BENGALURU: On Sunday, Dr K Sudhakar, minister for Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education, opened a pandora’s box with his comment on ‘modern women wanting to stay single and not have children.’ Although he issued a clarification later on Monday, netizens were outraged, terming the remarks as being ‘inappropriate’, ‘regressive’ and ‘sexist’. Here, Bengalureans share their thoughts.
Dr K Sudhakar, Minister for health & family welfare and medical education
Today, I am sorry to say this, lots of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don’t want to give birth. They want surrogacy. So there is a paradigm shift in our thinking, which is not good.
MD Pallavi, singer
It is unfortunate that our health minister said this. Proves that women have a long way to go before giving up the fight for equality. Remember, it’s a woman’s body and her choice.
KM Chaitanya, film director
Sudhakar is considered to be someone who understands modern society and knows about women’s rights. Despite all this, I’m not sure if he realised the implication of his statement. Reproduction is a private matter. Whether women want to marry or have children is their individual decision, the state doesn’t have any business getting into it.
Saina Jayapal, communications professional
Instead of trying to blame women for everything, the minister should look at why women are choosing to not get married or have children. We’ve obviously gone beyond being just baby-making machines. But then again, he isn’t wrong in what he said. Modern women don’t want to do anything like before, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. If he wants to fix the problem, he should look at why women are apprehensive to embrace marriage and parenthood.
Chetan Kumar, activist and actor
It is such a regressive statement. Why should women face the brunt of patriarchy via dowry/wedding expenses/curbed freedoms/sole parental responsibilities? If a man chooses to be single, it’s perceived as his individual choice. But if a woman chooses to stay single, there’s this talk about them not wanting to be part of a patriarchal institution.
Samhita Arni, writer
It is disturbing to hear such statements from a person holding such power in the administration. What is the problem with women being single? I personally feel it is my right to make choices of my body and my life. I meet a lot of people who are questioning the value of marriage these days. We are seeing that marriage is a problematic institution for both men and women. They have limited choices in terms of careers and finances. The condition of the education system, healthcare and the climate crisis really makes me rethink as to whether I want to bring a child into the world.
Ashwini Nachappa, athlete
There is some element of truth in women wanting to be single and financially independent. I would not say this is a disappointing trend but it is reality. As a society, we have changed completely. Wanting to be single may be the current phase in a society with changing dynamics. I don’t think it is fair to say only modern women want to be single, even young rural women stand up for their rights.
Kubbra Sait, actor
Why are people in power spokespersons for women, their personal and professional choices? They celebrate women when it suits them… when we win at sports or go to space. But they choose to eclipse us and our being as a whole when it comes to our bodies and choices. When a politician chooses to speak at a public forum, he needs to realise his comments have a ripple effect. Mental health was the topic, and the leader chose to draw in his own thoughts to reduce us to baby-making machines. We need better leaders not better (as preconceived by our leader) mothers, wives or sisters.
Dr anil abraham, dermatologist and comedian
I created a caricature of a so-called ‘modern woman’, who goes by the name Modern Malathi and is ‘the cause of all problems in India today.’ The reel got over 1,300 views on social media within hours of uploading it. On a serious note, making such a statement comes from an immensely outdated concept. We have great respect for our leaders and we would like them to wake up to the way the world is right now.