{"id":3195,"date":"2011-04-03T02:42:07","date_gmt":"2011-04-02T21:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/?p=3195"},"modified":"2011-04-03T02:42:07","modified_gmt":"2011-04-02T21:12:07","slug":"poonam-pandeys-stunt-sullying-indian-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2011\/rights-and-freedoms\/poonam-pandeys-stunt-sullying-indian-women.html\/","title":{"rendered":"Poonam Pandey’s stunt – “Sullying” Indian women?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a long time since I enjoyed a cricket match. At least ten years. And today I watched it starting at 6:00 am for 12 hours straight! And right up to the last six I was holding on with bated breath :) But everything about the world cup has already been said, and there’s nothing for me to contribute. Apart from the interesting case of Poonam Pandey.<\/p>\n

A few days back she had promised to strip out of joy if the Indian team won. And win they did. From the start, everyone said that the whole thing was an attention grabbing stunt. If so, it’s worked very well. All our babus, netas, and fire breathing moralists are up in arms. We have many sections in the IPC dealing with things like obscenity and the horribly named “Indecent representation of women.”<\/a> The BJP has predictably gone all out to “protect”<\/a> the image of women. But this statement really made me perk up my ears:<\/p>\n

“Indian women are revered and respected<\/strong> since time immemorial. We have a tradition of Sita, Draupadi, Jijamata, Queen of Jhansi, Tarabai Holkar, Savitri Phule, Ramabai Ambedkar, Sarojini Naidu, Indira Gandhi, Kalpana Chawla and many more…there are many other ways of celebrating India’s victory without sullying the image of Indian women<\/strong> before the whole world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ok, so I have several problems with this statement (no surprise there!) But for those who think this is reasonable, here are my objections:<\/p>\n

1. What is wrong with nudity?<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the two main premises of the argument is that nudity is shameful and embarrassing. Specifically, a woman’s <\/strong>nudity is shameful and embarrassing. No one raises a fuss when a guy pees on the road and exposes himself to the world. When sadhus in the Kumbh mela arrive naked not a sound from the moralists. But heaven forbid a woman chooses to do the same!<\/p>\n

Here’s a tip to the moralists. Nudity is our natural state. It’s the human body at its best. We were born<\/strong> this way. There’s nothing shameful about it. Stripping people is a popular way to “shame” them in India. Women in villages are stripped by mobs when they go into a moral frenzy. But such people are actually degrading themselves. As if they can deny their own body by shaming another’s.<\/p>\n

So lesson number one: Be chill about going nanga!<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. How does one woman represent all of womankind?<\/em><\/p>\n

Suppose Poonam Pandey decides to do something really degrading to herself. And she’s choosing to go nude which some people find degrading. How does that in any way<\/strong> affect the remaining half a million women in India? Poonam’s choice reflects on herself and herself alone<\/strong>. If she’s doing something silly, don’t go and drag all the remaining Indian women into it! This isn’t very different from the Khap panchayats thinking that a family’s “honor” depends entirely on the woman<\/a>. We all know how screwed up that<\/strong> is.<\/p>\n

3. Why this obsession with women’s dignity? And why Indian women?<\/em><\/p>\n

So let’s assume that Poonam is doing something shameful and embarrassing for the sake of argument. Let’s also assume for fun that it reflects on others and not just herself. Why is that larger group restricted only to Indian women?<\/strong> Wouldn’t her actions shame all<\/strong> women throughout the world no matter where they are? Are Indian women anatomically different from those found elsewhere? Are there mystical boundaries which prevent her influence from spreading beyond the lines drawn by politicians?<\/p>\n

While we’re at it, why should her actions reflect only on women?<\/strong> Why doesn’t it reflect on all human beings? I’m a man and I demand to be affected by Poonam’s “shameful” actions too!<\/p>\n

So let’s recap. Here is what the events are like:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Poonam decides to strip<\/li>\n
  2. Stripping causes nudity<\/li>\n
  3. The nude body is shameful (no one knows why)<\/li>\n
  4. Poonam’s actions reflect on all women (no one knows why)<\/li>\n
  5. Therefore all women are shamed<\/li>\n
  6. But Poonam’s actions shame only Indian<\/strong> women (no one knows why)<\/li>\n
  7. Poonam’s actions shame only women<\/strong> (no one knows why)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    …..(brain explodes)<\/p>\n

    So am I wrong in thinking that no woman associates herself with what another woman does? Leave your opinion below:<\/p>\n

    [poll id=”27″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Why should anyone care if Poonam Pandey decides to strip and go nude? Others have no right over what a person chooses to do with their body<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rights-and-freedoms"],"yoast_head":"\nPoonam Pandey's stunt - "Sullying" Indian women?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why should anyone care if Poonam Pandey decides to strip and go nude? 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