Thursday, November 13, 2014

...of the taboo of Phalluses & other Glands in Phallic culture



The matter is simply misplaced morality- to define it more precisely misplaced notion what is supposedly thought as morality and the eagerness to embrace it as a vindication and display of undue conceit -moral vanity. When such thinking is seen in adults those who are educated, erudite, articulate and in respectable position it is false and stinks of emptiness and hypocrisy.

“To each his own”, is an agreeable dictum for social living. But I can only disagree with people using it to proclaim higher moral grounds for social consumption and acceptance. However in the context mentioned in the next paragraph, I presume that the opinion that led to the “red flag” was egregious and silly.

A few months back a chat group was begun on the social media platform “WHATSAP” by former graduate class mates. The group was ostensibly called “the class of 80”. Great!  About thirty class mates from the 80 batch were successfully enrolled into the group. And dear, some of them are hyper active on the platform, both after office hours and during office hours too. I myself have been an occasional visitor and picking up subjects I could discuss, though opinions in those discussions would converge and also differ, fair enough.  The group is being administered by a jolly good friend and he throws up an occasional “yellow flag” and even a “red flag” depending upon the acceptability of the comments or posts. A means of control and I presume it is to act as a sieve and control of obscenity and revilement of members of the group that could not be entertained.

But I'm afraid it was downright ridiculous when the administrator flagged me down with a ‘red’ when I posted this piece on the platform.

His act can be shunned as frivolous and trivia I suppose, but such opinions originating from people of whom some of them were vociferous and active on the social media in support of the dissent towards moral policing and the “kiss of love “protest, I wonder what outrage is explicit in this innocuous post quoting a physician who was awarded the Nobel for medicine. And the quote was factual and forthright without mincing words stating the pitiable priorities in medical research funding.

Yes it is apparent that the words “boobs” and “penises” certainly offended and enraged the administrator. What miserable and unfortunate organs are they that the creator perhaps in a petulant mood callously foisted upon hapless women and men! For me to post an observation from a notable physician who referred to those words in the right context and in the in correct spell is manifestly obscene, repugnant and gauche. So went the judgment, I presume.

Now, this reminds me of another incident which was comical in almost the same context. When the “Kiss of Love” protest was in swing, I irresistibly posted my observation and opinion on my facebook page against the fallacy of what is termed culture and the hypocrisy of moral policing. A post – a rebuttal , tongue in cheek,vile and vehement was posted by a person on his facebook page assailing my stand and vilifying what he called the advocacy of unrestrained sex. He baptised voices against moral policing as that of votaries of copulation in public like dogs and immoral behviour in public. What amused me to no end was that he, the protagonist was a self confessed fascinator of many homosexual liaisons in his more youthful days. Politely I must term his comment amusing and rebut him by saying he cannot see the wood for the trees.

Now where is threshold for hypocrisy and acceptable moral behavior? What was offensive about the comment of the Nobel laureate and posting it on social platform? Why was the administrator reluctant and peeved to let a discussion originate on the subject?

Looking at the  outraged rejoinder on facebook ,is it perhaps alright to be unrestrained and unconventional at heart and in private while being a puritan by day light?

It will be a wonder if  a few Bloggers would respond to this post. The words are too  abhorrent to mention , to comment . Aren't they ?

11 comments:

Locomente said...

Anil.. All I can say is that many people wear masks to protect their true self... They (try to) project themselves in certain ways... And I think thats the reason why your Facebook friend behaved the way he did.

Having said that, the WhatsApp ping that you forwarded looks completely okay. I dont understand why people dont feel bad when they get "marriage" and "husband-wife" jokes...

Happy Kitten said...

The WhatsApp message that you posted is apt for the group I think :). The world is definitely obsessed with the mentioned 2 things but in secret! You shocked them.

As for KOL, while I think that is not THE burning issue that Kerala faces today, I cannot understand what they mean by going against Indian culture. While no culture in this world is perfect, it is India which gave the world Kamasutra and now we are busy trying to appear ashamed and go hiding?
I also think that no culture can remain stagnant. It changes, evolves: sometimes for the worst too.

But then it is all a part of the political game and has nothing to do with culture is what I really think.

anilkurup59 said...

@ Locomente,

It is posturing- pseudo, false and reeking with hypocrisy.

Yes you said it.


@ Happy Kitten,

It is also a political game as you said. But the game can become hellish. There is no difference amongst such breed be it the fanatic ones in the Middle East or the ones here holding ochre flags and their newfound boldness.
The KOL is a trivial when compared to other pressing problems, but the dissent is symbolic and against self proclaimed puritans and moralist. Wonder if the terms jell with their psyche.

rudraprayaga said...

