It is really interesting how the sight, sound or smell of something can trigger umpteen ideas in the mind. I spotted these intricately beautiful door handles somewhere in Bharatpur, Rajasthan and they struck a chain of fleeting thoughts.
As the initial charm wore off, it dawned upon me the way they stank of patriarchy. I would want to caption this photograph as – “Serving selflessly with folded hands”. But, we, women are honoured with the badge of hospitality. We are supposed to serve everyone, but hardly ever ourselves. Such are the demands of our glorious cultural heritage.
A few years ago, when I wasn’t really conscious of gendered realities, I would always wonder why women’s representation in artistic creations was servile, as opposed to men who were shown very differently. It is now that I can interpret to some extent the nuances of women’s status with respect to art and culture, that I understand more. Coming across nude paintings of the West often sends me into a conundrum whether they are trying to celebrate womanhood or to objectify the female form in line with what sociologists refer to as the “male gaze”.
Going by the alluring attire and adornments, a host of female figurines appear as ‘Devi’ (Goddess) but in reality, are often reduced to ‘Dasi (maid) when observed carefully. Whenever this ‘Devi-Dasi’ dilemma surfaces, Max Weber’s assertion of social reality as being vast, unorganised and dichotomous rings in my mind. In fact, this is true in social life where most women enjoy token respect and not the same social standing as their male counterparts.
Isn’t It High Time We View ‘Breadwinner’ As A Gender-Neutral Term?
In contemporary urban India, we find enough “housewives” but hardly any “househusbands”. Even when women are breaking all barriers to educate, empower and fend for themselves, many married women are expected to manage domestic chores as well. This is often the scenario when the man and the woman have an equal number of working hours or, perhaps, the woman has a more hectic schedule than her spouse. Even if domestic help is employed, the lady shoulders the responsibility to guide and instruct him/her. The personal is genuinely political as Kate Millet opines in ‘Sexual Politics’. It is high time we view “breadwinner” as a gender-neutral term, freeing it from its stereotypical correspondence with manhood.
Art is more often than not a mirror of society and its existing social currents. As a society on the path of progress, let us consciously try to destroy the brass ceiling, glass ceiling and all other hindrances that women face to come up in life. I genuinely feel that our blossoming minds and meritorious pursuits deserve far more attention than our transient physical “beauty” and sensuality. We need to debunk the false ideas of womanhood so that women are depicted in a different light in visual art forms and media.
Let’s try to liberate ourselves from the patriarchal baggage that most of us have grown up with. It’s never too late to take baby steps, is it?