'Class' and 'objectification'

Kajal Chatterjee *

A leading Indian musician has rightly wondered whether there would have been as much of a "national reaction" if the victim in Kolkata had been from the LGBTQ community! But it also remains the hard fact that had the victim been an urban poor or lived in non-descript towns/villages; hardly anybody would have cared to murmur even a single word of protest.

In this country, one of the most dangerous places for a woman to live in, 87 women get raped daily on average ! Yet why do we witness "National reaction" in very few selected cases and far between !

Yes, only when a large city-based woman of comparatively privileged background and "dignified" profession (doctors, journalists, Corporate) get raped and/or murdered with the alleged perpetrators hailing from "lower class" (civic police volunteer, lorry drivers, bus conductors and cleaners); only then do the "collective conscience" of the Nation come under much "assault"!

This "selective protests" based on sheer class-consciousness is too obscene to say the least as if all norms of human rights are monopoly of only the comparatively privileged souls!

No wonder why Independence Day turn "meaningless" only when "White aprons turn Red" and anybody questioning why the country's freedom doesn't turn "meaningless" when thousands and lakhs of "ordinary" homemakers and women of non-glamorous professions get sexually assaulted - - - immediately the questioner would found himself /herself as "Ganashatru" /"Enemy of the people" and "rape sympathiser"!

It also gets questioned whether a death sentence can act a deterrent to rape! The answer is definite "Yes" because guarantee of getting prosecuted and punished for any sort of offence indeed bear rich fruits.

If the potential rapists are made to understand in clear terms that they cannot get away scotfree and maximum punishment will wait for them, they would think twice before committing heinous acts Kolkatans who "boldly" smoke in public spaces do not dare to light up in the underground Metro Railway network because they know that they cannot escape the clutches of law there.

Taxi drivers who do not use seat belt in the suburbs sport it as soon as their vehicle enters the area under the jurisdiction of Kolkata police. While the auto drivers "boldly" carry five to even six passengers while plying outside Kolkata; they do not entertain more than four within the territory of the city.

These examples are proof enough that thorough vigilance and tough laws imbibe fear in the minds of the people and force the individuals to change their characters and actions for the better.

Yes, threat upon life is too much a fear for an individual. Yet rape and/or murder is too common an occurrence just because perpetrators are rarely punished. Rather most of the accused often get away scotfree either because of lack of intelligence/ seriousness of the investigators and law-enforcing agencies.

Had the administration been sincere and capable enough to nab the real culprits with the Judiciary handing death sentence to them, surely capital punishment would have acted as a great deterrent to rape.

Yes, threat upon life is too much a fear for an individual. Yet rape and/or murder is too common an occurrence just because perpetrators are rarely punished. Rather most of the accused often get away scotfree either because of lack of intelligence/ seriousness of the investigators and law-enforcing agencies.

Had the administration been sincere and capable enough to nab the real culprits with the Judiciary handing death sentence to them, surely capital punishment would have acted as a great deterrent to rape.

Lastly, the "objectification" of women in mainstream cinema and advertising world. Not to forget the poisonous .influence of social media which further deteriorate the environment by pouring oil in fire.

The glamorisation of philistine Bollywood, providing social sanction to dirty pictures bordering on pornography in the name of "art", nudity and vulgar dancing in night clubs, scantily-clad pictures and shots of women in print and visual media, constant incoming of messages in our mobiles involving "hot" women etc. have absolutely devastated the moral fabric of the urban society, which is hypocrite enough to "worship" women in the form of 'Devi'!

Thanks to this crass commercialisation of female bodies, the society is treating the women merely as "commodities for satisfying lust"; leading to increasing incidents of eve-teasing, molestation and rapes.

Unless the Censor Board and the relevant authorities act tough and terminate the shower of nakedness and obscenities in films, reality shows in TV, print media, billboards exploiting semi-naked female bodies to advertise even a gent's shoe or shaving cream; no power in the world can prevent the moral corruptness in the society.

It is time for the society as a whole to grow up and say a big no to crude representation of the female form in whatever medium they may use and come to the realisation that the dharma of women’s safety should come first from the family.

Teach the child to respect everyone and such an approach can go a long way in promoting the safety of women.