Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
India's politicians often make inappropriate, insensitive and misogynistic comments, and get away with it. This insightful post questions why.
India’s politicians often make inappropriate, insensitive and misogynistic comments, and get away with it. This insightful post questions why.
Like many others, I watched a mediocre Bengali actor turned Member of Parliament (of the Trinamul Congress, of which Mamata didi is president) Tapas Pal screaming rape and retribution on TV. Horrendous as it was, I found it more sickening that the audience he was targeting was actually clapping and hooting at his threats of letting loose his men to rape women of an opposing political party.
Months ago, Ms. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, another MP from the same party had stated that the Park Street rape victim wasn’t raped at all, and that it was just a tiff between a prostitute and her clients, never mind the fact that all evidence pointed to the fact that the victim had been dragged into a car by a group of men and raped.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, a wrestler turned politician from the badlands of Uttar Pradesh considers rape a pastime for boys, while his son tells a female reporter that if “nothing has happened to you”, why should she raise questions about the Badaun rape-murders. After the Mulayam Singh “boys will be boys” episode, it confounded me that a lady from his Samajwadi Party- I think Madhu Gupta was her name- was actually defending her Netaji’s comments on TV.
Politicians mouthing inappropriate or downright offensive comments are nothing new…
Politicians mouthing inappropriate or downright offensive comments are nothing new; but as I said earlier, what appalled me even more was the clapping and hooting when Tapas Pal was mouthing obscene nonsense. This brings me to what I want to drive at- that we as a people are sexist and misogynist and think nothing of harassing or threatening women as part of our lives.
What I read in FirstPost sums up what I feel: “Tapas Pal doesn’t scare me. Those men, beyond themselves with glee just at the mention of rape, they scare me. And you know what, they’re not the only ones hooting and clapping at Pal’s show of masochism. God knows how many others, watching the clip on their phones, reading about it in papers and watching him on TV, are virtually joined in this celebration of misogyny.”
My younger daughter tells me of the stares – and more- she gets while walking down any road- that scares me.Never miss real stories from India's women.Register Now
My younger daughter tells me of the stares – and more- she gets while walking down any road- that scares me.
I am a man, and a father of two daughters. My younger daughter tells me of the stares- and more- she gets while walking down any road- that scares me. My elder one, based in the UK, now tells me how she had been at the receiving end of stares and catcalls while she was in India- that scares me too.
Making noise about misogyny isn’t enough anymore; endless debates on TV aren’t enough either. It is time for swift, sure and severe punishment for sexual predators, misogynists, sexists and others of the ilk.
Pic credit: FerranJorda (Used under a CC license)
I am a former bureaucrat, and have worked a lot on gender issues, disaster management and good governance. I am also the proud father of two lovely daughters. read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
Please enter your email address