This is just one example of the recent safety apps which have come up after the crimes against women. I am all for taking the measures for safety, we need to be careful when we are in living amongst animals but I do have a problem with the way it is being marketed.
"I'm not scared of roaming about alone or walking alone on the roads......"
Another ad says "Now I'm just not very far from my mother, sister...."
Well, what are we trying to say! Even in marketing an app for women, the ads reek of patriarchy. Why does a man have to be the protector, why does it always has to be a man? , why does she have to be defined as a mother, daughter, sister? In the first place why does she have to fear being alone and if she is fearing it, isn't the society to blame. And to address the issue does one address the problem or hide the symptoms. She is scared because she feels unsafe, because the men intimidate her, because the men threaten her not just by physical attack but just by making her feel uncomfortable with his searing looks. To address the problem, shouldn't we work on making the streets safer, our society safer rather than providing a "male" body guard to each women. Shouldn't we work on our mindset. Yes I do agree it will not be an overnight change but it has to begin somewhere. Yes I know we need interim methods to stop violence before the change happens, but I wonder if we are moving in the right direction by saying that a woman always needs a support, by saying she is incomplete.
Each time when a crime against woman is talked about, it is always in reference to how would one feel if she is one's wife, one's sister, one's daughter. I guess we should all be equally shameful and disgraced just by the fact that she is a fellow human being.
(Photo Courtesy:Google)
