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Men behaving like barbarians, the sex explosion in the media, humiliating judicial rules for women - it's all too much for Bollywood's Preity Zinta. In her latest column for BBC News Online she writes about why she wants a better deal for India's women.
Sometimes I wonder why some men behave like barbarians. And why the state is so helpless in protecting the women.
Why should women feel unsafe in a country which had an internationally revered woman prime minister?
Why should men stalk our women on roads, tease them on buses and trains, and assault and rape them when five of our 29 states are run by politically empowered women?
For one, I think it has to do with a sex explosion in our media. There's too much smut on prime time television.
Even I feel embarrassed to watch some of the television in front of my family.
On view are videos where the camera zooms in and out of the girl's anatomy, accompanied by vulgar and crude remix music which single-mindedly murders classic Indian film songs.
There is one video in which a man on a train has a drink and sees a properly dressed girl morphing into a little sex kitten in a bikini top and a slit skirt. Then they begin a dirty dance inside the compartment.
Why should women feel unsafe in a country which had an internationally revered woman prime minister?
Why should men stalk our women on roads, tease them on buses and trains, and assault and rape them when five of our 29 states are run by politically empowered women?
For one, I think it has to do with a sex explosion in our media. There's too much smut on prime time television.
Even I feel embarrassed to watch some of the television in front of my family.
On view are videos where the camera zooms in and out of the girl's anatomy, accompanied by vulgar and crude remix music which single-mindedly murders classic Indian film songs.
There is one video in which a man on a train has a drink and sees a properly dressed girl morphing into a little sex kitten in a bikini top and a slit skirt. Then they begin a dirty dance inside the compartment.
We have plenty of garbage in the US, but it’s a regular cry to tone down explicit media. We are more used to the crudeness of images, thus it doesn't influence or trouble us to a very high degree. In India it’s more of a dilemma, which is taking its toll on women who are being assaulted more often now. I am all for eroticism and nudity, which in my opinion should stop being viewed only as something filthy and taboo. However, how does a country make a smooth transition from a conservative psyche to a more liberal one? In the article the author stresses the influence of the media on the way men treat women and the lack of protection, I wonder if it’s perhaps because the Human Rights organization is busy protesting against the religious underwear. But really, how does one make a smooth transition, while minimizing the assaults and the radical opposition?
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