Friday, October 12, 2018

Misogyny on show.

There has been an overwhelming support to the #Me too movement in India. Positive action in the form of cases being registered, people at high places and those who matter in the corridors of power have made their stand clear. By Sunday, the minister in the Narendra Modi government, MJ Akbar will face the music on his return from a foreign tour.

While it's great to see the overwhelming support to the women in angst there are many who shrug it away as another joke, which is unfortunate. I reproduce a gist of such a misogynistic stand to show as to how impractical and heartless these people are, these are supposed to be the esteemed thoughts from a Geetanjali Arora on "me too", "You do me favours, I do you favours 30 years later lets call it me too....A strong woman does not wait 30, 20, 10 years to speak up, she slaps him on the first 'bad touch' and knocks him out....You were scared to say 'No' then because it was hard to stand up for what was right and you were scared to lose your status and position in the work place, so you chose to accept the molestation and went back for more....Strong women don't have 'me too sob stories', they only have - I slapped him back short essays".

My counter to it is this, "Geetanjali Arora has her own story. I laud her for that. But not everyone can have that luck. Circumstances related to family, professional constraints, individual difficulties come into play which make the fact that such allegations do not have an expiry date; probably the present situation has given her the necessary courage. One must understand that a woman shows extreme bravery when she comes out on such an issue:-

   (a) Usually, the guys that are pointed at do have a personality flaw and hold high positions.
   (b) The resultant limelight will destroy anyone because the questions asked are not diplomatic.
   (c) Such a person is considered 'available' now that she has been there, done that.

The least one can do is to stop the mud slinging. The 'me too' group have been brave to have shed off their inhibitions and come out with their sordid stories.


Tailpiece.

1. Kochunni - Appukkuttan Kochachhan's eldest son - and family made a rather late announcement around a quarter to 10, in the evening, that they were arriving half an hour later to invite us for their son's wedding on 16 Dec. So, the evening got extended by another couple of hours. We put them at ease as all of them were coming to 'The Quarterdeck' for the first time!

2. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day. I'm off to Thakazhi and Champakulam by the early morning train for conducting medical camps, on behalf of the PN Panicker Foundation, over the next two days.

1 comment:

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