Video Of Woman Thrashing Lucknow Cab Driver: Where Are We Directing Our Outrage?

Lucknow cab driver case: A disturbing video has emerged online of a young woman seen physically assaulting a male cab driver. The undated clip circulating on Twitter, purportedly shot in Lucknow's Awadh Crossing, shows the woman thrashing the man, alleging he drove carelessly.

The driver is heard asking people around for help and urging them to call the police. The woman allegedly even damaged the driver's cell phone and went on to further raise her hand on a person who came forward to stop the commotion. As previously reported, trends demanding the woman's arrest are raging on social media, with netizens justifiably questioning her behaviour.

However, parallel commentary veering dangerously towards misogynistic intentions has surfaced, vilifying a whole gender on the basis of said video. Is it fair to use one woman's actions, though condemnable, to charge all women, by claiming we cry wolf about feminism? Does this incident offer proof that women are using their patriarchal disadvantage to their wrongful advantage or is it just a case of an enraged person taking law into one's own hands which is being given a gendered narrative by those who feel intimidated or angered by feminism?

See the viral video here: 

Viral Video: A Girl Continuously Beating a Man (Driver of Car) at Awadh Crossing, Lucknow, UP and allegedly Damaging his Phone inspite of him asking for Reason pic.twitter.com/mMH7BE0wu1

— Megh Updates 🚨 (@MeghUpdates) July 31, 2021

Lucknow Cab Driver Case Is Concerning, But How Is The Conversation Taking Shape?

Valorous 'men's rights activists' are using this event to slyly twist the conversation into something it is not. Is the assault, as many netizens are suggesting, a woman-show of power - what is commonly dubbed "fake feminism" online - or is it an isolated incident that warrants criticism only to that extent?

There is no defending the woman's actions, at least not yet, until all the facts relevant to the matter emerge. Why did she hit him? What did the driver do or say? What really did happen? These are relevant questions. But the fact remains that she was caught on camera assaulting a person and thus law must take its course and determine justice. Until then, there is only the video and in it, the violence to go by. But even with the unequivocal disapproval of what the woman is doing, should the lens of the assault turn sexist at all?

To be clear, again, there is a strong discernment between this woman assaulting the man and incidents of men assaulting women. The latter comes through, as it has been for years, from the idea of male predominance proffered by patriarchy. The design of those kinds of attacks are not aimless but a show of power dictated by standards of &t=1051s">toxic masculinity.

So really, can shutting out sexism from talk on the Lucknow cab driver case be likened to the #NotAllMen argument, as so many online are claiming?

Views expressed are the author's own.

Suggested Reading:

Why Is Arrest Lucknow Girl Trending On Twitter Today? All About The Case

Lucknow Cab Driver Assault Case: Five Questions The Viral Video Raises

10 Things To Know About The Lucknow Cab Driver Assault Case

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