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Indian TV Had A Chance To Break Barriers With A Transgender Character In 'Shakti' But They Blew It Completely
http://m.indiatimes.com/culture/who-we-are/indian-tv-had-a-chance-to-break-barriers-with-a-transgender-character-in-shakti-but-they-blew-it-completely-259728.html
Shakti, a popular television drama on Colours TV, recently revealed that their main character is a transgender. People thought that Indian television was finally growing up. The woman lead was not transforming into snakes or flies, this time. Indian television finally chose a relevant and serious issue. But did it really? The serial is about two sisters, Soumya and Surbhi. Soumya is disliked by her father and grandmother while Surbhi is the apple of their eye. However, the reason for their dislike for Soumya was not revealed until recently. Soumya is a kinnar'. A secret that her mother had not only hidden from the rest of the world but from Soumya herself. Soumya is brought up as a girl and has no self-awareness. The problem arises when a boy, Harman, falls in love with her and wants to marry her. Everyone from Soumya's family is against the wedding. Soumya's mother wants to tell the boy the truth however, she is not able to do so. Then the father and the grandmother try to prevent the wedding by poisoning Soumya, but they too fail. As the plot continues, we see that the main theme of the serial is to prevent Soumya and Harman from having their suhag raat'. Because only by having sex can one's gender identity be revealed Finally, the kinnar' community tracks her down and Soumya gets to know the truth about herself. Soumya hearing the truth is taken aback. However, her main worries are: Will her husband still love her? Will he still be married to her? After which, it was revealed that she will try to kill herself because she is ashamed of her true identity. The idea of the character not being aware of her own physical appearance or gender identity is absolutely bizarre. And the worst part about it is that it is being broadcast on national television and the show is being viewed by thousands and thousands of people. This will only give a wrong idea to the audience about the transgender community. The producers of the show, in various interviews, have mentioned that by talking about transgenders is a way of fighting for the rights of the trans community. However, one must fight logically for the rights of any minor communities or else it can be termed as Tokenism. The fact that Soumya was never aware of her body crosses all barriers of logic and also shows how people are still so unaware of gender issues in the country. The serial has a very regressive approach to the whole situation. By showing that her gender identity was a secret because it does not conform to the socially accepted gender identities is not spreading any awareness. It does not fight for the rights of the community. In fact, it does exactly the opposite of that. The community has been fighting for its rights for years now, and one of their main goals is to make people understand that there is nothing shameful in being a transgender. The other issue with the way the makers of the serial are handling the matter is by showing that her father and her grandmother have completely disowned her and have even tried to kill her. It is an issue, because if the world gets to know that she belongs to the transgender community, it will bring dishonour to the family. And the chances are that society might stigmatise them. This attitude needs to change soon. People need to realise that one's gender has nothing to do with honour. Gender is a socially constructed term, but we have been assigned roles pertaining to our gender. This is something that needs to change. Patriarchy is evident in all daily soaps and they define the gender roles and anything that does not pertain to it is seen as negative. Men are seen as the caretakers of businesses while the women are restricted to the boundaries of their home. This is not the reality. Popular television shows need to use their popularity in a responsible fashion and spread awareness, and not just do token activism. We see that Soumya's response to her true identity is extremely negative. Instead of realising that she has been leading a life full of lies, the first thing she thinks about is how her husband will react to it and if he will still love her or not. Soumya reacts how an ideal' woman (Soumya was brought up as a woman and had adopted gender roles that are assigned to women) is supposed to - she thinks about her husband first. Television serials need to STOP stereotyping the Indian woman. It is commendable that the makers of the serial are at least trying to talk about a serious and complicated issue. However, trying to talk about a subject that they themselves do not understand is not smart. Gender is a complicated topic and it has to be dealt with in a sensitive manner. With great power comes great responsibility. Television has the power to influence its audience and shape their thinking. TV show makers need to be more responsible with what they show their viewers. They have to stop worrying about TRPs and worry about the larger issues in hand.
