Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Author

DU Beat

Browsing
News

Mera Jism Meri Marzi: Pakistani Womxn March For Their Rights

By

The Aurat March is an annual political demonstration organised in various cities of Pakistan. 

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Pakistani womxn organised Aurat March across various cities in Pakistan. The Aurat March is organized under the banner of “Hum Auratain” (we women), an umbrella term for a collective of feminist women, transgender individuals, nonbinary persons, and gender and sexual minorities who stand against the patriarchal structures that result in the sexual, economic, and structural exploitation of women.

It all started two years ago when a couple of feminist groups from Karachi decided to hold a march on International Women’s Day, 8th March. Nighat Dad, the founder of Digital Rights Foundation and one of the organisers of the march in Lahore wrote, “The agenda of the march was to demand resources and dignity for women, for the transgender community, for religious minorities, and those on the economic margins, but more importantly, to acknowledge that women’s emancipation is inherently linked with improvement of all mistreated groups and minorities”.

According to the ‘Hum Auratain’ collective manifesto, there was no NGO or corporate funding and no political party alliance. It demands economic justice including implementation of labour rights, the Sexual Harassment against Women in the Workplace Act 2010, recognition of women’s input to the ‘care economy’ as unpaid labour and provision of maternity leaves and day care centres to ensure women’s inclusion in the labour force. It also demands environmental justice.

Women’s right to climate justice and resilience must be recognised and ensured, it said, access to safe drinking water, safe and clean air, protection of animals and wildlife, including cessation to the culling of stray dogs, and ensuring and protecting women’s food sovereignty, and recognition of women’s participation in the production of food and cash crops.

Other points in the manifesto included accountability and restorative justice against violence, access to a fair justice system, the inclusion of women with disabilities, the inclusion of transgender community, reproductive justice, access to public spaces including transport services and clean public toilets, inclusion in educational institutions, etc.

Then there were the more sedate messages. Five coffins were placed at one end of the park, with chilling signs stuck to them. ‘Honour Killing’, Transgender Killings’, ‘Child Victims’, ‘Domestic Workers/Polio Workers murdered’, and ‘Domestic Violence’ – a reminder of why women are killed every day.

The rally, organised by a collective called ‘Hum Auratain’ was huge and held in different cities – Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Hyderabad.

 

Feature Image Credits: Zuneera Shah for Dawn

Paridhi Puri

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

DU Teachers Demand Permission to Work from Home

By

With the advent of the novel Coronavirus pandemic, Delhi University (DU) teachers demand permission to work from home, DU administration releases press release to accept their demands. 

On 15th March, Delhi University sought permission for teachers from the Varsity administration to work from home as the classes were suspended for all students till 31st March,2020 due to COVID-19.

Four Academic Council members sent a letter to Yogesh K Tyagi, Vice Chancellor, DU, wherein they requested extending the semester session to make use of the time lost due to regular classroom teaching coming to a halt and make necessary changes to the examination schedule.

The members said in a joint letter, “The University must seriously consider extending the semester session by a fortnight to make up for the teaching time lost due to this temporary cessation of regular classroom teaching.”

In addition to this, they also added, “Teachers should be permitted to work from home to avoid unnecessary travelling of around 10,000 citizens.”

Assistant professors Deo Kumar, Kanchan and, Saikat Ghosh, and Associate Professor Rajesh Kumar, requested work from home permission in a letter they wrote to the Vice-Chancellor as some Principals of colleges affiliated to Delhi University had asked the faculty members to report to college despite the suspension of classes. Many faculty members from various colleges extended their support to the members of Academic Council.

In response to the letter, Delhi University issued a press release that said, “Teaching-learning process shall continue through e-resources. The teachers have the option to work from home.”

The study material will be provided to students on a weekly basis on the website of every college till the suspension of classes. However, the teachers are unclear about how successful this arrangement will be.

The members also said, “Online teaching cannot be a substitute for practical learning and laboratory work where regular teaching-learning is essential.”

Feature image credits: Niharika Dabral for DU Beat

Suhani Malhotra

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Women Behind the Camera: Zooming the Lens towards the Creators

By

Not just monotonously draped women in Sarees and custom roles designed by Men, women craft their own niche on the Indian Celluloid perfectly and permeably.

