Who’s not Me Too?

The morning newspaper these days is splashed with Me Too news.

The Me Too movement has opened a can of worms in the Bollywood industry. Every day there are shocking revelations that makes one wonder about the mask these so called elite educated men wear and lead such a hypocritical life. I wonder how many more will come out in the open.

As I sip my coffee and wonder about the duality of people, my nanny broke my train of thoughts with her mundane story of traffic jams and crowded buses. But something she said made me realize me too is everywhere. She went on chattering about difficult it is to board crowded buses with men trying to take advantage of the crowd – how disgusting it is to go through that ordeal every day.

It brought back my memories of college and school days when we travelled in buses and had to endure this harassment every day in some form or the other. Some will try to press against you, or sly their hand into your dress or breathe heavily down your neck. It did not just end there. If you are on the road, no matter what you wear, there will be those jobless youths who would make catcalls or pass lewd comments – there will be those sly passers-by who would just touch you inappropriately and run away – the list was endless. If you go to tuition or schools, there are those predator teachers who try to take advantage in the name of teaching. If you are in workplace, you are bound to face harassment of a different kind altogether. Thankfully, many corporate offices have anti-harassment laws but how much of it is effective is yet to be pondered upon.

So, what do we call this movement then, ‘Who’s not me too!’ because I believe every woman has faced this at some point in their lives, be it in lesser or greater degrees. How do we raise our voice against these nameless faces? Because these faces are hiding in every household and may seem harmless to their family members but the demons inside them are faced by women outside. How do we pinpoint and shame them? How to get back those years which leave a trauma inside you and you bury them deep inside within layers of emotions, so much so that sometimes it looks normal when it happens?

Me too has been existing since ages but it has been given a platform to women around the world to come out and voice their angst and trauma. It should be taken to greater heights where every woman, girl from any walk of life finds the courage to speak up and get justice!