women

Samar Halarnkar

‘I am against women wearing obscene clothes. With such clothes, they tempt men, and that’s why they (women) get raped.’

It is bad enough that Indian men — not the most appealing of God’s creatures — in positions of power occasionally make public, sexist statements that demean working women and female students. But when a declaration like that comes from a woman like KK Seetamma, head of a committee set up by Bangalore University to fight sexual harassment, you have to wonder about the kind of thoughts coursing through the mind of emerging India.

Dhruv Arora

After the downright brilliant comments made by our beloved Mister Minister C C Patil, the next round of statements are even more surprising. This time, it’s a woman’s voice speaking for Mr. Patil’s cause. And this is no ordinary woman, no; we’re referring to K K Seetamma, head of the committee, ironically, set up to fight sexual harassment down at the Karnataka University. The ever-so-delightful higher-ups down at KU continuously seem to be out-doing each other. According to Seetamma Ji, the only solution to women facing sexual harassment is...

Manvi Malhotra

Just about 60 years ago, showing off skin was not even a legal concept; it was illegal for women to show their skin more than their legs and arms. By this I am referring to first world countries. Swim wear for women were gigantic dresses. But as the there was rise of feminism, women were appealing for their rights not only in fields like english literature, but also in the physical world. Now showing off legs and arms was legal, swim wear at beach was also showing off an adequate amount of skin. Out of this historical happening the main stream that was important to us is that there was a "restriction". Yeah its a controversial word, and sentiments are hurt with this word if we leave behind the whole chapter of how illegal it was. Girls were getting arrested for showing skin, but because their was a clear difference between the “decent” and “non-decent” girls (by this I mean sex workers off-course). This all created a hindrance or fear in the mind of decent girls to not show skin. This is the same concept prevalent here in the India.

Shobhita Dhar

Mohnish Moorjani is a real estate developer in Mumbai who has wit- nessed sexual harassment of women on streets a million times. But unlike most men, he has decided to do something about it. It’s a long shot, but he has started off with Shoot at Sight, an online group on Face- book where women can post pictures of eve teasers. The idea is to shame the offenders. “As a man, nothing pisses me off more than the sight of men shamelessly staring at my partner or friends...young men holding hands, who could either be lovers or sticking together because they are scared of something, check out every woman passing by as if it were ET doing squats,” says Moorjani, who regularly clicks eve teasers and puts up their mugs on his page.

Cynthia Cockburn and  Ann Oakley

The phrase "violence against women" calls for comment. It names the victims but not the perpetrators. The fact that men are mainly responsible for violent and health-harming behaviours, not only against women and children but also against each other, is so taken for granted that it slips beneath the radar of commentators and policymakers.

Sarah Mills

Stanly and Parashuram were researching a story in a village when they encountered Radhamma, a prostituted woman who challenged them to face up to the realities of women in prostitution, and opened their eyes to the horrors of trafficking. At the time, no other organisations in Mysore were supporting women in prostitution, and as two men, they have often been treated with suspicion.

Emmanuelle Paris-Cohen

Nilanjana Roy

We never look at male behaviour; it's always the women in the spotlight. We never shame rapists the way we shame the raped. But not anymore , Nilanjana Roy shares a look in the world where men are under scrutiny !

Also write in your thoughts how you would like to discuss men in the same minute details as men discuss women.