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While movies and TV mostly reinforce regressive ideas about Equality, a cartoon series, Doraemon, is teaching kids about progressive principles. This post makes some interesting observations!
Being a regular audience of the famous cartoon series Doraemon, and an earnest researcher of Barbie (both – the plastic as well as digital dolls), I have noticed an interesting aspect of the popular cartoon shows, aired on most of the kids’ entertainment channels. Even in 2014, by carefully scanning the most popular Bollywood films (For example, Chennai Express) or even the daily soaps (I am particularly referring to the popular Bengali serials), we can easily spot elements that project clear evidence of patriarchal domination in our society, or the people who want to revive the system!
For example, the main plot of Chennai Express revolves around the marriage of Deepika, as her father wants to forcibly marry her off to a man who is the ideal groom according to him. He wasn’t concerned about his daughter’s choice. The Indian Law permits any girl to marry the person of their choice once they are 18 years old. She could have easily asked for legal help in such a situation, but she didn’t!
On the contrary, I find it highly interesting that the plotline of a popular cartoon series is built on the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity! Consider the most popular cartoon series Doraemon, aired on Hungama TV and Disney Channel, for example. Even though it portrays the lead female protagonist, Shizuoka, to be a typical young girl of her age, it shows evidences of her ambitious nature, and her repressed desires.
In fact, in this series, a male protagonist does not stand for machismo. Nobita is a weak, fragile figure, who feels more comfortable in the company of women rather than boys of his age. This is because of his tender nature, and the whole point it makes is about individuality.
I would like to particularly refer to an episode, in which both Nobita and Shizuoka, being sick of their lives, exchange their bodies. Here, we find that Shizuoka, when turned into a boy (Nobita), runs madly, plays baseball, and climbs a tree (which she proclaims to be her long-awaited dream); while Nobita (after turning into Shizuoka) realizes the restrictions and limitations of a woman; how she is deprived of her freedom and rights, just because she is female!
This particular episode reminds me of what eminent psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud said about repressed desires; that women are not naturally passive, and in the pre-phallic phase, both boys and girls share the same qualities. It is only after they begin to realize, and learn about their ideal behaviour that they turn into passive beings, while the men realize that they are superior and that they should be aggressive and dominant.
Freud says that because women are forcibly made to adapt, they do not give up their activeness or dominant characteristics completely, and this comes back in the form of repressed memory at times (mostly, when we identify ourselves with some male protagonists in movies).
In the same manner, there are several other realistic ideas that are related to the present scenario, which are depicted in these cartoons. Thanks to the makers of these cartoon series, we can now expect a better society, in the near future!
On the other hand, a popular daily soap tends to show a joint family (which is rare today), and the stereotypical role of an ideal wife! If you find a girl who is ambitious, and intelligent, then she must be evil, and should be condemned or possessed by some man to reform her. In today’s world, I find it pretty absurd that we enjoy these regressive and unrealistic programs, which are a slap in the face of our ideologies!
Pic credit: Doraemon image via Shutterstock
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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