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So, the Delhi Slutwalk/Besharmi Morcha went off peacefully a little more than a week ago – despite opposition from some quarters. 700 people attended, which is not a small number, especially when you consider that this protest was organised by a small group of college students, with little access to mass media or any major campaign support.
I must confess that I was not a big supporter of Slutwalk to begin with. I have no issues at all with the objectives – Blank Noise has been doing excellent work on the same lines – it’s just that I felt the objectives would not be clear to potential participants. To me, the message was first and foremost this: My body is my own, and don’t you dare touch me without my consent. I felt that this message would get diffused as a right to wear ‘revealing’ clothes and be seen as the concern of an elite group. Not that women shouldn’t have the right to wear what we want, but it is not just about clothes – it is about finding any excuse at all to harass women – being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, being out at all – in a country like India, clothes are not the only or first justification used.
Curiously, a lot of the media coverage on Slutwalk Delhi mentions the clothes the participants were wearing – and in a ‘disappointed’ sort of way. Mint says, “…much to the chagrin of cameramen looking for ‘sexy’ footage, the volunteers were dressed conservatively in loose-fitting T-Shirts with the logo, ‘SlutWalk arthaat Besharmi Morcha 2011’, printed across.” One has to ask, t-shirts are “conservative” by whose standards? The judgement could have been skipped, methinks.
The Hindu is among the newspapers with a more neutral report on Slutwalk. The TOI report too was quite balanced – even though it mentions the lack of ‘skimpy clothes’, at least it has enough on the actual events at the protest. As for the Hindustan Times, while it’s Slutwalk report focuses on the event, they actually have a photo slideshow of participants called Delhi Slutwalk Style Parade – unbelievable, you’d think but no!
IBN says, “The general notion that went around was that women will be dressed skimpy and revealing clothes as was the trend in other editions of the walk. But ‘Besharmi Morcha’ saw women strutting the streets carrying off the usual plain look wearing simple jeans-shirts, salwar-kurta and shirts.” DNA says, “The rally was held amid tight security but unlike in other parts of the world, women participants didn’t dress provocatively here.” The Indian Express uses similiar language about provocative clothing.
Dear Journalists, Slutwalk was not about “dressing provocatively”. Slutwalk worldwide was about women’s right to live safe and unharassed – and women wore many different kinds of clothes at protests around the world. There is a fantastic blogpost here, This is what a slutwalk looks like, that documents the diversity of people and clothing at rallies around the world.
And finally, don’t our journalists see the irony of using language like ‘dress provocatively’ when reporting on a rally where the whole point is that it is criminals who attack, not victims or clothing that ‘provokes’?
Founder & Chief Editor of Women's Web, Aparna believes in the power of ideas and conversations to create change. She has been writing since she was ten. In another life, she used to be read more...
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Rajshri Deshpande, who played the fiery protagonist in Trial by Fire along with Abhay Deol speaks of her journey and her social work.
Rajshri Deshpande as the protagonist in ‘Trial by Fire’, the recent Netflix show has received raving reviews along with the show itself for its sensitive portrayal of the Uphaar Cinema Hall fire tragedy, 1997 and its aftermath.
The limited series is based on the book by the same name written by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost both their children in the tragedy. We got an opportunity to interview Rajshri Deshpande who played Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the woman who has been relentlessly crusading in the court for holding the owners responsible for the sheer negligence.
Rajshri Deshpande is more than an actor. She is also a social warrior, the rare celebrity from the film industry who has also gone back to her roots to give to poverty struck farming villages in her native Marathwada, with her NGO Nabhangan Foundation. Of course a chance to speak with her one on one was a must!
“What is a woman’s job, Ramesh? Taking care of parents-in-law, husband, children, home and things at work—all at the same time? She isn’t God or a superhuman."
The arrays of workstations were occupied by people peering into their computer screens. The clicks of keyboard keys were punctuated by the occasional footsteps moving around to brainstorm or collaborate with colleagues in their cubicles. Most employees went about their tasks without looking at the person seated on either side of their workstation. Meenakshi was one of them.
The thirty-one-year-old marketing manager in a leading eCommerce company in India sat straight in her seat, her eyes on the screen, her fingers punching furiously into the keys. She was in a flow and wanted to finish the report while the thoughts and words were coming effortlessly into her mind.
Natu-Natu. The mellifluous ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She frowned at her mobile phone with half a mind to keep it ringing until she noticed the caller’s name on the screen, making her pick up the phone immediately.
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