Today I came across an article published in the New York Times titled "The Good Men of India" in the Op-ed section of the widely-read newspaper. The author, Lavanya Sankaran ,offered a rosy picture of the men of India defending their subjectivity in the backlash men have received in India which has become magnified in the international media as THE country where women are the most vulnerable and unsafe! Arguments have been made that the perpetrators of the Delhi rape case and other rapists should be sentenced to death or castrated according to the Gang Rape law case under section 376 (G) that was instated in 2012 after the horrific Delhi Rape case took place stunning men and women around the world! I also could not but find the glaring contradictions between NY times article and Times of India, which spoke the alleged gang rape of a 30-year-old woman in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Sankaran's analysis of the men in India she encounters on her flight to Bangalore highlights the changes in the power dynamics of the airplane where men are air stewards while a woman pilot controls the plane - stereo-typically found to be the reversal of gender roles in the airline industry profession. She argues and suggests that there is an "alternate male reality" where men are the "kindest in the world." Now, I don't have any issues with the claims she makes here. India, as a country, is a complex potpourri where people's subjectivity is shaped by various elements including class and economic status, religious, and caste status. She was observing the behavior of upper-class business men who supposedly did not "grumble" when toys and children were creating chaos in the airplane space.
She writes:
Let me introduce the Common Indian Male, a category that deserves taxonomic recognition: committed, concerned, cautious; intellectually curious, linguistically witty; socially gregarious, endearingly awkward; quick to laugh, slow to anger. Frequently spotted in domestic circles, traveling in a family herd. He has been sighted in sari shops and handbag stores, engaged in debating his spouse’s selection with the sons and daughters who trail behind. There is, apparently, no domestic decision that is not worthy of his involvement.
Yes, the Indian men are the way she describes them but I am deeply troubled by her decision to use the term "the common Indian Male" that too with capital letters. Who is the "Common Indian Male"? This definition needs to be investigated before we can make any argument. I am in agreement with her defense of the Indian men and appreciate her voice in this important discussion but we cannot overlook universalized assumptions that excuse the inaction that has taken place since the Delhi Rape case happened in 2012 and blackened the name of India with titles like "Shame Capital" forever! I myself responded defending the Indian men in a previous blog but also realize that it is not a rosy picture Sankaran claims in her article.
She also points out:
But when it is at its best, the results, in women’s lives, speak for themselves. If the image of the Indian female as victim is true, so, too, is its converse: the Indian woman who coexists as a strong survivor, as conqueror, as worshiped goddess made flesh. Indian women have served as prime minister and president. They head banks and large corporations. They are formidable politicians, religious heads, cultural icons, judges, athletes and even godmothers of crime.
I am in accordance with her argument here! I do agree that Indian women are not just victims but many occupy a position of power within the Indian government, large corporations, and so on but we cannot by any means. However, have we thought about the "Common Indian woman"'s subjectivity? Have we questioned her position with the social spheres she interacts in? What type of sacrifices does she have to make in order to be in the position of power if she is in one? Herein lies the rub....
I belong to an upper middle class family in India. I was born in India and with my family migrated to Malaysia when I was 7 years old. After which we lived in Singapore for 7 years, and finally migrated to the United States in February 2001 and am pursuing a PhD. in Canada.
Despite living in so many countries, I held on to the conventional Indian values and was raised in a semi-liberal household where we - both my brother and I - were raised to have a modern outlook on life but retain our "traditional" Indian values. I struggled throughout my childhood, teens, and early 20s to define my subjectivity. How could I find a balance between the conflicting modern ideologies we learned in school and our traditional values we were raised with?
I observed many things growing up and continue to do so:
- In many traditional Indian households, women cannot pray in the religious temple if she is menstruating (yet she is viewed as a Goddess)! I found this a deeply problematic practice and somewhat hypocritical but you have to respect the wishes of friends and elders who strongly believe in it. Its hard to engage in an analytic and "objective" analysis of the practice without hurting the feelings of those who believe in it so you have to let go of the irritation.
- Wearing clothes that are body-tight and otherwise show cleavage becomes a cause of worry for people quite quickly. Women are raised to be more modest but there seems to be no control of how men perceive you and this problem I would like to highlight is universal and everywhere not regionally or geographically-specific. All Indian men are again I want to repeat are not out to "get some" and I cannot overemphasize this point.
- There is no discussion of intimacy and sex within an Indian household (in my observation and do not want to generalize). I hope to change this practice in my own home one day. I would like my son or daughter to be aware of everything so that he/she accepts this as a normal human practice. Hence, there is no knowledge that is passed on to the young girls and women about safe contraception and safe sexual practices. Instead, abstinence is encouraged to prevent any early teen pregnancy or STDs but if you look at films like Dev D (2009) and Luv Ka The End (2011) both highlight a culture in cities like Mumbai and Delhi where young women choose to engage in pre-marital sex without being aware of safe sexual practices. They end up having unhygienic abortions and can be subject to fatal infections! There is an emphasis on honour, purity, and chastity within households lest its forgotten that a person's characterization and purity stems from actions not because they have or have not been sexually active or not.
- Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate highlighted important issues that we cannot overlook. We keep on bringing these issues to our forums but do not take steps to further understand why its happening and why India has become the posterchild for rape cases?
Monisha rajesh concludes, "Ultimately the conversation must continue. Since the Delhi gang rape the discussion over each newly reported rape has subsided faster and faster with social media moving swiftly on to lamenting the fall in the rupee or arguing over India’s foreign film entry to the Oscars, while the everyday rapes, acid attacks, domestic abuse and violence continue quietly in the background."
True to the statement Rajesh has concluded, the discussions may continue but its important to understand the complexities and nuances of the "common Indian men and women" in India. Leela Fernandes (2006) 's India's New Middle Class offers a comprehensive analysis of the middle class Indian since the 1990's and I highly recommend this book to understand the politics of the "New" India.
I myself am still trying to understand the socio-economic, political, and literary implications of the recent discussions of rape cases in India. There is no right or wrong answer to this problem since it is laced with lots of complex issues and mind you, I have not even engaged in class/caste politics and rape of Dalit women. Furthermore, rape of men does take place. Aitraaz (2004) was a powerful representation of this issue but again, we just assume that women are victims. These are the issues I am grappling with as I read these news articles and further engage in these discussions.
Images and Source: stream.aljazeera.com, nytimes.com timesofindia.com, amazon.com, cdn.asiancorrespondent.com, wsj.net, and newstatement.com
© Nidhi Shrivastava 2014 This content is subject to copyrights. Please ask for my permission before using this content for any purpose.
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