Own It - Aparna Jain

NonFiction

Verdict: Meh

Feminism takes on many flavors, often depending on where in the world it's being defined. India of course has it's own brand of feminism. It's quite different than what I am used to coming from the US.

Aparna Jain has met and talked with many women on women's issues, from home makers to high flyers in the corporate world. What she's taken away from these conversations is what's in this book.

I admired Aparna Jain's ability to admit that women do have extra struggle here for simple things. She does not just get up on a soap box and scream that things must change either. The goal of the book, from my humble interpretation, is to help women identify these blockers and help to get around them by giving practical advice. The conversations she has and the stories that are shared are no doubt interesting, and I think most women would find comfort in discovering that many are in the same boat. 

Unfortunately, Jain's approach, practical as it is, once again places the burden on women to take care of the problem. There was a particularly catty discussion on women flirting in the workplace where someone mentioned a "Lakshman Rekha" that women should not cross. I'm not sure if Jain used this to highlight the disgustingly patriarchal attitudes that women are still capable of displaying, but it was disappointing to say the least to see in her book. What was even more distressing was that there was no other commentary after that. That bomb was left to sit, unaddressed.

Aparnaa Jain has raised the issue of women empowerment and equality in Indian society. Unfortunately, she sits to the sidelines and acts as an impartial thought provoker rather than adding her own voice. As a woman in India, this is disappointing and and empowers gender discrimination. If women are not willing to stand for each other and insist on change, then change will not happen. Simply opening the conversation and presenting it as an issue that people themselves need to weigh in on is doing an injustice to how deeply entrenched and disturbing this inequality is. I admire that she raised the issue and did her homework talking to various people, but the rest was underwhelming.

~Becky~