As the body of the raped and murdered Delhi woman was cremated, normal life continued.
In Kolkata, one of India’s four biggest cities, police said a man reported that his mother had been gang-raped and killed by a group of six men in a small town near the city on Saturday.
She was killed on her way home with her husband, a senior official said, and the attackers had thrown acid at the husband, raped and killed her, and dumped her body in a roadside pond.
Maybe the six men were amateur law enforcement officials, and the woman had done something wrong.
Or maybe it was just run of the mill misogyny, but that doesn’t get discussed much in India, at least not by people who matter.
Issues such as rape, dowry-related deaths and female infanticide rarely enter mainstream political discourse.
Because…well, you know. Wrong sex.
Newspapers raised doubts about the commitment of both male politicians and the police to protecting women.
“Would the Indian political system and class have been so indifferent to the problem of sexual violence if half or even one-third of all legislators were women?” the Hindu newspaper asked.
The Indian Express said it was more complicated than realizing that the police force was understaffed and underpaid.
“It is geared towards dominating citizens rather than working for them, not to mention being open to influential interests,” the newspaper said. “It reflects the misogyny around us, rather than actively fighting for the rights of citizens who happen to be female.”
There is no misogyny! That word doesn’t mean what you think it does! You’re making up a new definition for it! Feminism! sproinnnnnnnnnnnnng
Ibis3, Blighter and Trampler since 1971 says
Yeah, but Ophelia, when bad stuff happens to brown women, over there, perpetrated by other brown savages? That could be misogyny. Over here? Pfft. Sexism doesn’t exist and no one is a *true* misogynist, so suck it up, feminazi.
SallyStrange: Elite Femi-Fascist Genius says
Yeah, that’s “REAL” misogyny! Things like pay gaps, sexual harassment, and attacks on abortion rights are just, you know, whatever. Something that’s not misogyny. Right, Richard Dawkins?
Riptide says
You’re all just a bunch of white-guilt-ridden cultural imperialists who’re turning tragedy around to focus on ‘you you you’ while ignoring the plight of North American women, and simultaneously making atheism worse because reasons.
There, I think that covered all of the bases.
dobber says
It would be like saying racism is only lynching; not job discrimination, using racial slurs and making racial generalisations. Yes, killing is worse, but happens because the hatred and objectifying allows for the depersonalisation.
sailor1031 says
Re the police force: “It is geared towards dominating citizens rather than working for them, not to mention being open to influential interests,” the newspaper said. “It reflects the misogyny around us, rather than actively fighting for the rights of citizens who happen to be female.” Or poor!
Yeah. Not like us at all!
Deepak Shetty says
Here are some more cases in India
http://prempanicker.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/special-sessions-and-the-politicians-syllogism/