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Sexist Tamil music is ruling the airwaves - Hiphop Tamizha is no exception even as it uses feminist poet Bharatiyar as an icon!
There were days when nothing was worth describing unless you compared it to a woman’s beauty. Whether it was the moon or a stream of crystal clear water poets had their own ways of comparing it to a beautiful women. And till today women remain inspiration for poetry and lyrics. Sadly, the recent trend where sexist lyrics seem to be “cool” and “happening” really disturbs me.
Irony. That is the first word that came to my mind when I saw this picture. A picture of Bharathiyar for a Hip Hop group doesn’t seem silly till you listen to the songs they write.For those of you who haven’t listened to Hip Hop Tamizha’s absurd song “Club Le Mabbu Le”, it is a form of moral policing. It is a narrow minded sexist video that talks about women and the pub culture. It is the kind of song that would make the rogues who molested women in Mangalore chuckle in delight. Due credit to their catchy music but I just wish the lead singer would shut up and let me enjoy the beats!
And they have a picture of Bharathiyar.
I feel obliged to tell them that Bharathiyar was a poet, a feminist and a man well ahead of his times. He was one of those men who dared to break gender stereotypes and tell the world that women and men were equal. He is a picture on a group that writes lyrics like “kaanji patta vittu putu kerchief katudunga”. (It means women leave the traditional clothes behind and are dressed immorally).
Have they forgotten that this was the man who told the world that “Karpunilai endru sollavandaar iru katchikum adhu podhuvil vaipom” (This means that if you want to talk about chastity it has to be for both the sexes!”)
Is he a mere publicity symbol? Is it yet another marketing strategy to prove that they are BRAND TAMIL?
It scares me to think that men today who are dressed in international brands and claim to be “modern” are in fact worse than our great grandfathers. If you still think you have the right to talk about “how a woman should behave”, well, grow up!
The song mentioned above is just an example of the lyrical travesty against women today. It started with the Kolaveri rage and it seems like anyone with a musical instrument and the capacity to string a few random words together has the privilege to insult women.“Whiteu-Skinu Girlu- Girl Heartu blacku” when sung by cheap scoundrels on the road amounts not only to eve-teasing but takes racism to a whole new level.
In the past few days thanks to a series of protests all of us clearly know what hurting religious sentiments can lead to. Even a small insult against a religion caste or country infuriates all of us so much. Why is it that people think that it is all in “good humor” to make fun of women in any way they please? Are we going to let this grow and wait until a group of mobsters come and molest women in order to “protect” our culture?
Violence is not only when someone picks up something and hits you. Hurting the sentiments of a section of the society with your words is also VIOLENCE!
When a person smokes/ drinks on screen or there is a visually violent sequence the censor board seems to take stringent measures. Yet music and words are the easiest way any message can reach the masses. How is hate speech any different when it is accompanied by background music?
I knew that this has to stop when I found a four year old child singing “Venam macha venam indha ponnunga kaadhalu” (I do not want the love of these girls!).
There is no point in trying to correct the bigger problems when our very roots are poisoned. What are we going to do about these trends that trample the very roots of gender equality?
Pic credit: Hiphop Tamizha’s Facebook page; image used for purposes of illustration
A marketing graduate from the Indian School Of Business, Nandhitha is passionate about writing. She loves to write about the world around her and also enjoys dabbling with fiction/poetry. read more...
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