Ever since the ‘release’ of Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love and Fire in 1996, stirred rows of controversies among the audience, the population was laid exposed to multiple cultures that were about to ferment in the decades to follow. The perception of women in Indian imagination sought to have a great thrust now, but what was more monumental were the two directors – Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta, who re-narrativised the ‘Bhartiya Nari and Sabhyata‘ in a post modern view.

The global egalitarian debate has pulled the female representatives at multiple fronts to collect together for achieving gender neutral objectives in – politics, business, sports and perhaps the most important the arts and entertainment industry; without any doubt the women in entertainment business exercise the highest influence and its Indian counterparts are no different, in recent times Indian celebrities have found a global following and new icons are emerging every year.

The Indian Film Industry occupies a central space in every household and it’s Pan India reception makes it even more desirable and challenging. The glamorous lead women over the years have instilled a feeling of aspiration among many young girls who dream to get a slice of ‘The Dream Pie’ and this in fact has turned true in many cases. From Durgabai Kamat to Rekha, Waheeda Rehman to Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Azmi to Priyanka Chopra many female leads have made the marks on the world memory, apart from lead actresses, playback singing seemed to be the only alternative for women for many years in this male dominated industry. But, in the last two decades the industry has witnessed many talented women who have impressed everyone with their skillful exuberance of potential as directors, screenwriters, music directors, cinematographers, etc.

My discussion on the professional female enterprise in Indian film industry has a tripartite perception – firstly, as an avid Cinemaphile general output; secondly in terms of the political depictions, thirdly as a demarcation between the West and the East.

Women making Films not your Food

1926 release ‘Bulbul Ae Paristaan’ saw a major moment in Indian Cinema when Fatima Begum became the first female writer, producer and director. Female Filmmakers like Kalpana Lajmi,  Sai Pranjpaye and Tanuja Chandra might be alien to many but their productions ‘Katha’, ‘Rudaali’ or ‘Dushman’ have captured an audience of its own. Similarly, Aparna Sen and Sumitra Bhave have successfully exploited Bengali and Marathi regional cinema with films like ’36 Chowringhee Lane.’

To reiterate the genius of Deepa Mehta and Mira Nair are beyond words, their movies have garnered critical acclaim not only in India but globally with topics that were really necessary.

Promising female directors like Meghna Gulzar of ‘Raazi’, Kiran Rao of ‘Dhobi Ghat’, Reema Kagti of ‘Talaash’, Nandita Das of ‘Manto’, Zoya Akhtar of ‘Gullyboy’, Farah Khan of ‘Main Hoon Na’, Gauri Shinde of ‘Dear Zindagi’, Shonali Bose of ‘The Sky is Pink’, Alankrita Shrivastav of ‘Lipstick Under my Burkha’ or Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari of ‘Bareily ki Barfi’ have been received well both by audience and critics and have severely diversified into script writing, editing, short films and online content.

Instigators of New Ideas

Female filmmakers have brought a range of topics like Surrogacy, sexuality, same sex relationships and horrors of patrirarchy and misogyny to attention. Depiction of lives of a lesbian relationship in ‘Fire’, a widow’s condition in ‘Water’, mental health in ‘Dear Zindagi’ or surrogacy in ‘Filhaal’, the women have hit the bell hard for others; parallely movies like  ‘Firaaq’ and ‘Salaam Bombay’ comment about the socio political condition of India in a sharp tone.

Not just Makers

Women are known for their adorning skills, their presentation has nuances of meticulousness which has been visible in recent times not just as directors or filmmakers but also in music production like Sneha Khanwalkar and Bombay Jayshree or the lyrics business like Anvita Dutt Guptan and Kausar Munir. Where Choreographers like Farah Khan, Vaibhavi Merchant and Geeta Kapur have grooved their way, designers like Niharika Khan, Anaita Shroff Adjania and Bhanu Athaiya have marked their own style.

