Entering adulthood just gave me false perception as if all the great liberties I ever wished for are achieved. Although the feeling stayed only for a day when reality hit the same next day. Still, a transitioning adult I am, just a year older than thee Bois Locker Room participants.
There’s a huge debate nowadays whether feminism is still valid for the cause it stands for or not. ‘Feminism’ is intended to mean sexual equality, equality between men and women, between cis-genders and trans persons in every aspect. The term holds the greater possibility for a booming world, however, it gets trivialized with a minor misinterpretation. This article aims to throw light on gender prejudice in three prime ways in the view of three incidents ensued in the current month and how it pulls down the notion of Feminism.
Incident One
Earlier this month few screenshots surfaced on social media. Underaged boys caught slut-shaming girls aged well below 18, even claimed of planning an aggravated sexual assault towards a particular girl. Screenshots depicted the offensive views towards the other sex. Social media mob jury descend upon them with the wild attack. Internet slammed holding virtual placards that those juvenile rapists should be treated the same as adults, #AllMenAreSame and what not!
After the incident came to news, instead of expecting social media to be a safe platform, girls were blamed as usual to be on it. However, the obscurities attributed to the affair were clarified when the actual officers of the law took the case in their hand. The group content didn’t include planning rape. But this didn’t prove those juveniles innocent since they were formerly indulged making in vulgar comments.
Unfortunately, such incidents take place each day with women as well as men. History evinces the inhuman practices where women were disgraced and are still being tormented from the cradle to the deathbed, which is awful. What made it different is the involvement of minors. Sexism against females was evident from the incident as a mirrored image of society. But the entire episode raises the question: does the social media jury possess the right to harass anyone?
Incident Two
Manav Singh, an underage boy was accused by another teenage girl. Social media again took the case in hand and made sure to break his spine no matter whether he was actually guilty or not. He was quickly linked to the Bois Locker Room case, was defamed by his friends and acquaintances.
What was new in this case? An underage boy. Our school syllabus never taught us how to react when people say nasty things about you, how to stay unaffected by social media bully, how to deal with the anxiety and trauma it causes. So, cyberbullying got its new prey and cost that boy’s life. Circumstances compelled and the slanders made him commit suicide.
Incident Three
Meetha. “Tu meetha hai kya?” Meetha is the derogatory term for the gay community. Indian societal cliché says sweetness ought not to be a man’s trait. Men should be dominant, aggressive, or maybe tikha! Only women should be characterized by sweetness. If you’re man, but sweet, you’re not masculine. This month also brought a community war between two creative platforms, Youtube and TikTok.
CarryMinati, being one of the popular content creators of our time, debuted in the episode with a roasting video. CarryMinati is, in reality, a fictional character created by Ajey Nagar. The majority of the content Indian Tiktok community offers is cringeworthy, hence the youngsters shower massive appreciation towards that video. The video gathered great engagements, earned the title of most-commented as well of most liked Youtube content within hours.
Even I’m a fan of CarryMinati. You know roasting is poking at someone teasingly, a glorified version of bullying! But where did this glory turn into a misstep glorifying gender stereotype?
There’s another YouTube channel called AVRprankTV, popular on propagating contents involving misconception regarding gay men. So popular that he created his third video of this kind just a month ago and his audience appreciated immensely. He randomly cherrypicks guys in public and judges them as “Meetha” based on their physical gestures. His prank videos describe gay men as submissive sex-seeking men.
But after the cross-platform fight, memes are being shared and male TikTokers are being bashed for making TikTok videos wearing Saree. CarryMinati slurred TikTok creators can be sold at a Meethai ki Dukaan (Sweet shop) for 200 bucks and thousands of gay-shaming content flooded social media. This is simultaneous sexism against both the cis-men and the trans persons.
A YouTube creator using the homophobic words is frightening since the very next hour his huge fanbase starts echoing the same vibes towards the particular genders. Roasting and pranking are the newly introduced trends in the YouTube culture, well-liked amongst youngsters. If no harm to young minds is involved, it’s a great means of entertainment. Do you know what’s cringe-worthy? A trash mentality.
The 52nd day of lockdown in India is here. We’re locked up indoor for a good cause and virtually travelling across the world on the Digital Platform. Feminism directs the goodwill gesture towards all genders, be it any cis-gender or any alternate sexuality. Many youngsters eventually start believing feminism is a hoax. Selective outrage gives a fallacy that Feminism is for females only. It needs to be understood that sexism against any gender deserves an outcry before it gets more problematic.