From: bkannan@ha10.eng.ua.edu (Balaji Kannan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.tamil
Subject: Re: Sexual harassment, social reasons. ( Was Re: eve-teasing..)
Date: 9 Jan 93 22:00:18 GMT
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


t60bss9@mp.cs.niu.edu (Bijoy Sagar) writes:

>Unfortunately, Indian society on the whole is very sexually
>^^^^^^^^^^^^
>segregated. I am not passing any judgement on any value system here
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>but simply stating the facts. The make up of the Indian society is


   Your bias has been revealed though, "at the very outset" :-)


>highly heirarchial and ordinary men and women have no outlet for creatively
>controlling healthy libido. This is one of the reasons for the high rate of
>sexual harassment in India.

  I am not sure it is right to bunch eve-teasing and sexual harassment
  together in the Indian context. While eve-teasing is no doubt a mild
  term and understates [in a lot of instances] how beastly it can get
  [the bigger the group], it is quite different from 'sexual harassment'
  as is referred to in American society. [While eve-teasing is a
  as a 'problem' and it is no wonder such is the case; for in a far more
  'enlightened' society such as this one, there is little awareness
  as to what actions qualify as s.h., though it is quite a menace in
  workplaces. S.h can be far more subtle (the dividing line between
  s.h and asexual harassment :-) can look thin) while eve-teasing is
  visible/obvious as it unmistakably has jingoistic overtones.]

>Secondly, Indian society thrives on mystifying the opposite sex.

  True. But demystifying the opposite sex will not drive out
  s.h.[U.S is a case in point] you see what I mean? That is
  a different problem IMO. You could call your mother/sister
  and other girls shaktis/.... & still tackle this menace.
  [Mind u, am not telling u that *this* is desirable]

  Moreover, most of the mystification today is mere lip service.
  [A big gap between what is preached & practiced?]

>sexual harassment is simply mis-communication. A woman who is always
>in a defensive posture and is unwilling to treat the man sitting next to
>her creats a great physical tension around her. She could very well
>mistake an innocent/absent-minded or unavoidable physical touch as
>sexual harassment.

      A potential embarrassment for the unsuspecting...

[...]

>up in an environment where friendships were not gender-based, these
>people can never quit being defensive. So every friendly jesture
                                                          ^^^^
>( a phone call, a hand shake) will be concieved as a pass.
                                                 ^^^^^^^^^

              and why not? :-) :-)


>Italian society which is equally chauvinistic, shows the similar
                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
               ??

>behavior. I guess, eve-teasing will disappear when the sexual tension
                                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>and seggregation in Indian society disappear.
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

       yes, they can alleviate the problem.

       [Public transport systems are the most fertile grounds for
       abetting this menace and to a certain extent 'segregation'
       itself can tackle it, as was/(is being) tried in Madras]

       Btw, a society can be CHAUVINISTIC and still tackle eve-teasing;
       NOT that it is desirable. [Your Italian example prompts me to
       say this. Some Islamic nations for e.g., 'cos they enforce their
       laws and have sufficient deterrence to avoid *this* problem in
       the first place.]

[....]

 bk

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