CHENNAI: Everyday misogyny and patriarchal notions are easy to spot in films today, and even in our lives. But when presented in words that culminate to a type of literature, how good are we at catching those subtle signs? Apart from the obvious alpha-male and submissive women characters, there are far more that don’t grand our attention.
Ahead of their panel discussion ‘What’s the story?’ on fiction and gender violence as part of Prajnya’s 16 day Campaign Against Gender Violence, City Express catches up with three of the panelists — Samyuktha PC, Archanaa Seker and Lavanya Gopinath.
Now, we all love a good Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet sort of romance, or take guilty pleasure in reading Mills and Boons. But do they always have to have a man who is strong and silent, while the woman is soft spoken, petite, and loving? For someone who cannot do without a book every morning with her cuppa, Lavanya prefers to not point out the evident patriarchy in it. “Sometimes, it’s just so apparent that you can’t help but notice it. There are these little signs too. But I feel it’s just so ingrained in all of us that if we were to examine it, it’s easier to brush it off,” says the head of a mobile technology group at Wealth India Financial Services.
Speaking on the topic of patriarchy in novels, Lavanya realised over the years that while things are changing for the better, but how can one separate patriarchy from culture now? “Patriarchy catches up, somewhere, somehow. Masked under ‘care’ or ‘concern’, the lines get blurred. You question yourself whether it’s patriarchal. And in most cases, it’s simple to give in,” she points out. Take in the case of something as benign as an office party. When the cake is cut, ever wondered why it’s always the women who cut the rest of the pieces elaborately and offer it?
“The ideas of safety, security, and familiarity go hand-in-hand with patriarchy. In a lot of romance novels, they finally take the narrative arc to a place where things reach a familiar or a safe place for a woman. It basically culminates into a fruitful relationship, which is largely defined by patriarchy and we all fall in line with this setting. After noticing this path, I wondered why it’s more prevalent and who set this path? It took me back to the origins where it has always been this way,” she explains.
Along the same lines, the two other panelists — Archanaa the columnist of ‘Gentangle’ at City Express and play director Samyuktha — will be speaking on female protagonists portrayed with male traits and violence in literature. “I grew up reading Amar Chitra Katha, where most of the female characters were regal and respectable women or goddesses and princesses. Then I moved on to Nancy Drew where I noticed that you can be a different girl but your femininity is essential. Nothing was radical there because ultimately, all books emphasised on the woman’s femininity even though they could achieve stellar feats,” says Archanaa.
To Samyuktha, reading had been a habit she couldn’t forgo, grabbing whatever books that came her way. “Every book I picked became my Bible and it was like ‘WOW! you just changed my life!’ types. I was very young when I read The Colour Purple and have been reading books without any kind of censorship since a young age. And if you look at it closely, the most violent of books are not your obvious Game of Thrones or The 120 Days of Sodom, but are the ones that cater to kids or young adult fiction,” she points out.
“A story by Roald Dahl, for instance. He had a way of writing violence that didn’t look like violence. A large section of literature in terms of violence goes against the culture of good against bad. There’s no other story you are trying to tell there. Bearing that in mind, there is no way you can divert violence and write a story that is non-violent. You can see violence in Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew or even Sylvia Plath! It’s not the obvious physical part but other aspects too,” she explains, adding that she would be drawing experiences from her own point of view as a reader while speaking on violence.
To witness a fiery discussion between them, head to Crosswords, Alwarpet at 5 pm today