Summary: TIME article

In 2014 an Indian photographer published a picture of a woman on a bus with two rather shady men entangled around her and her glamorous attire. In the picture, the woman is clearly distressed as one man holds her while another man appears to be romantically involved with the lower half of her body. The scene, out of context, clearly looks as if it displays some sort of rape scenario or sexual assault, as two sharp dressed men hold down a long cool woman in a black dress. Now in a country with over 1 billion people, an article like this would probably be overlooked, if it hadn't been for a gang rape that took place just a short time before the photo was taken. The victim and her family were incredibly offended by the picture, and the country was in uproar, even when the photographer spoke of his good intentions. He claimed the picture was taken to shed light on the situation rather than to exploit the woman and her situation, even mentioning how his own mother, girlfriend, and sister are susceptible to the same situation. I personally believe this guy's motives. It would have been too easy to say "these clothes will make you look so good that guys won't be able to keep their hands off of you" but he did not take that route. What I am having trouble understanding is why he chose this means of expression. Although the photo was meant for the photographers personal collection, not means of advertisement, why glamorize the situation in such a way? The article goes on to talk about clothing moguls who have employed the same tactics in their advertising and have been banned or removed from their respective areas.  If you are marketing your clothing to women, what makes you think the idea of them getting assaulted in the outfit you're displaying is going to want you to buy that outfit? Maybe I just don't understand women but that definitely would not make me want to buy the outfit. In fact, if were ever deranged enough to employ this idea in my marketing, I would have the actress wearing a rival brands clothing in hopes of deterring women from wearing their clothing. One way this can be taken, however, is the idea that rape can happen to anyone, even the upper class. Anatomy all but permanently subjects women to the possibility of being taken advantage of at any moment, even in a bus in broad daylight with $3000 shoes on. When people think of rape they imagine college parties getting out of hand or a shady character following a woman home after a night out, but in reality rape can happen any time and at any place. Other countries do not have the same social thinking as the United States, and if women here think men believe they are entitled they would be appalled by what goes on in countries with stronger male societal dominance than what we experience here. Again, not to say that women here don't deal with their fair share of objectification, but in other countries women are literally looked at as property, and awareness needs to be spread of rape culture worldwide in order to end the problem.