Movie: Gender Bender
Date: 7th October, 2009
Time: 3:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.
Venue: Seminar Room, Deptt. Of Social Work, Jamia University campus

The second day of the film festival saw the movie Gender Bender. Titled thus for the changing roles of women, the movie forced a re-look on the traditional definitions of gender, and gender-specific roles. To get the audience thinking along the same lines, a teaser was organized – a mind jog where the participants were asked to delineate various jobs into male/ female. It was deliberate on the part of the facilitators (Nishu and Sonal) to not give them time to think – we wanted to record their first responses. With this activity, the movie started.

After the movie, the discussion touched on multiple issues, and an effort has been made in this report to record all of these, and the interconnections between them as well.

Perceived gender roles – The audience was asked to revisit the jobs that they had categorized into gender definitions and say if they wanted to change some of those responses. Through this discussion, we also tried to check if these roles were assigned because of some intrinsic gender-specific qualities, or were they just part of a stereotype. It was decided that although roles were necessary, it was also important to allow individuals to make their own choice – and that their choice be respected. Also, the roles, though different, should not decide the gender dynamics; the status of a male/female should be the same.

Reservation for women – With equal status, the question of reservation for women also came up. Here there was a divided opinion. Some were all for reservation in educational institutes, while some felt that an opportunity should be provided to girls to allow them equal access, but admission should only be on merit. From this, the discussion moved to reservation in public transport, like buses and the metro. Members of the audience thought that this was not justified.

Eve-teasing – From buses, the discussion progressed to eve-teasing – reasons for it, possible consequences, and who, if any, is to blame. This discussion was intense, and had to be carried on from the seminar room to the garden, due to non-availability of time. There was no closure here (and neither were we aiming for it), but the participants realized the role they had to play in it, and thus took the first step towards being active citizens.

The discussion came to a close with a vow to take back some learnings from this space into personal lives, and to be the change they want to see.