Kartikey Sehgal

It takes only 2 photos to understand. Plus, enjoy the poem at the end.

This is slutwalk-Delhi’s founder Umang Sabarwal’s Facebook profile photo [edit: changed today]. And this is what the movement is really about.   

[the smileys are my creations]

Sometimes, fun things indicate much more.

Male-shaming

Starts at school. Makes minions out of men.

This is:

a. a regular photo. nothing to read into.

b. a photo designed to imply servility – man looking up to woman

c. role-reversal: woman as ‘Romeo’ taking the eve-teasing stance

d. a photo designed to show the much maligned ‘male-gaze’

a tough man said to his gal, “what bothers you lady?”
’the trees are too high, the birds eat the fruit, the clouds don’t listen to my song. I want to play.’- the lady told him.

the tough man told her – “cheer up. I’ll play with you”.
Then he bent, and the little girl pulled his cheeks and spoiled his hair and pinched him and laughed.

“I liked what just happened. I think I will grow up and start a slutwalk movement”

The man frowned and proceeded to smack her bottom.

“Stop”. the girl shrieked. “I was just joking”.

The s-walk poem. [or what the movement is really about]

So bored are lady beings
All they want is lovely weengs
To fly high in the sky
And then say ‘Oh my’!

I am being repressed
Solidly un-dressed
By their menacing eyes

But I am so wise
I will throw in their eyes
Chilly powder and curd

Men are bastards
Men are bastards.

Kartikey Sehgal

Mumbai woman throws off son, jumps to death (source)
What horror pushed Malad mom to this? (source)

Men may do the same; throw children off the verandas and terraces and then kill themselves. While all observable qualities may be ascribed to either genders, we hold certain malaises as specific and incidental to women.

What is a woman’s sense of destiny. To what extent do they bring their emotional self into the realm of destiny. Rather, how easily do they mix romance with destiny.

That life is what I deign it to be. That I am to be pleased. The problem with such self-centeredness in women is that, firstly, it is not always derivative of talent. Secondly, it will always be a ground for mental depression; there is little limit to what humans desire. 

Thirdly, feminist rhetoric on suffering-women, and how they need to fight for happiness adds to the existing stress and leads to suicidal tendencies.

Fourthly, media built illusions of romance and the emphasis on the ‘soft-man’, along with their bashing of masculinity, play with women’s emotional powers and lead to unrealistic expectations from men.

All this adds to the image of the ‘heroine’, who must kill herself if her desires are not fulfilled. In extreme cases, she must kill her progeny, for what future and use does he/she have without her; such is the extent of self-centeredness. And her sense of destiny.

While the culture of popular thought would suspect the husband and his family for mental deterioration of the woman, the proponents of that same culture, who profess the necessity for women to walk out of marriages and complain against harassment, seldom reason why the woman failed to do so. It is not uncommon to hear from popular media that the onus for every ‘bad’ decision a woman makes lies on men (or the man’s mother).

It is also not uncommon for the soft-men to support the vilification of their gender, who then set forward on their path of pleasing women, thus making them feel like heroines, and affecting their mental balance. It is, after-all, a vicious cycle, of the never-ending kinds.

Needless to say, current media supports such soft-men. They work in tandem to produce more of such heroines, who, if not throwing their children from terraces, are depressed because branded purses are not hanging from their arm, and feminists have told them that their men are louts.

They always deserve better. 

Kartikey Sehgal
(Rated Mature)
A relation between ‘media writing about rape and society reading about rape’.

1. Media Covers Rape

The media knows all about rape. How it happened. When it happened. How many and what they did. If they are connected to someone powerful. What was the girl wearing. The time. If she was alone. Should she be alone. If she shouted. If she was gagged. Her sisters or brothers. The family of the rapist. And much more.

Newspapers give front page preference to many rape stories. News channels cover almost every rape story in detail; they have half hour modules for rape and crime stories.

However, this intensity and inquisitiveness is lost during the ‘non-rape’ times. Politicians and policy makers are not hounded for information on how they plan to prevent rapes.

The media—as it seems—does not even realise that education is a factor in reducing crimes. Education—confidence—self-assurance—dignity—respect for self and others. It is interested only in ensuring punishment for the perpetrators; a step anyway guaranteed by the courts.

It does not disturb the policy makers to open libraries and schools in villages. It does not stand outside their government-sanctioned homes and ask questions on the same.

‘Sir, after the last crime, what have you done to ensure that the youth of the village/city/Delhi does not indulge itself in sex crimes?’ No. This doesn’t happen.

Instead, details of the most sordid aspects of the crime are reported. Lectures on sex crimes are printed in newspapers and news channels add background music to an enactment of the crime.

The media reports a rape. And in its heart it knows that the next one will come soon. It is prepared to ‘cover’ it.

