Ministers and MLAs insult women protesters insinuating that late night outs and clothes invite sexual

assault. Honey singh sings misogynistic lyrics. Khap panchayats protest death penalties for rapists. But are we really surprised about all this? Shouldn't this kind of attitude be almost expected from our countrymen? And yes, I mean men. What more can we expect from a country in which our holy books are filled with instances of misogyny? Arjuna won Draupadi in an archery contest. Insulting enough, you would think. But then, instead of correcting his mother when she misunderstood exactly what hed brought home, he showed his devotion to his mother by 'sharing' his new wife with his 4 brothers. Was it so unimaginable for Arjuna to have said 'Mother, I did not win a 'thing' that can be shared, I won myself a wife. With that he would have also won the love and respect of this woman. But that's not what happens in this story. He takes his mother's unknowingly uttered words literally and shares his wife with his brothers. Because you see, according to the Indian culture, you just dont contradict your mother. Ever. Even if your mother makes an innocent mistake. It is these illustrious brothers who go on to put her up as collateral in a game of dice. Understandable, considering they treated her as a possession to begin with. The socalled brave warriors failed to protect her while Dushasan attempted to strip her naked in front of the whole court. Why didn't they protect her? Because they had to honor the 'bet'. Because its so much more important to retain your reputation as men of honor, men who do not go back on their word no matter what, than save your wife from public humiliation. There are examples of how the brothers eventually avenge this insult during the war. But is that not a case of too little too late? They stood by and watched while she was being insulted. Something the men in our community are still very good at doing. Watch and ogle while some poor woman is being molested/raped. Not lift a finger to help. Why would they? Their holy books dont say thats necessary. Then you have another glorious story of how Rama condemned Sita to a trial by fire because some random citizen in his kingdom alleged that she was 'impure' after her stay in Lanka. Mind you, she was kidnapped by Ravan and forced to live in Lanka. That's irrelevant. What's important is that Rama maintains his reputation as an honorable king. So he humored the allegation and insisted that Sita 'prove' her purity in a trial by fire. He chose to put his wife on the line just to answer one man's question about her chastity. Again, so what if she had been violated in Lanka? That would have been rape, because she never chose to be kidnapped or live with Ravan. But true to the present treatment of rape survivors, she was further victimized by the public and her family. It was somehow her fault if she didn't manage to hold on to her virtue in enemy territory. She was allegedly no longer 'pure'. Which is exactly how people

today treat women who have endured rape. They have to suffer through daily trials by fire in the form of people who not-so-secretly insinuate that she may have provoked it. How different would our 'culture' have been if our books said that instead of humoring the person who pointed fingers at Sita, Rama had chosen to stick by his wife. He was the king after all. The fact that he didn't, just to demonstrate how principled he was, paves the way for the disrespect shown to women today. The men are absolved of any blame in our version of the stories. Rama is hailed as a true and unbiased king. He didn't love or respect his wife enough to fight through the situation with her. But he proved to his subjects that he was unflinchingly righteous even when it came to questions about his own wife. That's what's important after all. The purpose of holy books is to guide us to be better human beings. Sure, there are many stories that emphasize the triumph of good over evil, but at the same time, many instances like the examples above. Which is enough for certain characters in our government to justify the travesty that is rape. Make statements like Women will be punished like Sita if they cross their limits. Like our many gods, our country routinely sells our women short. Objectifies them, strips them naked of rights, refuses them respect. And attacks them when they most need support. It is indeed, no country for women.