I had a sobering thought
the other day, when I realized that everything I ever do will be accompanied by
an asterisk.
If I venture into politics, the headlines will read Indian American Female Vice President, and never just Vice President.
Maybe I'll become an actress, and be asked riveting questions like, "How did you get in shape for this role?" while my male costars are asked for in-depth character analyses and acting technique.
Or perhaps I’ll become a computer scientist
(yes, one of the 11% of them that are women), and spend my hours coding trying
to get career advance—
Wait. Sorry, silly me. Us women are shoo-ins for MIT. My bad.
And, in the event of an untimely demise, the obituary
will read Wife and Mother of Two Dies in a Car Crash. Funny how the men are always referred to by name first, titles second (must be a coincidence).
If I'm lucky, perhaps I'll be murdered and become a martyr, my dying words plastered on t-shirts and my face on murals. The hotshot critics will wonder how much money I stole from the store, trying to justify stealing lives by accusing me of stealing money.
Then again, I should be thankful; the people doing the shooting won't ever get a special shoutout in the local paper like me. For some strange reason, the media never seems to write about how shootings and murders must be done by someone. The way we're talking, a child reading the news might think that people are dropping dead of their own accord...
And I mean really, if we’re feeling sorry for anyone, we should feel sorry for my neighbors who were in danger as the bullets that killed me were fired... yeah, the DA should file a case against the police for that. Not my murder, though. Just the safety of my neighbors. And honestly, we should probably acquit the police for that one. These things happen.
It's ironic that the very people who claim to "tell it how it is" are the ones using coded language to sound neutral. I would argue that neutral language might not even exist, especially in situations like these, where a blanket of undertones accompany every word we speak. The word murderer sounds crude, harsh, hard to swallow. It's so much easier to say victim*. We all know what it means.
Hey Deepti! Your blog this week was really effective! At the beginning, you talk about women and how they are consistently asked questions about their bodies and etc, while male costars are asked deeper questions about their character. I believe this should definitely be talked about more. Women are constantly being sexualized and treated like objects in film, while men are treated with utmost respect? Where is the equality in that?
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I loved in your blog was the number of examples you used throughout. THe pictures of headlines and memes of Marvel actors really added to the depth og your analysis, and a nice visual persepctive!
Deepti!! I love all of the points you make in this blog! Your sarcasm is so apparent and powerful. The contrast between your words and the pictures makes this blog impactful. As many of the 'stories about you' are backed up with evidence, it is shown everywhere in the media with the difference in how men and women are treated. It also reminded me of something else I noticed in the news as men are announced with their last name, but women are announced with their first name. For example, it is always Obama and Michelle and rarely Barack and Obama.
ReplyDeleteI love the tone and sarcasm you have sprinkled throughout the piece. Especially with the headlines to further prove your point, its pretty interesting that this small detail went more unnoticed. George Floyd Killing instead of murder really does show how downplayed the whole tragedy was. Awesome blog though.
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