A Million Things Are Wrong With This Viral Video Called 'My Husband Made Me A Prostitute'
Here's why I think the message this video is trying to spread is heavily misplaced and is insulting to the female gender and their collective intelligence.
By Sadho Ram — 28 Nov 2014, 08:18 AM — Updated about 10 years ago
On Monday, 24 November, a 3 minute and 20 seconds long YouTube video, titled My Husband Made Me A Prostitute, went viral with over over 9 million views so far. The video opens to an educated, well spoken, and attractive woman sharing her unfortunate story of how she came to be a prostitute. Watch:
Hard-hitting, right?
A woman whose husband is in coma because he chose to drink and drive home after a party is indeed hard hitting story of an unfortunate married woman.
But let's just take a moment to really think hard here about what the people behind this public service announcement (PSA) are actually trying to promote and perpetuate?
"Don't Drink and Drive" (because that's illegal and can result in an accident).
But if you do and are married, well, good luck! Because then the only thing left for your wife - who by the way is well educated, is to become a prostitute? Seriously?
With over 130,000 deaths annually, more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world. And drunk driving contributes a vast 70% to that distinction.
Right, so while drunk driving is indeed a cause of worry and needs all the awareness people are bringing to it, does it really need a so-called message to the society that once again perpetuates the idea that a modern woman, who in the face of an adversity, cannot find any other way out than having to resort to prostitution?
So going by the logic used by the makers of the video to promote the "Don't Drink and Drive" message to the masses, a husband, who is well-educated and well-placed in society, just like the female subject here, would also choose to become a gigolo when his wife, for whatever reason, goes into coma? No? Why?
Because he is a man? And, as is accepted, he doesn't need to resort to having to sell his body in order to survive in this world dominated by men? But a woman does? Why? Because, she being a helpless creature in this unforgiving world, has no other choice but to sell her body even though she's educated and all that blah?
Before any assumptions are made, let me clear something up: I as an individual find nothing wrong with women who voluntarily choose to become prostitutes regardless of their circumstances. You see, a woman's morality (or lack of) is not my area of concern.
So what am I concerned of here?
Well, regarding this video and the message it's trying to send across, this is my concern: That while on one hand where barriers to the empowerment of women lie heavily ingrained in our cultural norms where women are continually made to feel inferior to men, the people behind My Husband Made Me A Prostitute video, using a heavily sensationalised content and a clear click-bait headline as a trigger, chose to do the same, therefore further perpetuating a perverse belief-system that no matter what - a woman's last resort, in this world which is clearly not fair and equal, is the use of her body rather than her mind.
I don't even know how to wrap my head around a PSA with such a misplaced message about "don't drink and drive".
Sigh!
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