As Clamorworld continued with its survey trying to understand what women want to change, one primary topic that sprang up far too often was the way how women are projected in the endless soaps that constitute the core content of most general entertainment channels.

Almost inevitably you have the high drama high glycerine women centric serials where either the women is an oppressed ‘beti’ or ‘bahu’ clad in designer wears, bent double under tonnes of jewellery, make up and hairdo, walking around the home in stilettos and yet constantly under pressure to give their best as the ideal ‘daughter in law’, ‘wife’, ‘homemaker’! They say fiction is inspired by fact but is the reality exactly that? Aren’t these serials in many way demeaning the role played by modern Indian women both at home and outside? Or are we to conclude that yes our land’s full of conniving mothers-in-law and crooked sisters-in-law whose sole aim in life is to make the protagonists life hell!

Surprising that most of these serial which are said to command high TRPs are booed by most women of my generation. They feel it is an affront to their abilities, understanding and achievements. While the concept of a women being the uniting force at home is un-debatable but to show that she has no life of her own apart from running pillar to post to cater to the needs of the family members is absolutely unacceptable. In an era where Indian women are achieving many highs, from scaling the highest peaks to reaching outer-space, from managing home to successful entrepreneurs, it is no less than an insult for women to be always projected as individuals with no other purpose in life other than bearing children, getting dowry and being their family members’ favourite man Friday on the TV serials.

Am I to assume that creative writers hit a mental block and are unable to think beyond the designer barbies that they love putting up on serial after serial or is it a case of why break a formula that is already working well, why break something that ain’t broken. Noit just Indian television, internationally also instances of women being projected as a sex object in ads, serials is not uncommon and quite easily spotted globally!

Therefore this the primary need for change. Change the perception, change the long projected imagery, it is high time that we came to terms with reality and made an earnest effort to project the real situation instead of creating a make believe fairy world of redundant ideologies.

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