Save the boy child from ‘creative’ shaming

“Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt.”
-Titus Maccius Plautus

If nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt, then nothing is more disgusting than the mind of a man who uses children to hide behind his own guilt or his own need to get quick fame. I am referring to the recent video made by Keegan Pinto, Creative Head – FCB Ulka. Brilliantly sickening!  No doubt, many feminists are clapping their hands in glee, foaming at the mouth.

Welcome to the phenomenon of the human shield. And when the human shield comprises of children, it is very effective in delivering any message. Recently, there was a big hue and cry on social media when paramilitary forces allegedly used a protestor as a human shield. What Keegan Pinto and the other stakeholders have done is nothing short of using small children as human shields in a gender shaming exercise

The children in the video are shown repeating phrases like ‘Mother and father, save me from becoming a bad man when I grow up’ repeatedly replacing the phrase ‘bad man’ with ‘repeat sex offender’, ‘rapist’, ‘wife beater’, ‘molester’, ‘stalker’, ‘pervert’, ’chauvinist’, ‘misogynist’ and going on to coax their parents to teach them ‘gender equality’ and ‘correct values’. This video is an exercise in shaming men by shaming little boys. into not becoming something they may or may not become, solely by the virtue of being male. This reveals a seriously twisted mind worth condemning on so many levels. Let us examine the assumptions that we are supposed to digest. Assumption one: That all males are bound to grow up to be rapists or other types of criminals. Assumption two: That active intervention is required at a young age to stop the transformation of boys into criminals. Assumption three: That if young boys themselves send this message to parents and society to save themselves from becoming criminals, the message becomes very effective.

The only assumption worth its salt here is that the ‘creative head’ will do anything to gain the attraction and hero worship of young and impressionable women. So much for desperation! No one would have minded much if he had emasculated himself in the video. However, his attempt to social-engineer gender behavior by injecting sexual guilt, that too into little children who do not fully understand gender roles, responsibilities or crime, is downright disgusting.

Looking at the age of the children in the video, it becomes clear that none of the children actually understand the full extent of the meaning and import of the words they have been made to parrot. We must also take into account the effect of the video on young adolescent male viewers who could face serious sexual confusion and self-hate. On the other hand young adolescent female viewers would start thinking that their natural attraction to young males is somehow perverted and wrong since according to the video all males if not corrected as children are doomed to be sexual deviants and perverts.

The fact that this video has used small children to deliver a nasty, guilt-loaded, guilt-inducing message exposes the fact somewhere some guilt has actually been offloaded off somebody’s mind. Only a guilty mind would use the ‘creativity’ of delivering guilt using the essence of innocence; that which is the defining nature of childhood.

Interestingly the video makers made the young boys use a phrase like ‘save me from becoming a man who shames you, gives you a bad name’. Using small children to deliver adult messages which they don’t even understand fully is shameful in itself. Children have very fragile thought processes and whole education systems across the world grapple with the difficulty of imparting moral education. When you add gender equations to the mix, then the problem gets that much more complicated. Any attempt of this kind is bound to have far reaching negative effects on young impressionable minds.

What is even more disturbing is the fact that many people on facebook are heaping praises on Keegan Pinto for his ‘creative’ idea. Some of these people appear to be the parents or guardians of the children portrayed. All these people must take a hard look at the underlying assumption of the ‘Creative Head’ that all male children are bound to become stalkers, wife beaters, rapists, molesters and repeat sexual offenders and examine if they themselves are all or any of the above. If not, they must examine for themselves if they have reached the point of being non-criminals only on the interventionary and manipulative tactics of the likes of Keegan Pinto in their childhood.

It is shameful how some people can use their ‘creativity’ to vilify a whole gender, including young defenseless and clueless boys in order to please women. Keegan Pinto and his art appreciators must understand that his actions are nothing less than psychological manipulation of young boys.

When the Labour Ministry of the government can deliberate and decide on how many number of hours a child artiste can work, I am sure it is also worth considering and to formulate laws on how and what messages a child actor can be allowed to render and portray.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r-lkDhjfRc

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/child-artistes-can-work-only-for-5-hours-a-day/article18201739.ece

Press Release- VAMBAM- Violence Against Men And Boys Awareness Month – Oct 2015

PRESS RELEASE- #VAMBAM
 ALL INDIA MEN’S WELFARE ASSOCIATION
HELPLINE FOR MEN & BOYS IN DISTRESS: 888 2 498 498

 

There is a very visible absence of any protection, support system or forums to look into the many aspects of the well being of males. This absence of any framework to address men’s issues has encouraged violence by women against men and boys. All India Men’s Welfare Association (AIMWA) was formed on 11 October 2009 to create awareness about  the many issues faced by men and boys and to promote men’s welfare.


VAMBAM: Today on the eve of the 6th anniversary of its conception, AIMWA has launched a month long campaign to bring into focus the issue of Violence against Men and Boys. From October 1 to October 31 we will be observing “Violence Against Men and Boys Awareness Month” (#VAMBAM) by conducting a series of campaigns to bring awareness to society about the different forms of abuse inflicted on men and masculinity by women.
  • Physical abuse-                      pushing, slapping, beating, kicking, punching
  • Verbal abuse-                      name calling, nagging, insulting
  • Emotional and mental abuse-    blackmailing, threatening
  • Financial abuse-              unreasonable monetary demands, spying and controlling spending, demanding complete control over finances


There is compelling data on female violence on men. But instead of addressing the problem, International agencies and government departments and NGOs are suppressing facts, spreading lies and  thereby promoting violence against men.


