The writer is a clinical psychologist and tweets @MahwashB
Whether it is by selling our lovely brown women fairness creams and coloured lenses or by introducing at least one beautiful American/British girl into the storyline of your favourite drama/movie, the focus on the white woman is taking a slightly grotesque turn.
The line between fascination and obsession is smudged as I go through the account of a CNN report where a female student from the University of Chicago talks about being groped and harassed during her few months in India. She explains how she was stared at, photographed, stalked, and how her experiences landed her in a psych ward for two weeks. Her roommate even escaped a rape attempt.
My snap response to reading that piece was horror. If an average American/British/Caucasian woman has the misfortune of having the curiosity of discovering India, she should do so with a chastity belt or under a burqa, if need be, because she is going to be stared at. She is going to be stalked. She is going to be followed. She is going to have to grow a thicker skin. She is going to have to understand that had she been a white man, she would not have to fear the drool on anyone’s lips.
In 2004, an Australian woman was murdered and raped in India. White women have been bringing this issue to attention and India’s sexual harassment problem has reached a point where it needs to be addressed, not just for local women but for any woman who wants to pay India a visit. The real problem is that India is not safe for women, period.
And like our boundaries, Pakistan also shares India’s ugly fascination for gori chamri (white skin). You can use a white girl to sell anything in this part of the world. The root cause of such pathetic obsessions can be explained by either a subservient mindset or a love for our former colonial masters, which we will probably take another few decades to get over. It could also be quite simply explained with the rampant problem of sexism and objectifying women.
Any culture, subculture or social structure that objectifies women, the way Indo-Pak cinema and society does, cannot be too far away from such crimes against women. Once an actresses crosses the tender age of ‘appearing in her twenties’ she is shelved. Men pick on women because society itself gives carte blanche to such atrocious behaviour. We institutionalise violence against women (marital rape is still not considered a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code) and propagate it by making women objects of a man’s lust and not his respect.
We are a society (this includes both India and Pakistan) which considers women inferior and powerless, having lesser brains and even lesser strength and having a lower stature. This is probably why a 23-year-old woman was raped repeatedly by five men in Mumbai recently.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (20)
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@ModiFed: Women were granted the right to vote in the US in 1920 with the passing of the 19th amendment, not the 50's.
That being said, yes nobody thinks American men are saints, but fact is the condition American women, or women in most developed nations, is light years ahead of some of their traditional counterparts.
Very well said Miss Mahwish B.Agree with you completely...... This is the only common disease in India and Pakistan and both governments' leaders have badly failed to protect the women and women's rights in their countries but have been claimed very tall on large scale but verbally not practically.......
This is now a burning issue within India and Pakistan and needs to be given a serious thought to. Respect for women who are now at par with men is needed but unfortunately the feudal mindset of many a people and families still persists and it has not been easy to break this paradigm. Women continue to be treated as a piece of property or a physical object and not as an integral part of the social system. Education has unfortunately not been able to change this mindset.
How come that Elizabeth Gilbert from Eat Love and Pray were safe and sound when she was in India?
@modifed, what you have written about invaders could be correct but to say that women were not exploited in India before invaders in absurd. They were devdasis, women of lower casts were raped and pillaged like animals and it still happens in rural part of india. List could go on and on about what all was wrong with position of women in Indian society before the invaders.And It will be blasphemy to remind What Lord Rama did to his wife.
"We are a society (this includes both India and Pakistan) which considers women inferior and powerless, having lesser brains and even lesser strength and having a lower stature. This is probably why a 23-year-old woman was raped repeatedly by five men in Mumbai recently."
Entire good written article was ruined by the above conclusion.
Bad ending to a good writing. Bad creative writing skills over-all
Editors- why is this article published in 2 sections- a)Opinions and b)Blogs. So now we have 2 sets of comments !!
i think that in Pakistan women is more respectable than India. though there are problems but it does not mean that woman is living in such a bad condition still we respect them.
