LIFESTYLE
A dialogue on gender finds expression through poetry, song, theatre and art at an experiential event in the city
A play that presents poetry, rap, music, comedy and storytelling with the core theme being gender is set to be staged in the city.
So I wear my jeans long and wear my tops high Don’t show my cleavage or a hint of my thighs Don’t want to be mistaken for wanting it Cause if I wear less, I am more than just flaunting it, I’m risking it Risking not my virginity but my life My hymen seems to be sacred, told to keep it till I am a wife If not, I am a whore, a slut, a skank and more Not as pure as I was before.”
The above lines are taken from Aranya Johar’s spoken word poem, titled A Brown Girl’s Guide to Gender, which went viral a few months ago. Since then, the poem has been widely shared online and has clocked 8,92,640 views, as it candidly documents male privilege, misogyny, rape and cat-calling, among other issues that are still prevalent in our society.
The 18-year-old is set to perform this week at an event titled Me & The Other at Harkat Studios, where along with Johar, artistes from across various fields of entertainment will present a never seen before discourse on gender.
While much has been written about sexism, feminism and gender issues, Me & The Other curated by film-maker Karan Talwar aims to present poetry, rap, music, comedy and storytelling with the core theme being gender. “The conversation will be hitting some pretty heavy notes and also light ones, but the effort is to reclaim this conversation out of virtual living rooms on Facebook and bring it in a room full of real people. It’s an effort to have difficult conversations through an easy format, hopefully easing us into subjects we rarely dare to tread. Let’s open some doors in our minds; let’s become a little more free; let’s talk,” says Talwar.
BREAKING STEREOTYPES
Johar will also be performing one of her recent poems Bleed Without Violence that she had penned for World Menstruation Day (May 28). “I have only performed this poem once before, that too before a corporate audience. Hence, I am excited to see how the general audience will react to it. People often confuse gender and sex. A lot of people are from different sexes but belong to the same gender. We need to accept each other and individuals,” says Johar, who believes that gender isn’t adequately represented in media, adding, “When people see a movie such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), they don’t accept a tomboyish Kajol. She has to become feminine to be accepted. Such gender stereotypes still exist in our culture. It’s high time we break out of these notions.”
Talwar, however, feels, “gender is represented in the media, at least online to a degree where it is becoming watered down”. Through the bouquet of performances, Talwar wants to approach the topic with a different perspective. “We desensitised to talk around gender, and it’s become the cool thing to talk about. What’s needed is to reapproach the conversation, and keep doing it over and over again, because every approach will become populist at some point. It needs to be personal,” he says.
ADRESSING GENDER ISSUES
Among the highlights includes a talk by writer-director Annie Zaidi on the lives and struggles of women as reflected in literature centered around her documentary film, In her Words: The journey Of Indian Women.
Tamil rapper Ashraf, who gained viral fame due to her song ‘Kodaikanal’, will be performing a few new tracks. “I will be performing a song ‘Sadda haq’ (female version), which was released in January and is based on the Bangalore molestation issue. The police and the government came out saying that women were at fault for being out late at night. There was an all-India march and I performed this song there. I will also be performing a song called ‘Embroidery b****’, which is on women. There is another song ‘Private property’, which is about how women are never told to dream about being CEOs, but instead just asked to think about marriage.”
Ashraf hopes that through shows like these, gender discrimination won’t exist in the future. “I hope there won’t be any labels or talks around gender in the future. There won’t be a female or male director but just directors.”
The event will also feature spoken word artiste group Sexonomics, which includes Ramya Pandyan, Ishmeet Nagpal and Sudeep Pagedar, theatre maker and actor Priyanka Charan, educator and performer Lopa Shah, stand-up comedian and writer Shashank Mehta and film-maker Devashish Makhija. Makhija has written and directed multiple award-winning short films such as Taandav, El’ayichi, Agli Baar, Rahim Murge Pe Mat Ro and Absent, along with a full length feature film, Ajji. He is working on another full-length movie, Bhonsle.
“As a cultural niche space in this city, we feel it’s important to bring “niche” topics into the spotlight. We hope that this evening will be so entertaining, fun and serious that people keep speaking and discussing what gender means for us in the 21st century,” concludes Talwar.
The conversation will be hitting some pretty heavy notes and also light ones, but the entire effort is to reclaim this conversation out of virtual living rooms on Facebook and bring it in a room full of real people. KARAN TALWAR, FILM-MAKER I hope there won’t be any labels or talks around gender in the future. There won’t be a female or male director but just directors. SOFIA ASHRAF, RAPPER