Friday, January 8, 2010

Mystifying Colors

The day began on a very colorful note. As usual, I woke up very late, but it’s hard to blame myself for that. I understand why some organisms hibernate during winters; it’s indeed the best time to sleep. The warmth of your blanket, and also the realization that you don’t have to wake up to face a brooding boss early in the morning is quite blissful. I am enjoying this induced hibernation from tension, stress and work. An aesthetic city, plenty of movies, tea and the occasional kebabs make Delhi the ideal place to chill… Literally!

Anyway, I soon logged into the virtual world and bumped myself into a rather amusing puzzle. Mysteriously, I read colors all around. Dazzling colors, bright and dark, soft and hard. I must say that I love colors. Colors in concept itself excite me. The possibilities are never ending; the pleasure to the eyes is at times too appealing. So, I was curious to figure out was happening. Maybe it was color day. On enquiring among a few friends, I received weird replies. Some said it’s a secret, while some laughed at my ignorance, or rather naiveté. Now, this indeed was intriguing, there were colors all around and I had no clue what the mysterious secret was. Finally, a received a link from one of my seniors, and as I read through the article, I realized that there was a ‘strong social cause’ associated with this whole color ordeal.

A Detroit blog was one of the first to suggest that the color update craze was started by women in Detroit who were trying to raise awareness around Breast Cancer Another blog backed up that notion and included the following Facebook message which reads as follows:
“Some fun is going on…. just write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of breast cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before people wonder why all the girls have a color in their status… Haha.”

So there it was. I had done my Sherlock Holmes routine and unraveled the truth. The mysterious colors where merely a vehicle to promote ‘awareness’ of breast cancer. The more I thought about it, the more I laughed at the sheer idiocy of the idea. The tidal wave of stupidity that followed for the whole day was irritatingly assiduous.
At times I think we have become absolutely numb and tactless. We are ignorant beyond belief, thought process is at an all time low, and like the famous comedian Louis CK said ‘we now live in an amazing world which is wasted on the crappiest generation of spoilt idiots who don’t care’.

First things first, let’s not confuse information for awareness. We live in an information age were news is readily available, but if people fail to dissect and assess this information obtained, it neither serves him nor humanity any purpose. Knowing about a social stigma is one thing, being aware of it is totally different. Does this bra color gimmick make people aware of the causes of breast cancer? Do people realize that late or no pregnancy, birth control pills, substance abuse, lack of breast feeding obesity and lack of exercise are some of the main causes for breast cancer. Long story cut short, do people realize the effects of lifestyle changes on the broadening of such a disease?

If someone is aware of these things, they would try implementing changes in their own lives. But overlapping cultures have changed our very way of living hasn’t it? Alas, there is a parallel line of thought where a lot of women are against pregnancy, citing it as an obstacle to a successful career. While some say its added responsibility and strain. There is no doubt that substance abuse is at an all time high. It’s nothing but a contagious combo of hypocritical ignorance which is truly hard to explain.

If one observes Human history, there have been many revolutionary movements. The bra burning movement in the 70’s, at an ideological level was very potent. It stood for a lot more than the terminology in itself. Very recently, the Pink Chaddi campaign against the Ram Sena gained phenomenal attention. Highly popular, not only was it strong structurally, but also the idea behind the movement was thought provoking. Sadly though, the latest ‘announcing my bra color movement’ makes absolutely no sense, and the fan following is just bewildering. At best it does provides for some voyeuristic pleasure. There is no reasoning or thought behind the whole ordeal, and sadly, people women from all over the world have readily accepted it without a flinch, and more frighteningly, without even a thought.

As a society by default, we take cribbing is taken for granted. We whine about how irresponsible the media is. We abuse the paparazzi, and hurl stones a media houses for their sheer audacity. It’s important to recognize that media regulation is possible only if one cares about his/her own privacy. Millions of users tweet every single day, informing peers and friends about every diminutive facet of their lives. It involves exchange of articles and information, photos and videos. At times though, some people express mood swings and at other times some inform people about the most irrelevant details like what someone got from the nearest supermarket. Dissipation of information is important, but informing people about when they are going to take a dump is not going to bring any sort of revolution.

What the likes of Facebook and twitter have done is something people need to closely introspect. Every photograph, every video and every bit of information one puts up is readily accessible to millions of people all over the world. While most people consider it as a minor hitch in an otherwise profitable venture, mindless acts such as the one above will not help anyone; rather it will modify social norms to a level beyond control, and maybe even beyond repair.