Cinematographers like Priya Seth, Fowzia Fathima and Archana Borhade have captured stories that must hit film Critics like Subhash Jha hard when he comments as, “It comes as a surprise that the film is shot by female cinematographer Priya Seth. The images her camera captures are rugged, virile and predominantly masculine.”

The Critical Women

Nikhat Kazmi to Anupama Chopra and Namrata Joshi, women have been acclaimed critics for years, reviewing movies and it’s various aspects they have derived the opinions for the Indian Masses particularly and successfully.

It won’t be enough to say that these women are merely talked here for the sake of being one but particularly to affirm the success of these women in a misogynistic environment where their efforts have striven hard in order to see results. The male dominated land had to send out a message for the viewers who voraciously consume what is screened and pretended by their stars on and off the screens and in a state, where the patriarch and opressing society needs to acknowledge these women substantially.

Image Credits: ForbesIndia

 

Faizan Salik

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

Crushing Dissent: Aaya Police!

By

“Our democracy will not sustain if we can’t guarantee freedom of speech and expression,” PM Narendra Modi said in June 2014. But the recent police action against protestors showcases that in India what you preach is not what you practice. 

Our country is currently being rocked by protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in various places. Although there exist divided views on the issue, the major concern that has arisen is the importance of expressing dissent in a democracy and the biased stance of the police in the matter. 

Dissent can be defined as non-agreement with an idea, policy or entity. Democracy sustains and strengthens because of its ideals as well as voicing the collective will and diversity in views. It is only through acts of dissent that we can truly assess the efficacy of a democratic system. But in recent times, any kind of objection to the current government or its policies are blatantly termed as ‘Anti-national and seditious’ by the government, members of the ruling party and some other organisations. A large number of people who have criticised the government policies or even Modi, have either been arrested or brutally trolled on various social media platforms. Student protests against CAA – NRC have been ridiculed as immaturity and propaganda of the opposition. In places like Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University, Assam, etc. non-violent protests have been aggressively curbed using police force. 

The matter in question is not whether these policies and decisions are worthwhile, but the growing intolerance towards any form of opposition or disagreement to the popular decision and the police using its powers in a prejudiced manner. Scores of images, videos and other evidence have come up that have questioned the integrity of ‘kanoon ke rakhwale (Law Keepers)’. Victims of police brutality have shared horrific accounts of how they were detained on falsified charges, abused and even labelled as ‘Pakistanis’. This clampdown on civil society activists and critical minds is not a recent phenomenon. For instance, in the Bhima-Koregaon case of 2018, activists speculated to have Maoist links were arrested. Later, a fact-finding committee found that Hindu extremist groups planned Bhima-Koregaon riots, but the police targeted the activists due to pressure from the state government to protect the perpetrators. The recent transfer of the case to NIA by the Home Ministry raises further questions. Same accusations have been levied during CAA protests as the police raised their lathis and guns against some groups of protestors only. Hostility of the police is often justified on the grounds of maintaining peace and unity and colonial era laws of sedition and criminal defamation are used as crutches to support the lies. This rampant silencing by police is worrying and aggravates dubiety – whether the scales of justice always favour the privileged and the majority. 

Nurturing dogma, which restraints criticism and disapproval, will surely befall great doom upon our country. With increasing education and awareness, the police cannot act as bigoted individuals, launch a ‘witch – hunt’ on a sectarian basis and then expect the people to stay mum. 

 A democracy is prosperous when it comprises active citizens who dissent against the unjust and express their devotion and respect towards its ideals through nonviolent means and in turn, the government and its agencies too welcome their revolutionary views. That is when we become truly free and enjoy the true essence of our existence as a human. 

‘The Constitution gives us a voice

to raise against any unjust.

But they try to steal our choice

and tell us, to their whims we must adjust.

No longer will we be played as toys

cos it’s time to rise and voice our dissent.’

 

Image Credits: Manav Ahuja and Jassman for DU Beat

Ipshika Ghosh 

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

Women in Black: Female Advocacy v. The Misogynistic Unrest of India

By

What is the justification of that Judicial regimen, where due justice becomes a jargon of unjust juxtapositions judiciously jaundiced with jibes and jabber? 

