NEWS: Sometimes You Need to March Softly and Carry a Big Stick

CULTURE: Sometimes You Need to March Softly and Carry a Big Stick

I love this woman.

Apparently she'd gone to the police station a couple days earlier and poured kerosene on herself (immolation being a sadly not-uncommon way for men or their families to kill wives who don't pony up with enough dowry, as well as a not-uncommon form of suicide by women--though obviously a number of those "suicides" might actually be murders). When the cops didn't do anything, she decided to make her anger just a wee bit more public.

But it's the baseball bat that really gets it. That and the "fuck you" video attached to this news story. Though the still captured here shows you how young and desperate she really is, poor thing.

It's tempting to bitch about the additional news that apparently the authorities are going to have her examined to find out if she's "mentally unsound"--after all, her actions seem entirely rational to me--but one has to admit that, in context, it's not unlikely that she's pretty depressed. On the other hand, I am more inclined to believe initial reports (see video link above) that she was initially arrested for public indecency than I am later statements (see first link) that such rumors are untrue. In any case, kudos to her for refusing to suffer in silence.

In any case, I hope that her shithead husband and inlaws (who *have* been arrested, thank god) are prosecuted for harassing her and that, if she is depressed, the story doesn't turn into "crazy woman makes unfounded accusations against her poor, put-upon husband."

Bitch_PhD thinks that if more women should march through the streets semi-nude carrying baseball bats we'd probably have a more civil society, and thanks Feministe for the story.

Good for her.

Sometimes, at night, I stare at the ceiling and wonder why this doesn't happen a whole lot more often.

Unfortunately, I imagine she'll soon just be dismissed as crazy, and business will go on as usual.

Weird that you posted this --- I had just been struggling to cope with this story.

+1.

+1

I think what she did was great, but now I'm going to have to add her name to my Google News page, because I've started to become really worried about her future well-being at the hands of the police, etc.

"My son tells me: 'You have grown old. Now who is going to feed you? Go away,'"

There's a boy whose father (since we're talking a sexist family structure, here) should have smacked him a lot more often when he was growing up.

Yeah... violence would have prevented that wrong. Good thinking.

Maybe it's a bit deeper an issue than that, you think?

I'm not so worried about that. The police are more likely indifferent than actually hostile, and women who stand up to dowry-related pressures sometimes become public heroes. What bothers me more is something else you've observed:

Sadly, I suspect you may be right about this. The fact that she got attention by stripping in public might end up overshadowing the actual reason she did. If you read the comments posted in response to the stories Bitch_PhD linked to, you'll notice that many of the Indian posters are more disgusted by Pooja Chauhan's "indecent" and "un-Indian" behavior than they are by her in-laws' extortion or the police department's refusal to act.

I'd like to be proven wrong, of course. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I would think that being depressed to live this way IS mentally sound.

I'm avoiding the temptation to take up a collection for some of these ...because...um...it would be...uh...wrong. Right?

+1

i have trouble believing that a large sexist pig smacking a smaller sexist pig is going to have any impact on their collective sexism

fuck. yes. and reading this after watching born into brothels again tonight, well, yeah.

What a kick ass person, I hope her case turns out well.

I always forget that no one on this board has a sense of humor. My bad.

That's why management here saw fit to bless us with the gift of smileyfaces.

Yeah... emoticons would have prevented that wrong. Good thinking.

Maybe it's a bit deeper an issue than that, you think?

Once again I am forced to comment: What a great set idea.

The way things are in that society makes me kinda sick to my stomach. I hope the people there with a conscience get organized and get things changed. Nobody should have to do this kind of thing to get justice.

Weird idea, and she could be suffering from some kind of traumatic disorder that would have her risk her own wellbeing while protesting. However, more power to her for doing something socially productive. This could help others just as much as it helps herself, and much more than if she acted violently to anyone abusing her. I hope for her sake, and others that were abused or ignored by police, that this ends well.

I smell a remake of Falling Down.

In her case, it's refreshing to see that she found an effective way (we hope) to react and assert control, instead of internalizing feelings of helplessness into a miserable depression.

That's not to say that the situation isn't outrageously fucked up, from the start, and far more complicated than this stunt could hope to reconcile -- even just in her own case.

But I do hope this inspires others to realize some sense of power, and fight back. I don't at all understand the social structures there, but maybe this public act raises the bar of outrage among families, and when someone says "no, fuck you, I'm not a fucking dowry-gift or baby-machine" families might be less shocked and more attentive -- (i.e., uh...just don't go running around 'naked' on the street, okay...?)

But um, that's my optimistic side talking.

If it results in changes then good, but it's interesting the different ways that people act trying to get people to listen to them.