The recent furore over the Karnataka minsters watching porn during assembly has led to the resignation of the three minsters. One of them(CC Pati) had recently commented on how girls should dress up to prevent themselves from getting raped. Does the resignation solve any of the underlying issues?
What is considered wrong in this scenario -
Watching porn during the assembly or watching porn when there was discussion?
Shouldn't the issue be 'not playing an active role in the live discussion in the house' (irrespective of what they did when should have been paying attention)?
OR 'Watching porn'.
How long will our so-called public servants have no laws applicable to them?
As students and employees we have regulating guidelines and testing mechanisms that ensure that we do our work correctly. Why is there no such mechanism in place for politicians? If we take the law and courts to be this regulating authority, there is no argument against the fact that they have failed miserably in this matter. They don't seem to be accountable to any random statements they make in the name of Indian culture or to any disgraceful acts that are against women. These men cant even perform their tasks in the right manner.
Unless the judicial system is completely de-coupled from the government there can be no solace. According to theory, that is what a republic is meant to achieve.
The second issue of porn - as a women I am quite uncomfortable and against such actions. It is an animal-instinct that these videos propose to serve and that is what some men are admittedly becoming. There are too many justifications given on why men need the porn piece in their life.
"It is natural. Most guys and many girls watch it regularly. It does not cause any immediate harm to anyone - in fact it helps in releasing the pent up sexual energy."
But isn't it a fact too that it arouses sexual feelings and imagination? That it can make humans imagine things and want things with their partner which they might not be capable of? That the women on such strips are treated much like the dirt on their shoes? One moment of deriving pleasure from this women and the next moment deriding her.
A prostitute deserves respect because her body is her business and if she uses it to earn money it is her choice. But what rights do men have to use them but slander the industry they help in growing? It is an impossible task to wipe this industry because it is impossible to wipe out lust and power from men's minds. Shifting the blame for existence of the industry from these men to these helpless women is a useless task.
CC Patil's next statement - "The women in the video provoked me to watch their bodies. What do they think poor men can do when women purposefully entice them during assembly? If they were adorned with sarees maybe I would not have watched it"
"I think it was a female virus that attacked my computer and switched on that video clip"
and you can hear the Andhra DGP second him with "Aye! Aye sir!"
What is considered wrong in this scenario -
Watching porn during the assembly or watching porn when there was discussion?
Shouldn't the issue be 'not playing an active role in the live discussion in the house' (irrespective of what they did when should have been paying attention)?
OR 'Watching porn'.
How long will our so-called public servants have no laws applicable to them?
As students and employees we have regulating guidelines and testing mechanisms that ensure that we do our work correctly. Why is there no such mechanism in place for politicians? If we take the law and courts to be this regulating authority, there is no argument against the fact that they have failed miserably in this matter. They don't seem to be accountable to any random statements they make in the name of Indian culture or to any disgraceful acts that are against women. These men cant even perform their tasks in the right manner.
Unless the judicial system is completely de-coupled from the government there can be no solace. According to theory, that is what a republic is meant to achieve.
The second issue of porn - as a women I am quite uncomfortable and against such actions. It is an animal-instinct that these videos propose to serve and that is what some men are admittedly becoming. There are too many justifications given on why men need the porn piece in their life.
"It is natural. Most guys and many girls watch it regularly. It does not cause any immediate harm to anyone - in fact it helps in releasing the pent up sexual energy."
But isn't it a fact too that it arouses sexual feelings and imagination? That it can make humans imagine things and want things with their partner which they might not be capable of? That the women on such strips are treated much like the dirt on their shoes? One moment of deriving pleasure from this women and the next moment deriding her.
A prostitute deserves respect because her body is her business and if she uses it to earn money it is her choice. But what rights do men have to use them but slander the industry they help in growing? It is an impossible task to wipe this industry because it is impossible to wipe out lust and power from men's minds. Shifting the blame for existence of the industry from these men to these helpless women is a useless task.
