Women, Race and Body Image

Please take a moment to read this story. While we were in India we did not have time to digest how the legal system deals with color outside of caste discrimination claims. Farook Batcha has recieved a 2-year jail sentence for calling his wife "black." His comments purportedly stemmed from his disappointment with his bride's complexion. Throughout their brief marriage Batcha frequently taunted his wife with comments about her skin tone, calling her "black" among other things. Within two months of the marriage, Syed Fathima became so depressed she took her own life by pouring kerosene over her head and setting herself on fire. According to the court, his commentary constituted "derogatory and contemptuous" remarks which would amount to "mental torture" who quickly fell into a deep depression from Batcha's remarks. Please refer to the story in full here: Times of India


There are two things that strike me about this story. The first is the emotional cost that women all over the world must pay when they fail to meet up to the standards of beauty. When I first read this story I thought her reaction was extreme. But is it really that different from an American teenager who refuses to eat in order to resemble an emaciated celebrity? Every reasonable adult shakes their head at the "unreasonable standards of beauty" yet no one seems to want to call the idea of a standard in question. Why do we cheer on women who "snap back" to sizes, 4, 2 even 0 mere weeks after giving birth? There seems to be a cultural acceptance that women should do all they can to maintain a "reasonable" level of attractiveness. That this idea has resonance in other cultures is not surprising. My second observation, however, is one that I think is more disturbing. The decision from the Delhi court characterizes Batcha's comments are a damaging enough such that a "sensitive person" would succumb to "mental trauma". In other words, the legal system has now characterized commentary of someones dark complexion as pejorative. Now a cultural standard has legal resonance.

Turing back to the United States, compare this to the Megan Meyer incident--where a woman created an online identity whose taunts drove a young girl to suicide. Public outcry notwithstanding, the incident has yet to result in legal proceedings. The reasons are nebulous but it seems that investigators have had difficulty tracing a strain of causality between the Myspace account holder's commentary and Megan's eventual death. Contrast this story to the 2004 where a Long Island couple, a white man and Dominican woman sued a fertility clinic for inseminating the mother with an African-American donors sperm and not her husbands. In addition to a claim for damages for the mix up itself the couple's lawsuit also states, "While we love Baby Jessica as our own, we are reminded of this terrible mistake each and every time we look at her. It is simply impossible to ignore... We fear that our daughter will be the object of scorn and ridicule by other children, both in school and as she grows up." This lawsuit was allowed to go forward.

Could it be that the difference between these two cases is that where a person can identify what society would deem a "flaw" then the legal system is prepared to offer means to reparations? The effect is that rather than responding to the emotional damage caused by the reactions to this characterization--the characterization is thus reinforced. No one denies the tragedy of these stories, but few decry the social conventions that allow them to go forward.

Coming Home

We left India last Thursday and arrived in New York early Friday morning. Sadly I don't have the words to summarize the profound personal changes this trip engendered. I can, however, summarize what I have learned about identity and empowerment. India is at the cusp of its full-scale introduction to the global stage. What image will it present---the world's greatest democracy or a bloated bureaucracy sagging under the weight of generations of inequality?
Having seen the complexity of Indian nationalism and Dalit consciousness I believe that Professor Crenshaw is right in describing now as the moment where Dalit identity can break through. One thing that is certain is that India is aware of that moment. Green initiatives have swept through the country and roadsigns are increasingly multi-lingual, even though the British left India almost sixty years ago. The Dalit leadership can take this moment of awareness to show the discrepancy of their marginalization when compared to India's public narrative of inclusion. This may be the catalyst that galvanizes the scattered Dalit leadership to form a cohesive movement. When I spoke to David before I left, he questioned whether or not he should stay at DSK. I compared his position to being in Montgomery in 1955. In that instance, the struggle of the African Americans became nationally relevant. One of the greatest tragedies of the Dalit struggle is the fact that up through now their suffering is denied, suppressed and ignored. Activist have an opportunity on the eve of India's global introduction to bring their cause to light.