Do As I Say Not As I free essay sample

Do As I Say, Not As I Do: The Struggle For Female Essay, Research Paper A continual subject throughout the 2nd subdivision of category this one-fourth has been the thought of gender and gender in antediluvian and modern India and the continued effort of the Indian adult female to derive the right to show herself as she chooses. Whether contending for abortion rights, the ability to show oneself sexually through pick or spouse, or even the ability to bask sexual familiarity with one # 8217 ; s hubby, the adult females of these texts symbolize the continual battle for freedom of female look. Looking to understand that we are sexual existences in nature, the work forces of India have discovered that by commanding female gender, they can, in consequence control females. While articles on female aborticide and sapphic civilization in India focal point on male efforts to devaluate adult females # 8217 ; s beliefs and thoughts, the commentary on the Hijras and the movie Fire service to expose the contradictions that exist between male and female sexual practi ces. The thought of a dual criterion for gender is displayed in the movie Fire, possibly more blatantly than any other beginning we have covered this one-fourth. The film focuses on the developing relationship of two ignored sisters-in-law in present twenty-four hours India. The two adult females find themselves confronting celibacy due to their hubbies who neglect them both emotionally and sexually, one due to his continual chase of # 8216 ; pureness # 8217 ; , the other due to his matter with a local aspiring actress. The sexual freedoms of work forces and adult females in the movie are shown to be immensely unbalanced. The work forces in the movie # 8217 ; s household group: two brothers and their gardener/caretaker show sexual freedom that despite its injury to others goes virtually unpunished. None of these three work forces take part in a # 8216 ; normal # 8217 ; heterosexual relationship as defined by the societal norms of the clip. One is exposing himself to the aged female p arent, one is holding an matter, and the 3rd is practising self-induced celibacy. Though each of these actions finally leads to some effect, none of the consequences could be considered highly rough, particularly in comparing to what happens to the adult females of the film. When it is eventually discovered that the household # 8217 ; s caretaker has been watching grownup films and masturbating in forepart of the hubbies # 8217 ; aged female parent he is berated non dismissed from his occupation. Although Radah # 8217 ; s hubby is neither rip offing on her nor publically exposing himself, she excessively must cover with the sexual repression of being forced to put by his side each dark while he # 8216 ; trials himself # 8217 ; to see if he can defy his sexual impulses. No reference is of all time made to him that by making this he excessively is sexually ruling his married woman, non by coercing but by denying familiarity. While it is known in the household that Sita # 8217 ; s hubby is holding an matter both before and during his matrimony to her, he is left free to move as he wishes so long as he stays married to Sita. Though the household frowns upon each of these behaviours it does so softly ; the work forces are given the freedom to move as they wish so long as they do non do a public spectacle of themselves. Conversely, the three adult females populating within this household show the deficiency of freedom to sexually show themselves until their rebellion at the terminal of the movie. Even Biji, the aged female parent of the adult females # 8217 ; hubbies is left to the will of those around her. Unable to talk she must defy her health professional # 8217 ; s exhibitionism in silence until her daughter-in-law by chance walks in on him. It is merely when the adult females turn to each other that they are given the chance to show themselves sexually. The adult females of this civilization are given no ability to command their ain gender ; every face t of their sexual being is founded in their hubbies. Even after the adult females begin their matter, they are still controlled by their hubbies: cognizing that they must conceal it in order to avoid the utmost effects. In analyzing the two books covered in this subdivision ; Sakhiani: Lesbian Desire in Ancient and Modern India and Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India we are able to see the many ways in which female homosexualism is seen as aberrant behaviour while the transgender and homosexual patterns of the Hijras are about celebrated. Although both civilizations claim to hold spiritual footing and about fabulous histories, it is merely the life style of the Hijras who have been assimilated into modern Indian civilization. In Sakhiyani, the writer sites the masculization of several female divinities as a symbol of the continual attempt by the males of Indian society to devaluate the spiritual icons that support her claims of a strong history of sapphic civilization in anci ent India. By denying the womens rightist and sapphic motions the ability to site such icons, the dominant male civilization is able to maintain what they feel is aberrant behaviours under wraps. In researching the modern twenty-four hours displacement of focal point from females as a sexual being to females as a generative being, the writer illustrates society # 8217 ; s try to devaluate the female sexual experience. # 8220 ; Fertility and libidinal desire are reduced to raw, unrefined, animal-like wild phenomena desperately necessitating male domination. # 8221 ; ( Sakhiyani, p. 37 ) This clearly paints a image of a gender that will whirl wildly out of control if non kept in line by a dominant male force. The Sakhiyani article illustrates the finding of the patriarchal society to maintain control over all facets of gender in India. If a adult female can hold a sexual being without male company, work forces lose the ability to order the footings of female gender. By coercing adu lt females to bind their gender to work forces and denying them the ability to be as a sexual being on their ain or with other adult females, the work forces are able to procure their places in society.In visible radiation of India # 8217 ; s supposed resistance to modern