Trade and Currency

In an unintentionally funny scene from Raaz 3, Bipasha Basu takes off her shirt to reveal her enviable décolletage… looks meaningfully at Emraan Hashmi and says, “Meri aankhon mein dekho”… I want to meet the guy who wrote that scene, but I’m not sure I’d want to shake his hand…

What I want to do instead, is understand the female perspective… What do women think about their girl parts and more importantly what would a girl do to make herself feel special (apart from bringing about a legislation banning biting and chewing nipples… I mean… those are real body parts, not gummy bears!)

Breasts, boobies, puppies… whatever you call them… girls like them as much as boys like their little brother Richard. If women fret over their sagging breasts, it is not because they won’t be able to please the mister any more… it is because it makes them feel less sexy and therefore less in control of their lives. Beauty is all about power. Sex is a powerful tool of subjugation and control. The bedroom is all about politics, even more than the boardroom, a newsroom or even the famous Situation Room! For men it is always about who 'does' whom… Women are comfortable letting men be the ‘doers’… At the end of the day, it is he who is making all the ‘effort’, while the woman can lay back and enjoy (literally)! It is this power that a woman craves. When she lets a man ‘take’ her… she is actually controlling him.

Beauty fades… quickly. Also men are constantly looking for newer, more exciting options. Anti-aging creams and push up bras will only take you so far… So what does a woman do to remain interesting? She takes the next step… crosses over from sexual to sensual… See it is the brain that tells the body to send more blood to the groin. A woman retains control by playing to a man’s fantasies. She caters to his deepest desires which are often hidden in his sub-conscious… She becomes the woman of his dreams… whether it is the Sex Goddess in black lacy lingerie, the legendary (and largely imaginary) Insatiable Whore or the hand cuff wielding, bottom spanking, cuss-word spewing Dominatrix in a body hugging cat-suit and killer talons!

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate men, nor do I think that they are stupid. I only know that there are two kinds of currency, monetary and sexual. Men and women routinely trade in these currencies to retain control of their traditional fiefdoms. Ever since the time of cavemen… the men have been providers and the women have been lovers (for the lack of a better word). Am I stereotyping traditional gender roles? Truth is sadly a lot of ‘modern’, ‘liberal’, ‘educated’ people (both men and women) still relate to these stereotypes. Why is it that women still want to ‘settle down’ at the ‘right time’ with the ‘right guy’? And why do job ads for 'female candidates only' have requirements like ‘good looking’, ‘pleasing personality’, ‘adaptable’, ‘open minded’, ‘modern’ and ‘right attitude’?

It’s simple… Women think of men are glorified ATMs and men think of women as whores. Harsh, ugly, gross… but true.

Now what happens if there is a mismatch between demand and supply in this age old market with well established norms? What if a man is not interested in sex or a woman is not interested in money? What happens when people are un-purchasable? I’ve met two such people. The man in question lost his wife and child in an accident. He is still in love with his dead wife and hasn’t been with another woman since. The woman in question is criminally good looking and independently wealthy (not daddy’s money, but her own money earned through hard work and competence). They are both social outcasts, but don’t seem to miss anything. They are also the only two people in the world who have never asked me, why am I still single.

A man who doesn’t want to buy and a woman who can’t be bought are the game changers. They topple the established structure… they threaten the very economy… They can’t be allowed to survive, let alone thrive! Vicious campaigns are launched to discredit such people. While the man gets saddled with the predictable ‘gay’ tag, the woman is accused of having the wrong attitude. Every effort is made to destroy their reputations and take away their independence. Sadly, what the ‘destroyers’ don’t realize… is that ‘un-purchasable’ people trade in a third kind of currency. It is a rare, but high value currency that is leveraged by something stronger than gold. They deal in competence and it is leveraged by integrity.

Me… I’m in the market for all kinds of products (including catsuits, black lacy lingerie, hand cuffs and whips!) I like the idea of being able to buy things for a fair price... See... I'm a Capitalist… the only thing I offer for free... is sex!