http://m.indiatimes.com/culture/who-we-are/indian-tv-had-a-chance-to-break-barriers-with-a-transgender-character-in-shakti-but-they-blew-it-completely-259728.html
Shakti, a popular television drama on Colours TV, recently revealed that their main character is a transgender. People thought that Indian television was finally growing up. The woman lead was not transforming into snakes or flies, this time. Indian television finally chose a relevant and serious issue. But did it really? The serial is about two sisters, Soumya and Surbhi. Soumya is disliked by her father and grandmother while Surbhi is the apple of their eye. However, the reason for their dislike for Soumya was not revealed until recently. Soumya is a kinnar'. A secret that her mother had not only hidden from the rest of the world but from Soumya herself. Soumya is brought up as a girl and has no self-awareness. The problem arises when a boy, Harman, falls in love with her and wants to marry her. Everyone from Soumya's family is against the wedding. Soumya's mother wants to tell the boy the truth however, she is not able to do so. Then the father and the grandmother try to prevent the wedding by poisoning Soumya, but they too fail. As the plot continues, we see that the main theme of the serial is to prevent Soumya and Harman from having their suhag raat'. Because only by having sex can one's gender identity be revealed Finally, the kinnar' community tracks her down and Soumya gets to know the truth about herself. Soumya hearing the truth is taken aback. However, her main worries are: Will her husband still love her? Will he still be married to her? After which, it was revealed that she will try to kill herself because she is ashamed of her true identity. The idea of the character not being aware of her own physical appearance or gender identity is absolutely bizarre. And the worst part about it is that it is being broadcast on national television and the show is being viewed by thousands and thousands of people. This will only give a wrong idea to the audience about the transgender community. The producers of the show, in various interviews, have mentioned that by talking about transgenders is a way of fighting for the rights of the trans community. However, one must fight logically for the rights of any minor communities or else it can be termed as Tokenism. The fact that Soumya was never aware of her body crosses all barriers of logic and also shows how people are still so unaware of gender issues in the country. The serial has a very regressive approach to the whole situation. By showing that her gender identity was a secret because it does not conform to the socially accepted gender identities is not spreading any awareness. It does not fight for the rights of the community. In fact, it does exactly the opposite of that. The community has been fighting for its rights for years now, and one of their main goals is to make people understand that there is nothing shameful in being a transgender. The other issue with the way the makers of the serial are handling the matter is by showing that her father and her grandmother have completely disowned her and have even tried to kill her. It is an issue, because if the world gets to know that she belongs to the transgender community, it will bring dishonour to the family. And the chances are that society might stigmatise them. This attitude needs to change soon. People need to realise that one's gender has nothing to do with honour. Gender is a socially constructed term, but we have been assigned roles pertaining to our gender. This is something that needs to change. Patriarchy is evident in all daily soaps and they define the gender roles and anything that does not pertain to it is seen as negative. Men are seen as the caretakers of businesses while the women are restricted to the boundaries of their home. This is not the reality. Popular television shows need to use their popularity in a responsible fashion and spread awareness, and not just do token activism. We see that Soumya's response to her true identity is extremely negative. Instead of realising that she has been leading a life full of lies, the first thing she thinks about is how her husband will react to it and if he will still love her or not. Soumya reacts how an ideal' woman (Soumya was brought up as a woman and had adopted gender roles that are assigned to women) is supposed to - she thinks about her husband first. Television serials need to STOP stereotyping the Indian woman. It is commendable that the makers of the serial are at least trying to talk about a serious and complicated issue. However, trying to talk about a subject that they themselves do not understand is not smart. Gender is a complicated topic and it has to be dealt with in a sensitive manner. With great power comes great responsibility. Television has the power to influence its audience and shape their thinking. TV show makers need to be more responsible with what they show their viewers. They have to stop worrying about TRPs and worry about the larger issues in hand.
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