#MeToo:-  As discussed with my son in today’s context!

14th  Oct 2018

It’s 14th October 2018 today, while driving through the Fitzroy and the Lygon Street areas of Melbourne I read out some of the sensational '#Me Too' news coming out of India to my 33yr old son - the very thoughtful and rational Eshan.

In his five minutes thoughtful talk he elaborated his views about ‘#Me Too’ so well!

Here is the summary of what he explained and I couldn't but totally agree with him in its entirety!

#Me Too - though considered to have been started in 2006 by Tarana Burke in the US on a specific agenda (ref. Wikipedia), has evolved in today's context, to a "process of self-realization"  for men & women both; it is not a 'movement' of taking revenge or to unsettle someone from their current activities and positions disgracefully before even proving them.

It is not a 'reckoning' but an 'orchestrated call for a global awakening’!  An awakening for both - the men & women so that it stops soonest if not at once! This is because the sexual harassment is a very sensitive but a subjective term and may be coming around the world from some men or women individually or in groups or even from some misguided children or groups of them (no matter how shocking it may sound). Vulnerable or consenting as it may appear - children / men / women individuals or groups of them being the recipients who may suffer silently that time as long as their major agenda of survival or self-advancement is being served but decide to speak up later once they feel secure as it appears from the current trends.

It is not about Women attacking Men after a lapse of decades – whether the incidents had occurred or not!

‘#Me Too’  as of now has evolved into the need of bringing-in the realisation in the societies globally, it’s about bringing self-realization at the  individual as well as social levels that such sexual harassments are no longer going to be tolerated – even if being exploited by someone for their self-advancements; it is also about addressing the practical topics but made taboo by  many civil societies and helped cover the perpetration of such incidents; it’s about stopping the acts of sexual harassments by individuals, social & organizational groups by triggering an awakening and instilling discipline in the context of today's domestic, social, workplace and social interactions! This includes the media based interactions and consequent behaviours too!

It may take huge efforts to bring-in the change, as an example take several age old terms used in the daily operational marine language that may need to be changed too because they may sound as sexually harassing to someone sensitive and not familiar with the non-civilian professional parlance – how to change them instantly?  

Or how about several blogs, posts, movies and their scripts, ‘elders’ advice’ in may tribes, many books who may ‘teach’ the youngsters about how women may say something but mean something else? Shouldn’t those literatures be banned too for causing such misleading impressions and for promoting the sexual harassment indirectly?

As for the portrayal of the incidents by the 'victims' ,the world should never ridicule the Victims while trying to avert the misuse of the #Me Too trend.

Yet, one may wonder about the accuracy of the portrayals or identities of the perpetrators after the victim has gone through the emotional stress and shocks for long periods of time?

Requirements of technology based ‘hard’ evidence from the ‘#Me Too’ whistleblowers: – For the incidents of sexual harassments committed long ago the big question is whether there was any technology available that is available today? Is it fair to expect every victim to have been equipped with it at the time of the incidents? and also being familiar with its operation? How ludicrous it is to expect that?

Similarly instant shaming, humiliating, sacking of the accused is in my opinion hasty and ridiculous too, how rational is it that the very men who may have done remarkable service in the entertainment, governing, technological or any other fields get instantly paraded in front of the media, shamed and hounded by countless activists or dislodged completely from their professional - social or home position, stripped of the dignity even before they are proven to be guilty or even before the accusers' claims are verified properly?

Also what about the possibilities of the ’#Me Too’ being hijacked by those who are only seeking personal damage to the accused (rightly or wrongly in that) or want malicious gains from the targeted persons who may be individual men, women or even juveniles too? or perhaps by some for the partisan or extortionist reasons?

And one may also wonder if in all these 12 years, if there has been any case of ‘#Me Too’ accusations raised against a now-homeless man/woman who in some victim's memory recall was /were the perpetrators too? Why does it almost always has to be against some celebrity or a rich entity?

Conclusion: – The ‘#Me Too’ is not about displacing some highly placed men, it is not about taking revenge against anyone who may have fallen out with a woman - as in apparent in of most of the current day cases that are coming forth, it is not about those who knowingly walked into such situations for self-gains at the earlier instances and later felt like making the accusations when their own positions are well settled using those avenues and it is definitely not about bringing someone to justice either- bringing to justice doesn’t work as this! This is because the judiciary of a land can only function within the ambit of the governing laws of that particular state, while the true depth & scope of ‘#Me Too’ are way too vast and also global and it’s about the mind-sets of the accused (rightly or wrongly branded as one) and those of the victims,, both!

‘#Me Too’ in the current day contexts is certainly about making a true awakening and about changing the age-old bad habits, bad behaviour, exploiting interactions of people towards the vulnerable men-women-children; it is about improving individual behaviours , group behaviours, social behaviours and attitudes towards vulnerable men-women-children! It is about rethinking the behaviours of the ‘seniors’ & ‘bosses’ male or female and be in the offices or off-the-job or even within the house holds too !!

‘#Me Too’ is definitely about the importance of ‘consent’ and consent being given in a well established and traceable manner!

Only if this is realized quickly, a well-intended ‘#Me Too’ initiative will work constructively instead of making media hypes about the commonly known fields where regular inter-personal consensual involvements is a norm and have many individuals walking-in knowingly for self-advancements at that time but decry at a later date. These accusations about the past instances make news at a later date because the legal and social systems have had ignored and left them alone for long. But now in the light of ‘#Me Too’ it’s a high time to make a choice between saving such instances of sexual harassment against any gender or age and a chance to alter the way certain industries and situations worked traditionally being conducive to sexual harassment.

I think it was a good discussion after all and listening to the younger rational generation!!  

- Sachin.

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