tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8625527.post6692432722103064543..comments2024-01-18T18:26:38.410+05:30Comments on Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax: Saas, bahu aur asarSheetalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09510943066024076305noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8625527.post-65898918518758979962016-10-21T13:39:48.239+05:302016-10-21T13:39:48.239+05:30Did you know that you can make cash by locking spe...Did you know that you can make <b>cash</b> by locking <b>special sections</b> of your blog / site?<br />To begin just open an account with <b><a href="http://syntaxlinks.com/affiliate-network-reviews/network/15/AdWork-Media/" rel="nofollow">AdWorkMedia</a></b> and <b>use their content locking widget</b>.Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287821785570247118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8625527.post-73509590107711381802010-04-26T16:23:14.284+05:302010-04-26T16:23:14.284+05:30Thanks so much Sabiha! and sorry for the late resp...Thanks so much Sabiha! and sorry for the late response – last week was crazy-busy.<br /><br />First, I should say that I don’t want to be pushed to one corner of the slide with regard to positions on this. Merely defending all TV serials is a false position with regard to how I feel. <br /><br />I see what you’re saying. You were very persuasive on the phone the other day – you’re saying that these scenes that show women being subjugated are powerful images, that they’re capable of insidiously influencing our society, desensitising us. That the more we see these incidents to be ‘normal’ the more common they will be. That these serials are thwarting the gains made by the feminist movement. <br /><br />To this I say, a feminist movement that does not gather all our sisters is a flimsy one. If they don’t believe in the values written on the placards heading the procession, if they don’t find them particularly relevant, they will drop off. And they have that right, to make up their own set of values – values that ensure their best shot at survival and happiness. <br /><br />My thoughts re “channels are being allowed to get away with this insidious damage to society”. Irrespective of whether the effect is positive, negative, complicated, counter-intuitive or any combination thereof, my point is: there are producers of a certain type of product and there are consumers – both presumably happy with their place under the sun. Quite clearly there is a communication there that the intelligentsia is not privy to, that gender activists are unable to tune into. There is a sub-text – sent out, received and understood. At the very least, it keeps women entertained, gives them something to discuss. Why should that bother anyone else? As for “being allowed to get away” – isn’t that censorship of a very biased, very top-down kind?<br /><br />Also, I personally don’t believe that the cause and effect between these serials and female disempowerment is that simple. Simply because the message isn’t that simple. Also – this is important for me to say – the audience isn’t that simple. You underestimate the viewers. You think of them as a foolish sponge that absorbs water or expels it without altering it. You don’t give them credit for understanding what you do. You don’t give them credit for knowing their own conditions thoroughly, for reacting sensibly.<br /><br />If that step back you talk about does occur, it will occur for reasons far more complicated and essential to the lives of India’s rural and middle classes than simple exposure to ideas. Ideas are powerful, yes, but only when their time has come; when they fall on soil ready for them, when other conditions support their taking root.<br /><br />I can understand demands for more versatile television. I’d like to see myself some nice thrillers, some classics, short stories. I’d like to see adaptations, fresh crime fiction, translations from inaccessible regional sources. But what I don’t want to do is grudge this homegrown culture its space. It is huge, it is significant.Sheetalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09510943066024076305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8625527.post-84700588744392508442010-04-20T04:15:57.776+05:302010-04-20T04:15:57.776+05:30Sheetal, this is a brilliant piece! Particularly l...Sheetal, this is a brilliant piece! Particularly love the bits abt the "glittery clothes", the "gaudy colours" and the "campy vamps", which are what seduced me inititally for a while to Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, which is really mild in comparison to the fare on display now. But you lost me at Pratigya.<br /><br />I am currently following Laagi Tujhse Lagan and Na Aana Is Des Meri Laado on Colors, when time permits.<br /><br />The current plotline on NAIDML with the enforced incest bit was a shocker, and got me thinking about what Colors seems to be doing with quite a few of its offerings.<br /><br />Clearly it's all about money-making, callous sensationalism in the guise of bringing to light social ills. Basically, anything for TRPs.<br /><br />It's not just pulp fiction, but rotten, vile stuff that is abusive to women and undermines whatever little gains have been made on the female empowerment front. It seems to me as though the backlash against visible signs of female progress in India is now already underway.<br /><br />I find it deeply disturbing that all these channels are being allowed to get away with this insidious damage to society. <br />I know people will say it's the TV/violence issue all over again. But if Dostana can create a friendlier climate for gays, these serials can make a lot of crimes against women/girls more acceptable. At the very least they desensitise people to crimes against women and retard the social status of women. <br /> <br />I don't buy the channels' argument that this reflects the evils already present in society. Yeah, there are extremes - people with multiple wives, female foeticide, child marriage, et al, but I don't see how glamorising them and seducing us with those images makes the war against them any stronger.<br /><br />I wouldn't watch serials like Pratigya, and even with the NAIDML, I only return to it at intervals to see if the issue has been resolved and see if the newest Bahu has finally dropped being "Sita" and become "Gita".<br /><br />But then I never much went for Violet Winspear either, although I can happily read Nora Roberts.<br /><br />I really wish someone would start a signature campaign or something against these depictions of women. I'd be happy to sign one.<br /><br />(Sorry for this long response, but these serials really alarm me.)<br /><br />SabihaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com