To address Gender biais that is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to gender equality one has to begin within the confines of the home as that is where sexist messages begin. In an article 10 Indian Men Recollect The Horribly Sexist And Patriarchal Ideas Their Families Tried To Impose On Them. Reading their stories shoes you how insidious and surreptitious these messages are. From gender based roles to restriction of movement, girls and boys are treated differently in most homes. A girl is expected to cook! Boys can and must learn to drive but if a girl asks for the same privilege, it is often denied. Boys are sent to expensive schools, girls make do with the one in the neighbourhood. Boys are given the best morsel of food, girls get what is left over. Boys can sit on the front seat, girls are pushed in the back. The messages are constant and all say the same things: boys are better!

Some boys react as we see in the mentioned article, but most boys accept the situation as ‘normal’. Come on it is your own parents that are passing on the message so it has to be true.

You may think this is all innocuous and harmless. Far from that! These are the most dangerous. They ingrain patriarchal prototypes that will affect adult behaviour.

The girls at our women centre linger on after school hours. At Project WHY they are respected and free to express themselves. They can laugh and giggle to their heart’s content. One of our student told us how she was ‘bullied’ at home by her younger brother. He admonished her if she laughed loud, looked out of the window or left the house without a proper attire.

The differences are at all levels from food to education to medical care. Girls take a backseat.

For gender equality to happen, one has to begin within the home. Parents need to accept children of both genders at par. But in a land where girls need hefty dowries to be married and boys are looked upon as old age insurance we are looking at a skewed playing field.

How do we turn the tables? Million dollar question