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Well that was odd (goes to show how ingrained our roles are regardless of culture), but good. Thanks!Trigger warning: There is a similar kind in French for rape. The name is Oppressed Majority on Youtube, only they have changed settings such that you need an account to view it. I don't have one, but it is great, more raw and aggressive, though.
Ana wrote: "Thanks, Ashwin! :) Was it you the one who shared another TV series named...ugh, I'm sorry...Satyamev Jayate, maybe?"Yes I was the one. But apparently it is not available in all regions. But the host, who is a superstar here in India was interviewed by Women in the World organization recently, you can find the interview here:
https://youtu.be/vNyj4ZMhxm0
There are snippets of Satyamev Jayate in the interview. It is a wonderful watch. And it should be available in all regions since it is an international organization.
I actually have shared all these links with Emma on twitter, but I think they got lost in the crowd! But these are really important things happening that the world should know.
BTW, it is really difficult to remember names that are in another language, you have an amazing memory!
Edit: Again I forgot, that the material might be sensitive, but it was broadcast on national television.
Another thing, I hope you watch all the episodes, I especially like the conclusion, which is episode 4 i think.
Edit no. 2: Trigger warning - contains references to female foeticide, child sexual abuse.
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Ana wrote: "Hehe, I sort of remembered Satya-something and then the Jayate bit, sort of, so I googled it a bit and got it! :) Thanks, it's mostly cause I'm a huge languages nerd, LOL. BTW, I thought you could ..."Oh then I should tell you Satyamev Jayate is three words: Satyam - iv Jayate which is in Sanskrit. It roughly translates to Truth alone wins. I studied Sanskrit in high school, don't remember much. I tried learning German in college again not a big success! I am going to try my hand at Latin now (it was the official language of science for some time!), hope for better results!
I'll try to get in touch with team Satyamev Jayate to look into the issue. No promises though!
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Anyway, I'm digressing! Oh, so you are kind of in touch with the Satyamev Jayate team, or maybe just like a fan of the TV series? I understand, it'll be lovely if you could help! As I said, I'm interested myself and know of a few people who would be as well. It's a nice break from Western-centered perspectives, you know. :) Too much Western world and we have the obnoxious habit of forgetting about other societies. ;)
I have to derail this even further (but promise I'll get back on track soon). Sanskrit. Anyone have any good resources for learning it online for free? I'd like to become a yoga teacher one day, but can't do it without knowing the basics :)And the videos. Ashwin, how have they been received in India? I noticed quite a few thumbs down on YouTube, but it's easy to criticise when all you have to do is click a button. When you have to form full sentences and mind your manners, it's a bit more difficult, haha.
Thanks, Ashwin, for sharing this series. I am impressed by the first two episodes.
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That was brilliant! I think there's a lot of stuff in there that is specific to India, so perhaps difficult for people from other cultures to fully comprehend. If anything it seems India has a greater problem with gender discrimination than Britain. I watched the whole thing, it reminds me of a society of non-humans I wrote about in a book, where the gender roles were reversed. In that case it was a medieval society so in some ways it was even more extreme. Seeing it in full motion, colour and acted so well though, I think it makes it much easier for guys to empathize with female discrimination. The thing is some aspects of discrimination are very subtle, and probably don't even sound like discrimination unless you are on the receiving end of the discrimination!
Aglaea wrote: "...Ashwin, how have they been received in India? I noticed quite a few thumbs down on YouTube..."About the man's world, I'm not entirely sure of general perception. Since it is a web series it doesn't reach a large audience. All my friends male and female loved it. There was positive response on Twitter as well.
One thing about the web-series is it has cameos from a large number of very popular actors from Indian film industry. The lady who announces the main guy has received promotion is Kalki Koechlin, she received accolades for her role in the movie "Margarita, with a straw" which is a coming of age movie of a girl with cerebral palsy:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2929690/?...
She is also actively feminist.
Martyn wrote: ...I think there's a lot of stuff in there that is specific to India, so perhaps difficult for people from other cultures to fully comprehend...
Indeed. Many of the things such as spitting in public place etc are not something people in "first world" countries are familiar with. But what I was surprised was that even though it is India centric, people from different countries could relate to things like wage-gap, objectification, victim blaming etc. And yes India has a huge problem but there are many progressive people who are trying to change things. You wrote a book? Can you please share link?
@Ana, just a fan. But I was fortunate enough to meet the director of Satyamev Jayate, Mr Satyajit Bhatkal at a lit-fest and I was blown away by his persona. He is so unassuming, he even remembered a couple of tweets we had exchanged.
What a pleasure that was to watch! Thanks so much for sharing it. I particularly liked the ending and the implication that if we can't find enough kindness in ourselves to fix this for each other, maybe we can at least find it in our love for our children not to want them to grow up with it.If I may make a suggestion, I would advise editing the title of this thread. I almost didn't click here because I thought it was just going to be some people arguing about how it's a man's world. If you called it "Man's World Video Series" or something similar I think you might get more notice.
