ISHIKA KHURANA
This statement, “All men are trash”, how often do we hear this? An anthem if we call it? It’s basically the password to the “pissed off at men.” It’s the pissed off anger and frustration and hurt and pain rolled up into these four words. Generally women categorise men into “trash” is because they either had a bad past or experience with them. Some guy was following you too close for comfort? Trash. Another rape? Murder? Trash.
As a matter of fact, when we categorise men into the category of “Trash”, even we know it is somewhere equal to when we body shame a women. As per me, not all men are trash. I’ve been raised by a wonderful man, my father, my brother and I’ve a lot of male friends and they’ve proved the fact that all men are not trash, to me precisely.
Why men are always blamed? It’s really easy to bring someone’s reputation down in a couple of seconds. Rape is typically seen as a crime committed solely against women. However, in recent years, although rare, some brave men and boys have come forward to admit that they have been victims of rape and sexual abuse. Despite the fact that male cases go unreported because of social stigma attached to it. When women are assaulted, they are frequently asked about their attire and whether it was “inviting”, while male victims would be questioned about their sexual orientation and masculinity. This needs to be stopped.
Another very big problem in this world, “Being a Rapist” and tagging someone into the category of a “rapist” has a lot of difference. A recent example of a 17 years old boy, Manav who committed suicide because he was accused. The girl blamed him for molestation and rape and had no proof of it. The day she tagged him into a “rapist”, the society believed her without any proofs and he was left with no option but to suicide. This shall have no place here.
There are countless men who are glorious, making lives of their loved ones a constant joy, turning little acts into a joyous celebration of all that is good and kind and decent, touching lives to make them better. It is time to listen. It is time to sift through the bluster. It is time to see beyond “all men are trash” or turn into a real, tangible change. In a world where women are given a chance to be women, without punctuation marks of male entitlement and patriarchy, will be the place that despite its flaws is the one in which gender equality, in its true sense, without ugly epithets and taglines, is a given, and not a constant battle.
