Thursday, September 21, 2017

The Bias of the Unbiased

We often hear people say they are impartial and believe in equality of gender and races, yet they choose pink for a girl and blue for a boy. Isn't it strange that the so-called “feminists” are always discussing about how a seat should be reserved in a bus or train for a woman and how it is important that a woman should be allowed to skip a line full of men as she is a “woman”? If you want equality then why do you want this special treatment and reservations? Why should the color pink be branded as a girl’s color? To me this is bias and not feminism. These days it seems that women are fighting (in the name of gender equality) for gender superiority and not gender equality. A Bollywood actress says something about the opposite sex and she becomes a “feminist icon” overnight. What is wrong with us and why are we always ready to start an argument or fight with or against the opposite sex just because we are women? There are laws to protect women safety such as dowry prohibition laws and laws against cruelty on women, etc. If we believe in gender equality then why don't the so called feminists fight for a law to protect husbands from cruelty by their wives and her peers? There are many households where the men are ill-treated by the wife and her peers but that woman is considered as a strong woman in our society. 

The time has come to fight for gender equality in its true sense and not in the sense that we have been doing so far. Women are not weak and they don't need reservations of seats while traveling or being allowed to jump a line full of men just because they are women. We are already standing shoulder to shoulder with men in all areas of life. So as women, let's fight for what is right. The modern woman needs to understand that the laws are for her protection and not for giving her the wrong advantage of harassing a man. 

Similarly, we have a very big bias about the color of someone's skin and we easily label and judge people based on their color or race. Just because a person is dark and has a strong built why do we consider him dangerous or unapproachable? The people who pretend to be modern and cool also judge others based on the color of their skin and religion. In many countries, employees’ remuneration packages are determined by the color of their passports and not their qualifications and skills. Yet, such organizations and people call themselves impartial and unbiased. We fail to realize the impact such judgments and opinions have on the confidence of an entire community. When we as a society fail to accept blacks and browns as one of us, we create a market for fairness and whitening products to generate profits. Then we debate about how such products should be banned. Why can't we accept black as black and brown as brown just the way we openly accept white as white? After all, it's just a color not a parameter that defines a person’s character.

Most of the times we don't even realize how biased we have become in all the choices we make. We should stop having a bias when we call ourselves unbiased. In my opinion, the real modern man or woman is one who accepts people as they are and treats them with equal respect, whether it is a man, a woman or a eunuch and whether he is black, brown or white. That is the person I would consider an unbiased person. As humans we err and that is all right as long as we strive not to judge, we can all survive.

As Gautam Buddha said “Until he has unconditional and unbiased love for all beings, man will not find peace”. 


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