I Recommend... Undesired

In India, all women must confront the cultural pressure to bear a son. The consequences of this preference is a disregard for the lives of women and girls. From birth until death they face a constant threat of violence. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/undesired

Walter Astrada's Undesired shows us a shocking side of India, where women are marginalised to the point that a daughter is fed less than her brother and deprived of the basic education he receives, girls are forced into manual labour at the age of 8 just for the hope of being able to afford to pay the family of her future husband for the privilege of marrying him, and in the case of a failure to pay up the required amount, women are burned alive and killed without a second thought. In fact, this last part is done so happily, because it means the family can receive even more money when he remarries.

I don't believe in judging cultures I have not personally experienced (and let's be frank: mistreatment of a race or gender is not unique, unfortunately), because there are undoubtedly things that we do not see unless we're living in the midst of what we're judging, but the fact that this is India is what jumps out at me. This is an emerging country with a rich history and culture, massive power in its region, and one of the world's fastest-growing economies (8th according to the CIA), yet it hides this revolting character trait.

The lesson here is that even the best of us are not saints, and no matter where you are as a country or culture, there are still things that need fixing and people that need your help.

I'm not posting this for you to judge, but so you can understand what our fellow humans are going through in another part of the world. Thankfully, the Indian government sees the injustice being committed against women here and is trying to do something about it.