LAC+1000C+-+Project+2015



Pritesh Shah Prof. Yagnik


 * What propels men towards the culture of rape? Examine this issue with reference to Indian society. Do you think the causes are rooted in Culture?**

Rape. According to Dictionary.com, is considered the unlawful sexual intercourse or an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse. But the way in which society has changed its definition in today’s world is not nearly the same. Rape has become something that is just, although it’s sad to say, become common in our culture now. Left and right, individuals of all ages, races, backgrounds, and ethnicities are facing the gruesome wrath of rape without any consideration for themselves. The lack of money, a proper upbringing, and power in society have become some of the major causes of it in the Indian culture, and cultures all around the world. The question of what propels men towards the culture of rape is so similar to the question that the rapist gets asked once in court; why did you do it? What caused you to do that? Why engage yourself in such a demeaning, embarrassing, and shameful activity? According to some, it may be because they feel that it makes them powerful, and above and better than the female. According to others, they simply say that they thought that they were better than the woman, and doing such acts made them feel as though there power and authority is reinforced and supported. In reference to the Indian society, the way in which rape has been occurring is simply outrageous. All across India the cases of rape have been drastically increasing without reason. Women of all ages and ethnicities across the entire country are being disrespected and harmed and raped. A recent case of rape in India occurred to a nun at the shocking age of 71.1 According to CNN, a group of seven to eight men forcefully allowed themselves into a Christian school in New Delhi, India. After doing so, one of the Sisters of the church attempted at sounding the alarm and as a punishment, was tied up as the intruders proceeded to rape the sister. This is something that is absolutely absurd; for someone to not only disrespect a female, but a nun of a church, and someone at such a elderly age, is something that is outrageous. This however, does go in hand with the reference to the way Indian society is. The reason for this act to happen was simply because the rapist felt that he needed to punish the nun for attempting at sounding the alarm. The way in which Indian society is becoming is that the man should always one-up the woman and always have control of what she is doing and what she does, and if she fails to do what the man asks, then she needs to be punished. This is where the causes then go back to how they are rooted in the Indian culture. In the Indian culture, although in modern day things have changed, the way things work is that a male is the one that does the majority of the work and the male is the one that goes to work and the woman is expected to simply reproduce children and work in the house, along with cooking and cleaning. Essentially, because this is rooted in the Indian culture, although the years will pass by, some people will never change. This is also why in India many times when arranged marriages occur, dowries are still expected; some things just haven’t changed. India getting known as the rape capital of the world is simply embarrassing for any Indian in general. To be labeled with such a gruesome activity as a country as a whole is something that needs to be changed. According to more.com, every 20 minutes in India, a woman is raped.2 Although this is a quite shocking number, India is still only number three on the list of most rapes in a select country; preceding it are United States at number one, and South Africa at number two. Although in modern time it seems as though things have changed and the culture has grown and is no longer a culture in which things are the same as they were hundreds of years ago, the numbers continue to increase. Many times the numbers have been increasing in the poorer villages of India as well. Because the poorer villages will consist of people who aren’t as educated and as informed and do not have money, they seem that things like rape are supposed to happen because the way our culture is. And in turn, just like a circle it goes, the poor people have only learnt one way of things; the man rules the woman. Another form of media that I had come across to understand if rape is really just a cause of the way our culture is, had been a satirical YouTube video. Essentially, this video titled “Why Rape is a Joke in India! #RapePublicDay” had been quite interesting because although satirical, it showed and exhibited why people in India believe rape is allowed. Essentially, this comedian went on to describe how women have been raped simply for wearing a certain type of clothing, or being out late at night – something that is not justifiable in the slightest extent. She additionally described how many women just follow the manner in which Indian actresses act and therefore it is not their fault, and it is not the media’s fault either – they have the freedom to do what they want. In my personal opinion, I think one of the utmost wrong doings a human can commit next to something such as murder, is rape. I think that rapists should be punished to a much greater extent than they are and that will be the only way in which to lessen the amount of cases on the rise.

Works Cited "71-year-old Nun Raped in India, Official Says - CNN.com." // CNN //. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. // Dictionary.com //. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. "Why Rape Is a Joke in India! #RapePublicDay." // YouTube //. YouTube, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.