Misogynist- The why and What of them.

 We are all confined within our four walls since March, and looks like we will continue to be so for some more time. The vaccine for this virus is still awaited and we cannot for sure put a timeline to when exactly it is going to be available world wide. While the world is grappling with this new found normal and many of us Millennials are struggling (WFH isn't our cup of tea for sure), one form of relaxation is the Netflix, Hot star, Prime- online streaming platforms. But those too became a point of boredom, thanks to nothing new to watch. (God, we are thankful for the IPL and French Open now). Like many, I also ended up rerunning and watching shows from the past and the one to top the list was F.R.I.E.N.D.S

I will never get enough of this series. But what unfolded for me, who was looking for some break from the routine and some good laugh, is bewilderment. I ended up wondering how the hell did I enjoy this Misogynist series for so long?! Let's look at it. So Ross dates his Sister's best friend Rachel, they go out, they are on and off, even get married at Vegas and divorce, and all we did through and through was laugh. And When Ross's sister Monica starts dating Ross's best friend Chandler- there we have the entire circle of friends trying to keep it away from Ross and when he finds out he goes gaga. Of course he made up with that 'My sister and my best friend'. But why didn't that happen in the beginning? 

Monica is one character who fascinates and dreams about her wedding. And her friends Rachel and Phoebe join in when she picks a wedding dress for her brother's fiancée'. Of course we laughed when all three girls are in their wedding dress and sipping beer, crying over when they will have their day! So are we trying to say women are all about their wedding dress, wedding venue? True there were some parts of the series that put them as brave single mother or Surrogate mothers. But most part of the series, the women who come and go are all projected so Naïve' even for the ones with Joey who supposedly is the dumbest of them all!

Once I started seeing this, I could no longer enjoy the series like how I used to. And then I started thinking about it. Women being objectified in the field of Arts is nothing new but the question remains on why does this continue even now? 

Well, the simple and plain reason is the fact that Women are fine to be objectified. An artist is okay if she has to just play 2-3 scenes in a 3 hour long movie and what I don't understand is she is hardly paid anything either to do this cameo. Compare a hero making a cameo to that of a lead women artist. No guesses needed on who gets paid more either. The problem hence lies with Women themselves. There are not many who voice out and the ones who voice out are shunted down not just by Men but women themselves. If there has to be a change in this culture, it definitely starts from every women who decides not to be taken for granted and every Man who decides not to take women for granted. 

Our mythology has always had Women who are symbol of empowerment and somewhere down the line, the self doubts for women creeped in and it is us the women who decided to step back and let the Men overpower. 

Is there going to be a solution for this? Far fetched but the least we could do is decide to see our true value and most importantly teach the next generation what is more important- not deciding on Pinks or Blues but rather let them grow as Human beings. There are many schools and universities trying this out now- as an experimentation, not letting the child see a difference based on gender but work together as a team. This is a welcome change but again will remain a far fetched change unless this change starts with each one of us. Maybe time to start thinking so if not too late already?

Vive, 

Me Myself :)