Bigots with Power

Bigots with Power 1The mountain of shame with our treatment of women keeps mounting. There is unending evidence that provocative clothes have little to do with rape and molestation, yet our policemen and political leaders choose to blame the women for being victims. I challenge them to find the woman in India who hasn’t been molested on public transport. If the entire country is full of provocative women, then maybe they need to come to terms with the world they live in.

On the other hand, considering that most men don’t rape and will spend entire lives without raping, it is difficult to blame women for being provocative, because if women’s clothing were the problem, all men would have raped at some point or the other – or at least most of them. If provocative clothes were the problem, women in salwar kameez and saris wouldn’t be raped.

These are facts women have got tired of repeating, and yet they seem to make no impact on the intellect of these misogynists.

Behavioral science deals with a phenomenon called projection, where a person denying something about self condemns its manifestation in the world outside. So, a person who feels lust and hides it out of guilt, blames whatever he is seeing at the timefor his feelings that he doesn’t want to face. The fact is, we see the world through a lens of our thoughts. It is like the blind men and the elephant. Whether the elephant is called a pillar or rope is less about the elephant and more about the blind man’s ability to understand it.

To avoid discomfort of responsibility for their own actions, the irresponsible mind projects it at the object they wish to exploit in an effort to justify attacking it. In attacking it, the perpetrator finds relief for his own illegitimate thoughts. But the justification is false. The cause of the action is not external. This is not dissimilar to hitting the object that a child hurt itself on to make the child stop crying. Except that these are adults making no effort whatsoever to manage their own thoughts and actions and the “objects” being hit are living, breathing human beings.

They prefer to deflect condemnation from those who represent their thinking onto victims of those thoughts and actions in a macabre attempt to justify their own inhuman attitudes toward women.

In a superficial sense, it works too. The DGP of Andhra Pradesh, V. Dinesh Reddy blamed women’s clothing and (believe it or not) food men eat for rapes. Now Karnataka’s women and child welfare minister C C Patil blames rising incidents of rape on provocative clothes. And KK Seethamma, who heads the committee against sexual harassment in Bangalore University thinks women wear obscene clothes to tempt men. Last year, the DCP of Delhi had blamed women traveling alone, unescorted, conveniently forgetting our “Women’s day celebration” of the murder of a young girl in broad daylight outside her college in the capital of the country. Shiela Dixit’s “One should not be Adventurous” was another such one.

The terrifying part of this is not just that women are being blamed for rapes, but the kind of clothing that is being considered as obscene. Reddy speaks of women wearing salwar kameez. Seethamma thinks that blouses of saris should be full sleeved! In other words, almost every woman in the country is obscene and that is why men rape. Every person mentioned above is in a position where he or she is expected to protect rights of women.

Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan K. G. Balakrishnan had tried to fix this problem by approving of marriage between rapist and victim – in essence opening the door to permanent victimization of the women by being pressured into a marriage to prevent shame – make it look ok, never mind if the victim is condemned to living with her oppressor.

Aparently these shining custodians of the well being of our country don’t read news. MOST rapes are of modestly dressed women. Women dressed provocatively are actually NOT attractive targets for rapists, because they are less likely to stay silent out of shame, more likely to fight back, make a scene, file a complaint and slap them in a line up.

But the ostrich game here is that this is about provocative women. “If only women were not provocative, everything would be all right.” Tell that to men who get raped. Tell that to babies that get raped. Should the baby have worn a less transparent diaper? The vulnerable in any society are the first visible victims of its decay, but make no mistake, the decay is all pervading. If all women and kids were separated totally from all men, there still would be rapes.

Blaming the victim is a long time technique of those in power who are not interested in protecting the weak. Whether it is peaceful protesters being brutally silenced, or it is women being raped. It becomes convenient to make their safety their problem and shrug it off as them being responsible for their own suffering. There is no interest in challenging powerful people and suffering unnecessary inconvenience in order to protect un-advantageous weak people.

This, bigotry is the reality of the protectors in our country. Is it any wonder that India is the fourth worst place in the world for a woman? Yes. A worldwide survey has come up with data. The even scarier part in this is our population. Fourth worst in the world takes on a whole new meaning when put into the context of our size. To put it bluntly, we are one of the major contributors to women’s rights violations worldwide – not a list we should aspire to be on.

Women’s clothing is a guaranteed red herring. It distracts from their failure to prevent crimes to a debate that is irrelevant to it – the conclusion becomes about women’s clothes or men’s culpability and misses the fact that these people are incompetent at their jobs and continue to earn salaries and victimize victims of their incompetence further through blame.

Well, here is the wake up call. A mob of thirty odd men gang molested a woman standing on the street on New Year’s Eve. It was broadcast on TV. She was escorted by a man. She was wearing a full sleeved sweater. A group of thirty odd men fell upon her like a pack of dogs and the police beat them away like the dogs they were.

