On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:07 PM, Zainab Bawa <bawazaina...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> > Dear . > Discrimination in the rental housing market is not limited to religion. It > extends to caste, sex, nationality (and is there anything else under the > sun?).
Yes, Gender. Would it be wrong to say its the largest group being discriminated against in many different situations? To (re)cite an earlier experience, the landlord never asked me the woman's religion or age (both of which I didnt know) but her singular status and living alone upset him enough to claim that "single women are a big problem that no landlord wants". Now that does get my goat (pun (un)intended) as I never understood what its supposed to imply or mean or was I reading too much into it. But he was not the first to say that so when 2 brokers echoed his s(ub)lim(e)y thoughts I realized how dangerous single women are, never mind that men speaking thus have daughters. The irony is befuddling!! In retrospect, I'd have been more worried knowing that a woman I referred had to interact with such creepiness. That said, people still have the right to being bigots and narrow-minded when it comes to personal spaces or personal life choices. I too have a choice to ignore and avoid them or reduce my interactions to the minimum if necessary. Yeah, discrimination against women is not limited to Bangalore or India and probably exists everywhere in different forms. Heck, which woman is yet to feel safe while living (or traveling) alone in India after dark? Or escape spousal physical abuse in middle-class homes? or escape from incest, rape or sexual harassment? Or the fact that our courts still tolerate and allow an accused to use sexist language and red herrings in anticipatory bail applications[0]. [0] http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1249292 I could go on but this discussion on discrimination and incidents like the Rama Sene made me realize that gender (as a kid/teen, i'd never have believed it and i may be completely wrong here) is still the largest demographic group being discriminated against, not changed much over the centuries (in form perhaps). I dont see the media-hype around gender-related crimes (except the sensational ones) nor any proper studies undertaken across all demographics of Indian society. Did you really think an educated middle-class engineer/doctor/businessman cannot indulge in spousal abuse? Does class, caste or education have a role to play in gender abuse. I dont know. But our general populace does not care enough to bring about a change or a proper support system for the largest demographic you can find, except perhaps in sensational cases which get media attention and gather public support. Sadly most crimes and the female victims slip between the cracks, go un-noticed, or become mere statistics. >> And also, I am not an advocate of regulations to curb discrimination. As > has been pointed out in some of the postings, biases and prejudices are very > deep seated. Applying regulations can be counter-productive in the sense of > increasing the antagonism. Neither do I believe that the market will solve > the problem. Some pretty radical dislocations are required i.e. traditions > and paradigms that challenge the hegemonic beliefs of religion, identity and > property. I dont know how the radical change will come about but harking back into time reminds me that discrimination is certainly not a new phenomenon when it comes to property. Erstwhile Mughal rulers used to collect the jazia tax from non-muslims while Hindu kings have fought violent battles over kingdoms and women. What is it about property/kingdoms are fiercely personal (unlike maybe a job?) and does evoke the beast (arent they territorial too) within humans?? -- .
