Ask yourself why, or why not Premium

Gender Agenda newsletter: Ask yourself why, or why not

It is customary for media houses to dig into reasons a person commits a crime, especially if the crime has deeper social implications. On February 18, a father killed his ex-wife and child, at a school ice hockey match in Rhode Island, in the US. He killed himself thereafter. The headlines that followed were of two types: regulated reportage and gender-identity-driven framing.

‘Shooting at Rhode Island youth hockey game leaves 3 dead, including shooter, and 3 more wounded,’ said AP. Somewhere deep into the story the report stated that the police chief of the area had “identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, who she said also went by the name Roberta Esposito and was born in 1969,” not using the word transgender.

The Times, however, ran the headline, ‘Rhode Island shooting: transgender father kills son and ex-wife at school ice hockey game,’ going on to say, “The suspect Robert Dorgan, who also used the name Roberta, had a history of disputes with his family and divorced his wife five years ago after changing gender.”

The language and framing of the stories we tell, whether loudly in the media (social or otherwise) or to ourselves in our minds, matter. They shape our thoughts and behaviours. Many of us use the language of authority figures, so we approach an event or incident not via curiosity, but by accepting the status quo, simply echoing the prevailing thought.

Curiosity makes us ask questions, and leads us, through information, to the truth. While the AP headline and story leave us with questions, The Times headline feeds us answers riddled with biases. The person who wreaked havoc has not been asked, ‘Why?’

We need more people to ask the ‘why’ or ‘why not’ question. These devadasis did, taking Kathak from intimate gatherings to the stage.