The March, or May or June, of Sluts, Studs and Whoever the Hell Else

So much buzz about the proposed Slutwalk in Delhi. Really? And now, a proposed Studwalk in response? Again, really? Just who the fuck are you clowns, and clownesses, anyway? Or is clowness politically inappropriate, in much the same way words like actress are being phased out? How would Steven Tyler sound singing "Taste of India" if the song went "...sweet tantric priest..."? Like a nutjob (pun intended), that's how.

I can never stress enough my egalitarian credentials, but this sort of shtick makes me want to run to the conservative post and shoot some bra-burning delusional losers. Being equal is not being the same, because that can never be, and even if it could, it really shouldn't be. Not that this Slutwalk is about equality anyway. The Slutwalk is about making the word 'slut' so mainstream that it stops having negative connotations. In other words, it seeks to change the dictionary meaning of a word, all by a bunch of skimpily dressed women walking around with placards or what-have-you. Again, really? Please, someone poll the English-speaking Canadians about what they think the word means, considering that is where this supposed cultural (and linguistic) tour-de-force began.

Context, for fuck's (or sluts') sake. If a Canadian cop said something about some local woman being responsible for her own rape by being dressed sluttily, how does that affect us here in India?

For one, even typical everyday "Western" attire can be thought of as slutty by many here, given the HUGE cultural differences. So it makes me wonder how that poor woman must have actually been dressed. No, I am not echoing the views of the cop, I am just wondering about what the woman was wearing (or not wearing, for that matter). Really.

For two, women here (and elsewhere too, I am certain) get raped even if they are not dressed like a slut. A woman dressing like a slut does not change a non-rapist in to a rapist, and by corollary, a conservative dress will perhaps not save a potential victim from the leery eyes, grubby hands (and more) of a rapist. Again, really.

For three, must you emulate every fucking (no pun intended) movement that starts off somewhere in the West, especially if it has anything to do with Facebook? I mean, come on, if you really had to organise a Slutwalk, why not think of the idea on your own when the Delhi Chief Minister (a woman, by the way) said things strikingly similar to this Canadian cop, and much longer ago at that? Or are you admitting to simply being too daft to do anything about it on your own till such time as a Canadian movement makes it way over through Facebook? Why not spend your time using that defunct brain of yours once in a while instead of picking out slutty clothes to wear to the walk? Really.

For four, do all women really support this sort of protest, or even the very idea behind it, that of making the word 'slut' mainstream? To be fair, I do not know any women among the few I call friends who support this, and if anyone did, I will probably shift them to a category lower. I also know that the women in my family don't support this either. While all of them, family and friends, will support the right of women to dress how they want, they will all also not forget that changing the meaning of a word does not change human behaviour, and that dressing skimpily is not the benchmark of women's freedom or equality.

Of course, this sort neo-pseudo-feminist antic also gives rise, and room, to equally stupid and detestable pseudo-masculine crap, such as the Studwalk, proposed by men who feel (perhaps understandably) threatened. Not threatened by being one-upped by women, but of being branded rapists just because they have a schlong. Of course, the majority of them perhaps are coming along for the ride, as a way to get back at the women for some unknown but strongly perceived wrong, or just to check out the booty on display.

Good thing that Delhi is still under prohibition orders, banning all sorts of large public gatherings for protest. At least one good thing coming out of the Delhi Police crackdown on Baba Ramdev earlier this month!