@Bunny, thanks for the suggestion. Made the change! And yes I hope more and more people watch this.
I did think that Kalki Koechlin looked familiar, I couldn't remember her name. She one of my favourite actresses.
I finished the series and I'm very impressed. I think a lot of these problems are applicable - maybe in less direct ways - to Germany.
I finished the series and I'm very impressed. I think a lot of these problems are applicable - maybe in less direct ways - to Germany.
I will definitely be sharing it with my friends! I think it's very clever. I particularly liked the attention to detail in gender swapping all the signs and billboards and advertising and the newspapers and television. I think it's something that is common across many countries and cultures but that is so much in the background that we often don't notice it. But over time it affects you, that constant drumbeat of expectations. You can tell yourself you are an individual all you like but maintaining that independence of thought can be difficult when you are surrounded by messages in the other direction.I agree that there are things here that are specific to India, in America for example it would be very rare for a parent to insist that their child had to get married and stop working. Here the pressure to stop working would come after the marriage not before, likely when the first child was born. But it would still come.
Ashwin, your comment regarding audience size is what I think is the most problematic in "difficult" discussions, because pretty much regardless of topic, those who wish to work on things to improve the situation for the average citizen, are reasonably open to thinking new thoughts, and will seek out material such as this video.The challenge then is to find ways to reach places where there is more resistance, but I truly hope the video will go very viral, it deserves all the attention it can get!
Forgot to mention a sidetrack about Sanskrit earlier. A woman I used to study with is Muslim and she tried to teach me to write Arabic, but I think Sanskrit might be easier. Both are unbelievably beautiful, though. Anyway, back on track :)
@Anja How did you come across Kalki's work? Was it through film festivals? Well, let me share something with you, it is Kalki's "La Femme Terrible", a monologue she wrote and enacted at India Today Conclave on International women's day 2014: https://youtu.be/ITgVz1XYk4A
(note: it is pretty intense)
@Aglaea Very true. It is for this reason I like to hear voices of dissent on this discussion - the devil's advocates. There were some intense debates I followed in this group but somehow a number of members didn't take kindly to those commenters and I don't find many dissenters now.
What i feel is, if there is a group or organization that agrees on some theory or philosophy and guards it with iron walls, it cannot progress. Only when views or opinions are challenged and the members are made to think actively and in different directions can the group progress and remain relevant.
Aside: On the matter of languages I like English because it has only 26 letters and 10 digits making it an easy language. But it will be nice to discuss grammar and linguistics with you people some time somewhere; since I have only recently started taking active interest in it, I can learn a lot from you people.
Ashwin wrote: "@Anja How did you come across Kalki's work? Was it through film festivals? Well, let me share something with you, it is Kalki's "La Femme Terrible", a monologue she wrote and enacted at India Today..."
I'm Eurasian with roots in South-East Asia, so I watch Bollywood movies off and on. I saw her in: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which may not be a feminist masterpiece but there are some strong points and she's excellent.
I'm Eurasian with roots in South-East Asia, so I watch Bollywood movies off and on. I saw her in: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which may not be a feminist masterpiece but there are some strong points and she's excellent.
Ashwin wrote: "Aglaea wrote: "...Ashwin, how have they been received in India? I noticed quite a few thumbs down on YouTube..."About the man's world, I'm not entirely sure of general perception. Since it is a w..."
I found the most abhorrent part of the film the suggestion that one gender is better than the other as a baby. I didn't mind one iota what my first was - it was a girl. Because the first was a girl I really wanted the second to be a boy. If I'd had a boy first, I'd have wanted a girl second! I don't think I'd had have loved them any less if I'd had two of one set though. I suppose the suggestion that there's a unspoken financial downside to girls, the dowry thing, plus the fact that women in India appear to be more discriminated against than here in the west make it.. No, I can't get my head around it.
I will say, the feminist women of India come across as very intelligent, strong-willed and independent. If India is as unequal as this film suggests, I'd say India could also be the heart of a new revolution, that mirrors the Arab Spring, but with better results. I don't the patriarchy in India can survive forever.
I completely agree with you, and do welcome the devil's advocates precisely because thinking the same thoughts and nodding in agreement with myself won't do any good. It is exhausting to keep challenging oneself, to grow and live up to one's potential, but I never was one for mediocrity, it is safe and boring. Going full force out of the comfort zone is where beauty happens, even when we stumble and make mistakes. And in case anyone wonders, my bulldozing mode is quite conscious, to force myself and others to use the miracle of a brain that was given to us.I'm looking forward to watching more of the videos! Plus I love Indian and Bollywood movies even though I've never travelled there yet. Monsoon Wedding is one of my all-time favourites and I cherish the soundtrack.