The following events unravel that there is a systematic, agenda driven, politically motivated campaign to degrade, malign, and destroy everything that is associated with maleness:


  • The Chief Minister of Gujarat referred to boys as ‘Rejected maal’ in a school function in front of children, paving the way for people to view boys as somehow inferior
  • The Delhi CM has started to give monetary rewards to women who abuse, manhandle, beat up men in public, making it an incentive for anyone to abuse men in public
  • The Minister of WCD has given out a public statement that “all violence is male generated”. This can now be seen as a virtual green signal by the government to go ahead and bash up men and boys in public.
  • When asked her opinion about men these days, actress Nandita Das replied  “All men are potential rapists” in a Times of India interview. These kind of irresponsible, hate statements made by film artists and so called activist is nothing but a call to violence against men and boys.
  • By way of financial grants and narratives of ‘positive discrimination’, Educational Institutions are being used to promote feelings of guilt in male children just for the fact of being male.
  • Corporates are being choked to financial death by forcing them to create quasi-legal platforms that victimize male employees
  • Transport systems are being forced to create segregation policies to popularize the thinking that males are dirty, filthy and lechers. Now any man who accidentally steps into a women’s only coach is liable to be beaten up and humiliated publicly and such lynching will be applauded internationally. In a Delhi Metro rail, men were beaten up by women passengers and security women for entering a ladies only coach. These incidents have repeated themselves which show how badly men and boys are being treated in society.


All the above are very carefully constructed efforts to escalate the war against men and boys and to destroy the fabric of gender-harmony.


Recent examples of Violence Against Men & Boys:


  • There is an epidemic of news reports which have shown how men are being killed by wives’ having extra-marital affairs.
  • Young boys are being killed by mothers for financial reasons, extra-marital affairs etc.,
  • Men being tortured and forced to commit suicide
  • Men being blackmailed for money on fake rape allegations
  • Men being burnt alive
  • Acid attacks on men


VAMBAM Agenda:


  • To sensitize society about the rampant Violence against Men and Boys
  • To change the popular mindset that Violence against men and boys is humorous
  • To encourage people that it is also important to help to stop female violence against men and boys
  • To encourage boys and men to break their silence if they have experienced violence even if done by women


VAMBAM October Events:


  1. A Fake Story : JustMean by SIFAR: Published on 29th September 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gxGUabZ3po&feature=youtu.be
  2. Satyagraha by SIFK, Bangalore on 2 Oct 2015
  3. Deployment of twitter hashtag #VAMBAM on Saturday 10th, October 2019
  4. Launch a support system for male victims of sexual abuse. http://www.thehindu.com/data/the-many-shades-of-rape-cases-in-delhi/article6261042.ece It has been reported by The Hindu news article that out of 460 cases tried in 2008 in Delhi area, 281 cases were either of consenting couples or eloped couples. So, there are a large number of cases where the men and women were in a sexual relationship and which out of some societal pressure or emotional pressure, the man was made to undergo the humiliation and rigours of being a rape accused. In a good number of cases, the sexual advances are made by adult women, who use blackmail as a weapon to push the boy or man into a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. This is nothing  but sexual exploitation of men where the man is physically, mentally, emotionally and financially exploited to the extreme all for the sake of love for a woman.
  5. Engage the public with radio talk shows on community radio, video podcasts etc.,


Links to all online references:
http://vambamlinks.blogspot.com/2015/10/links.html

My speech at the launch of DV Awareness Month- Press Conference

I am assuming that apart from your careers, when you go back home, you will find yourself in the role of parents, brothers, sisters and children. This is to say that family life is the center of our lives. Any danger or harm to any member of our family hurts the rest of the family, and we, as common citizens, rest our faith in the law enforcement and justice system, laws and procedures, to protect us and our families from harm. What happens when you find out that you and your family members are not eligible for protection just because you happen to be a man or a blood relative of a man?

The Constitution of India guarantees us the Right to Equality under Article 14. But Indian laws against domestic violence do not treat men and women as equals, reminding us of George Orwell’s Animal Farm where “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

In fact, these laws do not even treat ALL women equally. This is due to the fact that these laws see women in only one role. And it is the role of a wife. They see women only as wives. So, daughters, sisters, mothers & grandmothers are being sent to jails along with their sons, brothers and grandsons. They are being thrown out of their homes on the strength of a single unproven accusation.

We are witnessing an unprecedented rise in Human Rights abuse through the enactment and execution of a few laws instituted in the name of empowerment of women.

In an effort to end this discrimination under law and to ensure equal protection for men and women against all forms of abuse, we, the members of Save Indian Family Foundation, All India Forgotten Women, Rishtey and Children’s Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting are launching a month-long awareness programme….http://dvawareness-india.blogspot.com/

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

For all those of you married men and all of you brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents of those married men, those of you who dreamed of a fairy tale happily ever after story, this should kick you into waking up to reality……our fair society has devised a way to tear out your hearts, bleed out your life long savings, rob you of your children and kick you out into the streets…and this is after your reputation is flushed down the toilet.

Enter the PWDVA. If you still dont know what this is…click here… http://dvawareness-india.blogspot.com/