I don't personally stand for moral policing as well as open display of "kiss of love'.Courting shouldn't be done in public as all are not adults.The kids and adolescents when consider this to be public,they may do anything anywhere blindly and may bag battering from the public.We cannot educate the public that sex is natural and biological and so nobody can question any sort of sexual exhibition. The protesters could go for legal procedures that may put the unruly moral police to trouble to some extent, though the practice now a days is acquitting the guilty on the pretext of want of vindication.

'Kamasutra' and other blue literature are the imagination of a few.All might not have read them then and now.Now also a few people are adequate with such 'open sex' theory, but not all.Culture is a practice prevalent in an area and is acceptable by the majority of the public.Of course if the outward curtain of morality is raised one can witness many an immoral activity in the society.
Moral police had battered and killed a youth in Kozhikode a few days prior to this incident.That nobody questioned since Yuvamorcha was not there in that.Moral policing by X or Y ,it should be curbed at any cost.

Happy Kitten said...

@Rudraprayaga Agree with you.. most of us are not comfortable with open display of sexual acts in public places but at the same time, Kerala is not altogether devoid of public display of affection. Airports are good examples of places where none bothers while giving a loving embrace/hug or even kisses to the loved ones. Have done it myself. In my opinion Kerala is not really a kiss deprived society but KOL organizers claim they are doing it only to shock the moral police. At times the policing can get out of hand but then as I mentioned it is all part of a political game too.

As for Indian culture, it has come a long way. In fact many even blame the colonial rule or the Victorian era for imposing puritan ideas. Too much of anything will have repercussions. And too many restrictions will also do no good. IMO, let those who have a liberalized view do their job as long as it is not going to infringe upon the prevailing laws of the land. Many social evils have been eradicated only since a few ventured out of the comfort zone.

Finally, the fact remains that Kerala still remains a land where women are not comfortable to venture out alone after 6 PM. Not that public display of love will make any difference but change has to come. The next generation will move forward but let them not work/walk towards a regressive society.

anilkurup59 said...

@ rudraprayag,
I do not think that the KOL folks were voicing support for copulating in public glare at public places. AS HK mentioned in her comment toy your opinion they were voicing protest and not being meek to the outrageous positions and acts of these goons called moral police.

Certainly none of us are comfortable being intimate in public. And it is not the case as some moralist make out it is in the West. Yes people in the West hug and kiss as expression of affection. They shake hands too.


But here the problem is the self appointed moralist do not see the subtle affection , the deeper attachment of a father and daughter of a couple long separated for instance. Because they are so immoral they fail to see the relationship and its sanctity.

There were 30000 onlookers at the Kochi KOL meet and some 300 KOL activists . It shows , tells the voyeurism of Keralites. They flocked in such thousands hoping there will be some live shows. Pathetic!
These are the same people who attains pleasure watching the explicit videos of Sarita Nair and Shalu Menon. They are the ones who forget their life and throng at police stations and courts when Saritha Nair or a hapless victim of abuse is produced there.
To hell with morality and the custodians of morals.

rudraprayaga said...

Happy Kitten, Kerala is a state where undeclared restrictions are much more than other states.Here even now females won't freely mingle with men though most of the youths have broken the chain.Many a family is orthodox and traditional.This moral policing takes place with no hindrance in some communities.This time the reaction is sheer politics.and if any open hug or kiss has taken place that is there only among the self-proclaimed high class society people,though others do not consider them to be so.Open kiss is not open in the open here and that is why so many people crowded to view it and they opted it for protest.

Anil, they were only protesting,true,but a winner of a channel show(now a student) was kissed on the lips by numerous chaps and those who(including youths) derided it and looked down the girl.only.A few might have acknowledged and Kerala men when come to the point of marriage,they choose only moderately behaving modest girls.we cannot expect all to say'hell with moral'. Lust,rage,greed,jealousy,crime and every such negative trait is inherent in man,but he posses a reason to puta restraint over it.Otherwise if all are beastly only muscle power will prevail.All the weak will be washed ashore and society will not survive.

Anyway thank you for this well-thought article and sorry for bothering you.

Unknown said...

I fail to understand why people are so much agitated about these matters. There is so much show of vulgarity in the name of 'love', and nobody is able to control it. In Delhi, there is no park which where people can visit after sunset. In such cases the custodians of law and the so called politicians have closed their eyes.

Ordinary Indian Woman said...

In our society even a word like sanitary napkin is considered taboo. The words that you used would be blasphemous, although in private conversations people do talk about everything and sundry. Some people would behave as if they are hearing all these things for the first time in their "pious" lives.

anilkurup59 said...

@ Ordinary Indian Woman,

I agree with you. What has to be torn off its camouflage is the hypocrisy .

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Wow, fascinating reading. So much to think about, for once I'm at a loss for words.

Hmm, odd. Instead of using a visual prompt to prove that I am not a robot I got a verbal prompt in the form of a voice giving me a list of numbers.