The all new Amul advert in response to Mumbai's 31st Dec 2007 street sexual violence incident. Mard ya na mard? : Are you a man or just not a man/ not man enough?
The all new Amul advert in response to Mumbai's 31st Dec 2007 street sexual violence incident. 
I think that it is a very bold step taken by a company. I am glad to know that a company like amul realises that their initiatives do make a difference....!!! More initiaves via way of Ads may be used to sensetise the people of our country....!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't think people like those are humans, for one.They don't seem to have any conscience.
ReplyDeleteSome men may think this is an ad meant to encourage them.
ReplyDeleteAre you a man? Molest a girl and become one!
I think it needs to be spelled out more precisely for the uneducated masses what this ad is actually trying to convey.
With reference to the Amul Commercial (http://
ReplyDeleteblanknoiseproject.blogspot.com/).
What according to you is at the real man? I am not trying to divert
from the issue here but for me it leaves a lot of questions to be
answered.
What is enough to be a man or a woman, how should a "real" man or
woman behave in public. There are more to these questions than just
being "socially respoinsible" in case of men and women being "all the
more sensitive". It has a lot to do with gender norms in our society.
What do you feel? Maybe there was a "man" in that mob who wanted to
speak out but kept waiting for another "man" to start the fight
against another "man"?
I feel that before being a 'man' or a 'woman', its quite important
ReplyDeletethat one learns to behave like an actual human. Being human in the
abstract sense of the word also entails a feeling of conscience. A
real human would be moved when he/she hears another one cry. He/she
would at least 'want' to do something about it. For instance, a lot of
us were moved by that one picture of hordes of men on top of two
women. Thats what makes us human. We've all seen documentaries or ads
or text on the situation in Darfur. Those of us who felt a pang inside
us, we're human.
Next comes the question of what makes you a man or a woman. Society
norms vary everywhere, and in our country, 'men' and 'women' are
expected to play certain roles. Irrespective of however career
oriented a woman becomes, once she has a kid, she's 'supposed to' take
care of it. Often, it would be acceptable for a woman to quit her job
to take care of the household but not men. No, they must still go
work. The husband and the wife might have the same working hours but
the woman is also expected to wake up on time on Sundays and go take
care of the household while the hubby can just sleep on because he
might be 'tired'.
These of course, are just instances. But what I'm trying to bring out
here is the fact that besides the biological differences, our society
still has some set cliches pertaining to the role that the individual
genders play. And I feel that this very disparity leads to a feeling
of chauvinism in either sexes. There's the guy who feels that he's the
one getting all the money in, he's the one sweating it out and hence
he's more responsible..more burdened and consequently BETTER than the
woman. Hence, when that women talks back at him or flips him off, he
wants to show her 'her place'. So... traditionally.. he'd be doing a
very masculine thing by molesting her..hitting her.. right?
However, this traditional viewpoint goes against the basic values of
being a human.. of having a conscience. You cannot hurt another and be
happy about it and still call yourself human. It doesnt matter whether
a man rapes a woman.. a man rapes a man.. a woman rapes a man or a
woman rapes a woman. Bottomline, you did something to someone who
didn't want it..who begged you to stop. You enjoyed it. You were
satisfied only when you had violated the person as much as you
could've. You're not human, and certainly not man or a woman.
-Palash
I completely agree with what Palash says... one has to have the basic values of being a human being before anything else...
ReplyDeleteand I think that now that we dont live in a society where we are not cannibals... we all want to be polished and sophisticated but fail to remember that one of the basic element of being sophistication is being able to repect the fellow human being...!!!
Sakshi
What I understand is, the question here perhaps should be not who is a 'man' and who is not quite a 'man' but who can resist the temptation to become a beast and remain a human being and who just can't. The term 'man' and his 'manly' qualities have many connotations and can work at cross purposes. A beast of a man can use his 'manly' right to sexually abuse a woman while a human being of a man might use his 'manly' qualities to protect her. The term, 'protect' has historically been associated with the term, 'man' when it comes to the relationship with a woman. And many mindset problems of our man do stem from that. Pl correct me if I am wrong
ReplyDeleteSangeeta, nice to meet someone with a similar viewpoint!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I don't like this easy slide into 'beast' terrain. Most beasts are perfectly well-behaved, unless provoked and mob molestation of the opposite sex is virtually unknown.
ReplyDeleteThat aside, about this 'protection' bit and men. The typical, traditional male attitude to women has been more 'owner' oriented than protection oriented. You protect what you think you own, or can own, because you need it, not necessarily because you think it deserves to be protected. That, I suspect, is part of the problem.
Anyway, came across this article, which is relevant to the campaign, and also talks about male roles at play:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2239989,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
http://blanknoiseproject.blogspot.com/2006/04/ilona-granet.html
ReplyDeleteas we talk of 'beasts'
That's a hell of a message Amul's sending out. The only worrisome aspect of it I notice is that the lack of a big red circle with a line running through it over the central image, the ad seems to be encouraging eve teasing, saying that to be a true 'man', you ought to gather your buddies and molest the next woman you see alone.
ReplyDeletePerhaps to be more unambiguous, it should have read: "Are you man or a monster"?
ReplyDeleteThis a Bold step and it should have been taken earlier by CARE TAKERS of india,
ReplyDeleteanyways its not too late for a fight......
Keep It up!!
i am with in!!!!
Zabeeh