In other words, these brilliant orators explaining how it is a woman’s fault she gets raped don’t know which end of their anatomy they are talking from. Sorry to rain on your parade. Happy New Year!

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10 thoughts on “Bigots with Power”

  1. Agree that provocatively dressed women aren’t an easy target for rapists as they are more likely to hit someone if molested, BUT that doesn’t mean women should start roaming naked in front of the whole world. Of course, it is the ‘sight scenes’ that are available in revealing clothes that urges a rapist to rape another girl. It sure is about self control of men and rules made by government but there are a few responsibilities on women too, like dressing up ‘decently’  and learning a few defenses too.

  2. Agree that provocatively dressed women aren’t an easy target for rapists as they are more likely to hit someone if molested, BUT that doesn’t mean women should start roaming naked in front of the whole world. Of course, it is the ‘sight scenes’ that are available in revealing clothes that urges a rapist to rape another girl. It sure is about self control of men and rules made by government but there are a few responsibilities on women too, like dressing up ‘decently’  and learning a few defenses too.

  3. Jagannathan Sathyamoorthy

    U hav hit the nail on the head, ” provocatively dressed women are not attractive targets for rapists” &”there is no interest in challenging powerful ppl & suffer unnecessary inconvenience to protect the in-advantageous weak ppl”, sums it up.
    Yes, u hav an apt title, Rape is a function carried out ,mostly by bigots, their scions and ppl with such connections.
    Let us not gloss over the fact that most Rape cases are not publicized in Rural areas where it is more prevalent as opposed to the Urban areas.
    The Root Cause, we still retain the Fuedal mentality, where, a small group is in Power and all the rest are their subjects, who are dealt with for pleasure or toil as per their wants.
    The inadequacy of the Gov to take on the menace becos of their unwillingness to inconvenience themselves.
    Dress code is an Excuse to shirk their responsibility.

  4. Jagannathan Sathyamoorthy

    U hav hit the nail on the head, ” provocatively dressed women are not attractive targets for rapists” &”there is no interest in challenging powerful ppl & suffer unnecessary inconvenience to protect the in-advantageous weak ppl”, sums it up.
    Yes, u hav an apt title, Rape is a function carried out ,mostly by bigots, their scions and ppl with such connections.
    Let us not gloss over the fact that most Rape cases are not publicized in Rural areas where it is more prevalent as opposed to the Urban areas.
    The Root Cause, we still retain the Fuedal mentality, where, a small group is in Power and all the rest are their subjects, who are dealt with for pleasure or toil as per their wants.
    The inadequacy of the Gov to take on the menace becos of their unwillingness to inconvenience themselves.
    Dress code is an Excuse to shirk their responsibility.

  5. The heady feeling of power. This is why ppl rape or even lie. Cowards who rape defenseless children or the mentally challenged seek the easiest route to gain this feeling of power just for a few minutes. Some others just lie to get this feeling. Lie about their jobs, status or wealth for example. Self respect should be emphasised since childhood to stop ppl from taking short cut routes to acquire false power. Being abused or humiliated is no excuse to resort to such heinous acts. Education since childhood about false power is key

  6. The heady feeling of power. This is why ppl rape or even lie. Cowards who rape defenseless children or the mentally challenged seek the easiest route to gain this feeling of power just for a few minutes. Some others just lie to get this feeling. Lie about their jobs, status or wealth for example. Self respect should be emphasised since childhood to stop ppl from taking short cut routes to acquire false power. Being abused or humiliated is no excuse to resort to such heinous acts. Education since childhood about false power is key

  7. Well excuses, are the 1st indictment of failure for inefficiency, which this DGP has shown. Dressing n all and invitation to rape type usage of words/phrase is actually exposes the lacuna of intellect cells necessary to decode cause and effect relationship.

    Just as punishment is not deterrent to crime, claiming the gestures of women is invitation to crime is more than fallacy of deep rotten brain. There have been cases where toddlers are also been inhumanly molested, where does the indecent dressing comes here.

    Will the Security Guard / Watchman / Police absolve from its duty of preventing / solving the case of home burglary by stating house has open windows and/or the color of paint of outside wall is kind of inviting thieves to loot the house. WIll the investigation officer / police blame the house owner for having fancy furniture electronics and other valuables in his home and thus tempted the burglars to carry out out the loot. Also comparing the Quote “Precaution is Better then Cure” does not apply here, as Precaution can be taken by avoiding the reason of mishap, where as clothes / gesture is not the reason, its an excuse (not by rapist but by custodian of safety). Clothes and Rapes comparison is similar to – Asking a person not to fly in airplane, for their is terrorist attacks, not to go on roads because of accidents, not to drink water because of bacteria, not to breath for there are germs in air, and the list goes on.