Issue is not as simple as explained in the article. Violence against women does not result only arise from objectification of women. Women are also objectified in the West but Western countries frame gender friendly laws that place the burden of disproving allegations of harassment on the accused. Further, state institutions are gender sensitised to respond sympathetically and effectively to complaints of sexual harassment.
Then, India and Pakistan can not be grouped together as far as sexual harassment is concerned. Harassment is caused by different dynamics in both countries and the laws and operational mechanisms to deal with harassment are also different.
My request to my fellow Indian commentators please do not defend the indefensible.
There is a difference between India and Pakistan. Women are relatively safe in Pakistan if they are in Hijab. In India it is no obvious. Women may dress as they please. It looks that way though. But women are safe in India only if they where a different kind of Hijab. They should constantly watch out for their mannerisms and behavior: eye contact, where they go, talking to strangers etc. - it is just a hidden Hijab.
While violent acts against foreign women visitors get more publicity, the problem of violence against and rapes of women in India is much broader and has become endemic. The issue is not just one of skin color. Public morality and values have degraded over the past five decades. The bollywood movies and Internet porn certainly have contributed to the erosion of morality.
@MahwashB
to be realistic, however bad the situation is in india it is much worse for women in pakistan
@ModiFed: My God, you people will ever stop blaming others for your own sickness. Either it is religion or Pakistan which is the cause of every ill in India. Why don't you look around and see the poverty, lack of education and heath care, is it Islam's fault that thousands of abortions are performed in India because most of the Indians rather have boys than girls because girls are considered liability for the families. Get off your high horse and think seriously with level handedness, you know and I know that Pakistani and Indian men like fair or white colour girls, just ask some of those dark looking girls, how do they feel. Some how in our sub conscious white is considered clean and superior than black or dark colour.
"Any culture, subculture or social structure that objectifies women, the way Indo-Pak cinema and society does, cannot be too far away from such crimes against women. Once an actresses crosses the tender age of ‘appearing in her twenties’ she is shelved. Men pick on women because society itself gives carte blanche to such atrocious behaviour. We institutionalise violence against women and propagate it by making women objects of a man’s lust and not his respect." . Author, India is not just Punjab, Hariyana, and Delhi. Please, visit a Marathi, a Malayali, an Indian Bengali, you will get a very different idea of India. Watch Kahaani (if you have not already) to get an idea how women are not objectified everywhere.
What is the point, focusing India for a social disease that exist everywhere, other than bashing.This article is childish.Sorry!
@Sohail..One should not see this article as them vs us. The author has highlighted the travails of women in India and Pakistan and there are some commonalities. The difference is that there is no institutionalised gender bias in India but the behaviour towards women in India more so in the Urban areas is truly shocking at times. Eve teasing , groping , gawking and passing snide remarks is rampant. I am not sure how bad it is in South India but North India is horrible. I agree fully with author when she says "The real problem is that India is not safe for women, period." Law enforcement should be tightened and exemplary punishment should be awarded for the perpetrators. Justice has to be swift and exemplary.
more like India bashing.
good lady, more British women are raped in turkey than India. Kindly get some figures.
Issue is not as simple as explained here or described by the American student. American men are no saint who are known to kidnap young girls and keep them hidden for years from public eye. Every other day such cases appear in US media. Historically and culturally Indian sub-continent was not like this. It all started after Muslim invaders who took away females as captives and made them "Bandi" and Kaneez etc. Ready pre-Islamic history of India and find for yourself the place of woman in society. Girl of a village is considered like daughter, sister of entire village. Incidences of rapes in villages are very low. This is more of an urban phenomenon. We Hindus worship female goddesses as much as male Gods. When it comes to women's rights in USA, they did not have even voting rights till 50s. Where as subcontinent has seen female heads of states in almost all the countries. Till date US did not have a female president or vice president. Root cause of problem in our society is the mother-in-law who initiates the difference between a male and female child. She is the main culprit I my view.
Oh ET is criticizing India. How??
Right Right. You had to include Pakistan with it, didnt you? How can this nation be allowed to feel better then them! You do a good job ET, dont you??