Using humour as a tool to fight gender wars

Modern times are reformed times. Women today have more of a say than they did in our parents’ generation, resulting in a society where the fairer sex does not shy away from speaking her mind. As the contemporary Indian women gets out of her shell and gives her thoughts a creative outlet, men are not keeping themselves restricted to being mute spectators.So, we see several instances in which, when a woman takes a dig at a man, men promptly retaliate to show that a woman has faults too… albeit in a funny, satirical form, making for good entertainment. One such case in point are two satirical plays that were recently staged in the city that highlight the idiosyncrasies of Indian men and Bengaluru women.
A TALE OF TWO SEXES Like many Bengaluru women of “marriageable age”, Shruthi Raju, who runs an NGO full-time and works in theatre part-time, had a niggling thought — what’s up with Indian men? But unlike others, she put the quirks that she noticed into a satire. Her play, What’s Up With Indian Men? highlights idiosyncrasies of the “modern, urban and confused Indian man”. Speaking about the inspiration behind her play, Shruthi says, “I am in that phase in life where I and my friends are looking for our soulmates, which is turning out to be a difficult task, since it is hard to find a man who knows his place in society. We have more options, freedom and distraction, which has created confusion. The play is about a girl trying to find love in a hybridized society.”
The protagonist comes across six different men — a Reddy, Sindhi, Malayali, Marawadi, Tamilian and a Wannbe DJ. “These are men one will find in Bengaluru — he could be someone who lives in your house, your next-door neighbour or your colleague. It’s a light-hearted comedy, but is not for the faint hearted,” she adds. After her play was a success, Shruthi’s brother, Chaitanya Varad, who is part of the same theatre group, decided to take a dig at Bengaluru women. “After watching Shruthi’s play, a lot of the guys from the audience suggested that we write something for the guys. I have spent my whole life in Bengaluru, so I have a good idea about the women in the city, which is how What’s Up With Bangalore Women? Came into being,” he says. The women in the play are broken into five different characters — Lavelle Road Lavanya, Kamanahalli Cutie, Malleswaram Mahalaxmi, Indiranagar Isha and Feminist Frieda. “Mind you, these are the actual names that real men in the city use to describe women,” adds Chaitanya.
THE FLIP SIDE Deepika Padukone ruffled quite a few feathers with her viral video, My Choice. The message of the short film was that a woman must not be judged on what she does, wear or say, as it is her choice to do it or not. So, it has Deepika saying things like, “My body, my mind, my choice… To wear the clothes I like, even as my spirit roams naked… To be a size zero or size 50 — they don't have a size for my spirit.” A controversy soon surrounded the video, with men and women both lauding and slamming it. Even as the debates were still on, a satirical male version of the My Choice video was released online. This video featured several men, who said things like, “My choice, to go the gym or have a beer belly”, and “My neighbour is an engineer, I'm not. Let it be.” The male version ends with one message, “Respect women and men”, showing that men also have their own battles to fight.