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Comment by kamaal | Hacker News Reader

As an Indian, and asking purely from a cultural perspective how is the family system in America?

This might very well be stereotyping but the impression we have about US is that divorces are very common and marriage rates are low. And the family system is pretty disintegrated. There was a article posted here few days back on how a guy was sleeping on the streets while he could stay with his sister. That sort of thing is not imaginable here in India.

Also being married has its own advantages. Regardless of whatever the feminist movement believes. Married women do get a great deal of financial security, physical security and comfort by the very virtue of the way marriage is structured.

Something that is seen to be happening here in India is increased rates of Alimony claims, false dowry cases and super powerful laws in favor on women(which seem to be abused currently) may lead to problems like these.

This article makes a nice read.

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I realize that since you are Indian, your culture is your basis of comparison and contrast with the US, but you should be aware that India and other South Asian countries consistently rank among the worst on Earth in international humanitarian organizations' analyses of women's rights.

I'm married, I think being married is great, and I also know that America has some serious social ills, but I would never trade America's "disintegrated family system" for the current system in India where numerous forms of violence against women are so rampant. A little bit of feminism would do Indian society a lot of good.

>>but you should be aware that India and other South Asian countries consistently rank among the worst on Earth in international humanitarian organizations' analyses of women's rights.

Not denying. You are very correct.

But I guess not all form of oppression include hitting, beating and other forms of violence.

Leaving a women all alone to herself and asking her to earn a million dollars more than a man merely to survive is nothing short of a slow torture in itself. Something against which you cannot scream, complain, whine or even expect others to show sympathy about. In the name of freedom this is just bonded labor of a different kind.

Freedom(or a illusion?) is of no use when you tell a woman she can do whatever she likes in the time left after a 15 hour work schedule, tending to kids and other needs of her dependents.

Coming to India's problem with violence against women. It looks big also because of the mere population scale you are looking at. Although I agree with you as a society we have a long way to go when it comes to protecting women.

Numerous forms of violence against women in India are not as 'rampant' as you think they are. There is little causal relationship between sexual assault in India and the integrated family system. The US on the contrary has the one of the highest rate of sexual assault on women in the developed world - obviously feminism doesnt help as much you think it does.

The integrated family system is one of the best things about India and its culture and is amazingly effective in improving life satisfaction levels across demographics.

For a more objective comparison of the benefits of Indian culture, which discounts the skew resulting from living in a developed economy, you probably need to compare life satisfaction levels of Indian Americans with the rest of America.

divorces are very common and marriage rates are low

I believe today, this is pretty accurate. In the USA, reportedly around half of all marriages end in divorce, and around half of the adult population is unmarried.

the family system is pretty disintegrated

This varies on a case-by-case basis. Some families are as tight as can be, some are not.

The issue is not forced by social pressure as much as in other countries because of the "set out to make your fortune" aspect often seen as part of growing up in the USA.

Growing up, many of the kids I knew had divorced parents, who were often remarried.

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