2. Society Reads Rape

The media covers rape because society loves to read about rape. The repressed (even non-repressed) men of cities and villages love the sex part of the rape. They may condemn rape but they want to know about the intercourse. They want to read about the setting; whether it was a lone room or an abandoned building.

This may not be unhealthy; the ‘excitement’ of reading about the rape is simply the body telling you that it wants sex. It does not imply that the reader is wicked and wants to rape.

Excessive fascination with rape related stories could be a sign of boredom and massive repression. No parks or gardens, minimal interaction with the opposite sex, religious tensions—all these could lead to a sense of loneliness and boredom. But this does not mean that the repressed individual would commit crimes. He could, instead, shy away from society and women.

However, certain individuals are not able to distinguish between their body’s demand for sex and the pleasure derived from reading rape stories. They may equate pleasure with rape. They may go out of their way to obtain information on sex crimes.

Such individuals form the primary audience of newspapers and news channels who write explicitly about rape. The media writes about and shows sex-crime stories keeping these individuals in mind. They should push for education (as written above in part one) so as to minimise sexual confusion in such individuals. So that they don’t go on to commit sex crimes.

This doesn’t happen. Media feeds on the rape obsessed individuals who in turn feed on media.

Kartikey Sehgal

If you want to have a clear picture of the events,… then you may watch these videos instead of relying on the contents of the traditional media that holds the ongoing Indian Premiere League as more important than the ongoing riots.

The participating minority community has not endeared itself to the nation by indulging in riots at Karnataka and Bareilly. The media has been relatively silent on the riots till now—apparently to not blow it into a national issue—but the shopkeepers and bylane residents of small towns don’t rely on the English papers to direct their emotions and outrage. Many of them will either actively or passively support action against the perpetrators of violence. So let’s brace ourselves for another round of riots.

Among the residents whose women were attacked and homes were looted would be the peace lovers who believe that the nation belongs to all; to every community, caste and religion. They would in a bout of outrage, and in the assured absence of justice, wonder how the minority community can dare to attack members of a community that makes up for most of the nation. His sense of nation-for-all would be dearly disturbed and he would set out on what the media houses would eventually call—communalism.

However, sitting in cities highlighted by swanky buildings and urban-only development, many people are unaware of the nuances of small town riots and would be unfettered by their dreadful living conditions; their life marked by the expectancy of killing and looting and the promise of peace as only a temporary reprieve. The channels would do intermittent features on the event but not of the scale of Godhra. That is until a large number of people die; they will, eventually, when hordes of formerly peace loving citizens will join to defend themselves or plan for revenge. Then the media will bring out it’s favourite card—secularism.

Don’t fret if 10-20 people die
For the rest have just invited me for dinner.

Dissemination of news is among the chief duties of media houses. It must not blow the trumpet only during major big-time riots. The populace is already weaning away from them and looking to alternative media to provide for actual perspectives on issues. Residents of Bareilly have put up videos of the riots/destruction on the internet and bloggers have written extensively on the recent riots, often showcasing the reluctance of the ‘mainstream’ media houses in covering the ongoing riots.

–*–

Whatever community, sect or religion you belong to, it would not be wise to ignore these riots as the handiwork of mad men and sit back in peace; the cast of those affected in the violence includes educated people. Except that they don’t belong to the politically controlled environment of cities. Even in cities, certain areas—non high-profile—are affected by small clashes. An area in Mumbai (probably Chembur) was recently affected by rioters who resorted to stoning cars. The incident did not get much media coverage. However, it affected the local residents of the area, some of whom may resort to revenge-violence in the future. And you may be the next victim of that violence.

That is why people are resorting to alternative media to report their problems. They want to escape from their dependence on the traditional media. They don’t want to be pawns of a secular process that suppresses their issues in the name of peace and semblance. That is why they have uploaded videos onto YouTube and have invited discussions on their problems. If you want to have a clear picture of the events, in the form of examples, then you may watch these videos instead of relying on the contents of the traditional media that holds the ongoing Indian Premiere League as more important than the ongoing riots.

As I write this story, I learn that the police have already released one of the main causers of the Bareilly riots. Purportedly to maintain peace and sanity in the area. Never mind that the accused has already caused much damage to people and property.

–*–

In the videos, you will see:

*weak police
*rioters with swords
*a woman describing her ordeal
*burnt shops
*police fighting the rioters with… stones
*disgust of the people who have uploaded the videos

The Index of Videos
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bareilly+riots&search_type=&aq=f

–*–

Sifting through the religious taunts that make up the comments’ section, here are a few responses to the videos:

*Law and order failure
insult of court
hell to bloody politics
some thing has to be done in future to save our beloved city

*12 days ke lambe time ke baad bhi agar media abbhi tak nahi jagi hai
akhir yah media kya karna chah rahi hai kya yah sab uhi chalta rahega aur hum aise hi sabkuch dekhne ko mazboor rahenge…

Even after 12 long days the media has not wakened
after all what does this media want, that all this continue forever and we become forced spectators to all this…