Six years ago, a concern regarding justice in matters related to crime against women was raised before a panel of judges of the Calcutta High Court at a legal seminar in Asansol, the incident pondered another question about female participation in investigative teams and without much of surprise, there wasn’t a single woman advocate to actually answer my question or explain the condition anyways.

The pursuit of an egalitarian and gender-neutral society under due actions of female representation and supervision of institutions seems quite paradoxical in the Indian context. While the legislature, is mostly up to the consensus of the general population, the rationality in demographics of the executive needs to be looked upon in a separate column, this leaves us with probably the most important of these institutions – The Indian Judiciary.

Over generations, the Indian Judiciary which has historically been a reserve of few mighty men has undergone multiple amendments to allow itself to cater to the rightful place and needs of women. The first initiative to enter the Black Robe Men Sanctuary was taken by a Bengali Calcutta University Law Graduate named ‘Regina Guha’, who applied as a pleader at the district court of Alipore on 1st September, 1916, her case was dismissed by a bench of male judges under the Legal Practitioners Act.

But, following the Sex Disqualification Act, 1919 another Bengali lady by the name of Sudhanshubala Hazra augmented another petition in Patna District Court for her appointment as a pleader. The bench at Patna High Court which was redirected to preside upon the case passed a similar judgment as of the previous case debarring her to enter the legal practice.

Sudhanshubala Hazra in the 1920s said, “If there is any country, where Lady practitioners are necessary, it is India… they (women) cannot instruct the lawyer of other sex and consequently they became victims to the dishonesty.”

After a great struggle the year 1923 saw the passage of Legal Practitioners (Women) Act dismissing the disqualifications based on sex. Since, then prominent female lawyers like Congress Leader Violet Alva, who became the first women lawyer to appear before a High Court in India in 1944, rose to limelight and advocated rights of women fiercely.

In 73 years of Independence, India witnessed just a few judges at the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. In 1959, Anna Chandy became the first female judge in an Indian High Court, subsequently more like Konameneni Amareswari and Janaki Amma were appointed later at different High Courts of India. But it was only in 1989, that M Fathima Beevi was promoted as the first female judge at the Supreme Court of India. In total out of the 214 ex-judges of the Supreme Court, only five were women, whereas out of the 33 sitting judges at the Apex Court only three namely India Malhotra, R Banumathi and Indira Banerjee are women.

Apart from the chair of the judge’s significant women have inspired young and aspiring advocates with their strong skills and iconic cases that have prospered tales for generations to come.

Flavia Agnes of the ‘Majlis’ foundation is the first name that one can think of for her gender and minority rights advocacy in courts and well as papers, her initiatives for action against domestic violence is a self-experience that inspired and helped many women rightly. The 2012 Nirbhaya Case prompted another strong advocate of Anti Rape Bill who has been a defining name in criminal, constitutional, media and policy laws. As a ferocious advocate of Free Speech, Karuna Nundy fought ardently for the survivors of Bhopal gas tragedy and has been leading many in the Anti CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) NRC (National Register for Citizens) and NPR (National Population Register) protests.

Veteran Supreme Court Advocate Pinky Anand who is currently serving as an Additional Solicitor General of India has expertise in Constitutional, Property, Family and International law. Talking about another and the first Additional Solicitor General of India, Indira Jaising is one of the highest-ranked leaders whose voicing of child, women and minority rights is hailed with respect, she has argued cases of homeless and environment concerns in the Supreme Court and is currently representing the students of Jamia Millia Islamia who suffered the Police brutalities and action. Vrinda Grover is another female lawyer who has raised student’s pleas in the previous case, previously she has represented the victims of the1984 Anti Sikh Riots and has been instrumental in the formulation of POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, 2012 and Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010.

Rebecca John is probably the first woman Criminal lawyer who has handled numerous cases with like the 2008 Noida Double Murder Case. The Kathua Rape Case petitioner Deepika Singh Rajawat has certainly epitomized empathy with ferocious meticulousness; as a human rights activist, she has closely worked with ‘CRY'(Child Relief and You) and other NGOs.

