Sex, Women and Society: Taboo in Indian Culture and The Irony

SEX! I said it. Growing up in an Indian society how we all were told that talking about sex is bad and no one should talking about it, if you belong to a good family and have had proper upbringing but lets talk about sex. Let us also talk about women, how women become the victims for physical sexual violence in a country where women are worshiped. Then lets talk about our pure, multi cultural and rich Indian society which also happens to be a communal, racist, judgmental and hateful society.

Let's face it. We live in India and we love our nation, our culture and our society but what we need to see with our eyes wide open is that how our society happens to be today, isn't 'Indian' in any way.

Sex, a very taboo subject in India where talking about sex is wrong, having sex before marriage is unacceptable and educating youngsters about sex is not an option, because it is not Indian and goes against the Indian culture. But to add to the irony, Indian culture is the one of the earliest civilization that educated, talked about and celebrated sex. Whether it be sexual education in the form of kamasutra and scriptures and pornographic depictions through sculptures and paintings, sex was never taboo in India and was always an Indian culture to start with. But according to the modern Indian society, sex is taboo.

Women have always been highly respected in the Indian society where women are worshiped as goddesses and depicted as strong figures, whether it be a goddess of knowledge as Saraswati, goddess of wealth as Laxmi or a destroyer of evil and a warrior as Kali and Durga. But the modern Indian society always tends to ignore this and makes women the victim. A woman gets sexually molested, raped and then she is shamed and it is her fault, the fault of her body and the clothes she is wearing.

There are numerous taboos in the Indian society that actually doesn't even make any sense at all and doesn't seem to change. It is really high time that people need to talk about it, with friends, family and with members of the society.

A little initiative was taken using Facebook page of Blaber Blogger to get some opinion about the taboo topics is India and some great responses have been recorded. The Facebook post is embedded below:

Opinions Wanted: What do you think are the worst taboos in the Indian society that we need to get rid of ??I want to...
Posted by Blaber Blogger on Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Miss Rubina Thapa talks about being a girl, in an Indian society and being a hindu and the taboo culture. She says, "Being a girl and a Hindu there is definitely one taboo I'd really want to get rid off and that is not being able to enter a temple or do anything'sacred' when we are on our periods. Mostly some religious thing which we may or may not have to follow but since it's imposed on since we were kids, kinda makes us feel guilty when we don't follow it."

Miss Aritra Paul comments about how taboo it is when it comes to sex education in India and female body parts. She writes, "I dont know if this one falls in Taboo, but I think our 'hush hush' attitude towards sex education needs to be eradicated. Though school text books have it printed yet they often remain unexplained. There has been multiple outburst against sex education in schools by various groups. Again many of us, we do expect students to learn about growing up miraculously. Our attitude towards Female Body is not healthy. We have a genuine concept that woman's body is out there to tempt man. On other hand, specially when it comes to periods. We cant sit for rituals or enter temples. Over all female body is evil. I guess this are the major taboos I faced." Miss Krishmand Chettri adds up to that saying, "basically that, also about homosexuality, respecting elders even when their opinion is wrong, avoiding use of the left hand & public display of affection."

Mr. Pratik Siddhart Thapa gives his opinion about live in relationships in India, which unlike the rest of the world is considered taboo and says, "Live in relationships are still considered taboo by majority of Indians. Something according to Indian standards, should never happen. & if it does happen, then you are a shameless Indian and you are disrespecting your family. like... Duh." To add to that Mr. Nitesh Shrestha adds up light to the judgmental attitude of people in the society commenting, "There are so many taboos in our society. our Indian society. Considering one among all of this the most vicious is more difficult than just talking about it. Nevertheless, if i have to voice one. I probably point out to the mentality of each individual that we have in our neighbourhood. If we start caring more about what we wanna do than think about what people are gonna say. We will be out of these problems. (I do consider this to be a Taboo.)"

Mr. Sugam Thapa states about a very important taboo culture that still exists in India and that is supernatural beliefs and witch hunting to which he comments, "Witch hunting in this country needs to stop now. People need to get educated and embrace the modern culture."

Mr. Anil Pradhan talks about the taboo subject of homosexuality in India with a proper insight of this taboo Indian culture to which he explains, "The attitude towards homosexuality in India is discursively interlaced with the stigma of tabooing the matter. The present oppressive judicial scenario adds to the taboo, of labelling LGBTQI+ individuals as something that this society should fear and possibly get rid of. By treating the matter of homosexuality with ignorant restricted understanding of human sexualities and genders, Indian homophobia has constantly negated the basic principles of human relationships. Furthermore, in addition to the laws, the mindset of the general lot is clearly bent on relentless opposition of the rights of the homosexuals. The taboo could be challenged by constant questioning of the tenets that flout homophobia in the name of societal admissibility. Awareness and proper understanding of the matter, sans any prejudice, is a positive step towards getting rid of this taboo. Open and healthy discussions on the complicated subject of homosexuality in India is a need of the hour, without giving in to rampant generalization. Anything to help India understand that homosexuality is a taboo as long as we take it to be, that there is a world outside the well of ignorance and the hypocritical notions of inscrutability. The idea that homosexuality is a foreign import is utterly hilarious. What we need is a holistic approach towards the normality of homosexuality."

Mr Pratik Gupta sheds some light on gender roles that affects our Indian society so much, where it taboo for one gender to do roles of another gender to which he comments, "Not sure if this one is a taboo thingy or not but "stereotyping gender roles" has always been something that has bothered all my life. I think both the genders should be allowed to do things that they want to do without being judged or made fun of." Miss Preeti Chettri adds more to this subject and comments, "Women are born to cook and clean and take care of the entire domestic needs whereas if men do any of these, it is considered menial. It is a big taboo which needs to be worked upon, on helping bring gender equality."