Inebriated women till date are considered fallen women. She is referred to as “the one without a moral compass.” Someone who can’t be trusted to raise a family, be a mother, a wife, or a girlfriend. Yet, the very men who judge her never have to suffer such indignity, even if they are ill-mannered tipplers. Men can be found planning to do “the boy thing” of getting drunk and making merry, unlike women who don’t really have a girl thing beyond retail therapy, and that’s permissible. They also run the risk of being labelled as a “basic bitch” if she dares to enjoy things that are not viewed as serious and important. Uncontrolled alcohol consumption, as we all know, is not a virtue for any gender. However, much of the Western world sells us the idea of drinking a glass of red wine with every meal. Medically, alcohol consumption is harmful for the body, and it offers no cardiovascular protection for Indians. With the recent airlines incident in India, of an overly drunk man, on free alcohol in the business class flight, mistook a woman for the flight commode and peed on her. The woman was furious and did the exact right thing by taking it up with the higher authorities. When the drunk passenger realised it was a mistake, he offered her money to not register a complaint. But the woman wasn’t the one to take this down easily, and rightfully so. No woman in her sane mind would be okay with or be so forgiving as to overlook a stranger’s piss all over herself. It is an unbearably difficult thought to digest. So now Mr. Drunk has got the appropriate punishment. He has lost his employment, his reputation, and he will be serving a sentence for abusing a woman’s modesty in public. If we are to scrutinise the many entitlements that men enjoy, this incident brings to the fore the following two points: The fact that men are comfortable pulling off the zip, dropping their pants, without blinking an eyelid in public. The second is that they are spared the judgement of being drunk because of their gender. Men getting out of control, being drunk, getting abusive, and conducting themselves inappropriately without fear of consequences is a known fact. Society never pulls out its harsh magnifying glasses to look into such conduct for a man. With this incident, one is forced to think if we have ever heard of women being so drunk that they have been caught peeing on a man, known or unknown. This isn’t about equal rights to inebriation for women. It is about responsible conduct in public and private spaces. It’s also about the countless men who haven’t given their drinking habits much thought. According to a survey conducted between 2019 and 2021 in India, alcohol consumption was significantly higher among men than women. About 30% of men aged 35 to 49 reported having consumed alcohol, compared to over 1% of women in the same age group. Talking to Shanta, who resides in Bangalore, she said, «This airline incident is disgusting to say the least. I know married friends of mine, and some of their husbands narrate crazy stories of being drunk. One friend’s husband was so drunk that he passed out and peed in his pants. I often wonder if this would be okay if their wives did the same. But most of us laugh at these stories as they’re viewed as being silly and not abusive».
Mohua Chinappa is an author and a podcaster of a show called The Mohua Show.