Mockery of Rights We Women Fought & Won

There are a lot of things II love about India and some that I hate. One of the things that I hate is sometimes how women are treated. India is a fascinating dichotomy where on one hand we had a female prime minister (will be a long time before it happen in US) and on the other we kill female child at birth and now have abortions after sonographies. But I do think a lot of people over the years have fought very hard to bring about changes and bring equality/progress to a woman's life. A lot of women have suffered to get us to this point. A lot of this have been done through education and changing people's perception. It has been a very hard battle and something that we still fight everyday. The freedom to shape our lives as we want is a hard won right.

Now we have a popular serial that it watched mostly by a female audience where it is shown that a woman has no identity as soon as her husband dies. Is in not ironic in this case the husband is a good for nothing while the wife is smart and capable and storng yet with the death she is being potrayed as helpless and without an identity. She is shown as someone who has no capabilities to build a life for her own and her child. She is shown helpless who needs to marry another woman's husband for support. If this is the message for a widow who is educated, rich and comes from a educated family (this I say in jest), what chance do poor uneducated women have.

If it is shown that educated people have these ideas of what women's role is in society why should we blane the uneducated. With educated I mean people like Ekta Kapoor, Nivedita Basu and every actor who is playing it out on screen. If women themselves who have touched the pinnacle of their professions are potraying such regressive sentiments to masses and it is watched and accepted by the masses who are we to blame the uneducated when they burn the woman as sati, kill the baby girl at birth or treat women as trash or garbabe, or burn them for dowry.

I always laughed of all the assinine stuff they pulled in the serial as TRP drivers or sheer stupidity but realized that it was a business and they were doing what they thought they had to do. Today I have really lost all respect for the women who create this serial. She and people like her are the biggest obstacles to progress for women in India. It is really sad when given such a platform to reach the masses this is the lesson she is teaching.

reagrds,

Meghna

I agree, Ekta has lost the plot, the way she portray a femal widow character is degrading. When a women dies, the husband cries then gets married agian and has a new life but when a husband dies, women has no identity, they have to live as a widow until they die. I really hate this society norm. Makes my blood boil one thing Im happy about Bangladesh even its a poor country that we have female prime ministeR. I doubt I be alive to see a female to be the president of the united state, i doubt it. If u go to star plus forum, KSBKBT, U will find alot of angry people cursing ekta. Yesterday we saw Krishna Tulsi being raped after Holi And guess who does it, a abnomal child, Manyak. I felt so violeted watching it. it was disgusting. 😡 And alot of people who watch ksbkbt is female

👏 very well said.. i mean these shows lack reality.. well they start losing it.. once d show's been up and runnin fo a while.. and it is sad to see women getting mocked in all different ways possible.. from abortion to husband's death.. basically from anything to everything..

I meghna di
(i may call u so)

Lovely points hat you have brought about here...over the last weekend bavie (aperture), himali and I had a very similar discussion. (I even talked about the female PM thing).

I guess a lot of us know and believe that a woman is a woman's worst enemy, and to some extent all our soaps show this. And the worst part is that a lot of production houses are run by women too.

I think it is about time that the educated lot starting changing the way women are being portrayed in Indian TV, which is a more powerful medium that movies (mostly urban and suburban) and newspapers (only educated).

Rivs

Meg
👏 👏 Bravo for posting this. I just PMed Aperture about this. It's disgusting to see as Rivs put it women are their own worst enemy.

Women in this time of history are at their most empowered. We don't have to put up with such behaviour. Although my cousins did remind me that women in rural areas don't have the kind of support women may have in urban ones. But with powerful women like Ekta continuing such stereotypical, paternalistic views on womanhood - they are contributing to female children being aborted, and women being abused by their husbands, and being burned for money or because they are widows.

I love RK and the character of JW but if KS continues with its regressive on the verge of abusive behaviour to the female gender then I will be an ex KS viewer. If we as women continue to watch this trash, then people like Ekta who only care about money and TRPs will continue to trash women regardless of the negative impact their 'fairytale' stories have on women in society.

I think may be we need to start a revolt and let Ekta and all the women who contribute to this disgusting portrayal of women know that we are educated and empowered and don't need to be entertained at the expense of our female sisters being abused, betrayed, killed, shunned and otherwise violated.

Just my vehement 2 cents.
SC

Originally posted by: scifichick

Meg
👏 👏 Bravo for posting this. I just PMed Aperture about this. It's disgusting to see as Rivs put it women are their own worst enemy.

