Shopping is more than buying
by Chetna Banerjee
E-shopping is the latest mantra for the new-age consumers.With so many online marts and gifts portals wooing the computer-savvy generation—particularly the hard-pressed-for time working women and couples—with irresistible discounts and lucrative win-a-gold-coin offers ,the temptation to go shopping on the Web is strong.But ,though I’m a compulsive shopper ,I’ve resisted getting caught in the net of Net-shopping for various reasons.

• Does e-shopping excite others?

Still striving for a better deal
by Nanki Hans
ON October 18, women from all over the globe held a march in New York, USA. A team met Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the UN, to demand genuine political equality, denounce global economy which victimises them and condemn gender-specific violence, especially domestic.

• WOMAN SPEAK
  

Shopping is more than buying
By Chetna Banerjee

E-shopping is the latest mantra for the new-age consumers.With so many online marts and gifts portals wooing the computer-savvy generation—particularly the hard-pressed-for time working women and couples—with irresistible discounts and lucrative win-a-gold-coin offers ,the temptation to go shopping on the Web is strong.But ,though I’m a compulsive shopper ,I’ve resisted getting caught in the net of Net-shopping for various reasons.

For a shopping buff like me,half the fun of the activity lies in window shopping —peering into showroom windows,fingering the samples hanging outside shops,uttering exclamations of "wows’’ and going ga-ga over a gorgeous outfit draped around a mannequin.Though online shopping ,too,affords opportunity for virtual browsing ,it simply cannot match the pleasures and joys of actual window scanning .

There are advertisements galore luring people to enter cyber gift galleries.The range of gifts is vast ,with some portals even having exclusive "His " & "Her" sections. From chocolates to flowers ,a one-stop online shopping mall has it all.All this hype notwithstanding ,when wishing to buy gifts ,I gladly drop the option of a one- stop cyber shop.

I’d rather personally stroke ‘n’ squeeze a furry teddy bear before getting it gift -wrapped for a friend.I’d rather myself finger the sheen ‘n’ softness of a leather wallet before selecting it for a loved one.I’d like to smell the fragrance of flowers before ordering them for a special someone.The act of giving a gift just doesn’t seem complete to me until I’ve personally seen and selected each item.Online gifts just aren’t for me.

Granted that online ordering and site -seeing for provisions can save precious time ,energy and ,in this age of inflation, costly fuel too,I don’t want to be deprived of the chance of some real sight -seeing in a supermarket.No doubt ,with e-shopping kiryana stores have virtually come to the doorstep .But when scouting around for my monthly provisions and groceries ,I love to feel the freshness,test the texture and taste the tanginess of the goods and goodies that go into my shopping bag.I’d rather snatch a big bite into a creamy,straight off-the-shelf chocolate while I shop than procure nutties from a mega-byte catalogue .

Shopping ,for me, is a fun-filled outing and not an onerous ,to-be-shunned activity.Tucking into packets of crisp popcorns,sipping fizzy cold drinks and devouring lip-smacking softies, as I move from shop to shop, make it a multi-sensory ,multi-dimensional experience for me.Can the experience of procuring goods at the click of a mouse while sitting in a swivel chair be as stimulating to the senses ?

Howsoever impressive may be the catalogue of literary titles offered in a virtual books portal ,it cannot in any way match the romance of lounging around a real bookstore.Holding and leafing through books at leisure ,stopping to gaze at attractive covers or illustrations,scanning the latest titles on the shelf are some of the joys which a bibliophile is deprived of while cyber browsing for tomes and texts .

In short , I’d rather shop till I drop than click till I get a crick.Real shopping has a net gain for me over virtual shopping .Never mind if in terms of appearing chic and doing the ' in thing' it entails Net loss.

Still striving for a better deal
By Nanki Hans

ON October 18, women from all over the globe held a march in New York, USA. A team met Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the UN, to demand genuine political equality, denounce global economy which victimises them and condemn gender-specific violence, especially domestic.

Five years after the Beijing Conference on Women, many male bastions have yet to fall. There has been some progress, but no outright success. Political equality is a far cry, discriminatory measures in civil and criminal law persist as women continue to play a marginal role in economy and endure male violence.

According to Ms Agnes Callamand, who heads the office of the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, civil and political rights of both men and women continue to be violated and gender-specific violations persist, despite measures in the past five years making punishment for marital violence, forced prostitution and trafficking of women more severe.

The International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and its counterpart for Rwanda in Africa have held rape as a form of torture and part of a policy of genocide. Due to the efforts of the Women's caucus on Gender Justice, the International Criminal Court in July 1998, included sexual violence, particularly rape, in its definition of war crimes and those against humanity.

Unfortunately, these measures are not enough to counter, at a global level, the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and the daily brutality inflicted on women. In many cases, fatalism or tolerance accompanies or "explains" the continuance of the barbarity.

Little has been done to raise awareness on marital violence. A move by European Parliament for a year against violence on women proved unsuccessful. A campaign to promote public awareness on violence at home went almost unnoticed despite the fact that in some French cities, marital violence accounts for over half of the emergency calls.

Women's representation and participation in government remains too small to effect any significant changes in their lives. Their representation in Scandinavian parliaments is 39 per cent, 15 per cent in America and Asia, 11 per cent in Africa and 4 per cent in West Asia. It is being questioned if there is any real political will to bring about civil and political equality in theory and practice.

A bill giving 33 per cent reservation in legislature is hanging fire in India. The US Government is yet to ratify a convention on elimination of all kind of discrimination against women. (CADEW) Kuwait has refused voting rights to women.

According to a UN report, in economic and social spheres, the drift towards global economy has accentuated national and international differences, including gender-specific inequality. The report says working practices promoted by global trading are based on existing patriarchal values which result in depreciation of the jobs done by women i.e. fewer wages in female-dominated sectors. The global economy has had an adverse impact on the health of women and children due to cuts in spending in the health sector and privatisation of medical service.

According to figures from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, of the 2 million people in Thailand who lost jobs during the 1998 crisis, 80 per cent were women. "Political and economic circumstance may never be ideal, but initiatives are possible — we must reaffirm international obligations and political role of states and major corporations and finance organisations must make detailed commitments to global human rights", suggests Ms Callamand.

It is understandable that global economy has brought about changes in women's status throughout the world, but this does not explain political abdication by certain governments. The difference in the average hourly wage of women and their male counterparts is 17 per cent in Scandinavia and twice that amount in the UK.

Nothing can justify discrimination against women. It is unacceptable that states should continue to abdicate their responsibilities in this sphere. Osho Rajneesh would say, with the suppression of women, 50 per cent of the world's creativity has not been allowed to blossom. If this hadn't happened, the world would have been a different place.

Right. So what's the problem? It's not easy to be well-groomed when we have toddlers running around... but we try. It's not easy to be good-tempered and unaggressive when we have deadlines at work and at home... but we try. It is not easy to produce children and be svelte and good-looking... but we try.

There is probably no group of people in this society who try harder than women to meet the expectations of others. As a result, we are always looking outside for validation, and no matter how much we get, it isn't enough. In always trying to be what others think we should be, we have lost ourselves and end up having little to bring to any relationship or task.

Expectations are like girdles, We probably should have discarded them years ago.