Change
mentality, not clothes!
A self-acknowledged demigod advocates the idea that a woman deserves
being raped if she didn’t have the social grace of begging in front of
psychopaths to release her, indeed an innovative idea of self-defense. Another
gentleman under his inconsiderate
When you hear these statements the first time, you are most likely to
laugh out of your wits thinking these people are definitely at the limits of
their mental resources. And it’s an obvious reaction to these morbid jokes that
you would convince yourself to better neglect them than losing patience to such
absolutely futile thought processes. But rest assured that these remarks are to
be taken seriously because every person who has commented above, whether we
like it or not is an influential figure among the mass around him. And the
statements are a deliberate attempt of theirs to strengthen their holding in
the kind of community they operate. They exploit every chance to instil
partisan or ideological point of view in their followers which they know would
aid in gaining adherence from their target section.
Working
towards their agenda, they have a product to sell which I name as Impunity
Licence! This permit entitles privileges only to those citizens who are
technically male. It’s a license which gives the holder freedom of choice in
terms of clothing, roaming, drinking, outing and socializing. Usually these are
fundamental rights of any citizen in a democracy. However, the proposition by
these masterminds is subtly different. The rider to this license says that,
“Women in their own interest should keep themselves covered, avoid going out
after sunset, should not socialize and confine to themselves to the bounds of
conservatism. And in case of violation of these she might become object of
pleasure of the license holder who can mete out any kind of behaviour at his
will, for which the woman is not eligible to appeal for fairness because her
violation to the rules was inherently nothing but sexual seduction”. In a
nutshell, it’s a license to get licentious.
It is well acknowledged that freedom can’t subsist without order. This
permit defies this basic understanding for in this case freedom is given to one
party but the onus to ensure that freedom is not misused lies on to the
shoulder of entirely different set of members of the society, wherein this
section is not only expected to follow certain code of conduct but is also
blamed for any mishap. Vulnerable is answerable! And what if we do not approve
of this mentality; silently ignoring is nothing less than supporting it. If
this issue is not given a thought then soon it will become a part of larger
society. Hence, men and women have equal contribution in letting this
attitude nurture and thrive. The biggest mistake is letting others decide your
limits to freedom and never questioning.
Now, the question that arises is that what kind of culture are we trying
to promote! If a society hints at accepting that the testosterone levels in
the community members become unmanageable by a single peek of skin, should mean
that their people ought to be given some treatment to manipulate or handle
their libido just like how vaccination is given to dogs to prevent from
becoming rabid. What does this reflect? You are paving ways for a culture of
rampant voyeurism to creep into the society. And the consequences will be grave
if we don’t work on the root cause- mentality and stop chasing shortcuts of
shifting blames for solutions.
A civilized society is formed of cultivated beings and not merely
educated class. As a leader is a reflection of the society, it becomes a
serious concern if people follow and are fond of chauvinists. Responsible guide
would work towards engendering conscience in people rather than teach (a person
or group of people) systematically to accept doctrines, especially
uncritically.
Freedom is
not valued until it is taken away from you. Now, it is high time that we
acknowledge “bodily integrity” as a fundamental right by showing zero tolerance
to any irresponsible behaviour, attitude and absurd biased societal
restrictions; otherwise Will Durant’s contemplation that “When liberty becomes
license, dictatorship is near!” will soon become a reality.
PS:
Martha Nassbaum (American
philosopher and a board member of the Human Rights Program) defines bodily
integrity as: “Being able to move freely from place to place; being
able to be secure against violent assault, including sexual assault;
having opportunities for sexual satisfaction and for choice in matters of
reproduction”.
William James Durant (Will
Durant) was a stimulating American writer, historian,
and philosopher of the 19th century.
Pic source
