RAPE, that four-letter word, describes everything outrageous in the society today. Not that incidents of rape ever amuse anyone. The most heinous crime against womenfolk, this revolting misdemeanour invites nothing but disgust at the act and loathing for the perpetrator.
Men have over the ages discovered that subjugation is the most convenient means to degrade the female gender and gain complete mastery over them. Invasions and military campaigns that have seen plundering and looting as a natural consequence of the conquests never attract any surprise when women from the defeated camp are raped by the victorious marauders and treated as ‘spoils of war’.
The ceaseless torment in police custody, an abusive husband terrorising the hapless wife, dowry deaths; well, the list is infinite. It is to say that there is an endless range of violence that women face at the hands of people who exert control over them. This invariably leads one to believe that violence against women is entrenched in a universal culture which puts the accent on gender disparity and denies women equal rights with men.
The incessant holler over rapes has thrown open a wide gamut of emotions running across the sections of the society which vindicate calls for a systematic social change and legal reform to address the issue. However, the contention that as the weaker gender women are to be extended all the safety and protection just does not gel with the growing demand that the society has to stop fostering the notion of women as the underdogs.
The widespread lawlessness that encourages such vile acts against women to be committed with crass impudence cannot be discounted either. Even so, while accepting the fact that violence against women is an offshoot of the patriarchal and misogynistic culture that describes the male-dominated society which makes no efforts to condone it, whether tacitly or explicitly; have the women actually strived to eradicate the assumptions which suggest that they indeed are weaklings?
In the comforts of what apparently is a handicap, Indian women have preferred to carry the yoke of servitude for ages now. I choose to say ‘comfort in a handicap’ simply for the reason that our women are ‘acclimatised’ to obeying their menfolk and find that there is more peace in it than revolting against their dictatorial stance. Domestic violence can thus be assumed to be a natural corollary.
I know that many of my feminist friends may see red at me for hinting so, but the fact remains that feminism is today restricted to an apparent show of strength by organisations of women demanding justice against women-centric issues that keep cropping up intermittently. But the irony is that they are actually insisting on justice from a male-dominated society – as they see it – against men!
Feminism is mainly focused on women’s issues and is defined by the Wikipedia as a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing and defending equal political, economic and social rights for women; a feminist is thus an advocate or supporter of the rights and equality of women. But things have reached a stage today where people automatically assume that you are a man-hating, whiny liberal the moment one is identified as a feminist. And the sad part is that many of the women’s organisations in existence have hardly done anything exceptional to dispel that notion!
Recently there has been a lot of talk about gender sensitisation in the wake of the umpteen cases of rape and molestation that have come to haunt a dispirited nation. Bringing about a general awareness among the masses about the futility of senseless crimes and atrocities on women, there has been an all-round call for a change in the mindset of the people. Condemning the evils perpetrated against women, critics have been going overboard with their suggestions.
But spoken of in the context of crimes against women and the much called-for change of mindset among men, one fails to understand why it should be viewed as a ‘one-way street’ syndrome! Why can’t the women rise to the occasion? When will they learn to step out of the shadows of their male counterparts? A meek acceptation of traditional norms that defies logic and accentuates the plight of women in the Indian society can only be seen as an extension of the ‘dominated environment’ that our womenfolk have got accustomed to and are shy of breaking free.
The ‘pati-parmeshwar’ culture which stresses on the ridiculous system of the husband being accorded the status of God is the undoing of the Indian society, at least in as much as it concerns the Indian women. The meek and docile persona that has come to be expected of the ‘Bharatiya nari’ is undoubtedly responsible for the suppression by men that every sexual crime is attributed to these days. Do decades of stoic silence and silent suffering warrant the sort of humiliation accorded to womenfolk in the modern-era where women empowerment is the new mantra?
It is difficult to say whether the motley few who have embarked on a political career have done their might to alleviate the suffering of their ‘brethren’. If staging demonstrations and shouting slogans is anyone’s idea of the general ire against the treatment meted out to women, well, they cannot be accused of not doing their bit. But let us not forget that they are a part of the system – a system that doesn’t have gender equality topping its list of agendas.
If at all, the presence of women in the periphery of Indian politics has ensured a class division among them where, by virtue of being in the privileged category, the ‘insiders’ have thought better of empathising with the ‘downtrodden’. When a division of perceptions at this level has advanced a sense of hopelessness among the women themselves, one really wonders if there could ever be unanimity for a call on gender parity!
With a feeling of inferiority and insecurity having eroded their confidence, it is the women who need to change their mindset. Masculinity and femininity are just physical attributes and cannot be allowed to dwell or linger on as a state of mind. It is just a matter of standing up to the adversary and somebody, and at some time, has to make a beginning.
It is said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world! Then how can women be classified as weaklings and inferiors?