So where does the fault lie? Is it ignorance, lethargy, our mutinous ways of living, cyber space or the human intellect in itself? Is it really difficult to take two minutes off and think about our so called ‘humorous gags’ and the sheer stupidity of ones actions? Religion has often been termed as blinding, but episodes like these tell me that WE as a society never have been so blinded by what’s fed to us. People spend millions on post graduate programs but sadly education from the best universities all over the world do not help us in differentiating stupidity from common sense

At times it’s also a matter of self respect which somehow seems to have evaporated from within us. As one of my sensible friends Ruchika (very few that I have, I realized) commented about the girls who readily flaunted about their bra colors ‘If tomorrow you boys want to know what 'color' bra they are wearing ,and if you ask them casually, they should not call it eve-teasing or misbehaving’.
Social networking is indeed true democracy. There is absolute transparency, at every level, and that includes our own lives.
I surrender to the power of the Web World. It can mystify… and stupify millions!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

"So where does the fault lie? Is it ignorance, lethargy, our mutinous ways of living, cyber space or the human intellect in itself? Is it really difficult to take two minutes off and think about our so called ‘humorous gags’ and the sheer stupidity of ones actions?"

It is all of that and more.

Now I understand what they meant when they accused us of 'Blindly aping the West'. Just because some excited American sitting in Detroit wanted women to reveal their 'colors', we start doing it here in India?!! And all of this is 'supposedly' going to help in spreading 'breast cancer awareness'. how? HOW???
It would have made a little more sense had the women cared to write at least a line or two about the disease itself, about the testing/examination, about the preventive measures. But no one did that! oh, or wait, was there a 'rule' to this game which stopped them from talking about the 'issue' itself.
And forget the spreading awareness part,how many of these women became 'more aware' after the public announcement? How many of them know how to self-examine their breasts? How many of them know about the lifestyle related risks that you mentioned in your post?How many of them bothered to read up articles about Breast Cancer yesterday? May be a few did, but definitely a very large percentage didn't.

Why do we need to part away with a very personal and totally insignificant piece of information in order to show our solidarity to the cause??
This whole 'gag' just provided some (very welcome) titillation for the men. Is it difficult to imagine a young girl being harrowed by a group of boys who want her to reveal her 'color'? Come on, after all its all of the sake of 'breast cancer awareness'! If you could reveal it yesterday, why are you shying away when I ask you today?

I feel clogged when I see the same women harp about 'traditions', 'Indian culture', 'respect for women', etc etc.

Wondering what is next- hmmm Cervical Cancer, anyone??

Hestia said...

I must say Shazzles that you have made various valuable points there. I agree. It's a sad situation we live in a world where such things catch such a fiery pace.. And there is so much ga ga over it.. Ruchika has a point, I don't know how many women educated themselves about this 'cause' yesterday.. I did.. But that doesn't justify my being part of this brilliant awareness drive..

A lot of girls asked me the meaning of this campaign when I forwarded them this message.. So I told them this.. And I am going to tell you as well.. It's playing on a different tangent, this thing for me.. Here I go..

Shaz.. Women and their privacy has always needed some protection, guard and security.. Why? Because unfortunately, as our physical attributes are, we attract.. We then become objects of desire.. And then objects of scrutiny.. We can never be truly liberated like the men are because the world is a man's world and it is not easy.. Even if we are clothed head to toe, we can we raped, the clothes can be torn.. We can be stared at by a pervert in our own complete ignorance..

This campaign is explicit.. For me, it's a way of liberation.. It's a way of saying we can not be afraid.. See shaz, the privacy of men is something so out in the open because they don't fear being looked at in light of social stigma or perverted perview.. For me, disclosing a bra color is a way of saying.. I don't want to be afraid..

Ever seen how openly boys take a leak in the open.. No shit right?

But a woman is expected to be coy.. Because the world has too many stigmas related to her..

Why Shaz? Why?

It's not harming anyone this campaign, or is it? If there was no perception, we would see things the way they actually are.. Empty.. With no inhibition or boundaries.. Infinite and zero.. There is no point to anything Shaz.. And this campaign is another one of those pointless things.. It's how we take it and what we make of it!

Get it?

SZ said...

“Shaz.. Women and their privacy has always needed some protection, guard and security.. Why? Because unfortunately, as our physical attributes are, we attract.. We then become objects of desire.. And then objects of scrutiny.. We can never be truly liberated like the men are because the world is a man's world and it is not easy.. Even if we are clothed head to toe, we can we raped, the clothes can be torn.. We can be stared at by a pervert in our own complete ignorance..”