The Corporate field would be incomplete without the famous and iconic Zia Mody who has sought to revolutionise the field for better at national as well as the global front. In a stark parallel to the corporate world, Sudha Bharadwaj has fervently advanced trade union and land acquisition laws in India, with a ground experience of working with the Dalits and tribals, Bharadwaj has strongly voiced their concerns multiple times. Lawyers like Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju who made a big progression after winning the battle against same-sex relationships are making their way as well.

With these names standing up to the double reputation of India’s judiciary and its women, the allegations, proceedings, and judgement regarding the sexual harassment charges levied against ex-Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has rightly brought up the fears of women where the case went up to country’s apex Court but in a rather bizarre manner. This surely reiterates Sudhanshubala Hazra’s aforementioned quote and necessitates the female participation in Indian courts for the greater good of all.

Featured Image Credits: Scoopwhoop 

Faizan Salik

[email protected]

 

 

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Not All Womxn Menstruate; Not All Menstruators Are Womxn

By

The conversation surrounding menstruation has largely been women-centric, is it time to go beyond the binary and include trans men, and queer folks? 

‘Bleeding makes me feel empowered’ is one of my go-to statements while I am menstruating. Most of the cis-gendered womxn I have encountered are surrounded by differing experiences, from squirming ovaries to period sex. Come womxn’s day, menstrual hygiene management, sanitary products, cramps, advertisements, literature, most of them cease to acknowledge that, not all womxn menstruate and not all people who menstruate are womxn.

Always, a menstrual product company owned by Procter and Gamble removed the ‘Venus’ symbol from their products, thus, dissociating their product packaging with womxn, making it more inclusive. Cis-womxn felt rather excluded believing that they are being erased from the conversations. They have criticised the inclusion of non-binary, trans men, and individuals of other genders and considered it disrespectful. What is feminism if not intersectional? 

A chance encounter with Vihaan Peethambar, Queer Feminist and Trans Activist at a Summit in Delhi last year threw light on the idea of trans men aka, those individuals who were assigned female at birth, implying that they menstruate well into their transition. We as a society tend to draw the line of womanhood at menstruation. We equate menstruation with feminity.

Gender does not have anything to do with one’s biological anatomy. Vihaan talks of the sheer disparity of bringing the non-binary and queer folks into the conversation surrounding menstruation. Anyone with a functioning uterus, ovaries, and hormonal system will menstruate until menopause. Umaima, a cis-gendered woman says, “The problematic aspect of the approach towards a subject which itself is a taboo is when womxn talk of mensuration in the specificity of it being about them and their oppression which is the partial truth. It sort of puts them in a superior light of oppression than those who disassociate from binary therefore furthering a difference of gender which shouldn’t exist in the first place.”

A gynaecologist in conversation with sheknows says, “If you have a uterus and aren’t pregnant/breastfeeding, menopausal, hormonally suppressing your periods, or dealing with a condition like PCOS, then you’re likely menstruating.” It is essential to disregard gender as a societal construct and focus on the functioning of the uterus. Sex-education is highly heteronormative and tends to chunk out a large community altogether. Transmen find menstruation a reminder of their ‘feminity’, a part of them that they would want to shed. It is a blaring alarm pointing towards their gender dysphoria. Streamlining the conversation towards cis-womxn and limiting it to womanhood, empowerment, and unleashing one’s power of reproduction eliminates and ostracises conversations, social action, public health, and legislative measures of an entire community.

The feminist movement has failed if its sense of feminism limits itself to cis-gendered womxn. It goes beyond the binary, intersectionality is the future of feminist discourse, it is time that the narrative incorporates womxn.

Feature Image Credits: helloclue

Anandi Sen

[email protected] 

 

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Deocoding Deceptive Deepfake

By

With forthcoming breakthroughs of technology, lingers a threat of out doing human synapse of comprehension and consumption of information.

Limitless possibilities afloat of what one can dismiss as impossible only to find out that technology can prove otherwise. 2017 saw a manifestation of ‘deepfakes’ in the West which is an artificial intelligence software which works by mechanising synthetic algorithms to superimpose the voice or face or both of someone else over the subject and make it appear that they said it in real-time. In 2018 comedian Jordan Peele released quite a believable video of former President of the States, Barack Obama saying things as a PSA which was doctored by the comedian himself. The purpose was to mediate the message of the extent to which Deepfake can be deceiving and the ease of creating and sharing them.

