A lot has been talked and heard on the news about sexual harassment cases and crimes against women, so much so that one almost turns a deaf ear and like "aajkal ka zamana aisa hi hai(These are immoral times)" and moves on . A few extremists feel that it's the women who have become restless and turning "immoral " in today's kalyug. So, they are to be blamed. Anyway, victim-blaming has never been a new phenomenon. Your money gets stolen -you are to be blamed. People beg borrow and steal. Likewise,"boys will be boys".
Some feel that Women's rights and Women's Day is just another day,if not overrated like Environment,heath,diabetes,AIDS,Earth,Science and what not .The meaning of Women's Day gets lost and remains limited to intellectual discussions and forums ,to be forgotton until the next sexual harassment case becomes "breaking news".
All the above mentioned days are significant and totally legitimate in their own right.However, when a day that concerns something as basic and fundamental as someone's "Gender" or "Sexuality" ,goes unnoticed and largely misunderstood ,I believe then it is high time to rethink and reevaluate how gender-sexuality issues are really 'perceived' and what is IT actually?- Is it just a biological construct or a complex socio-cultural /identity construct ?
Read on....
Many of us know what patriarchy is. Simply put, it is an underlying and subconscious belief that women are in some way "inferior" to men,in general -either intellectually, sexually or in terms of personality/capability. At best, they are best suited for fashion and make-up stuff , perhaps a bit of more academic sincerity here and better rote memorizing  capability there or any other "softer" skills . They have softer personalities, which is to say, they are"emotional" and seen somewhat weaker. So, they should be in a constant need to be "saved" or supported in some form.
At worst, in urban pop culture,they are bitches after "the guy's money"  or at least their needs are very expensive and they use their 'womanly charms' to move up the career ladder. In rural pop culture, they are bad omen if they happen to menstruate or don't give birth to a male child or don't give birth at all, irrespective of the  fact that the infertilty problem could be in the guy.
Now, this mentality is not limited to women only. In the guy world, there is also a hierarchy of strong and weak personalities. Somehow, anything or anybody sexually expressive is seen as "strong" .Anything deviant is seen as generally inferior-ranging  from being tagged a "sadhu-sant(monk)" in a joking way to being tagged as "shy" to being tagged highly gross if there is alternate sexuality. It's as if these people's IDENTITIES get defined by a lack of having a certain standardized trait,dismissing the complex web of traits,desires,goals,dislikes that truly make an individual. It is as if the person becomes a LESSER human being.In other words, anything on the left and right of "strong" becomes less and less "legitimate" as one moves farther from the centre in the "spectrum". The trick here is to realize that no one trait is better or more "right" than the other,just like colours of the rainbow.
A guy who does not watch porn or hesitates to use the F word ,is "bhola(innocent)" or "seedha" . A guy who talks in an expressive manner with gestures is possibly gay in adult urban 'folklore' or "chakka" , a go-to curse word in the How-to-humiliate rulebook of a middle school preteen.
Our pop culture media just reinforces the assumption of a "hero" - strong, sturdy,masculine saving the heroine in distress or "winning" her heart or anything that puts the "hero" in an active role and the female in a receiving role. And this brings us to the almost unspeakable assumption of all time : Women are ONLY capable of receiving or attracting (through make up, or their way of dressing)sexual attention .I am NOT saying all guys feel this way. But I have always seen it to be more "cool"(teen world) or "bold "(adult world) or "entertaining" (Honey Singh and DJ wale babu world)to talk about women in a sexually objectifying way which is to say what I just stated-women have no more to their IDENTITY  than receiving or attracting sexual attention. And this brings us back to the fundamental phenomenon of 'victim blaming'. So, any sex-related crime is supposedly a woman's fault.
If we dig a little deeper, it is NOT really a sex-related crime as much as it IS a crime of dominance,of power :who's is the stronger "MAN" here and who's the weaker woman there. Just because a guy finds a girl attractive ,does NOT mean he would harass her. If a guy would never 'hit on' another guy,whether or not he is attracted to him , it should give him no reason to hit on a girl , knowingly outraging her modesty . Just because she is a girl does not mean she can't "react" . Does not mean she is weak,even though she is "forced" to keep quiet due to complex socio-cultural context. She is as much as a human as you are. Like Kalki Koechlin says, " she's is just aNoTher 'you' when you look at her ". I am not saying "women are better individuals than men;men being horny all the time,I am not generalizing. Women have their own share of vices. The crux here is to realize that that is individual-specific and does not have anything to do with their gender.
Just because you meet a poor Muslim does not mean he is poor because he is muslim. Just because you met a fashion designer who is gay does not mean he is a fashion designer because he is gay. Even among women, some girls would feel women have a nasty habbit of bitching about others. Their bitching does not have anything to do with their gender as much as it has to do with their circumstances and the socio-cultural context in which they have been brought up. Any "odd" trait is attributed to a person's religion,sexuality or gender. Therefore that particular religion,sexuality or gender should be somewhat inferior.

