Almost ten years ago, I asked several women one simple question: IF you had a choice, what would you choose to be reborn as? Nine out of ten times, the answer was, "A man". I doubt very much whether the response would be any different today. Years of social conditioning erode at a woman's perception of herself. She is taught that she is physically, emotionally and intellectually inferior and, therefore, undeserving of any care and consideration. The little she receives by way of food, clothing and shelter is considered a privilege for which she is expected to pay by contributing her (non-wage) labour to the family. She learns to become passive and resigned to her fate.
That the root of this problem lies in infancy and childhood is an accepted fact. As reported in The Lesser Child, from the day of her birth, a girl is viewed as a burden and a liability. The obsession for sons cuts across all barriers of class, caste and religion, and determines the amount and quality of investment that parents make in their female children. More often than not, girls are physically and emotionally deprived of the family's affection and resources. The web of prejudices that a girl child encounters rob her of both her individuality and her dignity.
Let us analyze the factors that influence the woman's concept of herself. In infancy and early childhood, the girl's primary contact is within her family. It is at her mother's or grandmother's knee that she is first introduced to the collective wisdom of her culture through its lullabies, songs and folklore. Most often, each of these reinforces the concept of male superiority and the inherent qualities of the male child. The family's behaviour and interaction only reinforce these views. As she grows older, the girl's contact is extended to the community which acts as a larger patriarchal unit and reaffirms the traditional, male-dominated, norms and ideologies. If she is lucky, she might even be allowed to enrol in school. Here again, the teachers encourage conformity with the patriarchal value system and the text-books extol the virtues of brave and chivalrous male heroes and meek and submissive females.
If and when the girl extends her contact further, she has to contend with the discriminatory and stereotypical images of females portrayed by the media. Girls and women are either invisible or when given the occasional exposure, are depicted as being socially, economically and emotionally dependent. The infrequent portrayals of independent, assertive women are usually those of the celluloid 'vamp'.