Suppression of Women Folk with Reference to Exotica Movie and Feminism Perspective - Essay Example

SUPPRESSION OF WOMEN FOLK WITH REFERENCE TO EXOTICA MOVIE AND FEMINISM PERSPECITVE Produced, directed and presented by famous and director Mr. Atom Egoyan in 1994, the famous Canadian movie, under the title Exotica, has presented the female characters in the same stereotype role as women characters have been being presented for the last many decades as either the sex symbols or the supportive characters of protagonist male characters in art, drama, film, novel and every form of literature, amusement and recreational activities. It is therefore, the feminist writers and activists declare such types of objects as strictly against their ego, status and prestige on the one hand, and biased and prejudiced behavior against their gender on the other. All the feminist authors and activists are of the view that such type of films showing women mere in supporting roles, as well as exhibiting their body parts as sign of men’s entertainment, are not only humiliating, but also prove the women folk as the lesser creatures or worthless stratum of society, which contain inferior status than men. Before embarking upon the above-described film in details, it would be appropriate to define feminist perspective: Feminist Perspective: Social groups have not only been divided into different classes in respect of socio-economic status and different occupations and professions, but also distribution of the individuals of a society is based on age, ethnicity, race, region, religion and gender too. Social inequalities are found in all fields of life and in all the institutions and organizations existing in a society. In this pretext the Feminist perspective theory came into existence. The idea of division of labor on the basis of gender gave birth to feminism. It was a strong voice against the inequalities between men and women in respect of social status, division of power as well as work and gender discrimination. “Feminism is”, Macionis submits, “the advocacy of social equality for women and men, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism. The first wave of feminism in the United States-began in the 1840s as women opposed to slavery drew parallels between the suppression of African Americans and the oppression of women.” (2007:353) The theory aimed at seeking equal status for women in every field of human life, where no one could treat them as inferior community on the basis of gender discrimination. The theorists who brought the significance of women’s participation in the social construction programs to the limelight were declared as rebels in the beginning, and then liberals and Marxists subsequently. With the passage of time, these theorists got the title of Feminists. The feminists perspective also resembles with Marxism as both these schools of thoughts were founded as reaction to social injustice as well as against the inequality and domination of some dominant and exploiting strata existing in the society. Eminent feminist writer of contemporary times, Dorothy Allison (2005), who raised a strong voice against suppression of women, child molestation and violence against the poor stratum of society, has very courageously submitted the sensitive case before the world and brought to the limelight how the women community especially the girls from the lower classes and minority groups of society, experience improper environment due to manhandling, maltreatment and unjust behavior of their family members, teachers, neighbors and other community members since their childhood because of the dominating lust of males over female folk. Though the feminist perspective and movement for feminist liberty and equality got popularity during the second half of twentieth century, the struggle to win equal status for women had started by the end of eighteenth century. Nineteenth century witnessed imperative development in this regard. Before and during the nineteenth century, women were inflicted with prejudiced behavior from male gender, and they experienced strict restrictions and cruelties at the hands of men. Women artists, writers, novelists and poets were discouraged while producing their works even. It is therefore the renowned artists, writers and novelists including Bronte sisters, Mary Evans Ann and others had to write and get their works published in fake names to hide and conceal their feminine identity. Though Victorian literature contained the works of female writers, but the atmosphere was not appreciable at all. The share of women community in social construction was not acknowledged, although they worked in fields, hospitals, teaching institutions and other professions. Still the male domination was oppressive and tyrannical. At first, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) in 19th century and Emma Goldman in the beginning of 20th century raised their voice in the United States for the women rights. Other feminist theorists including Patricia Hill Collins and others launched campaign for their rights in the later half of 20th century and demanded that women too should have been the same rights as had been delegated to men. “Historically, radical feminism started with the assumption that the sexes are adversarially poised, that men have power over women, and that society and its various social relationships can be best understood in terms of their relationship to that situation.” (Eisenstein 1983). Renowned feminist activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton in her remarkable “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolution” has also submitted the very fact that since Nature has created women quite equal to men and bestowed upon women all the faculties attributed to men, so why should they remain unable to enjoy their position in society on the basis of equality, rather being suppressed