Nalini’s Comments (group member since Feb 21, 2016)

Nalini’s comments from the Our Shared Shelf group.

Ishita, I agree with you. Talk about patriarchal family values. Talking about Amitabh Bachan, how many Bollywood movies are made with the woman playing the main character? There are a few, but not enough. The "male gaze" is everywhere from movies to the workplace and the streets. I can't even count the number of commercials here that are sexist- from ads for masalas to washing powders. Look at the serials that primarily focus on a female audience, look at the reality shows, misogyny in popular comedy shows (Kapil Sharma)- sexism is omnipresent in Indian media and people seem to think it's ok :(.

The Second Sex What mythology does, much like soap operas, is raise women on a pedestal. They are either perfect "saints" or they are "sluts". Mythology does not teach "respect" for women, but rather distances ordinary women from images of how an ideal woman should be. It tells us that a woman is either a perfect ideal, or a useless slut, never a whole person with autonomy. She is either a witch with dark magical powers or a goddess who brings luck and good fortune. Does mythology teach respect for women, or does it teach reverence for perfect "goddesses" which none of us are?