Winter Rant

I woke up this morning to a video by Vogue India about the notion of choices that women have or ought to have. This video starred many women, old and young, know and unknown. The video started off as a seemingly powerful message for women across India, and even the world (with great cinematography and narration), but quickly took a sharp turn towards … oh wait!

Now, before I begin to discuss the video itself, let me state categorically that the supposed message of this video remains valid — a woman should be afforded as many choices as possible, about her life and body. And let me add to that by stating that no one should make those choices for a woman, as it is her right to choose. Such choices and the right to choose, would give any person (leave alone a woman) great power.

So, frankly I agree with large parts of what the video has to say. Yes, I will defend and support the video’s message about having sex outside marriage. It is a choice after all, regardless of our opinions about such things; a choice that all women have; a choice that most women ignore; and a choice that many women exercise quite liberally — both with and without lying to their partners.

But what is troubling and confusing about this video lies, not in what it said, but in what it left out. So, lets take a quick look at what this video had to say: Choice and the right to choose is power. Yes, very good. But choices that empower you are often hard choices, if not downright impossible — just ask Hillary Clinton. Choices and power bring with it responsibility, and a failure to live up to those responsibilities renders you without both power and choices — just ask Sheila Dikshit. So a little perspective is useful. If you are going to talk about choices, is it not worth to at least touch upon the crippling weight of responsibility that comes with it? This is probably the most clear and apparent shortcoming of this production.

But the issues that this video brings up, surely do not size up to matters that strong women like Dikshit and Clinton have dealt with on a daily basis all their lives. Which brings me to the other major shortcoming of this message.

Most of what the video conveys is about women being the masters of their own lives and bodies; about how people around a woman do not really own her; about how decisions pertaining her body is hers to make. Yes, I support the video and its idea that a woman should be in-charge of her own life and body. And while the video does an excellent job of highlighting that, it fails to bring out larger issues around the empowerment of women. So, in the context of empowerment, the video is narrow-minded at best.

Why was there nothing said about education for girls and women? On that note, why was there nothing said about girls? It was strange to have an entire message about gender equality and no talk about the girl child. Girls have serious issues too, when it comes to being discriminated — or am i mistaken? Why was there nothing said about equal pay for women, for equal work? Why was there nothing said about equal work for women? Why was there no rhetoric about the choice between working as a combat soldier in the armed forces or being a house wife and raising kids? Or is such rhetoric too audacious, or too bold?

When you consider the subjects that this video has left out, which it very well could have taken up in the name of women empowerment, you are left bewildered. This video spoke a lot about choices. It spoke little about rights, and that renders the message weak, in the larger context of women empowerment. This easily could have been a demand for the most basic rights of education and equal pay that women have been clamouring for decades. This easily could have been a message that encouraged women towards getting on an equal footing as their male counterparts, in every walk of life. However, it comes across as a message to fight men on issues of late nights; or looks; or sex.

Let me put aside the issues related to syntax, grammar and scientific accuracy that plague this video. Just on the substance, my critique of this video suggests that it is not wrong. It is quite correct in matters that it does bring up. However, it fails to focus on issues that dictate real empowerment — literacy, education, equal work, equal pay, adequate health care, to mention a few. My issue is that at places, this video almost comes across as petty and childish, and that gives an excuse to those who want to deny or refute the movement towards real empowerment for women.

In the end, say what you will, it was a powerful message for women across India — to fight men. And maybe women should fight men. But, let us be honest, this video was not in the vicinity of truly empowering women.