Originally posted by: LaVita-E-Bella
Today's episode was a little disappointing for me. This whole Rajveer track has actually disappointed me.
Many people are happy that Zoya accepted her mistake in today's episode, but to be honest, for me at least, it felt like she didn't fully accept it. She accepted that Asad was right about Rajveer, but not that she should have been more careful about going out alone and shouldn't have taken a ride from a complete stranger. I even think she should have been scolded a little by Dilshaad. In the end Zoya handled the situation and showed Rajveer his place but it doesn't always work like that in reality.
I don't really understand the message that the show and channel were trying to portray to us. I wanted to make a post first when I read the message but thought I'd let this track play out. Delena90 already discussed most of what I felt but I want to add to it. The main reason the whole thing really bothers me is because they are trying to get a message out in the wrong way. Actually not even that, the whole message is twisted and makes no sense. I get that the show wants to stress the topic about not judging someone by the way they dress, but I don't understand how and why they are trying to connect wearing jeans to a girl getting raped. Yes just because a girl wears jeans does not mean she's available and just because she's friendly with a guy doesn't mean he can come and get it, but relating it to rape is kind of irrelevant. They should have stuck to one simple straight forward message and played it out instead of bringing it and connecting it to something else that has nothing to do with it. If they had left out the part about rape, then I would have more understood the message, but tying them both together just did not seem to make sense to me.
Unfortunately when such an incident does happen, the woman is blamed because she dressed a certain way and acted a certain way and brought it upon herself. But what people need to get is that shameless men will objectify a woman whether she is dressed in jeans, a skirt, salwar kameez, saree, or even burqa. There are sick people out there, and rape can happen to anyone and has happened to even girls who are covered head to toe so dress is least of the problems.
If they want to spread awareness of the issue, then show that anyone can be targeted, and instead of worrying about the way a girl is dressed, teach the public about safety and taking care of one's self. Tell young girls about the precautions they can take if they do have to go out alone and how to avoid landing in such a situation.
Zoya pointed out that men like Rajveer make her feel unsafe in her own country, well its a reality of the world, this happens in each and every country in each and every corner of the world. There are worst men out there than Rajveer who would've pulled their car to some deserted area and done God knows what to the girl. No country, no place is really 100% safe. It's not only a problem for women, but men and children as well. Horrible things other than rape can happen as well: kidnappings, murders, robberies etc etc. Why do parents not let their children play outside after dark? Why do they tell their kids not to talk to strangers? Unfortunately we live in a world that works this way.
Stepping out late at night alone does not make you available, but it does make you vulnerable. Rapists don't see what you're wearing, they see a woman, alone, and an opportunity.
In my opinion, the way I saw today's episode, instead of Zoya learning her lesson, they are showing and in a way pretty much telling people, "yeah it's okay to be walking in the middle of a stranded road alone at night and take a ride from some random guy who's staring at you creepily because as long as in the end you fix it and show him his place it's all good". No, not every girl is Zoya (or that lucky), and if it were real life and not reel, something most likely would have happened to her. I guess I was really bothered because when I read the statement of the message, they brought in the happenings of today and women being raped and tied it in with this storyline which doesn't even compare. This is just the way I saw the whole thing.
Lovely post, couldn't agree with you more! I think that the thought behind the track was nice, but frankly it wasn't thought through properly at all. Zoya was behaving rashly and stupid, and sure she was okay in the end because she was surrounded by her own people when Rajveer finally tried to 'make a move'. But like you've said in the bold parts, not everyone is as lucky as Zoya, so it isn't okay to do as you please without thinking as long as you stand up for yourself in the end. Not everyone gets that opportunity.
I especially like what you said in the red part, it's so true. No matter how many times it's announced that objectifying women is wrong, men who want to still will, even if you're draped in layers of clothes. It is unfair, but women themselves have to be sensible about their behaviour and take care of themselves by avoiding situations where you might end up being vulnerable to attacks. You can't expect men who think that way to change their thinking. They most certainly won't. I guess everyone's main problem is that this point was not brought across properly at all.
Once again, lovely post!!
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