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This is in response to an article written by Ranjan Yumnam, 'No Sex Please , We are Manipuris'. Here I am particularly concern about the issues of gender, censorship and emulation of other cultures reflected not only in Manipuri cinema but in its very society.
Yes! Manipuri society is conservative but we need to question what kind of a conservatism it is.
It is a kind of a conservatism where women are not allowed to drink but their husbands can come home drunk and commit marital rape, women are not allowed to reveal too much cleavages but can go to any gloomy restaurant and shed clothes, women are not allowed to go out late in the night but they must elope if they are not sent back by as early as seven thirty in the evening. As far as laughing not loud or not eating prior to their husbands' meal is concerned I can only say that these are the extreme violation women's inner selves.
Every desire that springs from a woman's heart is crushed in its very bud. In the colonial era it was 'white man's burden' to civilise, rationalise and modernise the people in the colonies. Similarly it has now become 'all men's burden' to civilise, censor or chastise the women of the world. The baggage of dignity, prestige and every virtue is thrown on the back of women.
Men seem to have no share in carrying this burden. Women cannot falter their steps in carrying the burden otherwise they will be ostracised. It seems that it is the universal duty of men to make sure that their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters carry these burdens well. Why all the parameters of the virtues available on this earth are applicable only to women?
In this big globe you would not find any yardstick to judge the morality and chastity of any man. By the way I am strictly against judging anyone's morality because it belongs to someone's private domain which is supposed to be inaccessible to anyone. Unfortunately the distinction between the public and private domain has been increasingly blurred because of the political and societal decay Manipur is facing at the moment.
As far as censorship of any kind is concerned, it should be well remembered that censorship is a phenomenon of totalitarian societies like those of Hitler and Mussolini. The world has grown out of their brutal inhuman and repressive regime.
We need to transcend beyond any kind of repression on freedom of expression and listen to what one has to say in any matter. A healthy, debatable and plural society is the need of the hour. Paternalism is for those who are not grown up enough to judge for themselves.
I feel our Manipuri Citizens are well aware, educated and broad minded enough to judge for themselves. If one has to propose any kind of censorship it should be self censorship .It should be what Ishiah Berlin called the positive liberty, a liberty excercised in the light of understanding, self awareness by taking control of one's life and realizing one's fundamental purposes.
As far as emulation of Hindi, English or Korean movies is concerned I think emulation of any kind dilutes one's culture, art as well as society. The best is home grown products without any unnecessary influences which can erode our culture. The product may not be glamorous or grand but it is something that we can genuinely call ours.
I still remember watching "Matamgi Manipur" and "Myopigi Macha". The simplicity and authenticity is the trait those movies undeniably possess. In art, literature, cinema or culture what counts is authenticity and originality. Emulation should be the last thing a real artist can think of doing.
One should not forget that a society and its systems if left unquestioned, unexamined and uncritical become barren and stagnant. If we want a vibrant, thriving and progressive society we need debates, discussions, tolerance and healthy competition of all ideas however revolutionary they may be.
These are the ways to build what Robert Putnam called 'social capital' that is mutual trust and collaboration among the citizens .We should take care that in the pursuit of these courses women's and other subjugated classes' voices are not lost in the din created by 'menfolk'. Consensus should be the strategy and it should have the last say in any matter.
''You have nothing to lose but your chains''
Women of the world unite!
For all practical purposes this unity is not against any man .The unity is against those structures and ideologies which constraints the freedom of women or perhaps even men's at times. Those ideologies need not necessarily be embedded exclusively in the minds of men but they can reside in the minds of women or even in the minds of our unacknowledged third gender the eunuchs. The fight is against the fear of insecurity, the fear of being ostracised, the fear created by this very society neither with which we can live nor without which we can survive.
We want an oxegenated society where the air is composed of awareness, understanding and respect for each other regardless of sex, gender or class. It is the moral obligation of every citizens to practice atleast if not propagate the ideals of equality, awareness and concern of any social issues.
As much as charity begins at home I feel gender emancipation also begins at home.
* Shreema Ningombam contributes to e-pao.net for the first time.
The writer is currently doing M.Phil in Political Science at the University of Delhi
and can be contacted at shreema_n(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)in .
This article was webcasted on October 06th, 2007
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