INTRODUCTION
This text discusses the stigma of sex education in Indian society, the impacts of this stigma as well as the government’s negligence towards the same. Furthermore, the text analyses and discusses the efficiency of social media activism and the benefits of a possible campaign that aims to spread awareness among the youth of India, in order to inform and start a social movement that advocates for a non-stigmatized and inclusive sex education in Indian schools. The text further discusses the psychological effects of pornography on an adolescent’s mind, while considering the social and cultural impacts on their interpretations. It is explained and understood that the patriarchal school of thought, along with inadequate sex education, is a leading cause of India’s extremely high rates of sexual violence against women. This school of thought further contributes to the culture of victim blaming and the common ‘misunderstanding’ of consent.
THE ISSUE
Sex education is defined as a broad program that aims to build a strong foundation for lifelong sexual health by acquiring information and attitude, beliefs and values about one's identity, relationships, and intimacy (Ismail et al., 2015a). While emphasis has been made on the importance of an inclusive, and non-stigmatized sex education over the years, this has been continuously opposed as it is argued that normalizing acts of sexuality in Indian society ‘corrupts the youth and offends “Indian values,” leading to promiscuity, experimentation, and irresponsible sexual behavior’ (ibid). Public discussions on topics related to sexuality continue to be considered a taboo in Indian society, which further extends the struggle to approach the youth in a sensitive manner.
As of 2020, India has over 700 million internet users in the country, out of which, 290 million of these users live in rural areas (www.ETTelecom.com, n.d.). The patriarchal way of thinking, along with the lack of education, both academic and sexual, is far more prevalent in the rural areas in comparison to the urban areas. ‘The patriarchal norms are so entrenched in the Indian society that it is very difficult to pull oneself out of this conundrum. When girls are born in most Indian families, they are not welcome, at times, even by their mothers’ (“Rural Women of India, the Invisible Lifeline”). Furthermore, due to these biases, the number of women who have access to the internet is far lower than men (“Total Internet Users in India”). While the economic impacts of vast internet access have been proven to be effective, this easy access to internet allows for access to the mass amounts of free pornography available on the internet. It is commonly debated that the use of pornography, without adequate sex education, is a leading cause of violence against women. “Pornography is the theory — rape is the practice” (Math et al., 2014).
Whilst there have been studies to debate this claim, by noticing the patriarchal structure of Indian society, where there is a conscious pattern of male dominance, and observing the depiction of male dominance in mainstream pornography, it can be assumed that both these factors could have an extremely negative influence on the adolescent mind. The prevalence of doxa regarding the common male representation in pornographic content causes society to form mental structures which further normalize this notion of dominance, which contributes to gender related societal structures. It can also further be argued that pornography is an extremely problematic, yet widely used form of sex education among the Indian youth, as it appears to be the only form of exposure to sex without depicting an underlying element of shame or stigmatization. ‘Pornography hugely dominates people’s knowledge about sex, most of them youngsters, which often vilifies sexist remarks against women’ (‘Sex education’, 2020). It can be argued that the prevalence of doxa towards patriarchal Indian societal structures, and the use of pornography as sex education, can lead to an extremely dangerous and vicious cycle of sexual violence.
It is a common belief among many communities in India that women have an equal role to play in the problem of sexual violence (‘Ten harmful beliefs that perpetuate violence against women and girls’, 2019). Although this belief is largely untrue, the submissive depiction of women in pornographic content can further contribute to the assumption that women are obligated to sexual intercourse (ibid). Furthermore, this can be understood through Paulo Freire's theory of the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed which states that ‘the very structure of their thought has been conditioned by the contradictions of the concrete, existential situation by which they were shaped’ (Freire, 2000 p. 45). In this context, the oppressor party is the man, the oppressed is the woman and the oppression is the notion of rape and victim blaming. Although the oppressed feel the weights of oppression, the vicious cycle of victim blaming is a mental structure, which is further manipulated into a societal structure. The doxa of victim blaming further allows the oppressor to impose behavioural restrictions on the oppressed (‘Ten harmful beliefs that perpetuate violence against women and girls’, 2019). This doxa is further passed down through generations until the feeling of oppression begins to be interpreted as a feeling of comfort and protection. Since the feeling of oppression becomes a sense of security for the oppressed, the feminism movement other movements of opposition including providing the youth with sex education, appear as a taboo, rather than a form of liberation. ‘In this situation the oppressed do not see the "new man" as the person to be born from the resolution of this contradiction, as oppression gives way to liberation. For them, the new man or woman themselves become oppressors’ (Freire, 2000 p. 46).
