Of KBC's heroines, Male Chauvinism and Basic Instincts!!!!

Last evening I was having a casual online chat with one of my acquaintances, when gradually the conversation grew serious and we began hitting back and forth at each other. She claimed that K Balachander is a male chauvinist because presents his heroines as inferior humans; to which I blatantly disagreed. Later she commented that portraying females as objects of poetic imagination is actually degrading women. And when I expressed that I prefer women to be symbols of pure poetry, she blamed me of being a hidden male chauvinist. Though I do not like to recall the whole futile and silly episode, I would love to share my expression on the topics we dwelt across: KBC’s heroines, Male Chauvinism and Basic Instincts. Hope this makes an enjoyable read for you, as much as an enjoyable writing it was to me.

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Considering the social taboos in the 70’s, KBC’s heroines are, by far, the most beautiful, progressive and complete female characters on Indian screen. They are first of all, real, and most of all, feminine. The reality aspect makes women identify with the characters and the feminine aspect makes the men idolize their beloveds with them. Even a gaudy prostitute’s role sounds believably pleasant in KBC’s films. Such presentation is attributed to the fact that KBC respects women, must they be from any strata of society! He wishes them to be loved in whatever situation they are in and however crude their attitude is. They are strong and independent, yet they are also, sensitively soft and divinely tender. And that makes them extremely lovable. There could be a touch of exaggerated femininity, which in today’s practical world is not so frequent, but when it serves the purpose of loving the characters in the film, it can be humbly pardoned. All’s fair in love, war and entertainment!!!! :) KBC’s heroines are inspirations even to modern day film-makers, like Shekhar Kammula. Imagine Kamilini Mukherjee’s characters without those deeply feminine traits.

Male chauvinism, as many would have known, is the undue acceptance by men, of male domination among the sexes in the society. When men feel that they are a superior race among humans, then those men are technically termed as ‘male chauvinists’. Exemplifying, these are men who feel that, women ‘need not’ be socially progressive. On an extremity, some men feel: women ‘should not’ be socially progressive. But, in today’s society, when most men are educated enough and have broadened their mindsets, the number of male-chauvinists has reduced to a great extent. Now days, I find most of the mature populations of men follow the following: if the woman is submissive, try to lift up her morale; if she is balanced, enjoy the synchronism; if she is dominating, just ignore her! In KBC’s films, male chauvinists were always was given a negative characterization. Try to recall, Rajinikanth’s egoistic character ogling with jealousy on his sister’s earning ability! He wasn’t given the hero status in that film. Anyway, my own perspective of male chauvinism largely depends on one’s Basic Instincts. Now what about that?

Before that, let me pass on to exaggerated femininity, which will route itself to basic instincts.
A simple situation: Hero complements the heroine.
Now the mostly loved and widely expected response from the male audience in the situation is: a blushing smile from the heroine. For many, the scene may seem exaggeratedly filmy and limitedly real. But, more than the realness, the scene looks beautiful. More than the physical beauty involved, it infers humbleness of the heroine’s character. And isn’t that worthy enough entertainment for the bucks remitted at the ticket window? KBC’s heroines have clock-full of exaggerated femininity. It shows in their gleaming eyes, their alluring smiles, their swaying body language and most of all, in the divine grace they displays on the screen. Now the success of such characters among the audience, esp. men, is the result of the fact that, for generations before and for generations in future, men would love women who look, sound and feel more feminine. Anyway, there could be men on the other side of the spectrum; but personally, I can identify with men only on this side, because I am one among them!!!!! Yes!!! I would prefer to look more at a woman with feminine characteristics than the one with tomboyish nature. And it’s strictly personal. And moreover, I feel it has got more to do with my Basic Instincts. Now, let me clarify to all those who are misled by Sharon Stone’s film. Basic Instincts have got more to do with the mind. In every man’s mind, there exists a Child’s Expectation. That is, in some contexts, grown-up men mostly respond or react to certain things like a little kid. And an example of a kid’s response/reaction is: my cousin’s son, who is 3 years old, did not like to see his aunty wearing tight-fitting jeans; because he has never seen his mother wearing jeans. Basic instincts get built from childhood. Some instincts bend with time and experience, and get sophisticated; but some aspects still remain childish. In our middle-class Indian society, most men have nurtured their instincts by seeing the previous generation, which was mostly male-dominated. So technically, even male-chauvinism is a Basic Instinct. So a little boy, who has seen his mother being submissive to his father, when grown up, unless he is exposed to the ill-effects of the imbalance, cannot expect his wife to be his equal; he would still expect her to explicitly serve him and be submissive to him. And men who are able to control their male-chauvinism are the ones who could apply their experience and maturity to control their basic instincts. Thereby it is 'the Thought' that pacifies the intensity of Basic Instincts. It is that very Thought which can sweep away all the childish instincts and make a man manlier and respect women as their equals in society.

On a final note, it is not wrong to expect women to be like KBC’s heroines, but care must be taken to control Basic Instincts and thereby, avoid Male Chauvinism!!!!

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