Indian Women Try to Arm Themselves

According to The Guardian, scores of women in India have been contacting their local police on how to obtain a gun license in the wake of a recent brutal gang rape and murder.

Unfortunately, India rarely grants such licenses, which means that these women will remain defenseless against attackers.  As one official recounts, "We had to patiently tell them that one needs to have a clear danger to one's life to be given a licence."

India's standard for obtaining a license to possess a firearm seems similar to New York's "proper cause" requirement for obtaining a carry license--individuals must show "a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community or of persons engaged in the same profession."  In New York City, this means "exposure . . . to extraordinary personal danger, documented by proof of recurrent threats to life or safety requiring authorization to carry a handgun." There must be "instances in which Police Department records demonstrate that the life and well-being of an individual is endangered, and that s/he should, therefore, be authorized to carry a handgun." And "the mere fact that an applicant has been the victim of a crime or resides in or is employed in a ‘high crime area,’ does not establish ‘proper cause’ for the issuance of a carry or special handgun license."  Since so few people can meet this criteria, licenses are only issued to the rich, famous, and politically connected.

In India as in New York, however, strict laws do little to curb illegal firearm ownership.  According to The Guardian, "There are estimated to be 40m guns in India, the second highest number in the world after the US. Licences are hard to obtain and most are illegal weapons, many manufactured in backstreet workshops. Official ownership levels remain low – three guns for every 100 people."  The DOJ estimates that there are some 2 million illegal guns in New York City.  Prohibition simply does not work.

India's rape epidemic poses a conundrum for mainstream American liberals.  Just as Siouxsie and the Banshees' Arabian Knights draws criticism for its harsh view of Muslim and Arabic men, many politically correct liberals hesitate to condemn misogyny in other cultures.  After all, liberalism is all about tolerance and acceptance of cultural differences, so we shouldn't judge other cultures by their misogynistic practices.  At the same time, violence against women is something that liberals do not tolerate, and rightfully so.

This liberal double bind often surfaces in discussions of violence against women.  On the one hand, liberals will sympathize with criminals, and complain that the American criminal justice system unjustly persecutes minorities.  At the same time, the pro-perp crowd routinely condemns rapists and domestic violence misdemeanants, as if drug dealers and other "non-violent" offenders were not the same people beating their girlfriends and committing rapes.

The situation of the Indian women inquiring about gun ownership further complicates the scenario for the liberal crowd, which views guns as a form of evil incarnate that must be eradicated. 

The liberal, "feminist" blog Jezebel mistakenly reported the story that gun sales were rising among Indian women, conveniently glossing over the fact that India's strict "gun control" laws assure that Indian women will not be able to lawfully possess firearms.

Interestingly, Jezebel simply linked to the Guardian article without comment, despite having spent the better part of the last month blasting guns and gun owners with all the sophistication of a twelve-year-old with ADD.

The fact that Indian women want to arm themselves for protection managed to silence the liberal "feminists" at Jezebel because their worldview simply does not allow them to comprehend that firearm ownership is a legitimate means of self-defense. But they would come across as insensitive to the plight of Indian women if they criticized them in the same way they criticize American gun owners.

American women, according to the liberals, should not own guns to protect themselves because guns are evil.  There are always "other ways" to protect yourself, the argument goes. Since "most" rapes (although definitely NOT ALL rapes) occur between acquaintances, having a gun would be of no use, since the rapist would already be too close by the time the need for self-defense arose. And, besides, guns are only magical, heat-seeking death rays when used by criminals; an armed victim will only have her weapon taken away from her by the attacker.

Luckily, the police in America are fantastic and will always be there in time to rescue you.  (Never mind that these are the same police who are violating the civil rights of minorities; when it suits the liberals' argument, the corrupt cops magically metamorphose into heroes.)  The real solution is to teach men not to rape (yeah, that'll work…)

Arabian Knights

I was lucky enough to be given Siouxsie and the Banshees' Juju for Christmas.  While I still prefer A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, Juju is nonetheless an amazing album.

Here is some trivia about what is (as of now) my favorite song on the album, "Arabian Knights."

According to Siouxsie Sioux, the song's melodies were inspired by The Doors.  And the lyrics are indeed about the plight of Muslim women: "It's nothing to do with a 'feminist' thing, it's like a humane thing. Like how the Muslim women cope, I don't know.  The way women are treated in some religions, if it was a race being treated like that and not a sex, there would be uproar about it. I still haven't overcome being a girl yet, as far as other people see me, and that's very important. I think it's happened a bit, but not enough" (15/8/81).

Some of the more stirring lyrics: the haunting refrain, "I heard a rumor / It was just a rumor / I heard a rumor / What have you done to her?"  One commenter thinks this is a suggestion of female circumcision. While there is no explicit reference to clitorectomy, this interpretation certainly fits, as there is obviously some violence being done to the woman, although it is not clear what.

The last verse is simply magnificent: 

"Veiled behind screens / Kept as your baby machine / Whilst you conquer more orifices / Of boys, goats and things / Ripped out sheeps eyes-no forks or knives."

The meaning couldn't be clearer: the woman is secluded at home and covered in veils, her role reduced to reproduction, whilst the man goes out and fucks boys and goats.

The comments page linked above criticizes Siouxsie for her "primitive" view of Arab culture and her "massive racial stereotyping." Based on my personal experiences with Arab and Muslim culture, though, Siouxsie isn't too far off the mark.