Last two weeks have been pretty intense for me. I went for this program – screening of the film BEYOND BEATS and RHYMES and a panel discussion afterwards . Quite an experience. The film looked at a lot of aspects of hip hop music but I wanted to note down a few things that struck me the most about portrayal of women.
The movie had a few examples of how women are portrayed in hip hop albums, I have myself read a few songs which talk about bitches and sex with them in horrible details. When the women fans of hip hop music were asked (in the film) about this portrayal and how they feel about it they said something to the effect that ‘They aren’t talking about us so we don’t take it to heart’. But looking at the way the male fans were treating these women I realized that one cannot ignore insults like that because one perceives it as not touching you. The men did take the lyrics and portrayals seriously and they did think the women around them were bitches and were groping them and harassing them.
Another comment that caught my attention was men differentiating between bitches and sisters. Even in India the modern male makes a distinction between ‘female friends’ (good for non-traditional fun and intellectual pursuits) and ‘girls who are wife material’ (traditional girls, submissive). La Bruha, one of the panelists, in this context, also talked about treating women either like a goddess or like a doormat. This also was something that reminded me of India. Indians tell the world that their culture treats women respectfully like a goddess. All that reads well in the subhashitas (sanskrit verses) and is good to show off greatness of our culture but basically putting somebody on the pedestal is like putting them in a cage. One who puts you on a pedestal is ready to strip off the status at the smallest indiscretion. I liked what the poetess La Bruha said, I don’t want to be on the pedestal because that gives you the power to pull me down, so I named myself ‘the witch’.
I liked that attitude. I should think of finding a name for myself that portrays what I feel about me and start writing my blogs under that pen name.
devayani tirthali 
