A few days ago, my mother sent me a text saying that 'Pink' was a wonderful movie and that I should watch it. Now, if I'm being honest here, I didn't really give a damn at that time. I'm not too big on bollywood movies. But I then found out that Amitabh Bachchan is in it, so naturally, I felt inclined to watch it. And now that I have, I have a few words to say. The movie in itself failed to impress much: the cast was average and so was their performance (if not a bit too much), the courtroom and trial scenes were poorly thought out and I could point out about fifty loopholes right now. Amitabh's character was witty yet senile, and not a very good lawyer as far as I could tell. But that's just my opinion on something I am not fully educated about. That is not what I am here to talk about.
What I wish to talk about, is the concept. The concept that a guy can get away with raping a girl just because she's 'easy'.
This is India. Our men are manly and bearded and our women and holier than thou and dressed in saris.
India is moving forward in a way that I myself do not fully understand. Women drink, wear short dresses, date several men, homosexuality exists. But people hesitate to talk about it and accept it socially.
A girl is judged based on the length of her dresses, the size of her heels, her tolerance for alcohol and her list of ex boyfriends.
She is judged based on how often she goes out and how late she comes home, the boy-girl ratio within her friends circle and how she supposedly 'flirts' with all her male friends.
In today's day and age, where women work and live independent lives, it is impossible for a woman to survive without having certain relationships with certain members of the opposite sex. What's even more shocking, is that some women choose to be in the company of men without being romantically or sexually involved with them! Shocking, isn't it?
But what I learnt from watching this movie, is that it could happen to any of us.
I could go out with my friends tomorrow, and have a nice but strange boy offer to buy me and my friends drinks. Of course we would accept, because he seems polite and educated enough. Of course we all get a little tipsy. Of course him and his friends already have a plan in mind, an evil scheme.
But of course they don't see anything wrong with what they're doing, because me and my friends are all single girls partying on a Friday night, drinking and dancing and wearing short dresses and high heels.
Of course those boys have some friends in common with me, and of course these common friends have told the boys about my past relationships and several casual ones, too.
Of course the boy thinks, 'What's one more time to this whore?'
And of course I can't do anything about it, because at the end of the day, I'm the one that's begging for it. I'm the one that's gotten drunk, because I want them to take advantage of me when I'm vulnerable. I'm the one that's wearing the short dress, because I want to provoke them. I'm the one that's had multiple partners in the past, because that makes me public property and easy access to all men.
And at this point, I'm being raped, because I brought this on myself.
But no, it is not rape. It is just another name to add to my list. It does not matter that I did not give consent- once a whore, never more. Never a woman with free will, never a girl being violated, never a daughter being scarred for life, never a friend being stripped of her rights. Just a 'slut', getting what she deserves.
So, on behalf of every girl out there- whether she drinks or stays home, whether she has more guy friends than girls, whether she has had multiple boyfriends or she's a virgin- I want to say this: thank you. Thank you to the society and to the law, and to the men and the mentality in this country.
And I am sorry.
I am sorry, because it will always be my fault.
What I wish to talk about, is the concept. The concept that a guy can get away with raping a girl just because she's 'easy'.
This is India. Our men are manly and bearded and our women and holier than thou and dressed in saris.
India is moving forward in a way that I myself do not fully understand. Women drink, wear short dresses, date several men, homosexuality exists. But people hesitate to talk about it and accept it socially.
A girl is judged based on the length of her dresses, the size of her heels, her tolerance for alcohol and her list of ex boyfriends.
She is judged based on how often she goes out and how late she comes home, the boy-girl ratio within her friends circle and how she supposedly 'flirts' with all her male friends.
In today's day and age, where women work and live independent lives, it is impossible for a woman to survive without having certain relationships with certain members of the opposite sex. What's even more shocking, is that some women choose to be in the company of men without being romantically or sexually involved with them! Shocking, isn't it?
But what I learnt from watching this movie, is that it could happen to any of us.
I could go out with my friends tomorrow, and have a nice but strange boy offer to buy me and my friends drinks. Of course we would accept, because he seems polite and educated enough. Of course we all get a little tipsy. Of course him and his friends already have a plan in mind, an evil scheme.
But of course they don't see anything wrong with what they're doing, because me and my friends are all single girls partying on a Friday night, drinking and dancing and wearing short dresses and high heels.
Of course those boys have some friends in common with me, and of course these common friends have told the boys about my past relationships and several casual ones, too.
Of course the boy thinks, 'What's one more time to this whore?'
And of course I can't do anything about it, because at the end of the day, I'm the one that's begging for it. I'm the one that's gotten drunk, because I want them to take advantage of me when I'm vulnerable. I'm the one that's wearing the short dress, because I want to provoke them. I'm the one that's had multiple partners in the past, because that makes me public property and easy access to all men.
And at this point, I'm being raped, because I brought this on myself.
But no, it is not rape. It is just another name to add to my list. It does not matter that I did not give consent- once a whore, never more. Never a woman with free will, never a girl being violated, never a daughter being scarred for life, never a friend being stripped of her rights. Just a 'slut', getting what she deserves.
So, on behalf of every girl out there- whether she drinks or stays home, whether she has more guy friends than girls, whether she has had multiple boyfriends or she's a virgin- I want to say this: thank you. Thank you to the society and to the law, and to the men and the mentality in this country.
And I am sorry.
I am sorry, because it will always be my fault.