and looked down upon by the dominating male stratum. Stanton looks for the equivalent rights for women in respect of leading their life according to their own free will. Any law that restricts them regarding their liberty as well as pursuance of happiness must be demolished and deleted without any delays. She sought happiness of women out of their own choice whether the methods of seeking happiness were great or mean. All laws, she views, which prevent woman from occupying such a station in society as her conscience shall dictate, or which place her in a position inferior to that of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and therefore of no force or authority. (1848: 2) Hence, the feminists are of the opinion that if any section of society including the individuals at the helm of the government even, attempts to challenge any just and true rights related to a particular group or community of society, it is the obligation of every member of society to strive for the elimination of such banishments. Methodology in Feminism Shulamit Reinharz, Feminist theorist, in her well-known Feminist Methods in Social Research presents the feminist methodology. (Quoted in the Project 5 of Scheurich). According to which Feminist Perspective has the following objectives: Bringing a positive social change in the society based on the principles of equality and justice Representing human diversity in a refined and systematic way To reveal the fact that Feminism is a perspective like structural functionalism, symbolic interactionalism and Conflict Theory; it is neither a research method, nor liberalism or revolt. The researcher is included in Feminist research perspective as individual and a member of a society. Marxist-feminists characterize women as alienated especially in capitalism, though radical feminists regard alienation exists in all economic system existing in the contemporary world. Women at different parts of the world, whether developing or developed, contain a rich and long-term history of struggle against male domination and exploitation. They have strived in an organized way, on their own behalf against exploitation and diminishing circumstances. This history, according to Chowdhury, has been repressed because it is threatening to the state and the power-structure that benefits from women’s oppressed conditions. The history of women’s resistance is complex and rich in the diversity of ways that women have fought back in their specific cultural location and most effective methods for the situation. The richest, most varied, and most typical arena of women’s political engagement is found in the politics of everyday life. The site of this activism is the terrain between the state and family that is usually ignored in conventional investigations of politics. “Viewed globally”, she submits, “the diversity of civic activities is staggering, even though countries vary dramatically in the form and extensiveness of civic life and the places of women in it.” (1994: 18). The feminist theorists take this conflict between the two genders. They declare male population as tyrant and oppressor, which is always ready to suppress and exploit the interests of female stratum of society. Woods (2001) has described feminism as similar to the Marxist perspective as both these perspectives strive against injustice and inequality. “For Marxists”, he submits, “the root cause of all forms of oppression consists in the division of society into classes. For many feminists, on the other hand, the oppression of women is rooted in the nature of men. It is not a social but a biological phenomenon. This is an entirely static, unscientific and undialectical conception of the human race. It is an unhistorical vision of the human condition, from which profoundly pessimistic conclusions must flow. For if we accept that there is something inherent in men, which causes them to oppress women, it is difficult to see how the present situation will ever be remedied. The conclusion must be that the oppression of women by men has always existed and therefore, presumably, will always exist.” (Quoted in http://www.newyouth.com/archives/theory/women/marxism_v_feminism) Feminist writers and activists have strongly protested against the secondary roles assigned to women in both real life and films behind the camera. They recommend the overthrow of a form of political, social and recreational system involved in any type of conspiracy to obliterate women rights on the one hand, and to push them in secondary and trivial character on the other. The feminist authors suggest the removal of such social atmosphere and cultural environment even by force in the name of liberty and equality. In the film Exotica, the whole story revolves round the rivalry between male characters, who try to subjugate one another during the battle of nerves. And the women characters support male characters mere in their everyday activities by entertaining them in one way or the other. They are actually deprived of playing the central or decisive part during the whole movie. Hence women have been disadvantaged from participating in art and literature in an elegant way, which serve as an unfair pronouncement taken by the dominating male stratum out of envy and jealousy against the female gender. The same can be witnessed in Egoyan’s Exotica. In the film Exotica, it appears fairly accurate that Christina’s character is undoubtedly superficial one in comparison with both main and minor male characters. The whole story revolves round four male characters including Francis, Eric, Zoe and Thomas. Though, the central figure of the central place of the strip club of Toronto, Christina plays mere the role of a platform for the protagonist Francis, who regularly pays visits of the club in order to watch Christina’s dance performance almost daily. The theme presents Christina as the dancing girl, who