The Rebelle blog

Nothing is less likely to inform the ignorance of their basking than telling them it is abysmal. - George Bernard Shaw A few days ago, I read something about Cultural Appropriation and I honestly can't to my utter embarrassment remember anything more about the article. Today, on 28th August 2017, Judiciary in India delivered a powerful prison sentence to a fake godman who dominated the news for his notoriety for years. 20 years in prison for two sexual assault cases pending since the last fifteen years. It is indeed a big victory apart from the cynicism of few who moan the delay in justice but they forget that in India, justice delayed is often justice denied! I read the original letter written by one of the sexual abuse victims to the then PM, Vajpayee. That letter is chilling in details, giving a detailed account of Ram Rahim's many crimes that includes raping 35-40 sadhvis (nuns), murdering people and abusing women in his so-called dera- a place of worship. Unfortuna...

I was disturbed yesterday after a conversation I had on the internet with a new acquaintance over sexuality, roles of men & women in society, action and intention over using a term like Rapist. It all started rather weirdly after being asked by him if I would meet him for a conversation. Since he was a stranger I joked I would meet him if he's not a serial killer. To which, he responded, he is not a serial killer but a serial rapist which left me rather shocked. I asked him about his casual reference and usage of the term, and he replied saying he pitied me for my brooding over using a term about which he said he had no bad intention. I wonder if there is a good intention of ever using a term such as Rapist? What followed was a rather maligning attempt by him over my capabilities of lame justifications I would be doing in my life. This is how women are abused, silenced and tormented in internet world by men. If these statements made by men do not qualify as a potential ra...

Two things I've come upon after reading books like 'The Beauty Myth' and 'The Unfinished Revolution' is that the cultural and sexual terrorization of women happens all over the world including the richest nations. The other being that this oppression needs more voicing out and a collective united mass movement across the globe. It can't just be conscious in developed countries but equal ferocity needs to be seen in developing and under-developed nations. As I was reading about the plight of the Roma women in Albania and Serbia, the statistics left me shaken. We deny human rights to children, women and the differently- able with a scary intensity. Imagine differentiating between women from South East Asia/Africa/Latin America/Middle East because their cultural and societal norms prevent women from using and asserting their rights to living independent lives. More or less, our language unites us in documenting their tormented stories because they are same ev...