The world is not the same as when I wrote the last post. It probably never was between any two posts. But this time, it is a different world. I am happy that we are becoming more conscious of sexual rights and the fact that every shoot-off-your-hip politician or media-savvy socialite is thinking twice before speaking or is at least forced to "withdraw" sexist remarks soon after they make it, notwithstanding their recourse to the line that "people quoted me out of context".
We are a male-chauvinistic world. The men are so insecure that they even 'hit it off' with other men - total strangers by making fun of women, any woman. They have to smile or laugh off when people refer to sexual violence. "arrey bhai, we are losing morality these days. Women are wearing ganda kapda na! Why r they visiting pubs nowadays? Gone are those days when Bharatiya Sanskriti was at its peak..." I have nothing but the sincerest contempt for these moralists who sit on a high pedestal and preach about values.
What pisses me off the most about this discourse whenever such men talk about sexual violence is that they miss the point totally: we need to focus on the perpetrators and not on the victim. How complicated is it to understand the simple fact that if there was no rapist, no one would be raped? When a maverick goes into a school and shoots down kids, we blame the shooter. Simple! When a brain-washed gang 'infiltrates' into 'our' territory and kills innocent people we ask for the death sentence. Very simple! Why do we not say that the kids asked for it or the innocent people deserved it? Then why instead, do we ask women to behave, when they suffer?
I watched a video today which focusses on teaching kids how to identify danger and what to do if an incident of possible sexual violence takes place. A child refers to the sexual organ, euphemized by the counsellor as "the part between the legs", as "centre-point" amidst some giggling from the others. My heart weeps for the innocence of kids in this world where some men who cannot control their centre-point, go berserk and violate this innocence of the child. I find fault with these men's inability to control their centre-points. That is the root of the problem. So, I would request the Asarams of the world to stop blaming jeans, skirts, pubs or the female centre-point. It is the male centre-point that is the root of the problem.
But, please don't get me wrong. I am not asking for chemical castration and worse still, for the death sentence. I do believe that people deserve punishment for illegal acts and sexual violence is a gory, insensitive act. But, I abhor the idea that any one has the right to take away any one else's life, whatever be the provocation or the reason. I stand against taking away life, be it in the war-field or in court. Then, what should we do about it? Yes, we need tougher laws, effective punishment, fast-track courts etc, but above all we need to change the societal mind-set about the root of the problem. It is the crass objectification of the woman - an ideology that sees the woman's body as 'prey', merely as meat, merely as something needed to satisfy the male centre-point. Educate boys and girls to treat others with respect. Nothing justifies physical violence, including the sexual one.
So, the next time, one of those moustaches and beards sermonize about women's morality, just remind them about the point - the male centre-point. That is where the problem originates. We can make this a better world this way.
