Shabana Azmi Questions Patriarchy, Says It Affects Both Women And Men

Shabana Azmi has always used her reach and influence to talk about issues that matter. In a recent interview, the veteran actress got talking about patriarchy and how it not only affects women, but also men as people are pushed to fit into defined gender norms and roles.

In an interview with IANS, Shabana opened up about how many steps were taken when she was an MP, to prevent female foeticide, and that the issue has its roots in patriarchy.

"Many years ago, when I was a Member of Parliament, I was on a committee that was set up by the chief minister's wife on the scourge of female foeticide. Many steps at that point were taken and one feels that ultimately, it is based in patriarchy. The belief that a boy should be privileged at birth because of being born male -- that discrimination against the girl child exists all through her childhood, adolescence and then later adulthood," she said.

Shabana continued, "What we need to do is to tackle patriarchy, because patriarchy affects not only women but also men. Men also internalise. We have definite ideas of how a man should behave. Boys should never cry -- why shouldn't they? Why is it looked down upon?"

"Why do we, at the age of three, decide that girls should be playing with dolls and the minute a boy decides to play with dolls we say, ehaww, this is terrible'. All this stratification that starts sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously, is what we need to really get to the root of," she added.

Shabana concluded that the only way to bring about change is by tackling the root cause, and she feels it is a huge battle to fight.

Talking about work, Shabana will next be seen in Sheer Qorma, an LGBT romance film which also stars Divya Dutta and Swara Bhasker. The film is directed by Faraz Arif Ansari.

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