Chinar

@_chinar_
65 Followers
25 Following
39 Posts
70% water. PhD-ing in Comm @ University of Hyderabad. Interested in web cultures/design/infrastructure/etc. Perpetually filling JRF forms.
Show threadChinarDec 5, 2019
with porn websites, there is way too much focus on the "perverted audiences" narrative always (this gaze that "oh but OTHER disgusting Indian men are watching this"), while we don't focus so much on the constituency of audience on social media or news when certain stories trend.
Show threadChinarDec 5, 2019
also how BAD the incident actually was was conveyed to us via images/details. The horrifying nature of the crime was very much part of the discussion as well. That is what makes us google the incident, seek out new information to "follow the case".
Show threadChinarDec 5, 2019

My issue is with the suggestion that terms trending on xvideos means that "potential rapists" are searching for the term. It is made to be so clearly distinct from trends on Twitter which are somehow from good intentions only.

everyone tries to make sense of the tragedy in ways afforded to them. Trying to understand, somehow make peace with it it because what else can we do?

ChinarDec 5, 2019

The pleasure is in satisfying that curiosity (not necessarily ENJOYING the outcome). If you can humour me, scopophilia in cinema is when a "spectator is mentally willing and morally capable of watching atrocities (torture, mutilation, death)" Part of this seems true for news too.

Just the interesting wikipedia outline: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopophilia#Cinema

Scopophilia - Wikipedia

Show threadChinarDec 5, 2019
for one thing, the desire is in satisfying a curiosity about the topic. We can go seeking that satisfaction in news or on a website which people use to know about ANYTHING pertaining to sex. On twitter when something trends, discussions involve sharing images/expressing emotions.
Show threadChinarDec 5, 2019
Sorry but I see very little difference in something trending on twitter or news channels and the same thing trending on xvideos. It’s not like there’s voyeuristic pleasure involved in only one of them. So let’s get off the moral high ground.
ChinarDec 5, 2019

The obsession with the constituency of the audiences searching for certain terms on porn websites accomplishes nothing, and is only a revelation of hidden class biases. (sharing this article I wrote because a similar screenshot is making the rounds again)

https://gendermediacultureblog.wordpress.com/2018/12/31/chinar-mehta-sexual-deviancy-in-the-digital/

Chinar Mehta: Sexual Deviancy in the Digital

Gender | Media | Culture
ChinarNov 19, 2019
HypotheticallySanguineNov 19, 2019
@h_tejas Have you gone through the website of Jio university? They have blamed caste based reservation to be the reason that no Indian university is within top 100. Is not this a caste based aspersion? Is it possible to lodge an FIR against Jio university? Here is the link https://www.jio.university/
JIO UNIVERSITY

ChinarNov 19, 2019

Doing this again because after going back to Twitter briefly, I realised I can't complain about proprietary systems if I can't put money where my mouth is.

#introduction #india wannabe researcher tooting about feminism, culture, technology, books, writing. Engaging with the culture is part of my job. Previously a web developer.

Previous research had been about porn websites. Yes, my parents were not pleased. Now hoping to research HCI/design stuff.

ChinarNov 19, 2019
Show threadChandrima DasNov 19, 2019
@ranjona They give money to Harvard and whatnot to secure admissions for their kids. Ivy league universities in the US have a long-entrenched system of making room for the children of their benefactors. Government Universities in India do not, and fatcats don't want their kids to fight their way through tough admissions. Plus they send their kids where they think quality of education will be "better". They are looking out for their family legacies, not collective benefit.