Last night was my dad's birthday and I got him a Jack Daniels. I drink coolers and on extreme occasions, other forms of alcohol. I don't see anything wrong with it. I do it for social reasons and it happens 3-4 times a year. That is nothing in comparison to the weekend scene in Torontonian culture.
The episode of Crime Patrol I am discussing refers to a Bengali, single mother. She was at the bar/lounge with her female colleagues after work on a weekend for a few drinks. I believe she lived in the Calcutta region. A male at the bar witnesses the woman drinking and enjoying with her friends. Her friends plan to leave the lounge as it was late (around 1:00 a.m.). She stays behind to take a last drink before she goes home. The man finds this a perfect opportunity to go up to her and talk. He went up to her and started a decent conversation about work. He didn't use a pick up line or made her feel like he is hitting on her. Then, his friends walked in (2) and he introduced her to his friends. After a brief conversation, the woman headed out to get a cab home. The man pulled up in a car to give her a ride. She said she doesn't need it but upon extremely insisting, she got in to the car with him. Within 10 seconds, the man stops the car and 3 of his friends hop in. The woman had a weird expression and wondered what is going on. Before she could react, they held her tight and shut her mouth. The woman was gang raped in the moving car, by 3 men. Then, she was thrown on to the side of the road in the middle of the night, with stripped clothes.
The woman somehow went home as soon as she was conscious. She didn't report the incident for 2 days. The woman's mother insisted she should file a report. When she went to file a report, the crime was the least of concern to anybody. They took in account other factors which had nothing to do with the crime. They talked about how she was a single mother. She was questioned about her marriage and divorce. She was questioned why she was at the bar that late at night. She was questioned about why she was drinking alcohol. At the end, they basically asked her, "What do you expect to happen to you if you re drinking at the bar at night?" .... Uh, hold on right there.
What the fuck? Excuse my language, but.. since when does being a single mother invite rape? Since when does being social and drinking alcohol invite rape?
I wanna say a few things about alchohol.
The bottle comes with a lot of warnings and health announcements. It comes with directions in order for you to avoid lethal combinations i.e Red Bull and Vodka (even though a lot of people seem to enjoy this!). Does an alcohol bottle come with any sort of gender warning? Where have they written that this was made for men only? Where have they written that woman cannot partake in drinking this? Where have they written that it gives a man the right to rape if a woman is drinking?
The woman wasn't even CLOSE to wasted. It's easy for a man to come home to the wife, ask her to cook while he wants to RELAX with a chilled beer. It's not okay for a woman to "relax" with a drink at the end of the day? Does a beer only take away tiredness of a man, and not of a woman?
Why is it so goddamn taboo? Yes, I come from this nation but it is the most hypocrite nation ever. You make sex and alcohol so taboo for women. Have ya looked at your population? People aren't multiplying by the seconds without sex, are they? The amount of alcoholics in men and the alcohol business in India is huge. So, why are women infuriated upon? Why are they raped?
Living in North America, it is not a big deal. You can go to Boston Pizza for dinner tomorrow and order a Smirnoff with Coke. But in India.. where Metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi and others are bold where women are drinking and smoking as much.. why are there still cases in other parts of India where it is considered so sinful to drink? Why do people bring up culture and religion? Where in our culture has it been said that men are horn dogs and they can go rape any woman they see? Where has it been written that alcohol consumption coincides with the male gender only? In which religious book, does it say that women cannot drink?PUH-LEASE. I've had enough of this bullshit. I dated a few guys in the past who said things of the same orthodox nature. India will never change, and nor will the people. You are no one to come up to me and tell me alcohol is not for women. It is as much for women as it is for men.
I am not promoting alcoholism in any way. I am not encouraging women to drink. All I am saying is, DRINKING is not a reason to judge a woman's morality. It is not a means to deem a woman characterless and rape her without remorse. The woman was traumatized by the gang rape, as any woman would be. And the behaviour of the police towards her made the situation worse. Where can a woman go for justice if the police treat her that way? Why are you seen as a slut if you are essentially doing the same thing as men? And if such a criteria exists, what should we call men in this case?
This reflects the mind set of Indian men (not all, but most of them). I detest such people, and such mind sets. That means more than half the population in India. There is nothing wrong with drinking in moderation. There is nothing wrong with women drinking. Some health studies have actually shown benefits of moderate drinking. When will people stop judging? Will there ever be such a day?
No comments:
Post a Comment