    Another important point to be pondered is, rape is a NOT just a crime committed by individual or group of individual by forcing intercourse on the female, but it is the entire system who molests the victim by not physically touching but by having apathetic attitude and embarrassing her through ordeal of demonizing the victim and glorifying the culprit
    and the crime. Hence the penalty should be levied upon rapist and also to each and every individual who was in that system that created hindrance to the justice. The supporters of crime, direct or indirect are the real parasites than the one who commits the act of rape, because the criminal thrives in confidence only through support of these
    scoundrels in the system, be it political, police, media and any other power house.

    For pseudo human/woman right activist commenting on rape or rape victim is so very easy and to sympathise with rape victim it’s even more easy and fashionable. But as a society to actually empathize with the victim and to take some constructive steps to avoid it we have hardly any courage to do it and yes I say we including you, me and all others. We hear moral police says gals should not wear jeans or other stuff, we have politician saying if gals wear tight clothes she
    is inviting for being rape. WHAT SHIT. The idea “Not to rape” is required in the society and not “NOT TO GET raped”. Tight clothes or intoxicated gals are no license for heinous crime and also not the character or past deed of women is the free pass.

    The mindset to justify rape itself should be criminal act, any intercourse which is not consensual is RAPE and has to be severely Punished and that too quickly. Just as there is no invitation to murder – invitation to rape by gesture / clothing / character is just low level thinking which is brewed in stinking brain of rabid scoundrel. To get the record straight, Even if women is walking naked on the road, she is not public property and/or buffet lunch/diner for psycho HORNY parasite. No one can/should trespass the individuality. Simply put – Fencing or No fencing, the encroachment on some else’s private property is crime and cant be justified by lack of fencing or some juicy apple been hanging in that area.

    hence, DGP of Andhra Pradesh and his likes kindly STFU

  8. Well excuses, are the 1st indictment of failure for inefficiency, which this DGP has shown. Dressing n all and invitation to rape type usage of words/phrase is actually exposes the lacuna of intellect cells necessary to decode cause and effect relationship.

    Just as punishment is not deterrent to crime, claiming the gestures of women is invitation to crime is more than fallacy of deep rotten brain. There have been cases where toddlers are also been inhumanly molested, where does the indecent dressing comes here.

    Will the Security Guard / Watchman / Police absolve from its duty of preventing / solving the case of home burglary by stating house has open windows and/or the color of paint of outside wall is kind of inviting thieves to loot the house. WIll the investigation officer / police blame the house owner for having fancy furniture electronics and other valuables in his home and thus tempted the burglars to carry out out the loot. Also comparing the Quote “Precaution is Better then Cure” does not apply here, as Precaution can be taken by avoiding the reason of mishap, where as clothes / gesture is not the reason, its an excuse (not by rapist but by custodian of safety). Clothes and Rapes comparison is similar to – Asking a person not to fly in airplane, for their is terrorist attacks, not to go on roads because of accidents, not to drink water because of bacteria, not to breath for there are germs in air, and the list goes on.

    Another important point to be pondered is, rape is a NOT just a crime committed by individual or group of individual by forcing intercourse on the female, but it is the entire system who molests the victim by not physically touching but by having apathetic attitude and embarrassing her through ordeal of demonizing the victim and glorifying the culprit
    and the crime. Hence the penalty should be levied upon rapist and also to each and every individual who was in that system that created hindrance to the justice. The supporters of crime, direct or indirect are the real parasites than the one who commits the act of rape, because the criminal thrives in confidence only through support of these
    scoundrels in the system, be it political, police, media and any other power house.

    For pseudo human/woman right activist commenting on rape or rape victim is so very easy and to sympathise with rape victim it’s even more easy and fashionable. But as a society to actually empathize with the victim and to take some constructive steps to avoid it we have hardly any courage to do it and yes I say we including you, me and all others. We hear moral police says gals should not wear jeans or other stuff, we have politician saying if gals wear tight clothes she
    is inviting for being rape. WHAT SHIT. The idea “Not to rape” is required in the society and not “NOT TO GET raped”. Tight clothes or intoxicated gals are no license for heinous crime and also not the character or past deed of women is the free pass.

    The mindset to justify rape itself should be criminal act, any intercourse which is not consensual is RAPE and has to be severely Punished and that too quickly. Just as there is no invitation to murder – invitation to rape by gesture / clothing / character is just low level thinking which is brewed in stinking brain of rabid scoundrel. To get the record straight, Even if women is walking naked on the road, she is not public property and/or buffet lunch/diner for psycho HORNY parasite. No one can/should trespass the individuality. Simply put – Fencing or No fencing, the encroachment on some else’s private property is crime and cant be justified by lack of fencing or some juicy apple been hanging in that area.

    hence, DGP of Andhra Pradesh and his likes kindly STFU

  9. Loved, love, loved the last line. I hope at least a few people reading this will learn and stop saying, “but, if only those girls had (worn more clothes) (stayed at home) (not been so loud) blah blah nonsense…”

  10. Loved, love, loved the last line. I hope at least a few people reading this will learn and stop saying, “but, if only those girls had (worn more clothes) (stayed at home) (not been so loud) blah blah nonsense…”

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