@Martyn, check the link in message 5. You'll get the answer to the question why a male child is preferred. In fact, female foeticide is a major problem in India and therefore it is illegal in India to do sex determination tests during pregnancy. And yes there are very intelligent people in India both men and women working towards achieving gender equality.@Aglaea I just surprised myself today that I have seen so many videos! Actually watching videos about social causes and reading articles on philosophy, psychology etc. is what I love to do. I think I'll collect all the material and create a thread and put it all there (along with trigger warnings and content advisory) rather than posting haphazardly. It may take some time though.
Wow, I always saw in the media that Bollywood has a significant reach outside India but never believed, now I'm starting to.
Going to watch that in the coming days... A bit ill and I want to recover asap.
Ashwin do you mean the link in Video Episode 5? Can you paste the link here please? Thanks.
Martyn wrote: "Ashwin do you mean the link in Video Episode 5? Can you paste the link here please? Thanks."No, he means the link in message five in this thread. This link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNyj4...
Its an interview with the host of an investigative show that did an episode about sex selective abortions in India. Its prohibited for doctors to tell patients the sex of their baby in India for fear that if the parents know there will be pressure to end the pregnancy if the fetus is female. However between government action and media discussion of the problem the male/female birthrate in several areas is moving toward a more normal balance. Which is evidence that at least some people are being persuaded to stop the practice.
This is also a big problem in China, made even worse by the one child policy. The natural ratio ie the ratio if nobody interferes is 105 boys to 100 girls - the birth ratio in China in 2014 was 115 boys to 100 girls. That's the highest in the world, India is second highest.
Thanks Bunny for the clarification and also info about China.
Didn't they stop that policy, though? In China I mean.
Aglaea wrote: "Didn't they stop that policy, though? In China I mean."I think so, but it will need time to get out of the heads. Families see the financial advantages of having only one child. And something that is in the heads of people is very difficult to remove.
China relaxed the one child policy in 2013, allowing families to have a second child if one of the parents is an only child. It began to phase the policy out in 2015. The policy was in effect from 1978, but there were always exceptions permitted. Including an exception for families being allowed to try again if their first child was a girl which was extended to 53% of the population. That tells you that there was an existing preference for boys strong enough that the government had to recognize it in the law.
I hope girl children will be more welcome in the future, when "the pressure is off" to have a boy:( but :) for moving in the right direction.
Unfortunately both China and India have more than 30 million more men than women now, which is kind of a problem for the men finding women to marry.
Bunny wrote: "Unfortunately both China and India have more than 30 million more men than women now, which is kind of a problem for the men finding women to marry."
China and India are the most overpopulated countries in the world. I don't think lack of procreation is one of their problems.
It's the cultural base which considers women less valuable than men the problem.
China and India are the most overpopulated countries in the world. I don't think lack of procreation is one of their problems.
It's the cultural base which considers women less valuable than men the problem.
@Bunny, the problem has reached such a magnitude that there are entire villages without any women and many young men who are of marriageable age. Although it is quite rare but there are instances where brothers share a bride. @Leo hardly! But just imagine the level of frustration of not being able to find a woman to marry. Such kind of frustration usually leads to crime against women.
@Aglaea: Yes as one thing I like about Satyamev Jayate is that they don't just air a show and are done. They follow up, pursue the causes they have taken up and publish "SMJ Impact" figures. With cooperation of some state governments, female foeticide has decreased significantly. But still a long way to go.
Leo, I wish you well but I think I need a break from you. I didn't say anything about lack of procreation.
Bunny wrote: "Leo, I wish you well but I think I need a break from you. I didn't say anything about lack of procreation."
Love you too!
Love you too!
Oh man, Leo are you being naughty again?Ashwin, did you see the stir caused by a UK magazine failing to recognise an Indian film star?
"Deepika Padukone: UK's Daily Mail mocked for failing to recognise star"
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-in...
Aglaea wrote: "...Ashwin, did you see the stir caused by a UK magazine failing to recognise an Indian film star?..."Unfortunately I did, courtesy social media. I find the entire thing funny actually, both the "news" report and the reaction to it. From what I gather, Daily Mail is far from being the benchmark of journalism in the UK (Can someone from UK confirm this?) I find the reaction even funnier. Why do Indian people expect the Britons to recognize Indian celebrities? In fact, I can bet my backside that half the people criticizing the article (who did not read the article itself but read other people's tweets and joined in) think Djokovic is some Hollywood star.
When I read such things I am only amused and never react. Because if I react, I will be actually playing into their (Daily Mail) hands by bringing this "news" report to the attention of more people. Any publicity is good publicity, as the saying goes. Besides, I agree with psychologists when they say opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. So that's what I do when I come across something I don't like - maintain a stoic silence!
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https://youtu.be/8NgvxN9RJSg
Since the web series tackles issues of both the genders, some parts and dialogues can be a little sensitive. Viewer's discretion is advised. (Although YouTube deems it appropriate for all ages).
Edit: The video is a mix of Hindi and English but English subtitles are available.