[Reader-list] 'What Is Eve Teasing?' - Opinion Poll Results

[subhrodip sengupta]

Back-slapping is not tight slapping, unless one is really daring.
It's slapping the buttocks.  Some more disguised methods are rubbing poking and resting...............................


________________________________
From: Rakesh Iyer <rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com>
To: Jasmeen Patheja <machleetank at gmail.com>
Cc: Sarai List <reader-list at sarai.net>; Hemangini Gupta <hemanginig at gmail.com>; jasmeen.patheja at gmail.com
Sent: Sun, 1 November, 2009 10:48:07 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] 'What Is Eve Teasing?' - Opinion Poll Results

@ Jasmeen,

If you mean to say they have a right to protest against a particular way of
behavior of men, yes they have the right to protest.

So, in totality,  if 'right to say no' means that they a right to say 'No to
Eve-Teasing' and complain about it or protest against it, or fight against
it, yes they have the freedom to act. But if it means banning someone from
seeing a woman at all (for males), I am sorry. Because misuse of freedom and
punishment for doing so is better to me, rather than complete banning of
freedom.

@ Subhrodip

Also, the idea of slapping someone is something I am against, for primarily
two reasons. Primarily, we should hate the evil, not the evil-doer, for
hating the latter doesn't help. That way, we have to keep hating so many
people, and then they would be considered hopeless, and the only way out
then to solve the problem then is to finish off such people. Already, we
have Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Maoists, women, men to be finished off
because of this reason or that (not to forget, South Indians, North Indians,
UP & Bihar bhaiyaas, Bengali Brahmans, Tamil Iyers, Kannada Lingayats, and
the list goes on.....). All this hardly solves the problem, except if
finishing off the human race itself is your argument, which nobody will
accept unfortunately.

The other objective is from the point of view of freedom. The reason
eve-teasing is wrong is because it acts as a mental unfreedom (as Amartya
Sen calls it) by forcing people to behave differently from what they would
have liked actually. For example, I can't take a particular route (if I were
a girl, that is) if boys present on that route whistle and make comments and
even talk to my breasts. Certainly in that sense it's an unfreedom. Which is
why eve-teasing should certainly be punished. And most importantly, this
mental unfreedom means that for some girls, who would like their breasts to
be seen (as a hypothetical example), this is not a problem. While for
others, yes it is a problem.

The slapping in that sense is also an unfreedom. Just because someone liked
a part of a girl, he/she is going to get a tight slap. This can't be the
first step in my opinion. Why not the girl telling the boy to mind his own
business as she feels uncomfortable? Who knows, this can make the boy stop
doing it and concentrate somewhere else? (I know culturally this sounds
ridiculous, but then why not? There were many things which when initially
introduced, did seem ridiculous; they don't seem so now).

Anyways, with the kind of society we have, a slap will never work.

By the way, if one really wishes to improve this outlook, it may be done
well by some proper things which our children can be educated about at
least. Why not do that? At least they can become mature adults and not
indulge in such acts. And also, enforce the law machinery properly, and
force the police to do the same.

Rakesh
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