Distasteful and vulgar as Tamil Nadu Opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s double-entendre comment on Cauvery water was, his arrest was an act of political excess that clouds the message the government may wish to convey against misogyny. What the chief minister, who represents a desire for change in the public from the tired old politics of the Dravidian majors, has been aiming at is to curb the sexism that has been embedded in the state’s politics. Too often such acts only trigger law & order situations and an invitation to anti-social elements to take disruption as a political ploy. Yet if his action brings the curtain down on toxicity involving women in state politics, he would have achieved something. The cost in proving such things can, however, be too high in a male-dominated society that is high on ingrained prejudices against women.