sexual aberrance, it is interesting to exam ine the Indian people’s general intervention of the Hijras’ civilization and life style. Although these work forces choose to populate outside the societal norm they are in many ways revered and celebrated. The Hijras have employed many of the same techniques as the womens rightist and sapphic motions to back up the cause, but have done so with far greater success. They site fabulous mentions and narratives as edifice support for their life style throughout the history of India. Nothing has been done to devaluate these narratives and icons, go forthing the Hijras free to establish their civilization on what they feel is historical justification. On the other manus, an perceiver can witness the witting effort to kill feminine divinities and myths that would back up a female power motion or sexual release. There seems to hold been a deliberate determination to let the Hijras the freedom to populate as they choose based on the thought that despite their aberrant behaviour, they are still work forces and hence entitled to do their ain life style picks. It could be argued that the Hijras are tolerated because of the cultural function they play in society. It is the function of the Hijras to entertain at nuptialss and the jubilation of the birth of a boy, conveying approvals upon the household through their supposed # 8216 ; charming # 8217 ; powers. The Hijras have been known to capitalise on this place by endangering to cuss a kid or matrimony if their demands for money are non met. It seems improbable that society would allow such power to a group purely because of their acting abilities and the freshness of their Acts of the Apostless. It is more likely that the male dominated society understands that this group # 8217 ; s lifestyle pick nowadayss small menace to their power construction. Despite the Hijras pick to populate their lives as female, they are still in world work forces taking to take part in sexual activities on their ain agreement. The thought of adult females being denied sexual rights or existence apart from ma le influence comes to a caput in the scrutiny of abortion patterns in the article # 8220 ; The impossibleness of # 8216 ; justness # 8217 ; : Female foeticide and feminist discourse on abortion # 8221 ; by Nivedita Menon. In this article, the writer explains that despite the supposed right of the Indian adult female to # 8216 ; take # 8217 ; in affairs of whether or non to convey a kid to term, the being of the societal force per unit area to restrict reproduction and the stressed importance on babe male childs counteracts the right to take by virtually coercing adult females to abort female foetuss. The sarcasm of India is that the combination of giving adult females the right to an abortion and the societal emphasis of bring forthing male kids has led to a close epidemic of female aborticide. The pick given to adult females has efficaciously succeeded in cut downing their value as worlds and perpetuated the thought that the production of male kids is a more valuable part to society than that of female kids. The feminist motion in India met with small if any opposition in their quest to legalise abortion, seen as a basic right necessary to the publicity of feminism. On the contrary, the Indian authorities has provided free clinics across the state for such intents ; rural small towns without running H2O find themselves equipped with the installations necessary for such processs. By besides supplying these small towns with the engineering to find foetal sex, the authorities has capitalized on the apprehension of the demand for boies in rural scenes. In support of the thought that the authorities may hold had subterranean motivations in supplying the adult females with pick in generative affairs, Menon sites that # 8221 ; the selective abortion of female fetuss seems to hold built into the population control policies of the Sixth and Seventh Plans. # 8221 ; ( Menon p. 377 ) Because the act of abortion has been taken advantage of by the authorities as a manner to command the female population, womens rightists in India have been faced with the inquiry of whether or non to oppose abortion as # 8220 ; population control policies that coerce adult females by control of their fertility. # 8221 ; ( Menon p. 386 ) Despite, or even possibly because of the campaign for generative rights in India, adult females find themselves once more being sexually controlled by the male focused society. The beginnings covered in this subdivision supply huge illustrations of the domination of adult females # 8217 ; s sexual rights in India. By denying sexual freedom to Indian adult females, the male-based society is able to maintain an effectual control on their desires and actions. The males of India seem to impart support to the thoughts of some ultra-feminists in that a adult female # 8217 ; s power remainders within her gender. If work forces can detect how to maintain a reign on a adult female # 8217 ; s sexual patterns, so they can efficacious ly maintain a reign on adult females by denying them the ability to take full productive lives without the aid of work forces. Each beginning supports the thought that work forces # 8217 ; s command over female gender lends to their ability to rule them. In the movie Fire we see Radha forced to symbolically go through through the pureness trial of the fire when a confrontation with her hubby over her relationship with Sita by chance lights the house on fire. In Sakhiani, we are shown the legion ways in which male society has attempted to discredit the strong female presence in Hindu mythology. Serena Nanda # 8217 ; s commentary on the lives of the Hijras serves to exemplify the freedom given to males to take their ain sexual patterns. Finally, the thought of male domination of adult females is brought to head Nivedita Medon # 8217 ; s article on female aborticide in modern India. Each state of affairs symbolizes how far adult females have to travel in their battle for personal fr eedom in Indian society. It is merely upon either the credence of female pick by the dominant male heiarchy or the feminine ability to get the better of male subjugation that will convey to illume a new epoch of adult female # 8217 ; s rights. The female power battle in India is far from over.