Why Jallikattu protests Tamil men's best behaviour at women is just a dog & pony show

In recent times, a lot of Tamil men take pride of Tamilnadu/Chennai having low sexual harassment rates. They love to mention jallikattu protests where no women were harassed as an unbeatable feat. They make it look like it's a magnanimity that they give for women as alms, like giving slaves freedom and be proud of it. Giving safety for women, which means simply doing nothing to women is a proud thing for these Tamil men.

Pretty fucked up standard wise.

The best behaviour at women during the protests was perhaps only displayed because the world was looking at Tamilnadu/Chennai due to the issue of jallikattu, particularly Tamil diaspora in Singapore and Malaysia. In Malaysia, there is a similar scenario - during Thaipusam, which is celebrated grandly at Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur specifically, a campaign of best behaviour would be unofficially launched. In the campaign, Malaysian Indian Hindus, particularly the males are told not to behave like boorish hooligans in the course of the festival by Hindu NGOs. Don't drink. Don't do the cockstare. Don't do saavu dance in front of kavadi. Don't fight. Don't harass women. Thaipusam in Malaysia is a tourist attraction. It comes in the news, is telecast live - pretty much the whole nation and world are swept by it.

And yes, many. many of the Malaysian Indian Hindu/Other males put up best behaviour. For one day. After Thaipusam is over, it's back to drinking in public and dumping beer bottle in residential areas' children's playgrounds, fighting at restaurants, schools and other public premise over a stare, do gang member funeral processions until whole roads get into gridlock, inter alia. They be at best behaviour only when a spotlight is on them. Similarly, after the spotlight on jallikattu was turned off, it's back to threatening women, "Dupatta ve sariya podlana ungala potturuvom."

So, it's obvious that what was done during the jallikattu protests was not in the best interests of women - and there was no intention to toe through the best behaviour. It was done on the basis of, "Everyone is seeing us so we must create a good image." That's a wrong attitude to get by because when no one is looking you get back to being a sordid human being.

And, let me tell you that European, Norwegian, Australian, American men, the men I have asked the Tamil Taliban to exemplify ARE NOT MUCH DIFFERENT. They behave in a way that sets an example for the rest of the world and when they get to Thailand or the Philippines, they lose the exemplary behaviour.

In the Philippines, there are increasing numbers of children fathered by foreign men. The men are from EU and western countries typically associated with progress, champs of gender equality and human rights. Yet, these men, who are rich, married with children in their home countries travel to the Philippines, have sex with girls the age of their own daughters, impregnate them and go back home. They are burgeoning sex tourism.

In their home countries, these men will never do such a thing. At home, they are proponents of gender equality, will not harass a woman at their workplace and not touch their wives if the latter don't feel like it. In the Philippines however, these men are very different. They drug the girls then rape them. They don't use protection. They fuck girls the age of their daughters without any compunction or conscience.

I read a journal on why men go to female sex workers and the most chilling answer was, "Because I get to hurt the woman and make her do things I won't make my wife/gf do. I can fuck her as hard as I want because I pay."

In rare cases, the foreign men marry the Filipino women they got pregnant. I'm like, "Idhu enna da Tamil padam panjayuthu theerpu maari irukku.." Other men support their child financially and visit their son/daughter. Most just don't care and wash their hands off the child, not consenting for paternity test and leave the women that they gave children to live in abject poverty while they live life as good men in their respective developed countries. Their wife and family don't know what the men have done on their 'business trips'.

So, what I am coming to say here is, putting up a dog and pony show for one/few day isn't going to solve a thing. It will only create a good impression that doesn't last. You should be at your best behaviour at all times, not only when people are looking and when there are stringent laws in your country about sex crimes and gender inequality, the latter in referral to the foreign men. Even when an opportunity to touch someone intimately arises - no one is looking, it's crowded, she's alone, it's night time, make the choice not to. Prove to yourself that you are a good human being. Don't blame the dupatta, jeans, miniskirt, party, clubbing, etc. Have self-discipline and the notion that wrong is wrong, when done publicly or privately. It's only by this we can create long term positive impact.

Safety for women isn't something to be proud of. Are you proud of not murdering people? No? So don't be proud of not harassing women.