In one of the previous editions, Chitra Goyal (sector 30) had beautifully presented her opinion on why the burden of upholding morality should be fairly divided between women and men. क्योंकि आखि़रकार, संस्कार का परचम लहराने का ठेका सिर्फ लड़कियों ने नहीं ले रखा।
The constant sexual shaming of girls and women for all sorts of issues, ranging from their periods to what they wear and so much more is so prevalent that it is a pandemic in its own right. Unfortunately, in a most cases, parents, teachers and other significant adults are responsible for perpetuating this perverted mindset. I remember an incident from my school days when our Principal, a woman herself, angrily took to the stage one fine day to announce that the uniform for all the girls, which up until then was a button down shirt and knee-length skirt, was to be changed to a button down shirt and an ultra-long tunic. Reason being, one of the male teachers was seen ogling at a female student’s legs during the weekly P.T. class! Till date, no one knows who that male teacher was, but we do know that he got away, while the blame, the shame and the punishment was conveniently deflected onto all the girls, who from that day on, had to get comfortable wearing the uncomfortably heavy tunic even during the harshest of summer days. The ‘wrong’ message that this whole episode sent out was that women’s bodies are a perpetual source of male distraction- a point Ms. Goyal touched upon in her article as well.
This ‘culture’ of shaming the victim instead of the perpetrator needs to be tackled, and how!
A quote that is often seen on placards during candle light vigils in Delhi comes to my mind- ‘‘नजर तेरी बुरी, परदा मैं करू?’’ Well, I couldn’t agree more.
