Women are slapped, kicked, abused and raped in popular shows like 'Naa Aana Iss Des Laado', 'Balika Vadhu' and 'Pratigya' that reach over 130 million households in India and they seem to be doing little to empower women.
These supposedly socially relevant shows started as attempts to break away from the chestnut of kitchen politics and tackle themes like female infanticide, child marriage and discrimination. But soon they turned out to be half-hearted efforts, showing violence towards women rather than creating awareness against such atrocities.
Of late, these shows have been depicting scenes where a husband physically abuses his wife only because she stands up against him, or in another show, the husband slaps his wife hard for arguing with him. How these shows talk about women's empowerment then, many viewers ask.
Such depiction of subjugation is 'intolerable', according to noted actress and social activist Shabana Azmi…as I read @ the link of IANS. 'It is extremely important to have positive role models for women. And it's sad that on television, we usually don't see that, even when so many writers are women themselves. I do think that the only way we can counter the image of a girl is by making available as many positive images of empowered women as possible,' Shabana told IANS.
Alas, that is not happening - even though these shows are a staple for most Indian women.
STAR Plus has started 'Kaali - Ek Agnipariksha' to show how independent girls become soft targets for sexual harassment. So, while on one hand the channel claims to depict the improving social standing of women, on the other, it shows how men have an upper hand in sabotaging women's lives through 'Pratigya'.
'Pratigya' even depicted the protagonist being asked to drink water that had been used to wash her mother-in-law's feet and now something showing insane things like putting fire to oneself to get rid of daughter in law, causing disputes between son n daughter in law etc are now in trend in Indian television.
Acclaimed filmmaker Govind Nihalani, known for making socially relevant movies like 'Aakrosh' and 'Ardh Satya', said such themes should only provoke debate.
'Somewhere these issues have to be brought into the open so that people are aware of it.
Woman-centric serials became a rage after Ekta Kapoor's 'Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki' and 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'. Ekta claims TV content has helped a lot of Indian women in becoming assertive at home. 'Many people felt that television is 'corrupting' Indian women to stand up for their rights. Some people with very conservative mindsets thought that the women were being influenced and corrupted as we encouraged them to stand up for their rights. 'But recent research proves that many women from smaller towns and rural areas have also started taking charge of decision making and being an active participant in their family issues,' said Ekta.
But many today say with each new show, content has gone from bad to worse. This article is meant to all those human beings who are against such cruel acts. This is to raise voice against some soaps going popular day by day. Stop watching such serials and it will lead to less TRP of that particular serial else complain at consumercomplain website online. Also help those poor women being tortured or abused at their homes.
Be a human. Be an Indian!
Some contents of this article are from the source-IANS
These supposedly socially relevant shows started as attempts to break away from the chestnut of kitchen politics and tackle themes like female infanticide, child marriage and discrimination. But soon they turned out to be half-hearted efforts, showing violence towards women rather than creating awareness against such atrocities.
Of late, these shows have been depicting scenes where a husband physically abuses his wife only because she stands up against him, or in another show, the husband slaps his wife hard for arguing with him. How these shows talk about women's empowerment then, many viewers ask.
Such depiction of subjugation is 'intolerable', according to noted actress and social activist Shabana Azmi…as I read @ the link of IANS. 'It is extremely important to have positive role models for women. And it's sad that on television, we usually don't see that, even when so many writers are women themselves. I do think that the only way we can counter the image of a girl is by making available as many positive images of empowered women as possible,' Shabana told IANS.
Alas, that is not happening - even though these shows are a staple for most Indian women.
STAR Plus has started 'Kaali - Ek Agnipariksha' to show how independent girls become soft targets for sexual harassment. So, while on one hand the channel claims to depict the improving social standing of women, on the other, it shows how men have an upper hand in sabotaging women's lives through 'Pratigya'.
'Pratigya' even depicted the protagonist being asked to drink water that had been used to wash her mother-in-law's feet and now something showing insane things like putting fire to oneself to get rid of daughter in law, causing disputes between son n daughter in law etc are now in trend in Indian television.
Acclaimed filmmaker Govind Nihalani, known for making socially relevant movies like 'Aakrosh' and 'Ardh Satya', said such themes should only provoke debate.
'Somewhere these issues have to be brought into the open so that people are aware of it.
Woman-centric serials became a rage after Ekta Kapoor's 'Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki' and 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'. Ekta claims TV content has helped a lot of Indian women in becoming assertive at home. 'Many people felt that television is 'corrupting' Indian women to stand up for their rights. Some people with very conservative mindsets thought that the women were being influenced and corrupted as we encouraged them to stand up for their rights. 'But recent research proves that many women from smaller towns and rural areas have also started taking charge of decision making and being an active participant in their family issues,' said Ekta.
But many today say with each new show, content has gone from bad to worse. This article is meant to all those human beings who are against such cruel acts. This is to raise voice against some soaps going popular day by day. Stop watching such serials and it will lead to less TRP of that particular serial else complain at consumercomplain website online. Also help those poor women being tortured or abused at their homes.
Be a human. Be an Indian!
Some contents of this article are from the source-IANS
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