Sexism at IIT

"IIT men suck—they can be pretty desperate," says one second year student. "They hit on you all the time and try to approach you, especially on Yahoo Messenger.". Check the recent article in the Tabloid of India.

We have had this debate in our team over the last few months. Are IIT students sexist? On the issue, there is the liberal colleges point of view (BITS, Stephen's, Xavier's) and there is the IIT point of view.

Liberal: Differences, conscious or sub-conscious, in behaviour, language & thought towards the female gender, is sexism (Okay, this might seem absolute, but the spirit isn't). Most Indian men grow up in a sexist environment, during their schooling. In smaller towns or lower income classes, sexism is even more pervasive.

Behaviour, language and thought undergoes change during college, where beliefs are formed. The environment during college determines the extent and type of change. IITs offer a skewed sex ratio (1:10 is not uncommon)and thus, girls are not viewed as normal (normal is defined as average/ common). IITs also have a larger proportion of students from small towns/ lower income classes, and hence the initial position itself is more 'sexist' that others.

Hence, most IIT men continue to remain sexist/ become more sexist.
This is different in liberal colleges, where regular interaction over professional/ extra-curricular situations removes the differences in behaviour/ language/ thought.

IIT: Girls in IIT suddenly find themselves in a monopoly situation!! As they suddenly become the cynosure of all eyes, they encourage sexist behaviour. Thus, men who would be normal towards all other women, behave differently towards women from IIT.
Other than that, IIT men are only as sexist as any other colleges.