A friend of mine started the day
saying, women are risk averse, we don’t like taking 'risks'. we
calculate and avoid risks. We only move accordingly. If only we had
taken more risks, if only we had faced our fears more, life might
have been different.
She was quoting Nivedita Menon (
one of the Indian feminists) who have been ferociously arguing that
women need to reclaim public spaces, they need to get out and take
back their rights.
This statement and Menon's arguments
have left an impact on me . I have always considered myself pretty
bold compared to my counterparts in the given social set up. I always
assumed I had faced more challenges and did feel that I had crossed the binaries of
gender. I was also aware of the fight I was fighting to seek my
freedom, but it was really difficult for me to accept that I was
being calculative while doing all these things. That is, I was still
being aware of the risks involved, and would always avoid the risks.
I would not just jump into any situation just because I felt so. I
was always calculating. I would never venture into public spaces,even
if I craved for parks, I would not go there alone. I was fighting,
but I was cornered and as I have said before in my blogs,the fear was
instilled inside my own body. There were no eyes to avert, no gossips
to avoid. I had the parameter and the risks calculating devices
within my body. It was always ticking.
Some women in Delhi hardly ever go to public
spaces. By public spaces,I mean the parks, footpaths,
gardens,monuments or any common open space where people could sit and
chat. I am restricting the women here to middle and upper class
women. This group has been shifted to cafés, malls and shopping
areas. This is the space that has been created for them as the public
spaces which are safe, even though these spaces might be expensive
and not always available.
There is still a big chunk of women who
still venture out to those public spaces which somehow does not
resonate the essence of safety. The parks, footpaths, gardens and
monuments are visited by some women, some with family , some as part
of their work, some might use them as shelter. They still tread these
so called unsafe places. These are women who belong to the lower
economic strata of the class structure. So
what makes them more 'risk taking' while others happily corner
themselves into these limited and expensive options ?.
I recently joined a survey initiative
regarding women's safety on roads in Delhi. I conducted a survey in
Nehru place regarding women's safety in the surrounding areas. Nehru
place is a commercial hub which is thronged by dozens of people who
visit it on daily basis for work purposes. These transactions are
mainly around electronic equipment. It was difficult for me to find
women there. There were very few women on the streets, plaza or the
open area.
While conducting this survey I came
across various interesting anecdotes which in a way, made me
re-think on the idea of 'safety' that I have always considered
somehow universal. There were women from different class who were
part of this crowd we were about to question. My colleague suggested
that we should take the views of the women hawkers also. At this
point the answers to the questions somehow became obscure for me. The
questions themselves became redundant in a way For example, in the
beginning of the survey, we were asking questions regarding usage of
mode of transport, air pollution and length of distance a women is
willing to walk without being scared, ( these are some of the
questions that somehow were thought to be important for women's
safety). We found out that most of the women who had come for
shopping there, or who were working were either dropped by their
partners or were using private mode of transport. Their idea of
safety was pretty much restricted to the usage of their private
vehicles or using expensive mode of transport. They did not expect
any public amenities to alleviate their distress regarding safety
aspects.
On the other hand, the women hawkers
when they were questioned, their sorrows were very different. They
were far more risks taking and far more dependent on public amenities
for their public safety. For these women, questions regarding air
pollution and length of distance they are willing to walk alone, were
totally useless and I thought so bit cynical too . Some of them
found the question of length of distance willing to walk, but amusing
as they were walking miles to reach their homes. They did not care
much about the pollution as such. They knew it was very unsafe but
still had to walk. Did they have an option ? They had to earn and
they simply could not afford the expensive safer mode of transport.
They just could not be calculative as some other women out there.
They had to take the risks.
So this brings me back to my question,
why is that women from lower strata of economic ladder willing to
tread into the public spaces; are willing to sit in public parks
whereas middle/upper class women are willing to lose their claim to
the public places? Should it not be the other way round, the
middle/upper class women who are more educated, independent, and
liberated in a typical sense be claiming their rights to public
spaces. Why are they happily resorting to the cornering , why are
they satisfied to the limited spaces which are being produced by some
capitalistic ventures?
In response to these questions, I have
been told that if the women from lower strata are provided with
enough access to resources even they might not venture outside. They
might restrict themselves to cafes and malls.
Is there something more to the 'risk
taking' nature of ours?
I have been told that every day when a
man leaves his house, he is aware of the fact that he might be
humiliated , he might be killed,or he might not return back. He still
goes out, takes the risk and has been doing this for a long long
time. On the other hand, women are mostly restrained to some private
spaces, fully aware of the fact that if they venture out, they might
get raped or assaulted , women don't even reach the part of murder,
for women rape is the ultimate, and this has been a good enough risks
to keep women outside the public spaces and inside the private space.
To be continued ….
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There have been days I have wished, if
only I could go and lie with a book in a park and stare at the sky. I
like the feel of big large sky looking at me. I have not done so, I
do think about it a lot. The stars shining, and the big big sky.
.
