By Medha Malaviya and Brinda Sen
We are back with FlippED! And this time our two Bloggers are fighting about the Rape Culture at Pamplona. While pictures of women going crazy being groped is going viral, should we encourage this new kind of rape game?
“I Support: A Woman Should Be Free To Enjoy What She Likes.”
-Medha Malaviya
They want it. Freedom.
So, what is wrong with having sex when you want to? The taboo in the society that the world around you needs to accept and approve of the way you treat your sexual life is responsible for portraying ‘The Rape Culture’ as it is popularly known in a bad light.
Two hundred reported misbehaviour and harassment but what about the others, a count we don’t even know of, who all but enjoyed and probably will continue to be a part of this game.
Let’s look at the facts here:
First, the woman is never forced, she consents to the game. At any point can she stop the game and withdraw herself.
It’s the nature of the game that makes it easy to be misused. Gang rapes and a game involving sex with multiple partners are two different things. Majority police complaints state the refugees corner a lone woman and then rape her or grope her.
The crux of the problem is that the game is brilliantly transformed into rape of sort and being played in almost every European country.
Let’s make one thing clear- the game is always performed in an environment selected by the participants. So, defaming a ’game’ stands no ground. Therefore, Taharrush is not the same as the game.
Second, people crave thrill in their life. The need to have mysterious sex with the fear of contracting HIV-AIDS sounds appealing to some. A female participant said that with the advent of new medicines one can live long years even after having AIDS and therefore, there is no need to be afraid of it.
Third, neither Taharrush nor sexism is a part of this game.
Fourth, The festival every year attracts a large number of people, and the authorities need to provide adequate facilities so that no glitch happens. Women being harassed is not the fault of a rape culture, it’s the fault of the authorities who failed to provide security and acted rather slowly when the first report was filed. So instead of making this an issue of women right being violated let’s just peep into the security loopholes that encouraged miscreants to repeat this.
This rape culture is an expression of free will by many. You don’t need verification of the society to pursue your interests and tastes. Yes, the attacks made in the name of this culture need to be stopped and if the people playing don’t find faults, then neither should we.
Read More: FlippED: Should Menstruation Be Celebrated? Our Bloggers Fight It Out!
“I Protest: Sexuality, Okay. Stupidity, NOT Okay.”
-Brinda Sen
I understand the free expression of a woman’s sexuality, but not when it promotes rape culture.
I am big on women enjoying their rights, their freedom. I am a woman. I want my sexuality to be recognised and respected. I like to live without being judged by hypocritical standards.
Now, Pamplona’s San Fermin festival is not new. And it serves as an example of a festival where a staggering amount of very non-middle-eastern (read, white) men have been taking advantage of large crowds to prey on women for a long time now.
Justification?
Women want it. All is fair in festival celebrations. It’s good fun.
This is very one-sided and sexist.
In no scenario is a woman asking to be assaulted. Get that to begin with. Women having fun flashing their breasts? Sure. A woman’s free expression of sexuality is not the problem; it’s about how people understand this expression that needs work.
The greater world is incapable of understanding consent, women need to rethink how sexuality should be actually celebrated and what should be done to dismantle rape culture, instead of promoting it.
We shouldn’t have to cover ourselves up because the society cannot handle it. But there is a fine line between titillation and empowerment that we need to understand here.
Women rights groups and authorities at Pamplona are alerted every year of increasing number of sexual assaults, which push them to strengthen vigilance. Women tourists at Pamplona are given safety guides, even maps with highlighted areas to avoid, it’s common knowledge that one of the key attractions to San Fermin is this highly publicised rape culture that is considered acceptable and traditional.
Protests were held last year towards the end of the festival condemning the assault of a British woman by five Spanish men, with the slogan, “Enough.” For every one woman getting groped by consent, there are at least three who are violated without consent. Only TWO cases of assault made it to news, even though more than 500 complaints are filed on an average.
Needless to say, the lack of tight security compromises on their safety and the consequent inefficiency to follow up on their complaints leave many women feel thoroughly harassed. Awareness about this pervasive rape culture provoke by the exhibitionism had been until late, nil.
So, letting men grope women is not going to create gender neutral safety. No man is seen flashing their junk to be groped for fun, they don’t have to make a statement for their liberated sexuality like that. Think about it.
Our Bloggers Fight It Out Over More Taboos:
http://edtimes.in/2016/05/flipped-our-bloggers-fight-it-out-over-people-judging-prostitutes-prostitution/