Dear Ami,

Now I cannot be articulate on some issues but let me try and answer to your questions that you have asked in these comments on Shaz’s post –

Apples and oranges should not be compared... its wont work... similarly there are specific attributes to both male and female, they are not comparable....

There are pressures on the boys as well, they can do what they want when they are strong (young) but its not they don’t pay for the mistakes of their... To fight so as to survive is a natural instinct that a male has to learn but with it comes also the responsibility to show that the strength is not used as a wild animal but rather as human…Words like respect, justice, greatness, Chivalrous etc are supposed to be figurative to their behaviour

Let me give some examples...
Tiger woods.. (you can see how he is loosing sponsors and can ask shaz more about it, since he can explain better than me)

Ever thought what makes shahrukh khan more appreciated by many people?? Well its his character that has been built over time for his loyalty to his wife (gauri)...
Do Amir Khan and Salman Khan enjoy the same respect? I dont think so... They can be excellent professionals, perhaps better than shahrukh khan but their personal life at times makes it difficult to gain absolute respect and leaves a glaring loophole when their lives is discussed...

(Individuals may favour them for being a mad fan but then they cannot be taken as a norm… Like my brother can do a million mistake but will I desert him? Nope will your family desert you? No… Sometimes friends too do not desert even when you find yourself in deep trouble but that doesn’t change a wrong action to right… Something that everybody knows)

I was once told that... "Sons are the pride of the family and Daughters are the honour"

Truth is that once you lose either the pride or the honour, to regain is nearly is impossible... So its not that there are no issues for boys, its wrong…

Even if we are clothed head to toe, we can we raped, the clothes can be torn.. We can be stared at by a pervert in our own complete ignorance..

Rape is the most heinous crimes and I think such we should just shoot that man who commits it… Being stared by perverts there are few things one must ensure… read the following article and we shall talk about the looks of the perverts-- http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/indian-tvs-unsound-fury-20100106-lu8y.html

Also understand it very clearly that the world respects power be it man or woman -- 2 powerful lady Gandhi's, Margaret Thatcher, Rani of Jhansi, There was a leader of a tribe in Africa 12th century, Then there were some in Spain around 13th century (dont remember their names), Cleopatra and many more... They were not protected rather they protected… Things were not easy for them to reach their but its not easy for men to rise t such position either…

Shaz said...

Women have been oppressed over generations. I agree. I am sure I will never understand what it is to equal to a woman. Simply because nature in itself has created us that way. We cannot be equal, and we will not be, It’s because we are different at every level. Emotionally, physically and biologically.
Ami, do not confuse liberation for progress. Anarchy is liberation, violence is liberation, terrorism is liberation so is fundamentalism. Drugs, alcoholism, sex and they are all some sort of liberation. Is it justified? Don’t you think that’s some sort of mindless transparency? The thought in itself is blinding? If you want women to achieve Social equality (which I think might be the only form that might be even close to achievable) protest against all the reservation given to you. Do not travel in ladies compartments, do not sit in seats reserved for women alone, do not apply for jobs which are specifically left for women, be willing to be frisked by male people in railway stations. Don’t fear men and their stares. Don’t blame them for all that’s wrong dome to woman, break cliché’s, and find a way. Don’t blame your physicality for everything. It’s difficult, maybe not possible, but I would respect that mentality a lot more. Treat them on par with you. Maybe you might follow this, but not all women will, not all women can. Simply because they prefer that security too, they enjoy the benefits of being a woman sometimes. Progress is path breaking, Liberation is not always. Absolute liberation can be too dangerous at times. Fight for progress, fight for that kind of social change. Does announcing the color of your bra on facebook make you less fearful? Does it in anyway make men and women equal, or close to equal. Does it make people aware of anything? Yes, I think it’s infinite, zero and futile.

Ami, and we can’t shy away from things saying that everything is pointless. If that was the case, the world would still be a jungle; there wouldn’t be any form of change. Thoughts are words can change things, their potential is immense. So is the web world, Use it and I promise I will stand with you, as long as you fight for liberation that will help women progress, not liberation that makes you feel good.
I find to hard to digest that society sometimes ignores the fact the guys take a leaks on roads. It’s disgusting, it’s not acceptable. I think woman are being more human by abstaining from such sort of activity, that’s what separate humans from animals. Be proud of it!

Unknown said...

I think the debate can be solved by asking the entire guy community if we are willing to spread awareness on Testicular Cancer by revealing what colour underwear we are wearing...
depending on the response, we can gauge whether the guys consider themselves on an equal footing with girls or not...

Unknown said...

good 1 shaz bhai!