Being a woman in Delhi

Before we set off for India the Delhi rape case was hitting the headlines and everyone had the same reaction when I told them I was going to India for 3 months; “Oh...!”

Undeterred, I did my research and realised that being a woman was going to be pretty different even without the news headlines. So with my ‘appropriate’ clothing packed I was on my way. On arrival we were briefed about etiquette and appropriate behaviour e.g. if you meet a friend of the opposite sex in the street, you have to shake hands rather than hug. We were told that in many areas even married couples can’t hold hands in public.

Though women here are generally ‘repressed’ compared to women in the UK, I have met a few feminists out here. I do find it a little bit difficult to see the way these women think as, in the UK I have every bit of freedom I could want and it would seem bizarre for me to be controlled by a man. My reason for finding the Indian feminists views odd are that though these women claim to believe in empowerment and equality, they still insist on men escorting them places as they believe it is unsafe otherwise. This frustrates me somewhat as in my views, if a woman claims to need a man to help her then men will continue to believe that she is helpless. But then again, who am I to judge other people’s views? I obviously don’t know everything about life here and maybe it is safer to travel with a man, I don’t know, but for now it will remain a mystery to me.