Would you reckon women to be more spiritually inclined than men? A cursory glance at the profile of gatherings of Sri Sri Ravishankar or Baba Ramdev or Mata Amritanandamayi are likely to suggest ?Yes. But to most the question would seem rather esoteric ? akin to the debate between objectivity and subjectivity, slightly difficult premise to explore.
Jaya Row from Vedanta Vision thinks otherwise. ?Nowadays spirituality seems to be associated with blind belief, superstition and mechanical rituals. Men tend to be more rational and ask questions. When answers are not forthcoming they fade out. Hence there is a predominance of women in devotional organisations and they appear to take to spirituality. But now they too are getting more rational and intellectual and looking beyond the obvious into subtler, transcendental realms. They are ready to take on the ultimate male bastion of spiritual leader,? she explains. Possibly it is the emotional bent of mind that drives women towards the surreal.
Mobile entertainment company Nazara Technologies which has tied up with leading operators like Airtel, Idea and Reliance has an interesting figure to share. ?60% of subscribers to our spirituality services are women. And close to 50% of the subscriber base for its astrological services are women too,? shares Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Nazara Technologies.
Swami Chaintanya Keerti from the Osho Foundation agrees. Having closely observed the domain for years, he?d know. ?Over 60% of the people joining spiritual movements are women. A lot more women are joining mainstream spirituality. Though, largely, the number of male gurus outnumber female gurus, at the Osho centres there are a sizable number of women who are meditation leaders and spiritual therapists who are remarkably excelling,? he says adding that women are more inclined to spirituality because they function mainly from heart and intuition. They have an easy bonding with the existential energies that surround us. Men cannot feel or experience as much as women do. But there are others who feel that it is wrong to address women as a separate species. ?Enlightenment or existence does not discriminate on grounds of gender,? says Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev, Isha Foundation. In India, over 40% of the Foundation?s meditators are women, and in the West over 55%.
Channels like Sanskar and Astha also appeal to either gender equally. ?The viewership of spiritual genre shows remarkable consistency throughout the year. The net reach of the genre ranged between 6.4% and 7.1% during the last twelve months. All the major spiritual channels exhibit similar consistency,? says Joseph Eapen, Director Research, Audience Measurement and Analytics. The spiritual connect, in its appeal, definitely seems to be democratic in nature.