Padmavati, perpetuating patriarchal construct that women are not meant to be seen or hears

I watched Padmavati and I can see now how victim blaming of women is insidious. The Maharani accuses Padmavati of Raja Rawal Ratan Singh’s abduction by Alaudin Khilji, that if the Rajaguru wasn’t ousted (he was ousted because he was being a Peeping Tom of Padmavati), he wouldn’t be a turncoat and bring Alaudin Khilji to subsequently abduct Raja Rawal Ratan Singh and attack Chitoor. Padmavati’s beauty gets implicated too, that her charm caused the fall of Chitoor. All these shit culminates in Padmavati immolating herself along with all the Rajput women, pregnant and little girls too. 

The same goes to Sita – her crossing of the Lakshman Rekha is said to cause her own sorrows. Draupadi’s disrobing is owed to her snigger at Duryodhan in the palace of illusion in Indraprastha and her rejection of Karna and the Kauravas in the swayamwar.

In all these, the intentional wrongs of the men are ignored and worse, excused. Women’s patriarchy set conduct breaching and even the thing they have no control in like beauty, impromptu amusement and biological function of choosing the best male are blamed for their sufferings, their pleas for justice falling on deaf ears.

And we see the trend, even though fiction, followed to this day where women’s dressing, choices and behaviour are blamed for their rape. The intention to harm of the rapist is excused but when pressed in, acknowledged but not implicitly – they say women need to take half of the blame. If women dare to choose a well of guy, she’s shamed and told that the bleeding heart of a jobless guy is BAE – plots in a great many Tamil films.

And, despite researched statistics that 80 – 90 percent rape victims know their rapist, we are intent on saying that only psychopathic sadists rape. We ignore the statistics and the complaints of girls over the unwanted touches of the next door uncle, the tuition teacher or the Peeping Tom neighbour. We scold the girls in disbelief, that the men are, “Nice guys that we know well who won’t do such things.” Worst, the girls are told to suck it up and not tell anyone because family honour is at stake.

We keep excusing the rapist and keep blaming the victim or even other women for dressing scantily which ups kaama veri of men which they take out on babies and children. We keep excusing, blaming and hiding and then pretend all is well until another horrific rape happens, the nature of the rape more gruesome than the previous. We have gotten to the point of immunisation towards rape that it no longer evokes heart palpitations if the rape victim manages to stay alive.

This is why rape is a persisting problem. I am no longer angry. I am disillusioned and disenchanted. What’s on this meme is just rhetoric. Mukesh Singh jaaliya jail la irukkan, having a pretty decent life, so..