With all due respect.
Just heard Amitabh's interview on NDTV. He has done India proud yet again. He is the recepient of the Legion d'Honneur. Not surprisingly Abhishek-Ash engagement topic was broached. "Ash is a simple girl, traditional." Well that is very good. Ash is domestic, Bachhan said. But why is it such a great thing to be domesticated ?
AB has very good command over English and so I am sure he used the word thinking it to be appropriate. But that being the case, the use of the word really irked me. Look up wikipedia and you will know why it is irritating to know that a girl like Aishwarya was able to win over AB because she is domestic.
1. The term is most appropriate for animals. Domestication is defined in wikipedia as " a phenomenon whereby a wild bioligical organism is habituated to survive in the company of, or by the labour of, human beings."
2. Google 'domestic' and a list of domestic animals will come up.
Now, as long as Aishwarya does not have reason to mind this, who am I . But I can at least express my grief that even for the most educated people in our country, women still remain second class citizens. Would Amitabh have said that both his son and Aishwarya are 'domesticated' and hence they will be running their household very well together? I guess not.
For decades and centuries, women were been kept within the private domain of the house. That being the 'private sphere' the world beyond that sphere was the 'public sphere' and that was the designated domain for men. The distinction between private and public sphere, not only restricted the physical mobility of women beyond the traditional boundaries of the house but also attached symbolism to women's roles as mother and home maker; roles that can be best performed within the 'private sphere' of the 'household.'
Even when women broke these boundaries and made way to the public sphere the symbolism remained attached to women. It is this symbolism, that gets reflected in AB's messege. Women are best at being mothers and wives and homemakers. Even if not consciously, this assumption about women has unconsciously influenced most men's perception about women. Sadly, these symbolic roles get perpetuated by countless women too.
Today, women like Aishwarya have proved their mettle to an international circle and yet in matters of marriage, which is nothing if not 'partnership,' the virtues for which they get valued is their 'domesticity', their 'docility' ....
The more we go forward, we realize we are just on the circumference of a circle and we will only return to where we started by moving forward. Is that not the case ?
5 comments:
Notun blog? Bhalo bhalo.
Ar topic for discussion o bhalo.
Kintu comment moderation enabled keno. Nije free speech e bishwashi othochho tomar readers der freedom debe na? Unfair. :)
Good that finally someone noticed!! This part of Mr Bachchan, in spite of being educated, has always intrigued me. I remember seeing one episode of KBC (hosted by Bachchan) where the faboulous Kajol came over on the "hot seat". And Bachchan complimented on her "good decision" (I'm quoting words here) on taking up the role of homemaker after her marriage, and the fact that she chose to sacrifice a career. Is that a thing to be cheered upon or lamented upon?
I could never think of Mr Bachchan in the same light after that.
And, I notice the same traditional, conservative thinking as far as approving Ash was concerned. Also explains why they are so high on the Pujas and astrological stuff.
Exactly my feelings dear. It reminded me of the time when we used to open up the Sunday newspapers matrimonial section and sniggers and bitch about all the parents who described their daughters as homely/domestic or wanted domesticated wives for their sons. Seriously garu gadha-ra domesticated hoi...meye der o je sei bhabhe mapa haoi jantam na tar aage.
I didn't notice this statement of Big B's. You've done well to bring it up in your blog. It's a pity that for someone like him, having a 'domesticated' celebrity daughter-in-law can be a selling point. Of course the wedding refreshed public memory about what marriage did to Jaya Bachchan's acting career. Since Aishwarya has secured the international limelight for herself in a way the Bachchans will never have, all that the media is interested in, is how she makes for a bahu. Perhaps we'll keep hearing more about how "homely" she is.
My 1st "blog article": the lazy dude I am, only because I know Dharitri and found the article to be of an interesting nature, I really bothered to write. Shall be terse and keep myself to two VERY important points:
1. Like most other north Indians and Bollywood people in particular, Amitabh Bachchan does not have a very good command over English. I refrain myself from using the word Indian because people like Satyajit Ray, Ruskin Bond and scores of others are Indians as well! As far as English goes, donning on a suave accent doesn't necessarily prove one's skills in the language - it is rather the structure of spoken English than the accent that needs to be examined. So chances are, that he didn't use the term "domestic" in the right context - he probably meant something else. The argument may be further bolstered by the fact that Mr Bachchan is actually a very diplomatic person and endeavors to be politically correct on most occasions. So, I'd be hard pressed to believe that someone as image conscious as Mr Bachchan has given out any statement to the effect that he has domesticated the Bollywood beauty. On second thoughts, whether Ash is beautiful or not is really a matter of debate!
2. Second point, and I'll be really BRIEF here: I don't think that much of importance should be attached to someone like Aishwariya (or whatever her name is!) and there is no good reason to regard her as a global achiever or something. That would actually undermine the greatness of women of substance like Madame Curie, Margaret Thacher or our very own Sarojini Naidu and Matangini Hazra and of course, the more recent Ms Kiran Bedi
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