THE RADICAL RESPONSE
The radical response for the issue is a social media campaign, aiming to begin a conversation which advocates for a responsible, non-stigmatized, and inclusive sex education in Indian schools. The campaign aims to spread the message using hand-drawn illustrations in order to make the message more relatable. Through visually depicting real-life examples regarding the issue of consent, the response aims to allow the viewer to understand the problem in a more empathetic manner, as opposed to a theoretical form of representation. Furthermore, through visualizing real-life incidents, it is aimed to give both parties the opportunity to realize their roles and responsibilities, allowing for introspection. Through this form of visual depiction, it is possible to convey a perspective that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, as the understanding of the fine line between sexual violence and consent continues to remain vague among both parties. The campaign aims to further encourage learning and awareness through design, by approaching the public through a more empathetic and emotional aspect which further aims to result in a larger social movement.
Whist the goal for the campaign is to press for compulsory sex education in schools, that is both inclusive and non-stigmatized, the immediate audience for the campaign is primarily the youth of India. The youth consist of a very large percentage of the total internet users in the country. ‘Around 54 percent of the Indian internet user base was between 20 and 39 years old in early 2019’ (‘India - internet users by age group 2020’, n.d.). According to statistics, India has at least 140 million Instagram users, which is the exact same number as the US. Through this, it can be understood that social media, in this case, Instagram specifically, can be an extremely powerful tool for encouraging conversation about important topics. An example of the power of social media in social activism is the conversation that was stimulated through social media during the Black Lives Matter Movement, in the summer of 2020. ‘Recent social movements such as Black Lives Matter transitioned from tweet debates to action on the streets which profoundly shaped “national discourse about race”’ (Murthy, 2018).
Moreover, it is discussed that social media as a platform, has ‘played a central role in the process of identity construction’ (ibid). Through the process of identity construction, it can be said that this can be a contribution towards tackling the social construction of knowledge. ‘Social media provides the opportunity to participate in collaboration within (large) communities’ (Kimmerle et al., 2015). By allowing users to interact and be exposed to different opinions, it is possible to question and break down the social norms and doxas that are taught to and normalised by the education system.
In case of the issue, it is required to target the mental constructs and taboos related to sex education, in order to normalize it as a subject in the education curriculum. With the use of social media, the radical response aims to target cultural hegemonies which include the patriarchal mindset and create a conversation among the target audience about topics that include consent. ‘Given work on social media has found that women are more likely to be active social media users, this may have major implications for movements which are organizationally
gendered, ultimately enabling women to have more of a democratic involvement in some social movements’ (Murthy, 2018). In reference to the social media statistics, as earlier mentioned, India has 140 million Instagram users, allowing the scope for the campaign to reach a vast number of people, across the Indian subcontinent. Social media can also effectively enable the sharing of data across traditional barriers such as geography (ibid).
The chosen name for the campaign is The Mukti Movement, which translates from Hindi as The Liberation Movement. Whist the campaign is essentially a call to action, the overall, long term goal is to liberate future generations of sex taboos and other stigmatizations, including menstruation taboos, sexual violence, HIV and pregnancy awareness, and gender diversity. The campaign aims to use the hashtags #TheMuktiMovement and #ThingsIWishIKnew as a method to promote a sense of togetherness. The efficiency of hashtags has been proven in the past, through other major movements including the #MeToo movement and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. ‘Hashtags contain verbs expressing a strong sense of action and force. The actions are petitioning, demanding, appealing, and protesting’ (Yang, G., 2016.). The hashtag #ThingsIWishIKnew allows the public to share personal incidents that may have occurred, that could have possibly made them wonder how their experiences could have been different if they had received adequate sex education while they were younger.
