Mohammed Arifuddin for BeyondHeadlines
We wake up each morning to the horrifying incidents of rapes across the country. Our heads hung in shame every hour, every minute. The 2012-Delhi gang rape drew intense public outrage with the nation taking it to the streets. Even as angry youth demonstrated at India gate and other places across the country, there were, on an average, four rape cases reported per day in Delhi alone. Not to forget the hundreds of rapes of Adivasis, Dalits and women from backward classes in rural India.
While there is a huge outcry over the state’s failure in combating rape, what we tend to forget is the prejudice rife about women in our society. A man’s thinking and outlook towards the opposite gender has a great influence on his actions. In the society we live in, a woman is regarded as a soft, submissive and docile entity, imparting her duties of household chores, being denied of autonomy. Most often, she is identified by her physical attributes disregarding her individuality and capabilities. Slang terms such as item, slut and maal (meaning material in Hindi) are used to further dehumanize her.
Unarguably, popular culture plays an important role in formulation of a society’s perception or at least a subconscious attitude. The way women are portrayed in popular entertainment shows a sheer cultural profiling. Objectification of women is a truth we can’t deny – movies, music, advertisements and reality shows portray women in poor light, showcasing them as mere objects of pleasure and sexual gratification. Furthermore, the predominance of “male gaze” caters to the gender power asymmetry.
We all sit, laugh and enjoy when the Hero of a movie stalks, flirts and teases a girl and finally ends up winning her heart. Moreover, derogatory portrayal of a woman in item sequences surrounded by a bunch of men is pathetic. What message do you think such movies deliver to the masses? What kind of a society are we trying to portray?
Such a prejudice results in a social structure that tries to dominate, oppress and exploit women. Our responsibility lies here – to strive against the preconceived norms and work towards building a society based on equality, freedom and justice.
