Ally McBeal, beer, women and media

Wouldya believe it? Some marketing gurus (*cough*) would have us believe that Ally McBeal changed the way Indian women want things. Our Bharatiya Nari suddenly wanted cars, more money and damn – even a jet plane! So how did these guys arrive at such a conclusion? I really like the way the article pretends to be all about marketing (We use big words like financial independence in this article!), and somehow tries to make you believe that Ally McBeal is a pop-feminist icon that’s been lapped up by the Indian market. In the same breath it judges Indian women. What do you mean by an Indian Woman anyway? Someone who’s a geographical dot on the map?

The article then neatly divides the findings of the study into some useful bullet points. In fact it makes isms out of most of them. What I find really interesting is that something that could be seen as a positive trait in men, is made out to be an ism in women – like Careerism. In what is supposed to be a moral judgment against women who do not choose to be doctors and teachers, it insists that women take up any other profession because (Gulp!) “Now, it is about glamour, money, and fame”. And then it has a little gas about how because women are becoming more individualistic, they no longer buy the perfect role model story, and prefer role models as those who make mistakes. Someone tell them something about individualism. Or better still, hand them an Ayn Rand, would you?

Oh, and since when did Ally McBeal become Feminist anyway? And Phoebe of Friends is the furthest away from Ally McBeal (The article puts the two on the same level!)

The article portrays everything positive – like ambition, wanting to care for your parents in a negative light, because it challenges the traditional roles of women. It does this quick volte face (or maybe they’re just really bad writers!) in every bullet point. What I really don’t understand is the intent of the article – Does the writer want to tell us that we live in a more materialistic world (And in a delightful discovery – discovers that women are a part of this world!), Does the writer want to talk about a growing market, Is the writer making a point about American soaps and serials, Does the writer not like women earning money, Is the writer attempting to study the psyche of Indian women?? But my favourite bit of the article is this:

Fifty-one per cent of young single women in major metro areas say it’s necessary to have a big house and big car to be happy. In smaller cities, 86% agreed with this statement. “This shows that the less women have, the greater are their aspirations,” says Singhania.

One woman interviewed was making just $200 a year but said she wants to own a jet plane. “A typical comment in recent interviews was, ‘I want money, fame and success,’” says Singhania.

Singhania, are you forgetting that women have a sense of humour! I want a Yacht! You don’t see me killing myself (or somebody else) over that, do you? Why is it that a man wanting things is ambition, but a woman wanting these things is stepping over the red lines? People have a right to be conservative. But they cannot distort and disguise moral preaching as a Market Research study.

Oh, and this appeared in the good ol’ Slimes the other day. The article begins with a statistic indicating how many British women get assaulted after drinking. And then (in a miracle of the longitudinal kind) it jumps to what is happening in India. This particular piece of journalism (*aaarrghh*) claims that women who go out drinking are putting themselves in danger.

I don’t drink alcohol. But I don’t think a woman who is drinking is inviting trouble. Why blame the victim? The media is behaving like an Insurance Company – Blame the victim for the crime. Instead of of talking about sexual harassment, the article goes on and on about how women have started drinking more often, without care for what the world thinks about them. Well, if the article was on alcohol consumption – then fair enough. But the article is about harassment when under the influence of alcohol. So how come it says nothing about people who feel compelled to harass. Why is there nothing about making the staff in pubs more sensitive to creating more comfortable spaces for women? If this isn’t enough, they say something to the tune of more women taking to drugs. How is this related to the statistic of alcohol related crime? Do they realize that alcohol and drugs are two very different things?

I quote from the article-

In India, the number of women, especially in the urban milieu taking to alcohol and drugs, is increasing though reliable statistics are not available. But plenty of reasons are provided. Financial independence, a growing sense of equality, women in the workplace and changing social attitudes in the urban areas are cited amongst the most popular reasons.

Intent? Plenty of Reasons? Who provided?
Why are they so uncomfortable with women earning and wanting to be financially independent?