Netas need to respect women

Voters should punish those who lack courtesy in personal discourse

As the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections has started, the language and noise levels of the campaign have become shriller and more discourteous. Derogatory remarks about women by representatives of two national parties have attracted attention and invited the disapproval of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Both comments were deeply misogynistic. A crude comment about Kangana Ranaut, actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, appeared on the social media account of Supriya Shrinate, the Congress’ national spokesperson and social media head. BJP leader Dilip Ghosh made an extremely objectionable comment about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The ECI has found both remarks “undignified and in bad taste”, and issued notices to them. The remarks are not only violations of the model code of conduct for elections, but also a breach of normal courtesy observed in personal discourse.

The standards of public discourse have deteriorated over the years with personal attacks and insults being freely resorted to by politicians, their supporters, and others. Women have been the worst victims of such attacks. When the comments become controversial and invite adverse attention, evasions, excuses, and whataboutery are resorted to. Shrinate has said that the offensive comment was made by someone who had access to her account.  Bad precedents should prompt everybody to avoid such comments. Parties should take note of such indecent excesses and not only distance themselves from them but also act against those who make such remarks. The Congress has done well if reports that it has denied a seat to Shrinate in the election are true. Such comments usually attract public attention only when they are made about celebrities; many get away with their insults against other women, however degrading they are.

Many leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have made such comments in the past. It is society’s patriarchal and misogynist mindset that drives such speeches. A study of misogynist comments in the 2019 elections has found that such comments follow global patterns, and arise from historically rooted cultural tropes directed at woman politicians. They try to delegitimise women’s political representation and agency. This is taking place at a time when the number of women voters is increasing. There are over 100 Lok Sabha constituencies where women outnumber men. Women’s autonomy and dignity should be respected in politics and the electoral arena, and voters should ensure that those who violate them are punished; especially when parties fail to act against them.