TIME WE SAID 'YES' TO 'NO'

The widespread misconception about consent in India, robbing women of their bodily autonomy, distorting relationships and reinforcing gender biases, is a clarion call for the country to promote consent curriculum beginning with schools

- RAVI BHATNAGAR

THE word ‘consent’ is probably the most widely misunderstood word in India. Blame it on the lack of comprehensive sex education, starved of factual knowledge leading to uninformed children and young adults. A problem magnified since they grow up on a diet of fiction propagated by Bollywood movies, leading to distortions that essentially mould social attitudes and behaviour. For example, a woman’s ‘no’ is unwittingly mistaken for a coy expression of ‘yes’, mirroring the skewed representation of courtship in the films.

Indeed, in Bollywood’s romantic phantasmagoria a woman’s refusal is portrayed as an essential and often the most celebrated part of elaborate courtship dramas, a flirtatious prelude to a yes. With deficient education blurring the lines between reel and real life, such narratives have gained ground perilously and turned into widely held social beliefs. As a result, just like on the silver screen, many believe that aggressive courtship when persisted with results in the triumph of ‘true love’.

The acceptance of such narratives obfuscates the very essence of consent. Without a doubt, the prevalence of these misconceptions is at the root of gender based violations, underscoring the need for schooling the young about sexual rights starting at the early stages of formal education as part of their curriculum.