The world is going through a revolution. A revolution where women are carving their way in the male-dominated society and striving for the position which they truly deserve. A revolution where women have realized their significant role in our culture and are willing to give it all for their honor. A revolution where women have already proven their worth and are continuing to fly high in all aspects of lives whether its politics, business or art.
But their journey has never been easy, even in the progressive society like the USA, they have to earn their way up despite the obvious, whereas the struggle in developing society has been a lot more critical. Women have been obtaining the unimaginable since the dawn of humanity no matter how difficult the circumstances are. They have scaled the highest mountain, traversed the boundless ocean, and endured in the severest condition. But these herculean tasks turned out to be way more manageable as compared to breaking the conventional barriers and changing the ideology of their male counterparts towards women. This is a major campaign all women, in general, has been battling with, especially in a country like India.
In India, women are constantly looking for a way to switch the sexist mentality of our orthodox society and been marginally successful in their quest for equality. Numerous feminist movements and ideologies have developed over the years and represent different viewpoints and aims. But the only dilemma is, despite the best of their efforts, a large section of our society still remains abusive towards women’s role in our community. And if women want to establish a new mindset towards them, they should start concentrating on one of the most blatant and primary factors that generate such discriminative views about womanhood. And that medium is “ANIMATION”.
Cartoons are the first thing most of the kids are exposed to that assists them to shape their personality and views towards their surroundings. In recent times, various restriction and censorship have been imposed on this genre due to its effect on child’s brain. Psychologists have highlighted the adverse impacts of cartoons on children. According to their outcomes, kids who watch cartoons 3-4 hours a day are predisposed to violence and other aggressive acts. Moreover, marginalization of cognitive functions, deviation from realities, and an expansion of pessimistic behavior might emerge over the course of time. They gain the capability to mimic behavior and events that they come across every day. So, we can surely say that innocent characters from cartoons may turn into role models that impact a child’s psychological state about our lives, society, and elements associated with it.
And this is a major concern because we are unable to recognize that how most of the cartoons lack a strong female protagonist, and the existing ones are commonly portrayed as back up characters with a clichéd storyline. With so many superheroes and male leads, there is a clear absence of female figure who can serve the children to understand the essence of equality, right from the early age. If such trends persist, boys and men will continue to view woman as a secondary lead who constantly needs to be rescued. When the fact is, just like men women possess the ultimate capability to protect our civilization and take it farther. Indian animation desperately needs a symbol of feminism who has the power to break the norms and generate an advanced, more forward opinion towards all genders, whether its female or LGBT groups. So the time has come to fix the basics and build a solid foundation by teaching the importance of equality to our children right from the inception. The time has come to raise our voices against such behavior and demand for equal exposure by all means. And the time has come to make your presence felt by eliminating the perception that only boys oriented shows can generate revenue in this art form.
If our children will grow with a notion that women can save the world as well, this will transcend into a stronger belief system taking our society towards enlightenment. But any intentions should not be forced on our kids but needs to be developed through a friendly mechanism. And what can be a better medium than animation?. THINK ABOUT IT!
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