On people’s reactions to #MeToo

Right from the time I began noticing how creepy men can be to now with the horrific tales that are coming out of the #MeToo movement, there is one thing that has always irked me the most!

Let’s say you’re walking on a street and are distracted and unknowingly step on someone else’s foot. What shall your first reaction be? You’ll get startled and immediately apologise. If your footwear was heavy and the person seemed to be in extra pain, you’ll be doubly apologetic. If the person was a child or someone weaker/more vulnerable, you’d feel even worse and go out of your way to not just apologise but also console and ensure they’re fine.

If instead, you were to laugh or celebrate or smirk or enjoy when you stepped on their foot, what does that say about you! Look beyond the act of harassment for a bit, look beyond the power dynamics for a bit and focus on the human aspect of this act! If you enjoy causing pain and discomfort to a girl, to a child, to a human being, to a creature - what does that say about you!

What sort of person takes pleasure when a girl cringes, cries, howls in pain and protest! The deprivation and sadism of that man speaks to a deep corruption and erosion of the humanness of that being!

I shudder to think what upbringing and socialising could have created that lack of sensitivity, that lack of compassion, that getting off on pain, that careful conniving damage to another, that continual harassment despite the pain and protest! And when a heavy percentage of one group suffers from the same level of sadism, what does it say about us! The day someone crossed the line where they could harm someone and take pleasure in it, there remained no hope when told to not sexually harass someone!

Harassment and many such deprivations are the symptoms of a deep breakdown in compassion and humanity!