Radha Ravi’s anti-MeToo speech reeks of male chauvinism

That’s a paradoxical statement which underlines the very importance of the movement that encourages women to tell their stories without being worried about losing professional opportunities.

Radha Ravi doubled down on his attack against women recounting their traumatic experiences by accusing victims of being an accomplice in such crimes. “This crime won’t happen without acceptance,” he said with solid conviction, as he banged his hand on the podium. The reaction he received from the crowd was as shocking as Ravi’s offensive remarks itself. “Isn’t that the truth?” he continued.

His comments are unacceptable for so many reasons. His remarks also expose his inability to be sensitive to the gravity of the situation. It is one thing to deny allegations made against him and it is quite another thing to indulge in slut-shaming with impunity while vouching for the characters of his male friends. He was speaking at a press meet in Chennai to express his solidarity with senior actors Thiagarajan and Arjun Sarja, who have been accused of sexual misconduct.

Maybe it’s because Radha Ravi feels that the industry will remain a mute spectator and nobody will tell him to be more careful and sensitive while choosing his words the next time he speaks about the issue.

“She’s a good kid but she is doing all this at the behest of somebody,” claimed the 66-year-old actor. The ‘kid’ he was referring to was singer Chinmayi, who has been leading the #MeToo campaign in the south Indian film industry. He even went on to allege that “she is being made a scapegoat.” While deeply pitying her, he said, “I think her time is not good.”

In the press meet, Radha Ravi discouraged women from making allegations in public. The actor said he asked the filmmakers of Sarkar to include an MOU in contracts of woman actors with clear instructions as to where they were comfortable being touched.

He even remarked that job opportunities will vanish for women in the industry if such allegations continued to be made against men. “If this continued, we will go back to old ways,” he explained. “Back in the day, men dressed in drag played woman roles. If we (read men in power) think we want to avoid such problems, that will come back into practice.”

In other words, the actor was telling women that they risk losing film offers if they keep talking. What’s more offensive here: is it his sense of entitlement that men control the careers of women or the deep-rooted sexism?

Radha Ravi didn’t stop there. He even claimed that no men were safe in the #MeToo era. “I am appealing to Vishal, head of the Tamil Nadu Film Producer’s council, if you don’t take any action, it will lead to blackmailing of producers. And it will lead to blackmailing of big (government) officers. I am also afraid that this will also affect the judiciary,” he said, adding that in future judges might be threatened with #Metoo stories to influence the outcome of court cases.

The actor also added that he was unfazed by the allegations against him. That was very evident in his speech. Without taking names, he even alleged: “That director’s son was conspiring against me.” Just when you think his comments cannot sink any low, he proves you wrong, saying, “You don’t need to spend unnecessary money to prove my virility.”

He even went on to twist the historical significance of the #MeToo movement. Ravi gave his own alternative reality to the movement. “The #MeToo movement was started by a woman of colour in America. You know why she started this movement?” he asked. “She started the #MeToo movement to fight the oppression against her community.”

He even asked the media to get the basic facts right before supporting the movement. According to his knowledge, #MeToo movement was started to highlight the problems of racism and not the sexual abuse faced by women on daily basis. “I give you simple explanation. The movement started by Periyar for the downtrodden is #MeToo.”

“Periyar demanded equal rights for women. But, if he were alive today, he would have said that he was wrong in asking equality for women,” he claimed. “Because they (women) are taking advantage.”

And for some reasons that are beyond the confines of rationality, he brought the virginity angle to the debate to make it uglier than it already was. “What will happen, if we ask about virginity (of a woman actor) before signing up the person for a movie?” So what is he implying here? Is he suggesting that being a virgin has to be made important criteria to become an actor as opposed to talent and passion?

The fact of the matter is the virginity of a female actor is none of Radha Ravi’s concern. And more importantly, why the industry is not saying anything to him? Is the Tamil industry no longer worried about how poorly Radha Ravi’s comments will reflect on the industry at this sensitive time?

The big guns of the Tamil film industry have maintained a deafening silence since the wake of the #MeToo movement. Even the self-proclaimed flag bearers of women’s rights in the film industry seem to be living under a rock. So much so that they have even refused to acknowledge the storm called #MeToo that’s building up in their backyard.

Radha Ravi represents a collective conscience of entitled men, who don’t want the status quo to be challenged. And the industry is only validating his sexist opinions by its troubling silence.

“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” said British philosopher John Stuart Mill in 1867.