Harmless leching?

  The four accused in the Nirbahaya case have been granted the death sentence. Most of the people are rejoicing - Justice done at last. And it is true that justice has been done to the young woman whose life was cut short abruptly.
But what about all the other young women who may or may not have been 'raped'? Has anything changed to make life safer for them? What has changed for the millions of women around our country who live in the constant fear of being raped or attacked? What about the women who are insecure in their places of work, education or even homes?

We talk about changing the world, we talk about changing mindsets, we talk about raising better sons. But what to do about the sons that have already been raised? We talk about problematizing issues - do not look at unrequited only in the context of woman's right to say no, look at why she says no. See how different class, caste intersections and hierarchies put people in constantly changing paradigms of power. All this is important and necessary but what to do now??
How to deal with the practical lived realities of our daily lives?

For instance, there is a group of guys in the building where my classes take place, that have been 'staring' creepily at the girls of my class. At first each of us thought we were the lone target of these uncomfortable glances, but upon sharing experiences we found out that in fact most of us were being troubled by these stares. This group of men lurk around in the corridors of the building. Walk up and down outside our classroom looking inside through the windows, they stand at the corners and stare into the classrooms leching at us one by one. They follow us when we go to the washroom and when we go to the water cooler.
Every time we walk into that building we have to keep our guard on and wonder what is going to happen today?

What to do in such a situation? Some people think we should confront these men, some are of the opinion that we should just stare back at them. But how to get the message across without threatening their sense of masculinity? Masculinity, especially in the context of a group can be a very complex issue. At once, the group strengthens 'collective masculinity' but at the same time makes 'individual masculinity' very fragile, which when threatened can take on more aggressive forms. For instance, if a guy is alone and he is humiliated by a girl who he has been acting smart with, he may back off easily, but if he is in a group, his ego, his sense of masculinity gets a double blow and in this case, it becomes a question of gaining ones lost ego back, which can be done by punishing the perpetrator of the threat.

Thus, this is a delicate issue. Bringing an authority like a teacher into the picture can mend matters or make matters worse. Unpredictability shrouds the whole situation. And the Police? What do you tell them, please do something about these men who are staring at us? I have noticed that many times, people brush off the so called 'stares'. They aren't taken seriously - come on they say, how many times do you get leched at everyday, if you start taking all of them seriously you would end up traumatized? Hell, most of the times, some people even tell you to stop reading into 'curious stares' as leching.
But I know what I am talking about and I am sure at least a million other women would know what I am talking about. How do brush of that intuition, the dirty feeling of being violated by somebody's eyes? And what do you do if the person continues to indulge in this seemingly 'harmless' activity everyday!

What is the solution here? Do you stop going out? Do you cover yourself from head to toe? Do you confront the person, or do you ignore till something 'serious' happens? Why is that despite so many instances of threat to women and children, we are not taking preventive measures seriously! Why do we have to wait for 'something to happen'? Why do we have to live in fear?

What can be done? Any answers society?

Earthlings - Do we deserve to be called that?

Racists violate the principle of equality by giving greater weight to the interests of members of their own race when there is a clash between their interests and the interests of those of another race. 
Sexists violate the principle of equality by favoring the interests of their own sex. 
Similarly speciesists allow the interests of their own species to override the greater interests of members of other species.
- Earthlings, 2006.

  What is it that gives the human species the power to rule over this planet? If we look closely, on the grounds of sheer strength, human beings are almost powerless! We do not run as fast as the cheetah, we do not have teeth like a tiger, we cannot roar like a lion nor can we fly like the eagle! So, logically we ought not to be on top of the food chain, and yet, we are.
Some say, it is our intelligence that sustains us. Yet others say we owe it to our adaptability skills, the fact that we have been able to survive everywhere on this planet. Some even give thanks to the ovulation cycle of the human female, that gives humans 12 chances to reproduce every year,a privilege most animals do not have. Irrespective of the reason why, we humans believe that we are a superior species and our arrogance reflects this.

  Power is not good or bad, it is neutral. The person in charge of the power is the one who decides which way it goes. Power is misused when those at the powerful end of the spectrum treat the ones at the other end as mere objects.  The human species uses this power not only to exploit its own but also other species. Ironically, we call the other species 'animals'.
Why is it that we feel the need to exploit, torture and kill other Earthlings? It is probably the same reason that the first world exploits the third world - they are poorer and thus, their lives are cheaper. We think it is our right to use others for our benefit, no matter what they go through. In a crazy capitalist world where commodity and cash flows determine the quality of life, the value of this same life is lost. As long as I am looking fine, as long as I am making profits, as long as I am teasing my taste buds, as long as I am entertained... who cares if another sentient being is in pain, being brutally tortured, living in the worst possible conditions or freaking dying! Who cares?

  We must stop being so insensitive. So arrogant. So disgusting.
These so called animals, have feelings. They feel compassion, loneliness and fear. They feel pain. They are not different from us. They do not have insensitive nerve endings. The brutal ways in which we kill them are ways in which no being deserves to be treated. We close our eyes to the cruelty that goes on in the world and feel that it doesn't exist or even if it does, its not that bad. Animals we eat, they are killed quickly, they don't know what is happening, at least they had a good life before dying(in the rare cases of biologically produced meat)! All of that is bullshit. Only rationalizations to make ourselves feel better. Everyone needs to see how this killing is done. How their food gets on the table, the way it does. How their fur coats are made and how their leather goods become so good!

  You may say that you do not want to traumatize yourself, that u can't take such 'heavy stuff', that you don't want to spoil your dinner! Do you realize that it was a million times more traumatic and 'heavy' for the poor animal who had no idea that he was going to be your freaking dinner!!  Some say ignorance is bliss, and it may be so, but it doesn't make reality go away. This is the least you can do for that poor animal that was killed to appease your 'need for protein'!

We have to stop! If for no other reason, then for ourselves! We have to remember that we share the Earth with other species. We are not the only ones alive. Everything is connected. This neo-holocaust that we have inflicted upon other species is leading to the downfall of the planet as a whole and that includes us!
It may already be too late to change but if even a few of us do change, it will save not just our life but the lives of millions of other creatures that inhabit the Earth.

Perhaps it is time to rethink our barbaric ways, and try to be a little more... whats the word? oh yes.'Human'.


P.S.: Here is the link the documentary that inspired this piece, Earthlings documentary, 2006.
http://torrentz.eu/c33478f85d5e773f2a86f70f82db1e632604f105