The Kathua and Unnao rapes started in your living room first
My father, at 75, has the lifestyle of a stay-at-home mom of old. However busy his mornings may be, he is sure to be home at 1:59 pm to settle down in front the TV to watch the latest episodes of his Tamil soaps.
My strong belief is that it is in this perverse culture that the rapes of Kathua and Unnao originated
It's gotten to a point where I can name serials by simply listening to their title music.
I can also tell when a particular episode is hitting the sweet spot the minute I hear him egging on his favorite characters to slap, threaten, insult, demean, grope, kidnap, molest, harass each other.
The interesting thing is that regardless of who the assaulter is - be it a woman or a man - almost invariably, his exhortations are the most vociferous when the character getting assaulted is a woman.
There "Podu!" which is usually followed by the sound of a slap and a woman wailing. Then there's "Naanu Podaren!" which is how he tells the unhearing character that he, my father, would also like to participate in said assault.
...my father is a decent man in daily life but watching him watch TV is not a spectator sport
Which brings me to my main point.
How is it acceptable for us to be living in the 21st century but for our TV shows to depict interpersonal skills straight from the 19th century?
Why is no one calling out the culture of rape, intimidation, and gender shaming which are rife on our television sets?
My strong belief is that it is in this perverse culture that the rapes of Kathua and Unnao originated.
It is the loud cheers across the land that every slap a (usually woman) character receives on TV that allows a lawyer to claim with a straight face that the defense lawyer in the Kathua case cannot be very intelligent since she is a woman.
It is my father, loudly exhorting women to be beaten and offering to join the assault, who lets the TN BJP politician claim women news anchors slept their way to the top.
All in all, my father, like most fathers, is a decent man in daily life but watching him watch TV is not a spectator sport.