Deepfake video of Barack Obama taken from YouTube channel of Good morning America!

This software was initially used in the porn business to generate revenue. Graphics of celebrities and well-known faces were easily accessible from the net thereby making them easy targets for the subject of their content. Lately, this technology is doing rounds in harbouring fake news as it has been seeping into politics.

A day ahead of Delhi elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, Manoj Tiwari’s video of criticizing the Kejriwal led government surfaced in multiple languages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, aimed at targeting prospective voters. The singer/actor turned politician can be seen speaking in fluent English and Haryanvi making appeals to the Janata to vote for his party when in reality the actual video was him speaking on the affirmation of passing of Citizenship Amendment Bill (now Act) in the house of parliament.

Video of Manoj Tiwari speaking in English and Haryanvi taken from The Vice

The negative repercussions of Deepfake are directly proportional to the ease with which it can be accessed feasibly. Politicians tailor their needs of reaching more target voters than their opponents in more authentic ways possible. People who consumed Manoj Tiwari’s hoaxed video felt more attached to him when he spoke in their language. A major threat with the upcoming of such videos is that denial would become a lot easier for people who can be easily caught in their wrongdoings via citizen journalism. They can immediately call out the video for being falsified. Even worse, anyone can be made to say things which they didn’t and share that video extensively.

In a country like India which is vulnerable to riots, such videos will serve as a very good bait to disturb peace and harmony.

Actual video of Manoj Tiwari taken from The Vice

Prateek Sinha of Alt news- a fact-checking website, in an interview with Vice said,” At this point in time it’s impossible to fact check or verify something that you don’t recognise is doctored.”

It has become a whole lot easier to deceive people especially the ones who are in the oblivion of the technological jargon.

A critical approach in understanding these videos would be an ideal case scenario but in reality, we are a nation which believes in United Nation giveaways of honorifics to Indian festivals and national anthem. How can we decipher the face2face algorithms and others incorporated in making such lies? A New York-based software company is working on detecting Deepfake videos. It would be a relief to say that ills of technology are countered by technology itself, however, it’s imperative that we exercise extreme caution before believing any content. Fact check it while we can and run it through multiple sources before sharing them because separating the act of consuming and sharing of information has the ability to impede the pace of harm that this new technology bores as it’s potential.

Suggestive fact checking websites: altnews.in, indiaspend.com, boomlive.com, www.hoaxslayer.net, mediavigil.com

Feature Image Credits: m.phys

Feature Image Caption: AI enabled technology superimposed actor Nicolas Cage’s face on Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk.

Umaima Khanam

[email protected] 

 

Keep Reading
By
Features

The Unwanted Threesome: Pornography, Patriarchy, and Power

By

Pornography through videos, images, and stories has been prevalent since time immemorial. Humans are inherently voyeuristic which has led to sex and pleasure being placed at the pedestal. Staring from the Kama Sutra to virtual reality porn, we surely have come a long way. 

Pornography with its several dimensions and categories has gradually developed into an extremely male-pleasure centric idea. With perfect bodies catering to the patriarchal idea of beauty, porn not only encourages a false set of reality and expectations, but it also paves the way to the idea of men being dominant and seeking pleasure in the suppression of women.

PornHub’s #4 most-watched video of the first week of January 2020 with over 4 million views is of a teen girl with her hands/feet shackled down, mouth gagged, penetrated with a machine and electrocuted. Several individuals objected to the very act and deemed as non-consensual, evoking violence and abuse.  However, the performer, Addee Kate, later clarified that it was consensual.

Manvi Jain, a student of Sri Venkateswara College says, “Understanding porn is extremely subjective because there are so many categories of porn. For instance, if you watch femdom, it’s more empowering as the woman is in charge and is not shown as an object. Whereas, if you watch BDSM or just plain vanilla, it portrays the woman as a mere sexual object.”

