India Women vs. Indian Men

[January 29, 2006]

THE QUESTION: Indian women are recognised as among the most good-

looking in the world, Indian men as the crudest. Why?

THE REPLIES:

1. How can Indian men be the crudest, when we have in our midst since

time immemorial myriad thinkers, philosophers, social reformers of

world repute down to the present times, for which we can boast of

having espoused the need to appreciate beauty hidden in human nature?

Despite having been indoctrinated with aesthetic principles, we to a

great extent see the world through an occidental prism.

That is why we judge men and women as sexual objects, not objects of

pristine beauties. Although the West is not devoid of artistic

values, these have been diluted by crudities. Also, our climate and

the struggle for survival are factors that make our men seem rough

and tough. Those who have been endowed with opportunity blossom into

complete men. [PANKAJ KUMAR BURMAN, 23 January, Kolkata.]

2. Equally appealing Indian women in general are simple, sober and

shy. These qualities are entrenched in the Indian culture. They are

graceful and charming, specially in the eyes of foreigners who are

accustomed to a mechanical way of life. Indian women are by and large

good-looking. How can it be said that Indian men are the crudest?

There is no dearth of good-looking men in India, from politicians to

railway porters. Good-looking Indian women are offsprings of Indian

parents. The images of Sita, Radha, Lakshmi and Parbati, conceived

after Indian women, are all attractive. Are their Indian male

counterparts, Rama, Krishna, Narayana and Shiva ugly? The answer is

NO. [C S MUKHERJEE, 25 January, Howrah.]

3. Men have their crudities From time immemorial, Indian women have

been recognised for their charm and beauty. This has prompted kings

and emperors to invade India either to marry or take hostage many

Indian women. Even today, many foreigners show their eagerness to

marry Indian women.

Aishwarya Rai has been called on assignments to Hollywood for her

enchanting beauty and glamour and so many Indian women have become

Miss Worlds and Miss Universes in beauty contests abroad. It may not

be quite true that Indian men are the crudest in the world, but it

certainly is evident that the women of India enjoy far greater

popularity. Indian men have been accused of torturing their

womenfolk, being dependent on them for domestic chores and for

showing telltale signs of chauvinism.

Then there are the big, bad villains of real life who exploit women

for personal aggrandisement. Added to this is the lure of easy money

in the form of dowry that has led to the killing of many married

women and this has brought, in its wake, the draconian law under

Section 498A of the IPC to prevent the crudest men from causing harm

to the beauties, who are meant to be loved. [DIPAK BYSACK, 24

January, Kolkata.]

4. Women made [into] commodities! What are the parameters for

judging who is beautiful and who is ugly? Beauty contests seem a

bizarre idea, because it tends to promote women as a commodity. It is

a conspiracy of large corporate houses, including fashion and

cosmetic industries, the media and film industry. By organising

beauty contests, multinational companies want to enter India to make

more profit. This is the strongest way to mesmerise Indians by

advertising foreign goods.

Beauty is meant to stay in the realm of creativity and aesthetics.

Beauty is born in an artists mind. We are reminded of Jean Cocteau

who said: Art produces ugly things which frequently become more

beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful

things which always become ugly with time. [uTTAM BHOWMIK, 24

January, East Midnapore.]

5. Pageants for men. Beauty pageants like Miss Asia, Miss World and

Miss Universe give women a wider platform to flaunt their beauty and

express their intelligence. But there is no such global platform for

men who can be crude all over the world and cannot be singled out in

India. In India, though, it is a greater struggle for men to stay

afloat as there is competition from a burgeoning population where

everybody is not exposed to the same kind of education and

refinement. This is, unfortunately, an unequal world and sometimes a

certain roughness does permeate into mens personality that make

villains of them in India. [RANADIP GANGULY, 24 January, Kolkata.]

SOURCE: TMC Net

URL: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-complete-man-the-issue-indian-

women-recognised-as-/2006/01/29/1323174.htm