Many say that though Hillary Clinton has lost the race, women across the United States and the world have won. Just by being out there, Hillary has made people get more used to the idea of a woman running for the most important office in America. She has made it easier for the next woman to run for the post. She has worked wonders for the self-esteem of millions of ordinary women.

In India, the idea of a woman occupying the highest political office is not new. Long before Hillary Clinton, Indira Gandhi did it in 1966. Since then, Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati, Renuka Choudhary, Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje have all occupied positions of authority in Indian political life.

But has that changed the overwhelmingly male-centric mindset of our people? Has Indian society become more gender equal as a result of some high-powered women “being out there”? Have ordinary Indian women become more self-confident?

The controversy about the Women’s Reservation Bill is only one indication that India is a long way from achieving substantive gender equality even in Parliament. (As reported in this newspaper on Monday, the Congress is starting political negotiations on scaling down the quota to 20-25 per cent for greater consensus.) To be taken seriously in Indian politics, women still have to be more-masculine-than-thou.

But male chauvinism is not limited to our political classes. A quick look at the top stories of the past few weeks is a telling narrative of our public culture. There is the Aarushi case where the Noida Police thought nothing of maligning the reputation of a murdered schoolgirl without adequate proof. The subtext to their slander is that if something bad happens to a girl, she must have done something to deserve it. In a single stroke, the Noida Police have not only shifted blame from the perpetrator of the crime to the victim but also absolved themselves and the larger community of any responsibility towards gender sensitivity.

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