Women in this time of history are at their most empowered. We don't have to put up with such behaviour. Although my cousins did remind me that women in rural areas don't have the kind of support women may have in urban ones. But with powerful women like Ekta continuing such stereotypical, paternalistic views on womanhood - they are contributing to female children being aborted, and women being abused by their husbands, and being burned for money or because they are widows.

I love RK and the character of JW but if KS continues with its regressive on the verge of abusive behaviour to the female gender then I will be an ex KS viewer. If we as women continue to watch this trash, then people like Ekta who only care about money and TRPs will continue to trash women regardless of the negative impact their 'fairytale' stories have on women in society.

I think may be we need to start a revolt and let Ekta and all the women who contribute to this disgusting portrayal of women know that we are educated and empowered and don't need to be entertained at the expense of our female sisters being abused, betrayed, killed, shunned and otherwise violated.

Just my vehement 2 cents.
SC

Hey,

I have already written to Mumbai Mirror to see if they would be interested in doing an article describing our disgust. That is the best I can do, since I live in the US.

However, if you are interested, to help (to revolt as you put it) let me know. I am planning on collecting various threads from the KS and other forums that describe the audience feelings about these issues.

Rivs

Excellent post, Meg! 👏

You've said everything, I have nothing to add to it really..except that I do think its perfectly okay to show a widow starting her life anew again, and getting married again..but the way they went about it was absolutely regressive --trying to show that a woman cannot live her life alone especially with a child after the death of her husband..uugghhh! 😡

Instead there was so much potential to carry on Rano's situation further in the storyline..just like the way you had mentioned in another thread..she is successful in her work and as a mother to Varun, and gets good support from Ranveer in this regard (Raashi's soul is resting in peace by then)..then they form a friendship, a bond, all independently with their own thoughts, decisions and actions..and not shown as being helpless and majboor with no voice in front of Jiggy or anybody..

But alas! I really feel if Ekta employed a few of you wonderful imaginative girls as Kreatives, then KS wud create history for being a memorable serial!!

Originally posted by: rivya

I meghna di
(i may call u so)

Lovely points hat you have brought about here...over the last weekend bavie (aperture), himali and I had a very similar discussion. (I even talked about the female PM thing).

I guess a lot of us know and believe that a woman is a woman's worst enemy, and to some extent all our soaps show this. And the worst part is that a lot of production houses are run by women too.

I think it is about time that the educated lot starting changing the way women are being portrayed in Indian TV, which is a more powerful medium that movies (mostly urban and suburban) and newspapers (only educated).

Rivs

Rivs,

My point exactly. Ekta has the privilege of having access to such a powerful platform that gives her access to remote parts of India where she could send such a positive message. Instead tomorrow we will have more mother-in-laws everywhere in India thinking it's ok to treat widowed DIL's in such deplorable fashion. TV as a meduim influences people's thoughts and it can incite people to do things that they might not ususally do or have the guts to do due to what people will think. Now it becomes open season. If educated big family, well off people in big cities do this it must be right.

meghna

Originally posted by: dhruvie05

Excellent post, Meg! 👏

You've said everything, I have nothing to add to it really..except that I do think its perfectly okay to show a widow starting her life anew again, and getting married again..but the way they went about it was absolutely regressive --trying to show that a woman cannot live her life alone especially with a child after the death of her husband..uugghhh! 😡

Instead there was so much potential to carry on Rano's situation further in the storyline..just like the way you had mentioned in another thread..she is successful in her work and as a mother to Varun, and gets good support from Ranveer in this regard (Raashi's soul is resting in peace by then)..then they form a friendship, a bond, all independently with their own thoughts, decisions and actions..and not shown as being helpless and majboor with no voice in front of Jiggy or anybody..

But alas! I really feel if Ekta employed a few of you wonderful imaginative girls as Kreatives, then KS wud create history for being a memorable serial!!

I absolutely support widow remarriage and it is part of the independence we have earned. But it should be on her terms and not under pressure of regaining an identity in society. She has her own identity.

meghna

Originally posted by: m3ghna

Rivs,

My point exactly. Ekta has the privilege of having access to such a powerful platform that gives her access to remote parts of India where she could send such a positive message. Instead tomorrow we will have more mother-in-laws everywhere in India thinking it's ok to treat widowed DIL's in such deplorable fashion. TV as a meduim influences people's thoughts and it can incite people to do things that they might not ususally do or have the guts to do due to what people will think. Now it becomes open season. If educated big family, well off people in big cities do this it must be right.

meghna

I am glad that you feel that things need to change...I am hoping that if i can successfully start something you would be willing to provide help...

Rivs