Wednesday 25 December 2013

Raising an Objection

So, there has been a quite an uproar over Palash Sen’s comments at Mood-I. Though I feel the situation was blown greatly out of proportion and I feel there should be ample tolerance for humor, it certainly raised an important issue of the targeted misbehavior towards the minority sex at IITs. Although most of my judgments are based on my experience at the Kanpur campus, I know for sure, such prejudice exists at other campuses too.

What I have observed over past three years is that an abnormally high percentage of boys don’t really understand the existence of a thin line between profanity and vulgarity. I am well aware of the fact that this phenomenon is a part and parcel of any existing social fabric but the proportion of such elements in IITs is concerning ( I, by any means, do not imply that most of boys fall in this category. They form a negligible percentage indeed. What I am focusing is on the comparison of negligibles.)  Coming back to point, using profanities against girls in private is somewhat acceptable but inciting a mob of over 200 juniors to publicly shower choicest indecent remarks on girls over petty things such as inter-hall competitions and ‘honor’ of one’s hall is ridiculous.

Another aspect that disturbs me is how extreme objectification of women openly in a co-ed institution is very well acceptable. The tradition of a particular dance form and the tone during GBMs are vivid examples.

I realize I might sound as a feminist but all I am trying to point out we guys should exhibit a certain level of respect and decency towards girls in campus (on a similar note to our behavior outside campus.) In fact, from my experience, certain girls from campus can be way cooler and fun than those outside campus. Just senselessly branding them is something I wish we can avoid.