No Country for Women and Pink Saris - Essay Example

Indian Film Festival I attended a campus event dubbed Indian Film Festival. Indian snacks were served 15 minutesbefore the start of the films. A panel of discussion followed after watching the film. I watched two films, “No Country for Women” and “Pink Saris”, on Tuesday, November 4, 4:00-6:30 p.m. Pulkit Datta conducted the opening presentation. The first film, “No Country for Women” (2012) is about sexual violence in India. The directors of the film were Keith Gomes, Ashwin Shetty, and Sajid Ali.

The film is arguably a national campaign that aims to change the perception of men and society as a whole toward women. It also highlights the rising cases of rape and other brutal acts meted on women across the country. In addition, the film seeks to address the numerous historical challenges that Indian women have endured. For instance, the past regimes discriminated women in the political appointments and state jobs. The film agitates women to demand better representation in organizations and government.

“No Country for Women” constrains copious stories within it, which underscore the past injustices, as well as forms of discrimination meted on Indian women. Although the caste system in Indian underlined in “No Country for Women” impacts both genders, women are often subject to more intense ridicule compared to men. Furthermore, the film shows the gender-based discrimination particularly targeted toward empowered and well-educated women. Despite many of the women acquiring good education through formal, institutionalized system of learning, a typical Indian woman is still subject to discrimination in the workplace and the organization in general.

Apparently, most organizations are structured such that power and authority revolves around men. Besides, Indian men have more cultural rights to social freedom, mobility, and autonomy outside the home compared to women. The film has effectively demonstrated how domestic responsibilities, as well as the socially and culturally specified roles, deter women from fully participating in various matters at organizational and national level. The second film, “Pink saris”, is fairly long and primarily about the Gulabi Gang.

A gang is a group of women standing championing for their rights and that of other women in a feudal part of India. The film is set in Uttar Pradesh, one of the poorest and most federal areas of India. The area has a long history of patriarchy, abuse, and corruption. The Gulabi Gang, an outspoken and aggressive group of women, is fighting the system. Directed by Kim Longinotto, “Pink Saris” focuses on the women gang and their families. Apparently, women in this part of India do not have rights to equality.

A typical case in point is the story of a man (in the film) who has been together with a girl for at least two years, but ditched her after she becomes pregnant. The girl, evidently disconsolate and heartbroken, wants to die. Sampat Pal, the protagonist, was married into a family while still a young girl. The family made her work strenuously hard and often beat her. In the end, she successfully manages to fight back, leaving her in-laws and ultimately becoming a champion and defender for beleaguered women across Uttar Pradesh.

Rekha, a fourteen-year-old girl, is three months old and homeless. The father to her unborn child has refused to marry her because she belongs to a low caste. In summary, “Pink Saris” shows how unusual political activists in a country that is socially, culturally and politically male-dominated can transform the people’s attitude toward women through extraordinary activities.Works Cited“No Country for Women”. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt1Rhd_sRhg“Pink Saris”. 2011.

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJjdbfVii-Q