REEL LIFE WOMAN VS REAL LIFE WOMAN

Pritha waltzed in gaily from work. She was one of the lucky ones who had a doting mom in law waiting for her at home, with a hot cup of coffee and tasty snacks ready for her to tuck into. After freshening up, she curled up on the sofa beside her Mom in law and in cheery camaraderie set about surfing the channels.

‘There was this unwitting hardworking daughter in law being surrounded on all sides by her in laws and they take immense pleasure in subjecting her to hard chores. On top of that, pregnant as she was , she was being made to subject to an un wanted abortion. When she declined to do so, the mom in law plotted with her sons to subject the unsuspecting daughter in law to an over dose of electrical shock, while ironing clothes, wherein she would naturally lose the baby.’

This was what the horrified duo Pritha and her mom in law watched in disgust and outrage. In sheer disgust, Pritha switched off the TV, and they decided never ever to condone such soap operas.

This is the typical scenario that unfolds in most households’ .It actually calls for some very serious thought as to why producers of TV serials portray women as the persecuted daughter in law, and the mother in law as the conniving punishing witch. Isn’t it high time we bid goodbye to these stale images of women?

Are these reel women, the real women of the 21^st century? The real woman is eons away from what is being portrayed on both the silver screen as well as the small screen.

TV serials can be an accomplice to gender based discrimination by resorting to portraying stereotypical, sensational images of women through these programs. In a world that is still largely dominated by men, what gets produced most often by way of soap operas are the age old, tried and tested, traditional , male perspective being doled out to the masses. While, once, as women we were motivated and inspired by strong women characters like Rajni and Kalyani of Udaan in the late 1980’s, now we are saddled with an endless collection of popularly watched serials on varied channels- ‘Kyonki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi, pavithra rishta, baliga vadhu, ; travel down South and you have the Sindhu- Bhairavi and more from Tamil channels and the soap opera ‘ Sthree dhanam’ ( Dowry) in Malayalam.

Most of these project the home scenario or the domestic sphere as the core setting and the fundamental theme revolves around familial relationships. A woman’s achievement in life is valued in terms of their success and responsibility undertaken in running a successful household, settling down in marital bliss, giving birth to children and her constant endeavor to raise them as ideal human beings. Most themes center on a strong sense of good and bad and are tainted in white and black with no grey shades in between. All these roles typify a patriarchal mindset where the docile wife is favored while women in power or career women are portrayed as vile, selfish, self centered or arrogant.

The working woman is sometimes portrayed as ultra modern, sporting a plunging neckline, with short hair, and who is bold, heartless, conniving and perfect in the art of seduction. Modernity in these serials is confused with debasement of morals and ideals. We are still stuck with projecting our women as the age old ‘pativrata’; and motherhood in serials is over glorified, placing serious emotional pressure on women watching these shows. Do stop to think whether we need to transfer these values, characterizations, and standards that are being projected for the younger generation to emulate.

All women in most soap operas are heavily made up, don expensive jewelry and sometimes, the viewers feel as though one serial just merges into the next!

Yet another genre of soap operas portrays women as the unrealistic superwoman, the super wife, super daughter in law or the super mom. She is required to display loyalty, compassion, devotion and her domain is her home. Her greatness lies in her being a doormat, being self evasive to the extreme and is the panacea for all ills that plague her family. Some even go to jail for crimes they never committed. In the end, they always win but not before going through hell, tears and physical violence. Not only do they go through hell, they also drag their viewers along with them, the unsuspecting hapless victims who happen to be endlessly addicted to these serials. Thus, the producers of these soap operas can hardly be blamed for attempting to produce these alleged money spinners.

Our serials show a rising trend in extra marital relationships as well. Does it condone the dilution of our moral standards? Are we blindly aping the west without giving serious thought to its impact on the present generation?

Are these reel women the role models that we want our youngsters to emulate? Do we want to see our girls as idealistic pativratas? Or do we teach them the values of mutual trust, companionship, love and devotion in a relationship? Is there an arming link between the present state of mental confusion, distorted perceptions, imbalanced view points, rising number of pre and extra marital relationships among the youth with the portrayal of relationships on TV? Are our young girls and boys torn between past and present values, face societal pressures to fit into age old role models while striving to pursue ambitions and aspirations of their own?

Aren’t these soap operas the reason behind the identity crisis being faced by the generation of today, resulting in rising rates of crime against women, increase in suicide rates, and incidents of drug abuse? All these calls for some serious thought on the entire issue of projecting women  thus on TV and in the media in general.

Is any one listening?