Whose gender is it anyway?

Gautam  Adhikari, ‘Women With The Dragon Tattoos’ (Sept 11,2010).

Gautam questions the present existence of men and whether or not they have a future in today’s emerging context of changing gender trends. Spot on title I should say! The article draws comparison to trends on men and women in America today and how women in particular have dominated the current workforce. He shows a little apprehension to India, as he feels it is difficult to comprehend.  One of the reasons is that large sections of the country still prefer sons to remain the prize of marriage. He also questions certain qualities of women like sensitivity, empathy and how with time they could replace a man’s brawn.

All of what Gautam wrote, kept me pondering on whether the future would be a man’s world or a woman’s world or both. But  I am certainly not sure of what his intention was to introduce Lisbeth Salander. The writer describes Lisbeth as a 24 year old lady, who emerged as an independent adult from her abused childhood. She has a dragon tattoo down her slender back, small in build, not conventionally attractive , is bisexual and hack computers. Then Gautam questions “Do women like her at all need men in their lives apart from sexual intercourse?”

These characteristics are no longer the determining factor. Woman in the 21^st century are
way  independent and secure. They do not look for rescue anymore. They are content with their lot in life. What they want is a structured future and the rest shall follow. Sexual intercourse for pleasure and reproduction is a matter of choice. So to agree with Gautam, men are no longer the top priority. However, after taking into consideration the statistics and researches, we still don’t have a clear majority. Even if it does, what difference would it actually make?