How Piku's father uses sexual independence against her

Ask any independent, smart and cerebral woman about the cause of women's unenviable situation across the world and the most likely answer one is going to get is patriarchy and its "frills". Follow it up for a possible solution and pat comes the reply: feminism. The magic wand. Or the cuss word.

Not delving in the semantics or quoting theorists, let us focus on the performative aspect of feminism. To begin with, behold a septuagenarian feminist man proud of his wife and daughter, questioning the institution of marriage and lamenting the career opportunities missed by his younger brother's wife. Which woman wouldn't want to have a father or father-in-law like that? The answer is, his own daughter, Piku. Her father, Bhaskor Banerji, would have been an ideal man except that one flaw. Constipation is not it.

Insecurity

Piku's father is a selfish man. And feminism is his hobbyhorse, much like the bowel movements. Piku, the eponymous protagonist of the film, leaves indignant when her father shares with a potential suitor that she is financially and "sexually independent." The scene emphasises Bhaskor's need to keep Piku for himself. An ageing parent's insecurity manifesting itself in a socially awkward fashion. But is this also not an instance of slut-shaming?

Bhaskor perhaps realises that sexual independence is that one "flaw" which once disclosed would ward off any suitor and therefore any chance of losing his daughter.

What highlights the sexism in this now famous sequence is Bhaskor's attitude towards the much-married sister of his deceased wife. Sexual independence is acceptable to him till it keeps Piku's mind off marriage. He does not want her to become like "Chhabi mashi" and makes his displeasure at the latter's frequent visits quite evident. She is decidedly a bad influence.

Bhaskor's dismissal of his wife's sacrifices is also problematic. In his feminist largesse, he warns Piku against getting into a "marriage without purpose" like her mother. A fair advice from a concerned parent till we come to know towards the end of the film that it was because of Bhaskor's eccentricities that his wife had to put her own career at stake. Once in Kolkata, Bhaskor insists that everybody listens to his younger brother's wife, Piku's "kaki", even though he is disappointed with her.

What's more problematic here is that while he ensnares his wife and daughter, nobody else is allowed to do the same. What's worse, he uses the noose of feminism to do so. To come back to the real world, of which Piku - Motion Se Hi Emotion was a slice, there are many of us who believe in doing rather than being. Political parties and the government machinery are often accused of being misogynistic in their approach. Sometimes it's expedient to break that image.

Empowerment

That's when they "do" feminism. Making pro-women statements, appearing to care for the izzat of women, designating them as mothers and sisters, giving knee-jerk reactions to violence against women are all but symptoms of "doing" feminism. It looks good in annual reports and also seems to fetch votes.

The corporate world, which crowns itself for instilling a sense of empowerment in women, also believes in "doing" feminism. This is unfortunate since it has the ability to transform itself into an equal opportunity space and thus become feminist. Unequal wages, glass ceilings and denial of parenting leaves/benefits belie any cosmetic attempts at doing feminism. Symbolic elevation of a woman or two to top position for tom-tomming it as feminism becomes a noose around the necks of others whose struggles at the workplace get dazzled out by the celebratory fairy lights. It breeds sex wars.

Doing feminism for a hobby has become such a malaise that it is an arduous task to go back to the fundamental concepts of the movement: Foremost of them being the questioning of privilege. While questioning male privilege has become the done thing, little attention is paid to marginalisation owing to class, caste, race and linguistic bias. The fad of feminism, like any other, wanes in some time leaving behind not just the gross inequities it aimed to challenge but also a trail of emboldened naysayers. Hit-jobs, half-truths and agenda driven activism, all in the name of feminism, help bolstering the patriarchal reaction to it.

The fallout of "doing" feminism is it is self-defeating. It puts people off, it pushes the fence-sitters to the other side and sometimes it turns on its allies. The moment one begins to "do" feminism, its credibility falls a few rungs. A lot has been said about the female allies of patriarchy, the feminist allies need to be called out too.

Discrimination

In a world where gender relations are lopsided and women are at the receiving end of abuse and discrimination, each insincere or cunning appropriation of feminism causes damage. In an ideal world where equality prevails, there would be no need for feminism: Both the magic wand and the cuss word. Till then, let's embrace it in true spirit. One step at a time, with our subjectivities guiding us, we will reach there. No frauds, sociopolitical, economic or sexual, in the name of feminism please.

Pikus should not be deceived by Bhaskors.