Response to a #Hashtag should not be a counter #Hashtag
By: Vaivab Das
Tags: Human Rights, BlackLivesMatter, Metoo, Social Change, Sociology

Social Movements address structural problems which are supported by unequal wealth and power distribution in the society. These movements revolve around certain goals which aim at bringing a greater realisation of equality and justice in our society, and as the movement evolves it organically connects people, who have been disempowered, alienated and dehumanised based on their identities. Be it the #MeToo Movement addressing the futility of the criminal justice system in front of big power and money or the #BlackLivesMatter which vitrines how certain lives are taken for granted in the society because they look different than the majority.

In this globalised world, where people are connected with each other more than ever before, it is imperative for us to understand how do we engage with these movements as an individual.

A. Response to a #Hashtag should not be a counter #Hashtag

When a movement tries to amplify the focus on historically and socially disempowered vulnerable groups, i.e., women, queer persons, people of colour, Dalits, Bahujans and Adivasis, your response should be an introspection of your privilege which makes you think that the system is not broken or unjust. It is not a recollection of your physical participation in the subjugation of a person but the enjoyment of certain privileges for you and deprivation for others which create double standards in the social system making it unjust. So when you put up hashtags like #NotAllMen, #HumanistNotFeminist and #AllLivesMatter, you actively partake in silencing people who have been already been denied justice by the system and are dissenting on roads and social media to stir the public conscience from its usual apathy.

B. Know where to participate and where to retract

There exists an ever-evolving conflict between stakeholders and allies. Uniquely most of these movements find powerful men on the perpetrating side of the injustice. The Anti Arrack Movement in Andhra Pradesh was galvanised by rural women breaking alcohol bottles on the road and shutting down alcohol shops in villages to prevent their husbands from indulging in domestic violence in their inebriated state and putting the household in a monetary crisis by spending on alcohol. They stood up to alcohol mafias supported by the local police and politics, who berated them in the public opinion as “crazy uneducated women”.

“Breaking the Bottle, Breaking the Cycle of Violence”

The Meira Paibai (women torch bearers) movement in Manipur was a pivotal moment for the entire world when a group of mothers in Manipur decided to strip naked in front of Assam Rifles Regiment bringing to light unwarranted military abuses inflicted on the women of North-East India. The military which had used women’s body as the site of oppression (rape, assault and harassment) to scare communities into silence and subjugation, these mothers bared their bodies to make it a site of public protest.

In recent times, the #BoisLockerRoom scandal exposed how casual sexism and objectification of women has been normalised even among individuals within the age group of 15–18 years and how our collective ignorance has aided the problem. The most recurring response to the scandal was “everywhere this happens”, “how many people will you stop”, “even girls objectify other girls and boys”.

Few things which we should get right into our brains:

1. The prevalence or extent of a problem in a population doesn’t make it correct.

2. Possible victimisation of men is not a rebuttal or a solution to the victimisation of women.

3. A citation of a sexist woman is not a counter to the story of an aggrieved woman.

4. Never use one story of victimisation against another story of victimisation both the instances stand true but separately.

C. Solidarity and Affectual Labour

The impact of a social movement is determined by its effect on the public imagination and consciousness. This impression is deepened through acts of active support, affectual (emotional) labour of listening and empathising, and moreover by evaluating one’s active or passive behaviour. As constituents of our society, we need to imbibe new knowledge about marginalisations, depravities and our associated privilege because it is the grassroots-level changes in social behaviour beyond the sites of protest and debate that anchor the real after-effects of a movement in the long run. For example, #MeToo taught the entire world about the rampant prevalence of gender-based discrimination and violence in societies across the world. It implored every individual to be more open, considerate and sensitive to issues of sexual abuse and harassment. It expounded the system to be more vigilant, victim-centric and reformative in its approach to accommodate unseen systematic misery and vulnerability. It saw numerous governmental leaders, CEO(s), judges and powerful actors resign to a heightened public consciousness about sexual victimisation. Hence, it is said a movement is as good as its people, your act of support to amplify, aid and anchor its stories and goals as a stakeholder, ally, spectator or respondent redefines the success and limitations of such social movements.

In this ever polarising world, your support counts!