LIMITATIONS AND MORAL ETHICS
Although the illustrations aim to convey a message that requires conversation, the purpose of the project is not to provide official sex education, as professional advice and discretion would be required. The campaign is primarily focused on stimulating conversation among the educated youth to spread awareness about the issues caused by the lack of sex education and begin a movement that calls out the government’s negligence, rather than to directly educate. Moreover, an attempt to directly reach out to communities of different mindsets may result in personal risks including physical safety.
The illustrations required sensitivity in the method of visual depiction, as it is important to consider the emotional and psychological triggers that can be caused from topics related to rape and sexual harassment. Furthermore, due to the ‘misunderstanding’ of rape in Indian society and the expectations of women to remain silent about such matters, the response could possibly offend certain opposing mindsets. Although it is those mindsets that are the target for this campaign, the visuals have been designed to avoid any risk to anyone’s personal safety, including being sensitive about the depiction of the female body, as some may misinterpret the visuals as an opportunity for sexual objectification.
Additionally, since the information spread on social media is open to interpretation, it was important to be mindful of the words used in each post, to avoid any possible chances of the content either being misinterpreted or misused.
OUTCOME
The radical response consists of content for three Instagram posts, which focus on the topic of rape and the withdrawal of consent, as well as addressing myths and misconceptions about what a sex education program includes. The posts make use of Instagram’s multiple photos feature, which is commonly used by activists on social media to compile information to convey in an easy-to-read manner. The posts use bold colours, in order to attract attention visually. The choice of colours had been considered, to ensure that the post was not unintentionally including any social stereotype.
The initial background colour for post on the topic of consent (see fig. 1, fig. 2) was blue, however was later changed to green to avoid the doxa of the male gender association with the colour blue. ‘It is a common practice amongst marketing managers to use masculine cues such as blue colours on packaging and brand logos to highlight a brand’s competence or promote masculine products and to use feminine cues such as pink colours to highlight a brand’s compassion or promote feminine products’ (Hess, A.C. and Melnyk, V., 2016). Additionally, the purple background of Figure 6, which speaks of a personal experience of sexual assault, was chosen intentionally as it was initially planned to be posted on International Women’s Day (8th March). ‘International Women’s Day is running with the colour purple as it is supposed to represent “visionary thinking”’. (‘Why is purple the colour of International Women’s Day?’, 2021)
As previously mentioned, attention was given to the words used in each post. The initial illustrations of the post intended to clarify sex education misconceptions (see fig. 4, fig. 5), was worded as “What is NOT SexEd”, and later changed to “SexEd Misconceptions”. The change was made after noticing that the tone of “What is NOT SexEd” appeared to be passive aggressive, rather than assertive, and could have risked the post being misinterpreted and the content misused. The phrase “SexEd Misconceptions” provides the understanding that the post aims to debunk these mindsets, and not normalize them.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, the campaign aims at starting conversations about the lack of Sex Education in Indian schools, by initiating social media interactions regarding the topic of consent and sexual assault. The campaign aims to allow all parties to share their stories with the hashtag #ThingsIWishIKnew, to express how the lack of Sex Education has affected most lives. The initial post about withdrawing consent aims to inform and start conversation about instances where
people were unaware of their right to withdraw consent. Furthermore, the post also aims to allow for the other party to understand when consent is being withdrawn.
As the campaign progresses, it is also aimed to start conversations about how women are made to view their bodies throughout their teenage years, due to social constructs which sexualise the female body as well as the behavioural expectations from a woman. By sharing stories, it is hoped that enough conversation will be stimulated to create enough impact to draw the government’s attention towards the issue.
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