You have a very interesting take on the patriarchy and male glare. But I also believe it has to do with the differences in the women who live in India vs the women who travel to India. Western (also Asian) women are believed to be promiscuous and by not following the local customs of covering up completely, even in the blazing hot summer, women travelers are blamed for 'asking for it' (blaming the victim), whether it be about catcalls/ glares/ or worse. I think it definitely also has to do with India's history of arranged marriages and the woman's role having been predominantly submissive domestic work: cleaning the house, making food, doing dishes, taking care of the children. Without the independence of women to have agency in their lives, sexism is passed on to the next generation by how women are treated in parents, to children acting the same way. Of course things are slowly changing, and women are gaining agency, and getting higher education, etc. but it's a slow going process, and is definitely a culture shock for people from developed countries.
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Yes @lisalove, but remember, all societies were traditional at some point. There's nothing wrong in traditional values. The issue happens when traditional societies coexist with modernism. That's when issues crop up. The roles played by men and women in a traditional rural societies is different to their roles in an urban environment. A woman is required to be home running the family budget and men are supposed to bring in the revenue. Now this is a great equation but only works in a rural environment. Traditional rural communities have been flushed out of country due to harsh weather conditions, unregulated loan markets, etc. They end up in the city and are lost with no institutional support.
In the western world, change has pretty much been uniform. If there's a technological advancement, it reaches everywhere pretty much within a year or two. That's not the case in a place like India. Industrialization has not even impacted most of India. There are communities that do not have power. Again, nothing wrong. But there are issues when two societies coexist.
I don't think sexism affects only western or asian women. It affects all women. A sexist doesn't differentiate. He doesn't even know he's being sexist. Although they use different language to offend you. The end result is pretty much the same.
To liberalise India's values towards women is a hard one. Simply because there's no one India that exists and there's only so much the state can do to make a society uniform. There are multiple layers operating - caste, class, language, regional barriers. So when you travel, best to play by the unwritten code of rules. Avoid going out alone in the night is the biggest one. It's an absolute no in some areas.
Thanks for your piece and response. It's much appreciated! :)