Consider what happens if one looks a little more closely at the data, and breaks up Indian bloggers by gender. Among women netizens 51 per cent are bloggers. Declining sex ratios attest that India is a land of sharp gender disparities, and women are resorting to blogging on a large scale to give vent to pent-up feelings. India may be a democracy, but in areas ranging from economics to sexuality it is heavily invested in bureaucratic regulation and control. The culture of mai-baap sarkar gives little latitude to the individual. Babus routinely stonewall requests for information, despite being required to do so under the RTI Act. Adultery is not just an ethical transgression and homosexuality an alternative lifestyle choice; both are criminal offences. Moral crusaders in the I&B ministry can and do pull the plug on TV channels. Liberalisation notwithstanding, red tape remains rampant and India is near the bottom of the world in several business metrics. The Times of India> Editorial> 19 Feb, 2007
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