The session was addressed by Dr. George Kutty Jose, professor, School of law, CHRIST (deemed to be University).

It started with a mere address to the word gender and the prejudiced roles a certain gender is assigned to play in the current society. He talked about certain roles that are assigned to the men of the house which were like- earning, providing for the family, being the all in all et cetera. At the same time, when we have a woman in the picture, the roles are restricted to doing household chores, being accepting, compromising and being dependent on a male figure for their basic needs. He said that the male being the authoritative figure and female being a subject has been an ancient ritual and is still continuing to persist due to the lack of assertive attitude in women. He said the prime objective of everyone should be securing their future and being financially independent. The concept of marriage was also discussed and we came to a point of understanding that people need to stop getting married for the sake of getting married or without considering several factors that affects the aftermath of a wedding. It should be a calculated decision in which both parties enjoy equal liberty and freedom while taking up equal responsibilities. He gave examples based on real stories which served as a breath of fresh air for many of us. Concepts like women empowerment, marital rapes, male rapes and domestic violence against men are still a foreign concept for lot of people in the society. It was also pointed out that most of the slangs used in the current society are undermining the chastity and dignity of a woman and the world is still oblivious and blind eyed to this. He urged us to stop accepting the wrong and encouraged us to stand against anyone who we think is undermining the potential or dignity of another person. As the proverb goes – ‘charity starts at home’ we should practice the concept – ‘equality, chivalry, humanity starts at home’. It is our responsibility to make our daughters independent, confident yet graceful and at the same time, educate our family members to be kind, respectful and genuine. What struck a few people particularly was a statement made by him – ‘Nothing frightens the society more than a confident woman.’.
He ended up providing us with a new way of looking into the current day problems and suggested the solution that every revolution starts with a small step.