If anyone knows how to market a show or a film, it’s Aamir Khan. Which is why he realised that a programme on how to treat women with respect in India, would find little viewership in India. So he decided to market the finale show of this season’s Satyamev Jayate with a promo which featured him speaking to Bollywood actresses – Deepika Padukone, Kangana Ranaut and Parineeti Chopra – about what they find appealing in a man. In case you’re wondering, Deepika simply wants “someone to love her”. I was perturbed. Was the finale actually going to deal with the hitherto underreported national crisis of marrying off leading ladies in Bollywood?
Thankfully, it turns out there was actually more to the episode than meets the eye. Yesterday’s episode was on mardaangi or masculinity and how men are more violent and aggressive than women – and how no good can come of it. I think this is a topic worth taking up. You walk down most Indian streets and the men seem to be bursting with testosterone. You’ll get catcalls, they’ll sidle up to you, look at you suggestively, follow you, rub up against you if possible in a crowded train or bus. I’ve heard of men across classes beating up their wives and girlfriends and even their mothers and sisters. And that shouting, screaming, smacking women around is a sign of mardaangi.
But it’s not just directed at women. To illustrate his point, Aamir interviewed Mahendra and Aradhana Singh whose son was killed in an act of road rage and Triveni Sahai Gangwar whose son died after being ragged in college. Aamir explained these deaths happened because men think they need to exercise power and control over others. And that aggression can be directed not just at women, but other men as well. The question is why do Indian men think they are strutting around in Neanderthal times?
If anyone knows how to market a show or a film, it’s Aamir Khan. Which is why he realised that a programme on how to treat women with respect in India, would find little viewership in India. So he decided to market the finale show of this season’s Satyamev Jayate with a promo which featured him speaking to Bollywood actresses – Deepika Padukone, Kangana Ranaut and Parineeti Chopra – about what they find appealing in a man. In case you’re wondering, Deepika simply wants “someone to love her”. I was perturbed. Was the finale actually going to deal with the hitherto underreported national crisis of marrying off leading ladies in Bollywood?
Thankfully, it turns out there was actually more to the episode than meets the eye. Yesterday’s episode was on mardaangi or masculinity and how men are more violent and aggressive than women – and how no good can come of it. I think this is a topic worth taking up. You walk down most Indian streets and the men seem to be bursting with testosterone. You’ll get catcalls, they’ll sidle up to you, look at you suggestively, follow you, rub up against you if possible in a crowded train or bus. I’ve heard of men across classes beating up their wives and girlfriends and even their mothers and sisters. And that shouting, screaming, smacking women around is a sign of mardaangi.
But it’s not just directed at women. To illustrate his point, Aamir interviewed Mahendra and Aradhana Singh whose son was killed in an act of road rage and Triveni Sahai Gangwar whose son died after being ragged in college. Aamir explained these deaths happened because men think they need to exercise power and control over others. And that aggression can be directed not just at women, but other men as well. The question is why do Indian men think they are strutting around in Neanderthal times?
