SOCIAL TABOOS THAT STILL EXIST IN INDIA

 India is known to be a fast-growing country with a new wave of thinking. However, there are still a lot of social taboos prevalent in Indian society.

Howeverthe social taboo aspect of an evolving country such as India still lacks development.

It is an upcoming metropolitan country which coexists with traditional and agricultural ideologies which have been influenced by a multitude of cultures and beliefs.

These taboos apply to both the men and the women of India.

The main cause of this is the conservative way of thinking which challenges the modern views of the younger generation.

Divorce

Marriage is a holy and sacred ceremony that truly deserves the utmost respect, but sometimes problems can arise and a divorce becomes imperative.

In some Indian households, women are considered to be burdens that need to get married as soon as possible.

Once married, their financial responsibility is passed on to their husband. If divorced, the woman becomes dependent on her parents once again.This view is unfair on both men and women.

It fundamentally silences women and denies them the opportunity to become financially independent.

For men, the pressure of marriage can be unjust as they are bought up with the notion that they will be the sole caretaker of their wife.

As traditional this view is, Divorce can shun a man in society by making the man feel inadequate about being a husband and caretaker.

Another stigma for Indian women is sex before marriage, so initially, a divorced woman is considered less pure than a woman who has never been married.

According to a study conducted by the BBC, less than one in 1,000 marriages end up in divorce in India.

Roma Mehta wrote in the Economic Weekly journal that “the incompatibility may sometimes be very great indeed; but in spite of it all, the family is maintained.”

Meaning that women in India stay with their husbands, regardless of their personal problems, because of their need for a family structure.

LGBT

India has reached the moon and back.

They have one of the biggest film industries in the world, but they also have a law which makes being gay, bisexual or a lesbian a criminal offence.

Despite India’s impressive achievements, when it comes to providing for the LGBT community with the adequate rights and ensuring their safety, they regress.

Some parts of India considers homosexuality to be an unnatural disease that can be cured.

Other parts of Indian society consider homosexuality to be a western myth that doesn’t apply to the East.

“the hot debates around gay rights revolve around consenting adults and their right to privacy.”

Most gay people in India don’t openly admit it. This is because they will often receive a negative backlash.

But often remain unmarried, the majority of gay people in India won’t actually embark on a heteronormative marriage even if the laws are changed.

Despite this, the arising LGBTQIA+ community in India is trying to pave the way for positive change through marches and social media campaigns, such as #Sec377.

Periods

Many people in India think pads are dirty and are an embarrassing thing.

According to Indian decorum, the mere mention of periods should not find its way into a refined society.

In the olden days, women were expected to remove themselves from people during the week of their period.

This view did make sense at the time because these women did not have access to sanitary products and sat separately for hygiene reasons.

This stigma still exists today and women are still expected to exclude themselves during their period.

Interestingly, this taboo could soon change because on the 21st of July 2018 India removed their 12% tax on all feminine hygiene products.

This decision will hopefully make sanitary towels cheaper for women.

According to The Hindu, 71% of young girls learn about periods whilst getting their first one, which can only make the experience even more traumatic.

The lack of awareness towards periods and the superstition that menstruation makes you dirty means 60% of young girls miss a week of school every month.

The worst statistic is 80% of women still use home-made pads that are dangerous and can lead to an array of diseases.

A disease caused by a redundant social taboo.

Love Marriages

In India, the most common types of marriages are arranged.

With love marriages increasing throughout time, it is still considered taboo by most Indians.

Most Indian weddings are an opulent declaration of wealth and considered to be India’s biggest celebration.

However, when it comes to marriages, most Indian people have very set ways in which they should take place.

Arranged marriages are still very popular albeit not as traditionally ‘arranged’ as in the past but still with a strong say from parents and family, as to who can marry whom.

Caste is still of significance when it comes to marriage in India.

Marrying a lower caste or out of caste is not readily accepted.

Therefore, marrying for love is considered to be a social taboo and not many marriages survive of this kind unless, in extreme cases, the couple elope and break away from families completely.

Sadly, love stories can often lead to honour killings. According to crime data in India, honour killings have seen a major rise.

Honour killings in India increased by more than 796% between 2014 and 2015.

The main cause of honour killings is marriage. Most people in India will not question child marriages or forced weddings.  

However, they may find a way to oppose a genuine love story because it doesn’t correlate with their archaic views.  

Sex Education

 In 2014, India’s Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan, declared that he wanted to ban sex education. Instead of sex education, Vardhan declared that yoga should be compulsory in schools. Lol

 He opposed this education because he believed it was against traditional Indian values. In an interview with the New York Times, Vardhan said, “condoms promise safe sex, but the safest sex is through faithfulness to one’s partner.” There was a great amount of uproar among opposers because of all his comments on this topic encouraged abstinence over education. After receiving a lot of grief from his comments opposing sex education, he tweeted, “Media got it wrong again. I am against “so-called” sex education not sex education per se. Crudity, Vulgarity out, values in.”

Sex-education is becoming a feature in mainstream education, but many people are still reluctant to talk about sex.

“Sex”, a palpable scruffy word in the lexicon of Indians is not only used to denote the two genders .i.e., male and female but also our third biological need, the need for reproduction. Unlike the first two biological needs of hunger and thirst, sex is not imperative for survival but for the continuation of the human race. It serves as an impetus to menstruation in women and nocturnal emission in boys. It prepares the body for copulation when teenagers reach puberty.

Anything merely related to sex comes up and elders around are like “This is against Indian Culture”, seriously? Sex is not in our culture? People forget we made Kamasutra. India being the land of Kamasutra, Khujarao’s sex temples, and people here worship ‘Shivalingas’, but still, the word “sex” remains a taboo in India. Sex is still a topic which people prefer to discuss inside the four walls of the bedroom rather than discussing it openly.

 This biggest barrier toward sex education in India will probably be cultural norms against talking about sex. These norms are heavily ingrained in Indian society. However, India should make small but important steps to provide more comprehensive sex education.

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