SEX! You say the word and you are stared with despise and disgrace as if it's a sin stated in the Bible. Men abhor you for your audacity to be so shameless and women would simply avoid talking to you considering you as lewd and obscene. Yes, and that's what was the double standard mentality of Indian society. But history has something contrasting to state.
India, being the old civilization of a vast history is the origin of the well known text called Kama sutra penned by renowned ancient author of the medieval age Malanaga vatsayana, which was not only dedicated to the simple art of love making and pleasure but was also the central foundation of Indian philosophy which developed the theory of "dynamic unity of reality" which later paved way for a much more sophisticated and intricate network of scientific theories and developments. The aim was not to propagate the art, but was to make the philosophy of unity vocal. But the understanding of the sanctity of unity faded as time went by.
The word has been terribly exploited time and again during the mughal rule where it oscillated between ideologies of different rulers gaining a different status and meaning with the passing of crown. This was an earmarking event in the history of sexual understanding in india which led to the taboos and stigmas connected with the term. People began considering the open use of this word as offensive and all those who intentionally or not were forward enough in their perceptions and ideologies were out casted from the main stream society. British rule too wasnt much of a contribution because they themselves believed in the "behind the curtain" theory which never allowed people to broaden their horizons and change their orientation of thinking. This led to the decline of mental liberty which shackled the Indian society with the chains of mental blocks and self created restrictions.
Even after independence it continued at a steady pace and the society became the "arranged marriage sort" which propagated and agreed to marital alliances decided by the families and where the girl and the boy had no say and voice and weren't even allowed to see or meet each other. Love marriages were unacceptable and those indulging into such activities were forbidden to be a part of the family again. But times gradually changed and as the status of women grew and they began taking decisions by their own, the Indian man started understanding the flip side of the coin which, if not totally, but modified the face of thinking.
Though arranged marriages are still prevalent now and there are still communities with strict rules for an alliance, people have become much more liberal which have given the opportunities to young men and women to make their own choices.
But quite astonishing was the fact that though the society harped about the unacceptability of being vocal about sex, the population rose tremendously which created even a further confusion regarding the double standards of the Indian people. Especially in the villages and rural communities, due to lack of education and knowledge about sex and its consequences,
There was a tremendous growth of AIDS which became rampant in villages in a short while of a decade. Women started becoming pregnant at a tender age and as the population grew, the level of unwed mothers and women dying of young birth grew parallely.
The Indian media and film industry has played a great role in providing ample education to the rural society in collaboration with the government, which has led to massive anti aids and women development campaigns, leashing the situation tremendously. Doordarshan, the government based channel became a great catalyst to channelize proper information to the affected areas.
The present scenario is completely different, though not drastically contrasting, but people have become more receptive and acceptable to such changes and Bollywood and media is backing the notion thoroughly.
It might take some time to grow India the way Germany or America has grown due to massive large scale sex revolutions, but intensive modernization and globalization is surely affecting a gradual change which definitely would lead to an educated and well informed Indian.
