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As if the Hyderabad rape wasn't brutal and horrifying enough, a new trend of people looking for videos of the rape has surfaced. Just how monstrous can we get?
As if the Hyderabad rape wasn’t brutal and horrifying enough, a new trend of people looking for videos of the rape has surfaced. Just how monstrous can we get?
On 3rd December, 2019, News18 reported an appalling trend visible in the Indian society. A trend that is humiliating and horrifying for a sentient human being.
A woman was brutally raped, killed, and had her body burnt. The news, obviously became sensational with people crying hoarse about brutality, demanding the death sentence the rapists.
A couple days after the rape, News18 reported the rising number of searches on Google for the Hyderabad rape video. Earlier, even after the Kathua rape case, a similar trend was visible.
Is this merely a case on insensitivity? Are humans losing compassion, altruism or is it simply a case of depravation? Or is it something far worse?
The Indian society, with its peculiar blend of modernity and tradition, holds on to certain values that declare sexuality a taboo topic. This goes on to shelve the natural emotions and desires away. And that in turn, creates spaces for criminal acts to thrive.
The suppression of sexual desires creates a sick society, especially, when it is a society that has access to perverse pleasures through illicit means. It is a world of inequalities and deprivations where people have access to few material pleasures. And yet has unlimited access to a world of deviant possibilities.
Still, does this trend explain the Google Trend?
I do not think it is the only reason, or the major reason behind the sickness that pervades the society. It is, I believe, a far worse attitude, a deep-rooted belief in the disposability of a woman. Because, for the Indian society, the corporeal self of a woman is her identity, and there is nothing beyond the body.
An Indian woman in contemporary India is a body, without any other markers of identity. She is a woman. The body getting foregrounded while the individual is lost in the breasts, the vagina and every other body part that a man can ‘possess’ and ‘enjoy.’
We understand that rape is an act of violence rather than a sexual act. But the fact that women are the most convenient targets signifies several other factors at play. Indian society ignores the totality of a woman as a human being and conveniently considers her as an ‘attractive’ body to be gazed at.
The fact that a girl is asked to protect herself, also signifies protection of the body. Cultural tropes denoting womanhood reinforce and validate this concept of womanhood. While the camera focuses on the body of the woman, with closeups that deny subjectivity to the female body, this perspective of the female body as an object gets reinforced.
Any sense of guilt or shame is not required since it is not a human being. Since it is just a body for ‘pleasure,’ to be ‘conquered’ through aggressive power.
Though we hear the cry of the public ‘hang the rapist’, we also see the callous manner in which the victim’s pictures are shared. And then, of course the perverse desire to watch the video, if it is available, thus creating a market for a commodity and endorsing rape and similar acts of violence on the female bodies.
Picture credits: YouTube
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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