Eve teasing is common throughout South East Asia, and especially in India, a majority of women will have experienced eve-teasing, inappropriate staring or seemingly harmless catcalls at some point. Be it stares from a stranger, whistling or humming of a song by a passerby, or even just outright ogling, there are many ways in which eve-teasing takes place. Across rural areas and tier-one cities, in neighborhoods of affluence and in areas of low income, in quiet residential complexes or in busy marketplaces, women in shorts or salwars get stared at, not always, but often enough. When did this begin? Can girls retaliate to this phenomenon? Is staring the gateway drug to other heinous acts? Can anyone or anything be powerful enough to change this?
Back to the start
Like most colonized countries, India has had a tough history of racism and identity struggle. Lots of literature is available that would suggest that there is a direct link between social prejudice and self-image. Years of racially charged politics have shaped up a nation that is perhaps still coming to terms with the residual effects of colonization. Maybe if India was never colonized, the fascination with fairer skin would never begin, we will never know. Maybe that’s why even in the most tourist-friendly of places; white-skinned foreigners (especially women) still get stared at.
If the problem of staring in India is looked at from a psychological lens it would be fair to assume that, for people who have spent years looking at the British as the top of the hierarchy have reason to the belief that fairer skin is somehow superior and this thinking has been passed down generations.
In recent years the focus on accepting diversity has flooded many mainstream media and rightly so, messages that promote body positivity and individuality are becoming more and more visible. In spite of this, there will be shelves full of products promising to lighten skin and provide ‘fair’ beauty in almost every corner store and supermarket. Inherently, people stare at things that amaze them, and light skin has fascinated our country for years making fairness a thing of spectacle, something to stare at and be amazed by. Perhaps this is one of the reasons women are referred to as the “ fairer sex”?
Sex
Even though lovemaking in Indian cinema has come a long way, both in film and in life sex continues to be a topic most people rather not discuss, and yet in our country rape is a serious problem. It is confusing that in a culture where most people shy away from even talking about sex, rape exists and is rampant. For a group of boys to stare at a girl is normal, it doesn’t even register as a problem for many people. There is a difference between looking at someone and lewd staring, the latter indicating an intrusion of privacy and violation of another person’s body. Staring, whistling and catcalling can be foreshadowing of something more dangerous.
White noise
A lot of women fade outstares on a daily basis, and getting ogled is not limited to roadside Romeos and groups of men on the corners of streets in shady neighborhoods. Even in the workplace, in airports, educated people with degrees are guilty of it. Sure it is less likely to get catcalled in an office, but the staring exists. 22-year-old Rasiya (name changed) would get inappropriately stared at by her CEO each time she wore a dress or a blouse to the workplace and eventually switched to looser fitting garments before terminating her internship. Lots of women will simply cross the street or put in their headphones on when a man on a bicycle passes them by humming a song to grab their attention. Whether it’s the influence of the movies or not, humming a song to grab a girl’s attention has got to be the lamest and most unsuccessful way of making an introduction, and yet it happens repeatedly.
So what if the victims stare back? What happens when the feeling of being uncomfortable heightens to a point that the victim wants to retaliate? In many cases, staring, catcalling and chasing are the initial steps that lead to larger crimes. The 2013 movie Ranjhanna highlighted one such case, a young boy has a crush on a girl, after some persuasion she starts to build a fondness for him but eventually, things fade out and there is never an actual relationship. Yet for a long time, the boy harbors his feelings of love for her, to a manic point of borderline stalking and violence. Many such real-life cases take place across the country, where the initial chasing beings with catcalls, and stalker-like stares. So if this problem can be nipped in the bud, is it outlandish to assume that larger crimes like rape and acid violence might be reduced if it can be instilled in our mentality as a nation that catcalling is a serious problem?
In a landmark judgment, the attacker of a young nurse was sentenced to the death penalty. Preeti Rathi’s story was nationwide news when her attacker was nabbed; he was a bitter man who rather had rejected. Out of jealousy and revenge, he attacked her with acid, causing her to be blind before eventually succumbing to her injuries. If conditions were different and had he understood the importance of respecting her privacy and decision, two people would still be alive.
An effort to fix things
On the surface, catcalling can seem like just another social issue that plagues our country like paan stains on walls, spitting on the streets or public urination. If we had a nationwide campaign to combat this problem, initiated by the government at the national level, perhaps we could make a scratch on the surface of the issue.
Our current Prime Minister is probably the most socially impactful national leader we have had in recent years, and his efforts to connect with the population via different mediums is unprecedented. Much like the #SwachhBharatAbhiyan if we had the campaign to end eve-teasing activated at the national level, perhaps we could progress towards a safer future. The recent digital campaign to end #LahukaLagaan saw the government cancel the tax imposed on sanitary goods for women, after the repeated influence of the people.
Even if we can’t eradicate the problem instantly and completely, to initiate the conversation is the first step and since we have the largest youth population in the world to participate and benefit from the same, a combined effort will certainly create impact.
