Alternate Sexuality!

Now this is one topic on which I have not written anything till date! Not that I consider alternate sexuality a taboo, but there has not been a compelling reason till date for me to write on a topic like that!

I have always been an ardent reader of the New Indian Express. It has been my most preferred Indian Newspaper in English langugage for years together now. The newspaper has had a face lift every now and then, but the recent facelift it had was something that impressed me no end! Excellent look with titbits thrown all over the newspaper and excerpts from the various blogs on the blogosphere on varied topics, the newspaper has really taken to what one may call community journalism by giving a chance to readers also to report as well as share thoughts on important news items.

With this face lift, came a new Saturday magazine called "Zeitgeist". It has been 4- 6 weeks since the magazine has been in circulation and what I have been observing is that the magazine has been devoted completely to reports on gaming, graphic novels and homosexuality. Gaming (Playstation, Xbox kind) has never interested me and hence, I am not able to comment on how popular or otherwise it is. Graphic novels, they say, is on its way to becoming extremely popular. I havent seen many people on this side of the globe taking any active interest in this nor have I come across many such books in the local bookshops either.

The third item here is Homosexuality. While this has been a burning topic, considered a taboo by many and almost always discussed in hushed tones behind closed doors, it requires some amount of guts to bring discussions on this topic to the mainstream- something that I would like the Express publications group to appreciate on but of late, I have a feeling that they are taking this a bit too far.

There are at least 5 columns on sexuality- 3 by women and 2 by transsexuals. Now with a 2 page content on "Sexuality" and the 5 columns divided almost equally between women and transsexuals, a fairly sensible reader can predict what one is likely to see. Yes, you guessed it right- unabashed male bashing!!! I dont completely argue that the men in India are perfect gentlemen- there are quite a few perverted, oversexed men who dont leave a chance to grab, mob or finger a woman or make lewd comments to a woman. If it is a transsexual, the merrier. It only gets murkier and dirtier!

While I am completely on agreement on the above, what I would like to bring to everyone's attention is that not all men are like that. There definitely are people who are sympathetic towards the fairer sex and transsexuals- who understand what goes through them everytime they are subject to something like this and are also ready to voice their support whenever they are in times of need. The interests of that category is completely eliminated in the magazine and the menfolk in totality is being frowned upon through the 5- odd columns appearing in the magazine.

Another thing that comes to my mind is the declining interest of the readers in the content of the columns given their nature and predictability- the columnists are interested in narrating the encounters that they have had with perverted men in Ludhiana, London or Luxemberg and try to underline the statement- "Men will always be men". Fine, we know that but when will you start writing something different?

The third and the most important reason why I am unhappy about "Zeitgeist" is the unnecessary emphasis it places on Homosexuality and transsexuals. It definitely is something that is considered abnormal in our society and they are definitely a targeted group. While I completely agree that as a society we are not mature enough to accept the sexual preferences of people the way they are, I would like to emphasize that by giving it undue importance in its magazine, the New Indian Express is also treading the same path! Why dont you guys start considering it as something normal and report it at, lets say, a very normal frequency- twice in a month or so rather than carrying 5 stories on the same topic week after week as if you are trying to tell the world- look here, we do have our share of skeletons in the closet!

A definitely welcome step in this direction would be to introduce a column by a man on sexuality, reduce the number of columns by women and also to reduce the number of columns by transsexuals from 2 to 1 (you can keep Rose, I prefer her to Chameli!). This way, week after week, the readers can understand how a man, a woman and a transsexual looks at things and how perceptions differ based on sexual preferences!

Also, that would be the best way to tell the world that in India, a transsexual is as normal as a man or a woman and there is no need for anyone to frown at them... what say?