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Restrictive Hostel In-Timings in DU: What Do They Represent?

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In light of the recent Banaras Hindu University controversy comes to mind the question of moral policing and gender. Different in-times in college hostels for boys and girls show how the administration tries to morally police women. The fear of female autonomy and expression of sexuality is so deep; it makes colleges implement these sexist rules and guidelines in order to curb them.

Seemingly liberal colleges, where conversation around feminism and gender is never lulled, have restrictive hostel timings or a different in-time for boys and girls (not officially but in implementation). The in-time for Daulat Ram College’s hostel is 7:30 PM, for the Miranda House Hostel, is 8:30 PM, for the Rajiv Gandhi hostel for women, is 9:30 PM as is the Hindu College girls hostel. Timings for Men’s hostels are also somewhat similar but the difference is they are never really enforced. The Post-Graduate Men’s (PG Men’s) hostel for instance on its prospectus has an in-time of 10:40 PM but according to sources, the in-time is never followed. Srivedant Kar, a resident of PG Men’s hostel says that while the prospectus reads 10:30 PM, there really isn’t an applicable in-time there. He mentions that the PG Men’s hostel is “open 24*7”. A resident from Rajiv Gandhi Girls Hostel, who would like to stay anonymous, says “The in-time is 10:00 PM and it is strictly implemented”. Hindu College offers hostels to both boys and girls but here is how both are treated differently. According to Muhammad Daniyal Ubaidullah, a student of Hindu College “Boys’ in-time is hardly a reality, as in, it is not enforceable at all. Girls hostel is strictly around 10:30, I think”. Kirori Mal College (KMC) hostel’s in-time is 11:00 PM ( please note-three and a half hours later than DRC, two and a half hours later than Miranda). When I asked an acquaintance living there if the in-time was implemented his reply was “not really”.

Two people from a similar age group are allowed radically different levels of independence. So, if a girl gets back to the Daulat Ram College hostel at 8:00 PM instead of 7:30, she may have to go through disciplinary action, humiliation, and child-like admonishment but if he were a boy living in either the Hindu College boys hostel, KMC boys hostel or PG Men’s hostel, he would have the liberty to walk in as and when he pleased. This system which allows one eighteen-year-old boy to be out all night but expects another eighteen-year-old girl to inside the hostel premises by 7:30 PM sharp is shameful and sexist. It is these kinds of discriminatory laws that infantilise women. It reiterates that women are incapable of taking care of themselves and should be indoors before it gets dark.

The idea of a woman being out at 10:30 PM was apparently so threatening, so unsettling that administration nipped this problem in the bud itself. The radical difference between how boys and girls hostels are treated highlights a deeper problem. The underlying root of this form of strict discipline enforcement is moral policing. This moral policing stems from a) a fear of female independence and b) an attempt to control women and curb their decision-making power. If a university willingly chooses to limit the choices the women studying there can make, we have a problem at our hands.

Here is how these discriminatory timings play a greater role than they seem to have. Every time a girl needs to rush back to meet her 7:30 or 8:30 PM deadline while her male counterparts continue to be out, it reminds her of how societal perception of what girls should do and how they should behave has still not changed. This mould of a “good girl” that’s so aggressively marketed by college administrators, movie makers, and pop culture subconsciously affects us, one that is idolized, glorified, put on a pedestal if reinforced by these ridiculous timings. Those who choose to speak out and rebel are often problematically labelled as “feminazis” (casual usage of the word “Nazi” is insensitive).

Here is another dangerous idea which is behind these ridiculous in-timings, the idea that women will be “unsafe” at night and therefore need to be actively protected and locked indoors. It is this restrictive in-time that stops women from “reclaiming the streets” so to speak. If women won’t be allowed to step out at night, the idea that women are unsafe after dark will only strengthen. That part in Jab We Met where the ticket conductor compares a woman a lone woman to an open box of riches, ready to be ravaged, was not funny then and is not funny now; simply because it hits home. Because I know that isn’t some random dialogue in a random film that will not matter the second I step out of the theatre. That sentence defined and reflected the beliefs of our society at large. The fact that in a place like the University of Delhi, one of the most “woke” institutions in India allowed such outright discriminatory rules to stand and gave men a free pass while caging women shows how little is progress that we have made.

It is imperative that authorities recognise that this form of moral policing does a gross injustice to the young women whose idea of self they are meant to shape and positively influence. Universities across the country need to stop acting like the self-anointed guardians of women. When we don’t question the reasoning behind these chauvinistic rules, we give them legitimacy. Rules that reinforce age-old problematic norms about women, try to constrict their freedom and independence should be actively questioned and fought against.

Image Credits: The Hindu

Kinjal Pandey
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Admissions 2017

Associate Professor Alleges Fraudulent Admission Procedure by Urdu Department

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As reported by a leading daily, an associate professor at the University of Delhi has filed a written complaint to the Vice-chancellor alleging discrepancies in the admission procedure for PhD candidates in the Urdu Department.

