Friday, December 4, 2009
Gender Role Reversal
My favorite part of Umrao Jan Ada is when Bismillah is making fun of the old man. I cannot believe that she actually makes him climb a tree just to control him. I believe that this episode was an example of gender role reversal in Islam because Bismillah becomes the one in control, which is usually the man in Islam, and the old man submits to Bismillah’s order to climb the tree, so it is like he is becoming a woman in Islam who always submits to her male counterpart. On another note, it blows my mind that Bismillah would put an old man’s life in danger like this. Is this evidence that courtesans viewed men as objects?
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Interesting observation. I thought of Thanawi's reaction in reading this, and not only in the beginning where Umrao clinged to her father demanding new clothes (? or a doll?), but especially when Bismillah commanded a respectable gentleman of seventy climb a tree. Was Thanawi right? Women really are the perpetrators when it comes to sinful behaviors? Not that I would agree with Thanawi, and I never will, but this materialistic lifestyle and frivolity are the exact opposite of the teachings in the Bihishti Zewar, partaken by both sexes. However, the courtesans seem to be the taker in the relationship without pitying the men (this pertains to materials only, emotionally, the women are also victims), whereas housewives are being defended by Ruswa in their loyalty here.
ReplyDeleteI totally think you are on to something when you question whether courtesans think of men as objects. In Manto's short story Kushia, Kushia is very angry that a woman would think of him as just a man. How dare she! Just a man!? In Manto's story the man gets quite mad, but in Umrao Jan he actually obeys her wishes. It says that he does it because he loves her, but I wonder if that is actually the case, and if it isn't why would he do it? It's just sex...
ReplyDeleteThe age difference between the Maulvi and Bismillah also plays a huge factor in how bizarre this episode is. Not only is a male religious figure in the community, but he's got some 50-odd years on her! Thanawi asserts that the bride should be younger than the groom in Perfecting Women, presumably so that men can maintain an air of authority over their wives, and this episode completely turns that notion on its head.
ReplyDeleteMen seem to be courtesans' toys, in a way. They can "ruin" them if they are displeased. I think they are such privileged women--in a roundabout way, that they use their power gratuitously over men. It seems to me like the courtesan is to a man as a man is to his wife; the men are coming to the courtesans, and thus the courtesans have the upper hand in how to receive the man.
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