Are there double standards in Indian social rules

Well coming from a traditional and ultra conservative Brahmin society I have found that every custom and tradition in India has double standards and at some stage or point are abused by the same people who preach and live it. The "rules" as they are called are always twisted at will like in a game and also like in any game there are winners and losers. I write this standing in the loser’s cauldron with my feet burnt by those so called rules. I don’t know how many out there actually care to write about them and condemn them but I sure would like to know others who share the ill luck of being toppled down and their reputation marred by "social rules" rather than their own actions. The very nature of these "rules", like no physical intimacy before marriage, women should dress and behave a certain way etc. seem to be very hypocritical and the outlook very narrow.
Why are these rules made and what do they mean for the people following and living them? Do these rules put the people under them a cut above the rest who don’t or are they mere superficial tools used at will by people powerful enough to wield them? I hope someone smarter or wiser than me can answer these questions because I sure would like to know why we live in a self installed fortress with these social laws that bind us to beliefs that most of us despise inward but are too scarred to accept or question in open light.