This is just to note down couple of random thoughts I came up mulling over after watching Parched. It’s a movie about a single mother, an abused wife and a sex worker and how they choose to live by their choice despite being in patriarchy.
Parched made me wonder about the concept of official father
and it’s relevance in future society when Lajjo (Radhika Apte) decided to leave
her impotent husband whose only expertise was pretty much limited to beating up
and torturing her. She got a promotion at work and, at some point, had no other
choices but to move forward leaving her village that always tagged her as a
barren woman. Not just to prove herself to the society but also to feel how it
is really like to be a mother, she had sex with a complete stranger and found
herself pregnant afterwards. One night, frustrated and beaten up, she managed to
burn down her house with her husband inside it. Eventually, she moved on quite
happily along with her friends and a baby in her belly! Now the question is –
if she can take care of herself and the baby, does it really matter who the
father is? And, if it doesn’t, then why can’t we have Father’s Name as something optional to fill out in any official
forms? Or, is it too early to ask that?
There is no harm in
Bollywood item numbers. It’s just us!
One of the leading protagonists of Parched is a sex-worker
who performed in tempting dance-items in the movie. She was portrayed as a
healthy, confident, sexy woman rocking the stage to a bunch of drunken men
dancing, head banging, acting crazy in the process of worshiping, airing desire
to her. However, it was she who ran the entire show. It was she who was in
control of everything that happens in her periphery. She took lead in every
step with sultry moves and rests just followed, which is, I believe, more or
less no different from any other Bollywood item numbers. But, the question is –
if this is really the case of item numbers where a healthy woman exposes herself
on purpose be it for money or, for cheap fun and entertains a large audience no
matter how insane they’re, then what’s wrong with it? How it demeans the way we
should appreciate women in general? Why can’t someone be desirable and equally respected at the same time? Banning item numbers, I think, will do no good to
the world. Rather, it’d be an acknowledgment of patriarchal society where we’re
incapable of changing our views that we’re bound to respect women only as a mother
or a sister, not as a bar dancer, not as a sex worker. Truth be told, I see no harm in
Bollywood item numbers. It’s just us and our misogynistic mind. Perhaps, what
would be more sensible for the industry rather than banning item numbers, is to
endorse male actors to do similar performances and make it gender-neutral over
time.
Feminism is more
about Men
Most of the issues feminism deals with revolve around how
men value women at work, in family or, wherever they collaborate. Therefore, men
should be put in more focus of all these changes. In Parched, a mother left her
deranged son before she let her son’s wife flee with her lover. An abused,
supposedly barren wife conceived baby of a complete stranger to get rid of her
impotent husband. The seductive dancer dropped proposals of her male
partner (pimp?) just to be on her own. All these to say - it’s
the men who needs to be in the classes of feminism in the first place.
1 টি মন্তব্য:
Disclaimer: I haven't watched the movie yet. Probably I will come back after watching the movie and add more insights on top of the current piece. Meanwhile, I was skimming through(even skimming this book is painstaking) "The Argumentative Indian" by most revered Professor Amartya Sen, where the noted professor takes a deeper look into a whole wide array of issues ranging from indian democratic culture, diaspora to present day gender inequality. My following piece takes into consideration the light borrowed from Mr Sen and the current topics being discussed here.
Here goes my two cents:
Mr Sen found two aspects of human life really conspicuous while he was trying to address the gender inequality issue pretty much alive in most part of India, to wit, "well being" and "agency". While the "Well being" aspect is a "Person Centric" idea that evolves around the theme of one's specific goals and pursuits, the "Agency" concept encompasses around one's broader attitudes to lead his life beyond his/her own aspirations. I have been quite skeptical on the issue of "Feminist Movement" be it Bangladesh or World perspective, but may be this was the perspective that I was feeling the absence of. While the "well being" issue was being addressed in those contemporary movements, the "Agent" role needs to be integrated in due time.
Being born and raised in a mother dominated milieu, I can firmly assure that it's high time the "Agent" role needed to be deployed in the "Feminist Movement".
Sorry for being a bit off track. But, surely I will add my specific perspective after watching the movie.
N.B: I do disagree with your last point of putting "man" on the center of "feminist movement". I guess, this is a war to be fought against the course of civilization. Albeit, sadly, the man keeping the steering, is moving the wheel forward. But, after the "Well Being" phase, the "Agent" phase will eventually establish the level playing field for both parties involved.
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