Thursday, November 28, 2013

In India men are men but women are often "girls"

You can't visit an Indian website or watch TV news at the moment without reading about one of several assault or harassment cases.

One clear change since the outcry over last December's fatal gang rape in Delhi is that the media now devotes much more space to such stories - even without the current spate of high-profile cases.

But what also stands out is that the victims are almost always described as "girls" - even when they are much older than 18.

Some see this "default thinking" as symbolic of to what extent attitudes towards women remain in the past.

The three cases currently getting the most column inches are a perfect example. The accused are, respectively, a well-known magazine editor, a well-known prime ministerial candidate and a prominent, though-so-far-unidentified, retired Supreme Court judge.

The Times of India uses the word "girl" as a standard term for the journalist who has accused the Tehelka editor-in-chief of twice assaulting her earlier this month - even though she's known to be in her late-20s.

"Girl was extremely close to Modi" begins the headline on a TV news piece about the case of a 27-year-old woman allegedly subjected to intrusive surveillance on the orders of the man running to be India's next leader. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Rape fear keeps US students out of India...
  2. Mango trees to the rescue of Indian girls...
  3. Acid attacks: A scar on India...
  4. If you're an Indian widow, your children could kick you out and ...
  5. Gang rapists sentenced to death, but India's denial will continue...

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