BDSM or Bondage/Discipline, Dominance/Submission, and Sadism/Masochism has been questioned and refuted as highly patriarchal and sexist towards all the performing genders. Seeking pleasure by evoking pain in others through torture is inherently leading to a dominant and submissive relationship where mostly, the male and female respectively take their positions.

Even though consent forms the ground rock of all sexual practices, why are porn and its categories considered demeaning? 

BDSM and degradation of women hang on a very thin thread. The difference between the two lies on a concept as simple as consent. It is essential to understand that dominating and choosing to be submissive is a choice, however, constant consumption of a similar kind of act, say, male domination over a female, implicitly states the normalised hierarchy in a heterosexual relationship.

Sneha Agrawal, a Journalism student says, “In porn, women come with the very heavy cost of losing control over how they’re being treated during the course of sexual activity. Porn normalises such treatment, where men inherently feel that it’s normal or alright if they behave in a certain manner, which is the most problematic part.” She continues talking about how porn serves as a ‘sexual guide’ to a large number of adults. The repercussions of which is, they assume whatever is being done to their partner in order to derive pleasure is normal.

On similar lines, Disha Arya believes BDSM to be inherently problematic and arising from a desire to control. “I dislike how rough sex is romanticised. I dislike how male domination and female submission is normalised. We as a society expect women to be submissive. Men are introduced to porn pretty young, seeing this as the norm, they believe that they’re the ones who are supposed to take control.”

Porn is inherently so male-centric that they had to make a separate category to cater to women’s needs under the banner of ‘porn for women’. In 2016, there was an increase of 168% in searches for lesbian and 218% in female-friendly. These numbers portray that mainstream porn clearly doesn’t cater to their XX chromosome audience. Talking of consent implying choice and desire, 64.6% want to be dominated as opposed to the 53.3% men.

 

Feature Image Credits: Goodreads

 

Anandi Sen

[email protected] 

 

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

Hypocrisies Behind the Notions of Women’s Safety

By

 An examination of the notion entrenched in our patriarchal society to place the onus of safety on the victims instead of curbing crimes or changing the patriarchal mindset.

According to the most recent government data for the year 2017, more than 32,500 cases of rape were registered in India, which comes out to around 90 a day. A lot of cases might not have been reported. In a lot of these cases, not to mention the harassment that countless women have to face on a daily basis, the one factor that is common are the instances of victim blaming that are offered by the patriarchal society as justifications. The idea of victim blaming in crimes against women is deeply entrenched in the Indian society, with the clothes the victim was wearing or the time she was out on the street being a topic of conversation instead of the lack of gender sensitisation, morality, or the brutality of the perpetrators.

From the countless instances during this year’s cultural fests across Universities, traditional safe spaces cannot even be seen as space. Even in these safe spaces such as colleges, hostels, and even homes, it is seen that the blame is shifted on women instead of addressing the root issue. A student from Indraprashtha College For Women (IPCW) and a resident from IP Hostel who wishes to remain anonymous narrates an incident from a hostel General Body Meeting (GBM). She says, “Along with our curfews and restrictions, we face this pressure to change and compromise our lifestyle to stay safe. In the GBM, a girl complained that the male workers stare at girls when we don’t wear a bra. Our Principal told us that its a hostel and we should dress properly and not wear shorts and wear a bra. So instead of making our hostel a safe space for us and checking the male workers, the blame was shifted on us.”

The idea is also engrained into what should be the first safe space, our homes. Varshini, an M.A student from Chennai says “My mom slut-shames me when my bra shows through my top. If I don’t want to get raped, I have to wear three layers of clothes in the Chennai sun. Comfort or safety is the choice I have to make.” This onus on women is something that women have been made to follow through fear instilled by the condition of women’s safety in our country and what they have seen growing up.

