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Isn’t it tragic that unless the rape doesn’t involve extreme brutality and barbarity, we as citizens don’t find it to be worthy of our outrage and time?
It’s a new day and a bright and fresh morning. You wake up and get out of bed. You have your morning tea while reading the newspaper. You read about politics, sports, and all the latest Bollywood gossip. Amidst all this commotion, the news of gang rape in some remote area of your state lies in a corner when your eyes catch a glimpse of it. It seems like an ordinary article at this point. You bother reading the highlights, ‘a 13-year-old’, ‘3 men’, ‘family dispute’, just the usual. You move on to the next article. The end.
Something that ticks me off more than the issue of rapes in our country is the normalization of the issue of rapes in our country. Isn’t it tragic that unless the rape doesn’t involve extreme brutality and barbarity, we as citizens don’t find it to be worthy of our outrage and time? But we aren’t the ones to blame here because according to India Today, with an average of 88 rape cases EVERY DAY, we simply cannot afford to have our time invested in every single one of them, so instead we wait until something that really catches our attention every single time. And trust me, the bar keeps getting higher.
But the question that’s bothering me is “Why?”. Why have we reached this stage? Probably because of the lack of justice served. The conviction rate here is as low as 27.8%. This means, out of 100 accused, only 28 get convicted.
Every time despite full-fledged outrage from the citizens we fail to see the problem being eliminated from society. From the Aruna Shanbaug case in 1973 to the Hathras gang rape in 2020, no amount of outrage or protests could help curb the issue. The problem still prevails. So what is it that’s going wrong? Why are our efforts ineffective and fruitless?
Image source: Pixabay
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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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