Thanks for starting this thread and for tagging me here! 🤗
Would love to see growth in Abhi's character henceforth. They've shown him as this alpha male and macho man till now (actually toxic masculinity disguised as fairy tale Prince charming). I wish they show him changing in his outlook and behaviour.
He said he doesn't sit behind women (finally he did sit behind Akshu). But it's that feeling and entitlement that men in general seem to automatically have That they'll not need help or they'll not be a step down women. And that women need them for protection. 😕
Growth happens when supposedly macho men realize that women don't need men to help them: we're capable of helping ourselves. We are fit enough to lead from the front. Men's worth won't diminish if they're behind a woman literally or figuratively.
And then men say there's no need for feminism because there's no inequality between men and women in the world. Feel like forgetting all courtesy and giving a tight slap 😡 Feminism means equality for everyone which isn't the reality today. Even in the 1st world there's gender pay gap, in big corporations included. Let's not even go to the implicit ways in which women are undermined and exploited in poor countries.
Another trope is mard ko dard nahi hota, i.e. Men don't cry. Why so? Aren't they human too? In this regard, I am glad that they've made Abhi so emotional and crying, and Akshara in control of her feelings and even thoughts (she does become insufferable and goes way overboard in her mahaanta often though 😆).
It's these small things, and seemingly trivial beliefs and ideas that build into a form of masculinity that ultimately tries to prove themselves by subjugating women. Instead, the real growth is to understand that being a man is to be secure and genuinely acknowledge that men and women are equally capable of doing what each of them like. Women are as much human as men are, not more, not less.
That's the growth I want to see. If they write properly, that journey will be so worthwhile.
As an early teenager, I'm guilty of watching IPKKND 2 (Ek Bar Phir, and not the original season 1) and liking the pair, when in reality the hero was outright abusive and harassed the female lead throughout - mental, emotional, psychological and physical harassment at times.
It's dangerous to like that kind of a story. Young girls need to be empowered to believe in themselves. That story and frankly so many other shows on ITV, maybe even global media, send a very wrong message. That kind of story is simply not a fairy tale. It's been a long time now since that show but growing up, I'm so happy I realized what's not okay. The worst part was the female lead was shown to like the harassment in the name of her love for the hero 👎🏼😡
Fiction that's admirable should develop a relationship of equals. And it comes from the small beliefs and ideas that I hope the writers get right here! Nevertheless I watch for entertainment and before starting to watch I often remind myself not to look for logic and reason though 😆
Edited by HahaHeheHuhu9 - 4 years ago
Anupamaa
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