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On Tue, 19 Oct 2004, Cecil Pinto wrote:
1) There is nothing distinctive about "Goa male chauvinism". It is no different from chauvinism worldwide. In fact it is not that bad in Goa as in Bihar!
Just a few queries: (i) Is Cecil suggesting that male chauvinism is acceptable because it is prevalent "worldwide"? (ii) Or that it is a global phenomenon and is something we all have to live with. Just as Mrs Gandhi, if one recalls right, had once said that corruption is a global phenomenon? (iii) What are we to read in the comparison of Goa with Bihar, a state currently not known for its enlightened approaches unlike in the past?
2) If a woman makes fun of men's cooking, or lack of dress sense, it is not called female chauvinism. But dare a man say most women can't drive, it becomes "Goa male chauvinism".
If Cecil says that this writer can't cook or lacks a dress sense (both of which are incidentally true), it may be a little rude and insensitive to a single person. When Cecil says an entire gender (or "most women", as he puts it above) have only challenged driving abilities, it's a bit too difficult to accept. Statistically women drivers have shown themselves to be less accident prone than men. How?
The problem with Goa is that women have done a lot for themselves in the past generation. They've overcome many a handicap. Not primarily because men here are more liberal and tolerant, but simply because of the additional responsiblities brought on by migrating menfolk, by women being absorbed in the workforce, and similar factors.
But, at the same time, they're stuck with an extremely conservative and backward-looking attitudes coming from society in general, and menfolk in particular. Perhaps an analysis of the attitudes projected in Konkani song towards women could be an interesting case-study for any researcher.
FN