CC Patil's next statement - "The women in the video provoked me to watch their bodies. What do they think poor men can do when women purposefully entice them during assembly? If they were adorned with sarees maybe I would not have watched it"
"I think it was a female virus that attacked my computer and switched on that video clip"
and you can hear the Andhra DGP second him with "Aye! Aye sir!"
And these same men show no respect for the any women, those in the 'obscene videos' and those who fit into every ideal of Indian womanhood.
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with watching porn per se. To me, it's as bad as if they were playing video games in the assembly.
ReplyDeleteA person is judged by what they do and not by what they watch/think. Let's not make porn a thought crime here.
I agree with Bhagwad here. As I said in my post the speed at which the resignations was obtained speaks volumes about misplaced morality of our society
ReplyDeleteI have two points here.
ReplyDeleteOne is that you assume everyone has a partner to release his/her pent up sexual energy. That is not so, and I know friends who get relief from watching porn.
As you said, the reason it was bad was because these same men criticise porn and women who make porn while using their services. Another reason was that they are doing it in public time. Namely, they are using the money we taxpayers give them to watch porn during Assembly.
Also, I would like to point out that these men watch porn because of repressive culture that they have imposed upon themselves and their women. They don't repress women because they watch porn. The cause-effect works in the opposite direction, imo.
- Fem (why doesn't blogspot allow me to use any name I like?!)
@Bhagwad and Arun
ReplyDeleteUsually a person is judged only by what he does - outsiders can see the action but not what the person thinks. But watching porn is an action and does not stop at the thought - thats why they were caught.
I believe that what the person thinks will ultimately evolve into the actions. And we can see that very well in these ministers in their attitide towards women.
@Fem
Agree that many do not have sexual partners. But aren't there other alternatives (toys etc)?
There are freinds who watch porn and like I have said it is considered normal. There are women who want to be sex objects/stars but most women in this field have been pushed into this. Even if there are not too many alternatives,aren't we indirectly supporting an industry that is exploitative.
Where is the market without the customer?
Repressive culture exists in India. Porn is rampant thoroughtout the world irrespective of the status of women. Married men also watch it.
@Sam
ReplyDeleteI play violent video games all the time - usually for around 3 hours a day. Yet I'm one of the gentlest people I know and don't even kill spiders and cockroaches, but pick them up and throw them outside instead.
Do you have any supporting evidence to back up your claim that watching/playing stuff causes a similar behavior in real life other than your opinion? I don't believe there is any such study.
@Bhagwad
ReplyDeleteThere are 3 different things here
1. For me 'watching porn' is in itself the problem.
2. Watching/playing something might affect the way you are thinking in a positive or negative manner. For you, playing a violent game might provide relaxation and fun which is positive. But it is also a fact that people watch movies, read blogs and get inspired to do certain things - definitely it affects thought and not necessarily results in a similar behavior but an action that is determined by the individual's opinion to the situation.
3. I have said that what the person thinks will ultimately evolve into his actions -> which is the case for these ministers.
@Sam
ReplyDeleteI had just asked if you had any evidence to back up your opinion that what a person thinks evolves into action. Numerous studies have been conducted on this and not one of them has reached this conclusion.
@Bhagwad.. I dont have any study conducted on this:)..
ReplyDeleteBut dont we see the evidence all around? I am referring to a simple stimulus-action relation here. When I read the newspaper article on the ministers, I thought about what is happening and my action was to write this post. Same way, when you read the post, you had some thoughts and that translated into an comment. There are readers for who this might not have struck a cord or just want to ignore. That depends on the individual.
But we all have a filter. We don't just blindly do whatever we think. Our brain's prefrontal lobes have dedicated functions for acting as "repressors" for our instinctive thoughts and actions. We humans excel at that. One might even say it is the defining trait of our species.
ReplyDeleteSo while everything we consciously do has its origins in thought, the inverse is not true. We simply do not blindly act out what we think.