I can only support you

To all the people in India who are fighting corruption, sexism, administrative inefficiency, casteism etc., I can only support you. However, only the Indian citizenry can change societal values and put political pressure on the government  You are outraged at the rapes in Delhi and other parts of India? Start with the change at home. Respect and value your mothers, wives, daughters and sisters. Treat them as equals and not as second class citizens. Let them make their own decisions. Women can teach their sons to respect other females when they are young. Women can stop favoring the male child over the female. Stop aborting female fetuses. Educate your daughters and sons. Middle class Indians are not politically engaged. Your votes count, so go out and vote for a candidate you deem acceptable. Expect accountability from your government. Don’t let them win based on populist ideology or things will keep getting worse. You can do it. It will not be easy, it will take time but you can do it. So, again I support but only you can change your country.

Another Canadian teen loses life to bullying

We’ve all heard about the Amanda Todd case. Then, there was the Steubenvile victim in Ohio. Now, there is news about a teen suicide in Nova Scotia, Canada. Rehtaeh Parsons was raped by four boys at a party and her picture was taken by one of the perpetrators. This photo was passed around and the teen was subsequently bullied in school. The parents contacted the police but they felt they couldn’t do much with the evidence.

First of all, I just feel for the parents who lost their young daughter. Second, I am angry that the police could not charge those young men with rape. This is why we need to tackle rape culture. There needs to be more education in schools. I was a victim of bullying too but during middle school, Facebook and Twitter did not exist. Nowadays, kids have cellphones and cannot leave such hateful messages behind. We need to find a way to save these kids.

If anyone reading this post knows a kid or teen going through a hard time, here is the Kids Help phone number: 1-800-668-6868.

 

Bad Idea: Rape is so ‘lulzy’, let’s use it to sell stuff

So, some advertisement company in India decided to sell Ford cars using this:

Because look rape is so funny and clever. Aren’t you laughing?

Currently India is in news for the gang rapes of Delhi woman and the Swiss tourist .

Women who are victims get constantly blamed for being raped. For the Delhi woman, it was her clothes, and that it was late at night and she was with a male companion who wasn’t her husband. She was independent, educated and was probably going to have a better future then the men who attacked, raped and murdered her.  How dare she be successful and independent?

The Swiss couple were blamed because they were in a rural area and she was wearing western clothes. Oh, and she was white. They are known for their loose morals, those evil western women.

There was also a poor Dalit woman who was raped and the police officer hearing her complaint chided her by saying she was too old and undesirable to be a victim.

Contrast this to the news that a Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt who was convicted to “five years in jail after upholding his conviction under Arms Act for illegally possessing prohibited weapons including an AK-56 rifle, which was part of the consignment of weapons and explosives brought to India for the 1993 coordinated serial blasts in Mumbai by Dawood Ibrahim and associates.”-Hindustan Times

What were some of the responses by very influential people in India? Oh, it was a mistake. It wasn’t his fault. He was so young back then. He has young children. He is a good person and a good actor.

So, a man breaks the law and is finally sentenced for his crime. People see it as a travesty of justice.

However, if a woman is attacked, burned, raped and mistreated, it is her fault because she should know better.

To dumb advertisers and rape apologists: