or pub. Ladies get in free all night and special drinks prices for ladies only! Cover charge for guys after 10 PM!

Imagine how much trouble the pub would have had from feminists and other groups, if it did the opposite - charge extra for ladies. Not to mention the fact that it would run out of business because of boycott by the ladies.

The word sexist is usually used and get lot of attention in situations where women are at a disadvantage. In all other situations - be it something as simple as a gentleman opening a door for a lady to something like doors in many places and stages of life opening magically for a lady (especially if she is pretty) - sexist behavior or discrimination is hardly mentioned.

Most pretty ladies probably go through their entire lives without knowing how difficult some simple things can be for the rest of us. Whether it is getting work done at a government office or influencing a bunch of people to go with a certain plan for a holiday activity or enlisting someone's help for anything, on a typical day, things just happen for them. I don't envy their ease or the many unwanted attentions and advances they have to endure. But I do wish that the stupid obstacles would not come up in the path of hairy beasts like yours truly... especially in places like government offices.

Bottomline is, as long as there are different sexes in the world, sexist behavior and discrimination will exist. It is ok. It is ok as long as it benefits people. It is not ok if it harms them. It is ok if a pretty girl breezes through the process of getting a driver's license. It is not ok if the lecherous government official held up my processing just because he did not like my face. It is okay if my grandmother feeds me a couple more idlis than I want because she believes I should grow up into a strong boy. It is not okay if she feeds my sister a couple less idlis than she wants just because she is a girl.

We are different genders. Let us accept the fact. Let us accept the countless things - big and small - that make us different. Let us celebrate the differences. Let us accept the positive consequences of those differences. And let us address the negative behavior and practices with empathy and open mind and love. Let us have the love to accept certain things that cannot be changed. Above all, let us not forget that, as the yin-yang symbol shows, there is a little bit of the other gender in all of us.