Recently, the nature of police in India and their brutality has come to light, with those who are supposed to protect massively failing to do so. This is also something that women have had to face even before it came into light for most of us, as Sakshi Singh, a student in Pune recounts a disturbing tale “This happened last May, I was in the car with my maternal uncle and we were going home, around 11 o’clock. These two girls on a scooty were riding beside us and looked panicked. They asked us to pull the window down. Then they explained how they just left left a party and two drunk guys are following them on a bike. My uncle was very concerned, so he drove alongside them, but the bike continued to follow, and they were shouting. They were even threatening the girls. We reached a junction soon, where there were two police officers. We stopped the car and told them the entire thing. The police just looked at the girls and said, “aise kapde pehen ke itni raat tak ghumengi toh hoga hi na” (if you wear such clothes and roam around at night then this is bound to happen), I was very shocked and irritated. Uncle took their names and complained to higher authorities later.” 

Without gender sensitisation, effective laws, lack of support, and an incompetent police force, women are left with nowhere to turn to. Women are forced to compromise their lifestyles and identity for basic safety. It is high time that the culture of victim blaming is fought back against and more emphasis is put on curbing these crimes through gender sensitization and teaching the concept of consent to men from a young age along with the government actively working to curb these crimes instead of putting the onus on women and telling them how to dress or when to leave their homes and come back.

 

Feature Image Credits: FreePressJournal

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

 

 

 

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

The Need for Women’s Voices to be Heard

By

Issues concerning women have been raised time and again. But still it’s mere man who dictates over ‘Devi’. It’s high time to realise the importance of a woman’s voice.

“I have been wronged”, she hollers. Everyone applauds her valour, says her voice is cared for. But none comes forward to stand with her, and now the wrong just becomes a blur.

We have come a long way since the beacon for equal rights, opportunities, and dignity for women was first kindled. It’s truly remarkable how feminism, the women’s suffragette movement, etc. have had such incredible impact on the male dominated construct of our society. The woman of today, empowered and enlightened, stands at a far better position than any time in history.With the turn of the century, as women were jostling with the unjust norms and discriminatory prejudices of the past, they also had to combat some ‘state of the art’ issues, concerning access to amenities and representation at the ‘table’. But so wondrous is the taste of liberty and appreciation of self, that women push on with greater vigor and zeal, determined never to turn back. Movements like #MeToo and Time’sUp, and the raising of issues like equal pay, sexism, reproductive rights etc. showcase a growing awareness for an egalitarian society. Because of the internet and social media, they garnered huge attention and tried to topple the patriarchy-ridden aspects of a woman’s existence.

Yet, they also showed that the voice of women is rarely ‘heard’. Often, when a woman speaks out about any kind of abuse or unequal treatment; she is silenced at first and if this does not work, she is ridiculed and publically shamed. Her distress is termed as mood swings, tantrums, and ‘Aurat ho, ye toh hota hi hai (You are a woman, this happens)’. No wonder hundreds of cases of rapes, violence, and sexual misconduct go unreported all over the world. Even when the angst expressed is taken note of, no serious action against it is taken. For instance, out of numerous cases of sexual harassment that disclosed because of the #MeToo movement, only a few perpetrators have been hauled to the court. There are many committees, NGO’s, government departments that work for women related issues. But as a man’s ‘roar’ often overpowers a woman’s ‘squeal’, they either have a man at the helm or it is the men who are the policymakers; which robs the destined objective of ‘welfare of women’ of having the much required opinion of the women themselves.

In an article by Cecilie Hestbaek for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, she quotes “…while women’s voices don’t need ‘strengthening’ as it is sometimes referred to—they need to be listenedto better.” Issues concerning women are being raised vociferously but what we need is hearing them out and directing concerted actions towards them.We, as women have struggled hard to discover our voices and now it is time to make them paid due heed to. Our insecurities, mistrust in our strengths, and fear of society weigh us down in this flight towards justice. Only with a passionate collective effort, inclusive of all from men, women, young girls to queer women, trans people, and by embracing and strengthening ourfeminine qualities, do we have a strong chance of building upon a future promised to us under the grace of the universe.The institutionalised patriarchy in the Indian society and the belief of women being the inferior gender enables male superiority and deteriorates the condition of women in the country, rendering their voices unheard and unbelievably subdued. It is high time that women and their opinions are given centre stage and their voices are given equal importance.

Image Credits: SabrangIndia 

Ipshika Ghosh

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By