Tapsee Pannu (actress): “ It’s a lost battle sir. How much more commenting can really change or stop this? We all know such mentality exists so I wonder why is everyone surprised or shocked?”
Nitish Bhardwaj (Lord Krishna in Mahabharat): “I feel when children are growing up they learn their values from the elders of the family. They absorb and imbibe their attitude and morals from family and friends. The men in the family grandfather , father or the friend’s father…how do they look at women? Do they commodify the feminine gender? Do they look at the mother in the family only as someone who cooks and keeps the house clean? This low esteem for women would definitely influence the psychology of the male heir. Sex is still a matter to be suppressed in the Indian middle-class. Parents must understand that their son’s hormones become hyper-active at a certain age around 14-15. They will be attracted to the other sex. And how they behave with the other s*x will be determined by the sanskar that they’ve received till age 14-15. It is not only the school’s responsibility to inculcate the right attitude towards the other sex. It is the parents’ responsibility as well. Parents must speak about s*x to their growing children, both the dos and don’ts. They must be taught that if a girl wears a skirt she is not indicating her availability but her sartorial preference. What we do is, we push s*x education under the carpet. Hence children go to a parallel s*x education via the internet watching porn, chatting nonsense with friends. I think it is especially the father’s responsibility to give the right vibes about sex. Otherwise more locker boys will happen. Earlier they used to talk under a tree or during tiffin break in school. Now they do it on the internet with audio, video photographs. Technology is subverted in this way. Let mothers talk s*x with daughters and let the fathers educate sons on sex. Parents are considered a child’s primary guru. A child’s education doesn’t begin in school but at home.”
Baabul Supriyo (Union minister and singer): “Firstly, the entire gang should be identified arrested, their age, motive, background & other details determined. Then law shud take its own course.. but only punishment would not do for youngsters like these.. it has to be coupled with counselling to ensure that, after having served their punishments with counselling, they can go back to regular life with a reformed mind and remorse for this utterly despicable misdemeanour.”
Celina Jaitley (actress, activist): “Online violence against women is an overt expression of the gender discrimination and inequality that exists offline. I truly believe the problem of online violence and harassment is often overlooked in discussions of violence against women, the fact of the matter is that online violence ‘IS’ real violence. In a world where we seamlessly navigate the online and the offline every day it is crucial for us to address the violence that women face in both realms. The Bois locker room incident is a massive red warning to our society/lawmakers/educational system with regards to the how the laws and the education system needs to change in order to change the horrendous violent mentality being impregnated on the mindsets of boys/men who think they can get away with these heinous crimes. Addressing online violence will require collective efforts from individuals, corporations, and governments.”
Swara Bhaskar(actress): “Boyslockerroom is a telling tale of how toxic masculinity starts young! Underage boys gleefully planning how to rape and gangrape minor girls. Parents and teachers must address this with those kids. Not enough to ‘hang rapists’ .. we must attack the mentality that creates rapists! Personally, Sir, if you ask me- I think it’s unwise – for girls to send nude pics. But with technology and the world we live in, the concept of courtship is changing.. and yes s*x is becoming casual. That shouldn’t change the fact that even young girls seeking casual s*x deserve respect and consent. Personally I’m against sending nudes too. But our personal views shouldn’t blind us to the larger issue, of respect, and consent. It’s like that logic applied to a prostitute who can’t be raped or that her consent is not necessary. I wouldn’t personally recommend prostitution as a career option but still will respect women who do? I agree there is neither dignity nor wisdom in sending nudes to a boyfriend, it’s highly foolish. But sending nudes to a boyfriend must have an inherent trust pact that he will not forward it, right?”
Ashoke Pandit (Bollywood spokesperson, filmmaker): “What was the AIB roast show if not the original boys locker room, an open display of misogyny?A superstar’s sister was ridiculed for her skin colour. Many big stars applauded and cheered. The AIB began the trend of sexually explicit jokes on women at the workplace. Women were expected to be fine with it. Because if you were not, then you were not cool.Nowadays stand-up comedians crack jokes about actress’ growing breasts and everyone laughs. The players of the AIB were the front-running culprits of the MeToo movement.”
