Social Voyeurism

Despite homilies to the contrary, one does judge a book by its cover. Fallen Angels, anexpensively-produced photo-book on the sex workers of South Asia, has a warm-tonedseductive image of a Nepali sex worker printed in high gloss.
The woman’s body is offered, both to the gaze of the reader and her client. He, ofcourse, is invisible, just a disembodied hand unbuttoning her red blouse...

This is only the first of the many contradictions which mar this attempt to explore thecomplex terrain of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adults in South Asia.

Titillating cover firmly in place, publishers Roli Books declare that the book will notbe put on the market: “We want it to reach only those who can help and protect thesechildren and adults already living dangerously.” The book, however, can be seenprominently displayed at Bahrisons, Khan Market, in Delhi.

Further, the authors who claim to challenge the stereotypes of ‘whore’,‘victim’ and ‘fallen woman’, name the large number of diverseindividuals—women, children, boys, transvestites—‘fallen angels’.Thankfully, this self-righteousness does not obscure the strength, pragmatism and humourwith which sex workers in the subcontinent survive histories of trauma and abuse.
Many of the photographs and personal narratives do represent these lives and struggleswith sympathy and sensitivity. But a large number of photos have been shot from concealedpositions, without the awareness/agreement of the protagonists. This is especially true ofthe images of children. This sort of photographic practice is often justified as being inthe service of exposing social evil. Just as the preface pre-empts possible criticism inthe name of raising awareness.

Perhaps one should keep faith, and hope that the wealthy urban consumer of coffee-tablebooks will turn out to be an advocate for the human rights of sex workers.

Perhaps the desire to see that red blouse fully unbuttoned will not arise in that manloitering outside Bahri’s.

Perhaps socially responsible voyeurism has found new sources of funding in the BillGates Foundation.