A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle was one of those taunting slogans of the feminist movement long gone. And suddenly, it seems like we’re slap bang in the middle of it again. The rape in Delhi on December 16, 2012 has opened many fissures long forgotten and exposed many faults long ignored. Indeed, this has been one of the most depressing starts to a new year in a long time.

There is one welcome difference between the then of the 1970s and the now of 2013 — many of the people calling for gender equality in India are men. In the West at the height of the feminist movement in the 1970s, men felt threatened and under attack. Now many of them are at the forefront of those calling for change. While so much needs to be done, as we have discovered, much has improved as well.