happily offers her nudity to the audience belonging to upper class. Hence, the female character is just the source of dissipation and debauchery, which is attached with a profession that seeks to quench the lust of male population in the prevailing culture. Thus, the director has tried to reveal the very fact that the societies have been developed for the promotion, activities and amusement of men, where women exist in different forms just to please men even by offering their nudity and physical charms. The story of the film has been concentrated upon the rivalry between Francis and Eric. Francis is the government auditor, who contains a filthy mind and lustful heart, and appears as deeply interested in the exotica dance performance of the striptease dancer of the Exotica club i.e. Christina. The fast growing friendship between the regular customer of the Toronto night club i.e. Francis and the vital dancer Christina creates feelings of envy and jealousy in the heart of Christina’s ex-boyfriend Eric, who has been serving as the disk jockey at the same Exotica night club. Eric is searching out a strong and powerful excuse in order to kick Francis out of the club, where his ex-girlfriend is paying all heed to Francis only. Eric submits his complaint to the club owner Mr. Zoe regarding Francis’s sabotaging the rules of the club. Francis has tried to touch Christina while dancing, which is strictly against the rules of the Exotica dance club, as no one could touch the dancer during her performance. Francis, on the other hand, exploits Thomas and gets him involved into the dispute between himself and Eric. Here, it becomes very clear that the story of the film encompasses the male characters and the rivalry among them, while the girl only provides an opportunity to both these male characters to increase enmity between them on the one hand, and humiliate one another on the other. It simply means that the female character presents a trivial, worthless and shabby role, as has been presented in most of the Hollywood, Indian and other movies, theatres and films of the globe at large. The obvious motives of the film appear to defeat the rival characters in a systematic way. Women have always been the object of suppression and torture both in films, and real life. These tortures are not limited to the physical tortures only, which is exercised within the four walls of home. In the same way, they are divorced and kicked out of their homes whenever man is fed up with his wife or girlfriend. Similarly, all the lucrative jobs and employment opportunities have been specified with men, and women are not allowed to display their worth in different professions and fields of life including occupational, sports and recreational activities. The Black novelist Margaret Drabble’s The Ice Age (1977) also presents female characters in a highly humiliating way, where female secretaries, girlfriends, co-workers and business partners are either mistresses of their bosses and colleagues, or they are the source of physically comforting the carnal desires of their boyfriends, bosses and the friends and business partners of the bosses. The male stratum, in the novel, looks capturing all the political, social, cultural, religious, educational, health and economic offices, and women seldom find their place even at a low status position of these public and private offices. The same is the case with Exotica, in which the story of the film moves from the rivalry between Eric and Francis to the gay products vendor Mr. Thomas. As Thomas is dependent of Francis, in respect of concealing his financial corruption, Francis asks Thomas to pressurize Eric, so that he could find a sure headway in order to quench the thirst of his lustful desires by re-entering the club from where he has been banned because of his rivalry with Eric. Thus, all the three main characters are male, who give a go to the circumstances from the very beginning of the film, and make its fateful end on the basis of their on conspiracies, corruption and activities. It is therefore, even being the most powerful female character of the film Exotica, Christina has to perform a trivial role in the real sense in the film. Hence, women are always portrayed as almost useless characters in movies and literature, the only aim of whom is to please the male stratum and provide them with imperative comforts where needed in the real life as well as in movies, films and novels. But the feminists refute this humiliating attitude of male altogether and demand that if a stratum had been granted with respect, status, position and powers by Almighty God, then no human law or any group of people could deny their powers and rights at any cost. Feminist condemn such pieces of art and literature, which depict women as inferior folk. The feminists demand for the equal status, privileges and participation of women at all forums, legislatures and platforms to work as equal citizens of the nation. The feminists strive for the elimination of the humiliating roles of female characters in film that imply restrictions on their abilities, rights, status and freedom. BIBLIOGRAPHY Allison, Dorothy. (2005) Survival is Least of My Desires. An Extract from “Skin: Talking About Sex, Class & Literature. Firebrand Books. Chowdhury, Najma. (1994) Redefining Politics: Patterns of Women’s Political Engagement from a Global Perspective." Women and Politics Worldwide. New Haven: Yale University Press. Collins, Patricia Hill. 1990. Black Feminist Thought Eisenstein, H. (1983) Radical Feminism, Humanism And Womens Studies. Volume 14. Macionis, John J. (2007) Sociology. Eleventh Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall Inc. Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. (1848) Declaration of Sentiments and Resolution: Woods, Alan (2001). Marxism versus feminism - The class struggle and the emancipation of women Read More