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| Image: PRI |
Among all the rhetoric
that’s been put forth with respect to women and women’s rights, Australian
actress Cate Blanchett’s objection to the sweep of the “glam cam” at the Golden
Globes’ red carpet caught my attention. According to an online
report, she mentioned that she’d been reading The Misogyny Factor by Anne Summers and became aware of entrenched
attitudes that objectified the female sex while giving the males a free pass. She
pointed out that while the paparazzi made a big deal of what the female actors
wore on the red carpet, they concentrated on the male actors’ performance and
opinions. The name of the book stuck in my mind and was brought to the fore
when I heard of the horrific gang-rape of a tribal girl in rural West Bengal,
India, by thirteen neighbours and acquaintances on the orders of her village council
(Khap panchayat). All because she
dared to have a relationship with a man from a different community and her
family didn’t have the resources to pay the 50,000-rupees fine they imposed. The
fact that this violation was “state” sanctioned – the village council gave the
order and council head was one of the rapists – especially in a state with a
female Chief Minister, recalled for me the systematic use of rape as a weapon
in wars across the world.
Despite public outcry,
marches, and protests the backlash against women through the use of sexual
violence has been growing unchecked. Pervasive misogyny has made war zones out of
women’s bodies and psyches, something that spills over into peacetime, and in developed
nations alike. I was appalled to read that 22 million women, i.e., one in five
women, have been raped or sexually assaulted in the United States, half of them
before the age of 18, according to the U.S. report
“Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call for Action.” With growing reports of
gang rapes across India and sexual harassment at its highest offices including
the Supreme Court and the office of a path-breaking magazine, it is self-evident
that misogyny is universal and the backlash against “the independent woman” is ubiquitous.
The enduring detrimental effect of rape or sexual assault on intellect and
development as pointed by Naomi Wolf, author of Vagina: A New Biography, makes each rape unquestionably a
repression of the development of half the human race.
Political leaders, both
nationally and internationally, are making statements supporting women’s
empowerment but we need more than just rhetoric. As the taboo is slowly being
reduced more women are reporting rape and speaking out. We are becoming aware
of how prevalent this violation is in the so-called safest cities and
institutions (e.g., schools, colleges, churches, and workplaces).
India has a tradition
that believes that the guest is God (Athitidevo
Bhava, the tagline of India’s Ministry of Tourism) but where was this value,
when a lost, lone tourist – a middle-aged Danish woman – was brutally
gang-raped in the very heart of bustling New Delhi? The ingrained misogyny seems
more the norm than attributing godliness to our country’s guests. The need for
radical gender sensitization and re-education is essential: Society needs to unlearn misogyny.
Part
II of this article follows with my take on how misogyny can be unlearned
borrowed heavily from Anne Summers’ book and politically correct parenting
guides for the twenty-first century.
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Raakhee Suryaprakash has a Master’s degree in International Studies and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry but her passion remains writing and researching things that change the world for the better. Her work has been widely published both in print and online media. Raakhee Suryaprakash is in the process of launching a social enterprise SUNSHINE MILLENNIUM that aims to help India's off-grid rural areas achieve the Millennium Development Goals by setting up of solar-powered millennium development centres maintained by local stakeholders and funded by corporate social responsibility programmes and government schemes.