I am back to the topic of Marriage. This time due to this news piece. So the veteran Tamil actress Manorama is demanding a law for:
…both men and women to produce medical certificates before getting married and in the case of the groom the certificate should prove that he is sexually potent.
"There should be a certification that he is potent and he doesn't have HIV. In case of women... she is a woman and she's fertile and does not have AIDS. And if the doctor gives a fake certificate, then he should be jailed," said Manorama.
It makes me wonder if marriage is only about sex and having kids? What if a woman is not ‘fertile’ (I hate this word)? Does that mean she doesn’t deserve to be loved? Is having kids beginning and end of marriage? What about companionship and love? What about a life long friendship and growing old together?
P.S.: I have a lot of saved draft in my Windows Live Writer. I have decided to publish them: just as they are. Just for sake of publishing something for next few days. I am going to Houston for two months for an internship on Sunday so I need to pack and finish a lot of pending task this week. So enjoy them…
I s'pose our Society is such a hypocrtical bunch(hope this confession does not make me seem any less a patriot), they conveniently ignore many a wrongs when the victims' a woman and in some insane way we have come to accept it. On that note, it seems ok to ask something from the prospective groom to substantiate his claims; but having said that, it seems absolutely ludicrous to place such undue importance on marriage without thought of the respect for a relationship. Many couples(onus on the women undoubtedly) stay together(or perhaps stuck would be more apt a word) for the sake of respect/honour/Society rather than imperitive mutual love.
ReplyDeleteAs for your question on marriage and kids - a woman's respect depends on her childmaking ability(somehow can't help sound patronising here !) which might atleast explain our population perhaps ??
Rich..of course Indian marriages are about sex and babies..what do you mean companionship? Love?Ye kis bala ka naam hai?
ReplyDeleteHow can you even think otherwise? You have lived too long in the US- pata nahi vilayat mein rah kar chhori kya kya sochne lagi hai ;)
*Rolling my eyes* Don't really know what to say as you have questioned it all! Apparently in the Indian society, that's all a marriage is for. It's not even about sex. It's about making babies.
ReplyDeleteOh and good luck with the intership!
ReplyDelete@ G3: Whoa! I feel like a pure-blooded-feminist now. :)
ReplyDeleteI am not sure the entire blame is to be given to the suppression of women here as Ms. Manorama (who coincidentally is a woman herself) wants the guys to be suggested for potency as well. But I agree with the fact that in India, the worth of a woman is measured by his child-making (specifically son-making) capabilities.
@ Rachna:hahahahahheehehehehe... God I can't stop laughing!!
Well you can blame "Vilayat" for this one (though I know a lot of traits that I did pick from here). If I didn't feel the same when I was in India, I would have been married and have had two kids by now, Dhavani (6 years) and Pratham (4 years), like all the girls my age.
@ PB: I just hope that this thinking/attitude will change one day and we will be much happier as a nation...
When I read the news, it actually made sense to me. If marriages are made based on companionship then these certificates don't matter. The couple will simply fill these out as any other formality.
ReplyDeleteBut in a society where its purely arranged and given the atrocities against women especially in the Tamil society, such laws would help. If a women can't bear a child she will be tortured to death. At least these certificates would prove that (possibly) the man's at fault.
I am not saying this is an ideal solution. But I can see where she is coming from.
Yes. That's what it's probably all about... The very basis of arranged marriages in India.
ReplyDeleteBut the preposterous thing about it is, that everyone still seems to be happy about it all. Having babies to extend one's bloodline...
Gosh...