So, what's the point ?

*The first thing is to realize what in my opinion, one must NOT do. Putting posters about "end sexual harassment" serves nothing more than amusement for testosterone-driven young guys who would probably take cheap thrills off such posters.
*Just simply reporting the crime in the media without setting up proper precedents serves NO PURPOSE,rather it may back-fire the very purpose. Also, report if the perpetrator is brought to justice and what type of punishment was meted to them ,whether jail time or chemical castration should come as "breaking news" and NOT the fact that a girl gets raped.
*Don't go with "respect women" or any other similar thing that suggets women are in some way fundamentally different from men,in need of respect,so to speak.This may at first sound disturbing and many of us wouldn't even agree,but the bottom line is ,respect everyone ,if at all. Just because you have a XX or a XY chromosome does not mean you get a preference/prejudice.
*Objectifying women : At one point or the other, we all, men and women objectify the opposite gender for own entertainment ,either in the mind or talking to friends. The point is "how much is too much and where to draw the line" . Education through creative media may play a role,the crux being sex appeal is just a part of a complex web of traits,desires,goals,dislikes that truly make up a human being.

What's to be done?

Alternative perspectives of masculinity and femininity should have more public visibility. A guy is not less of a guy if a lady tries her best to win his heart,rather than being the other way round. He is completely comfortable in letting his lady pay for the dinner or any such scenario where the lady is in the "active" role. He is perfectly safe. He is emotional.It is perfectly legit.
On the other hand , femininity does not mean a woman can't be an engineer or a boxer. Mary Kom.Kiran Bedi. Rest is self-explanatory. I truly believe women need more women role-models. This brings back to the question,what exactly is gender -  just a biological construct or a socio-cultural/identity construct or that it ReallY doEsnT maTTer ?!

Medium ?
Through the media of caricatures, anecdotes, songs, photography,short films and what not! Spread these ideas and your own ideas creatively and with an emotional "connect". Talk about them,think it over lightly over a cup of coffee.

 On an ending note, I hope these ideas are not lost in literature. Are not lost in words. I don't even and want to expect it will create a "change".Nothing of that sort. It is not even in our hands, it should happen on its own. But ,we need to know what's in OUR hands. Just talk. Spread the word if you can.If these issues bother you and you see the positive side, don't keep your ideas to yourself. If these issues don't bother you, let it go. Maybe give it another chance or find something that you truly believe in.

Do what you do best. I am not telling you to "work" or support the fancy sounding "gender equality" cause. Do what you do best. Whether it is simply passing on your ideas to a friend whom you think can make them more publicly accessible. It is NOT a thing to be limited to intellectual discussions and debates.As far as I am concerned,I write-and that's what I do. that's what I really do.
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We either choose to define people on the basis of their gender(or any other category for that matter) OR we don't. Ultimately,it all boils down to this. It is as simple as this. Period.