SHOULD MEN BE WELL-BEHAVED?

First of all, let us ask ourselves this question-how can we define behavior? And who can say what behavior is acceptable and what is not. Well, behavior can be termed as the response of an individual to a given situation. A person is said to be well behaved when they conduct themselves in a “proper” manner in civil society.

Now comes the next question-should men be well behaved? Today, most men see women as a prize-as an object that needs to be won. Everyday we come across news of rapes, sexual exploitation of women at the hands of men. Apart from such heinous crimes as rapes,seemingly little ‘offences’ like ogling at women are just as torturous for most women. Eve teasing is a problem faced by almost every adolescent girl no matter what part of the world she lives in. Not only that, cases of girls/women being beaten up by their male partners (mostly men they are in love with) is very common too. How can a man in love with a woman raise his hand on her in his right frame of mind?

Some men lack even the basic courtesy of offering their seat in a crowded bus/metro to an aged or pregnant woman. They don’t bat an eyelid before hitting on a girl half their age. Some men view women as nothing more than child bearing machines and expect them to be confined within their homes doing domestic chores and nothing else.

Such is the level of our society’s hypocrisy that we tell our daughters to do what they want and judge others’ daughters for doing just that! How quickly a woman is judged by the dress she chooses to wear, or the number of drinks she’s had at a party, or even by how she speaks!Everything she does earns her a label; often one she doesn’t want-slut, whore, bitch, virgin etc
etc.

And do you know what- mostly she is given these labels by her fellow sisters! So, surprise surprise – its not just men who behave badly, women can be equally mean and self-centered too. Why do we always expect man to be the perfect gentleman? Why do we assume that woman will always be the perfect lady; incapable of any wrongdoing? If we look around us, we’ll see ample examples of women taking undue advantage of this mindset.

Studies have proven that women are less likely than men to help out elderly people or to donate to charity workers. Usually, women bad mouth their colleagues, co-workers or friends behind their backs more often than men. And there is again no dearth of opportunist women in this world who can stoop to any level for their selfish gains- women who expect everything from the world but don’t bother to return favors.

So which gender is more well-behaved? There can never be a correct answer to this question as behavior is not based on one’s gender but on a variety of factors such as one’s upbringing,age, attitude, ethics, values, emotions, genes, cultural surroundings etc.

To conclude, we may say that irrespective of their gender, people should learn to give respect to their fellow humans if they want respect in return. Remember that before being a man or a woman, we are a human first-the only race on this planet capable of thinking and reasoning objectively. Let us use this power to create a better world by respecting and loving each other.