Saturday, July 18, 2009

Contrasted fate of the Girl Child on TV - which would you choose?

Looking into the portrayal of women in television in recent times led me into considering two daily soaps – 1) Mitwa – Phool Kamal Ke and 2) Sabki Laadli Bebo. The two soaps have a contrasted approach to the girl child.

Mitwa – Phool Kamal Ke depicts the story of a family in UP, where rigid caste system and traditions are practiced – and humanity is secondary. The story is of Sargam who gets married to one of the sons of the Choudhry family. The family abhors a girl child and all women in the household have to undergo a prenatal sex detection test to ensure that only male children are born and all female foetuses are aborted, irrespective of the feelings of the mother. Sargam finds out during the sex determination test of her foetus that she is carrying a female child. She lies to the family members about the sex of her unborn child and decides to keep the girl child.



Sabki Laadli Bebo on the other hand tells the story of a family that craves for a daughter, and finally gets a girl child after three sons. Everyone calls her Bebo, and being the only girl child in the family, she is heavily pampered and protected by her parents and three brothers. Her family tries finding her a suitable groom when she comes of marriageable age, but can’t find anyone who would love her as much as she is loved in the family.
Both are social realities - but it is up to you to choose which one you would have. Be humane - stop female foeticide. Log on to log on to http://www.laadli.org/ or sms LAADLI to 575758 to pledge your support.

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