Khalid Alvi who is an associate professor at Zakir Hussain College(Morning), and a renowned Urdu poet and critic, has cited irregularities in the admission procedure with respect to disregard of a meritorious female student whose name was not included in the final list of candidates selected for Ph.D course in Urdu, under the Department of Urdu, Delhi University. Adding on, he also pointed out that his signature was removed from this final list. Regarding the same, he has sent an email and a follow-up letter to the Vice-Chancellor requesting urgent address and seeking permission to file a FIR on the matter.

Speaking to Indian express, he claimed that one of the faculty members taking interviews of shortlisted candidates pressurised the girl to apply for the M.Phil. course over a PhD Agreeing to the professor’s claim, the girl told Indian Express, “When I refused the professor’s offer of taking admission in M.Phil., he told me he would hit me with hard questions during the interview. I was asked questions as if I had applied for a faculty member’s position.”

When DU Beat approached Dr Ibne Kanwal, Alvi’s colleague and Head of Department Research Committee(DRC), he dismissed these claims and said, “It’s not necessary that every gold medallist can perform well in interviews. She performed poorly, and Dr Khalid Alvi himself arrived late. He also left early, and hence his signature was not present in the final list, whereas the rest of the committee have theirs.” The entrance exam for admission into the course was conducted on 5th July and interviews for shortlisted candidates held on 30th August. The final list of selected candidates for PhD in Urdu was released on the DU website on 5th September and the admission procedure for the same was on until 15th September.

Feature Image Credits: India.com

Vijeata Balani
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The Shadows Of Gandhi

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Though for some Indians, Mahatma was an embodiment of utopianism and idealism whose methods of resistance yielded results slowly and with a lot of suffering, despite all the delay he was a portrayal of tolerance and endurance which stand very much relevant in the contemporary times.

In one of my classroom discussions, one of my classmates commented coldly, “Gandhi is only an image in India today” and this was seconded by many of my other friends. One of my friends asked me about why I had been romanticising about Gandhian philosophy when his utopian ideals of non-violence and Satyagraha are far away from the jarring reality of the everyday life of Indians. This may be true, I thought. But the impact of his philosophy on many iconic leaders of the 20th century like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. etc. express the apocalyptic mode of political thinking that can be invoked as a Gandhian moment.

Gandhi became a part of the moral conscience of humanity and his universal message could be measured by his profound impact on all forms of dissent against unjust regimes. A genuine appreciation of Gandhi’s relevance can only be made against his civic philosophy of dissent. The Gandhian audacity of asking questions on modernity and Western hegemony expresses his critical thinking and this is what is lacking in our today’s generation. Such an attitude of mind exemplifies the Socratic aspect which is absent in many political leaders of today- courage. All political leaders are reduced to only being politicians and India still awaits another iconic leader in the true self who will lead all of us to freedom from orthodoxy, poverty, and disdain.

Gandhi always held that Satyagraha implied the willingness to accept not only suffering but also death for the sake of a true cause. When confronted by mobs or political authority, Gandhi had no fear of the state or a tyrannical crowd. For Gandhi, the process of dialogue and endless questioning is considered as the most productive and dissenting thinking in the public space. This is where Gandhi’s conception of democracy becomes relevant and important to us as students of University- be it BHU, JNU or DU. Democracy just cannot function with no sense of ethics and morality. An individual needs to fulfill one’s civic duty of participating in a community and as an end to attain political and moral resistance to all forms of tyranny. Let the shadows of Gandhi continue to teach us what is ‘self-realisation’, ‘protest’ and resistance because this may not be made a part of pragmatic public policy but can duly serve as an ethical force for citizens to stand up for the principles they represent.

Image Credits– The Huffington Post India

 

Oorja Tapan

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Easy Investment Plans for Students

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Save smart and save early with the right investment plan, to make your future beyond college secure, and worth looking forward to.

 

They say “time is money” and indeed, it is so for us college students. This is our  time to gain knowledge beyond the courses that we are enrolled in, which will in turn prepare us for the big challenges of the ‘real’ world. One of those challenges is in the financial sphere and entails savings. Trying to save small increase wealth will go a long way in our lives as adults, which has only just begun. Here are some ways how you can go about it:

  1. Start off by opening your own savings account. The procedure isn’t long and it gives you a sense of freedom. Even from the pocket money which you receive, try putting aside some meagre amount into the account. Think of it as an emergency fund, put it aside in the beginning of the month and if you feel broke by the end of month, you may use some of it. Savings accounts give you interest on your money, but the return doesn’t feel like it’s too much, until the amount you add to the account increases over time.
  2. An easier way to earn some cash is to sell your old stuff, like clothes, used electronic items, books etc. This money can either be invested or used later.
  3. For the courageous ones amongst you, investing in mutual funds is a great way to increase wealth, and it can be encashed whenever the investor wants. Monthly SIPs (Systematic Investment Plan) is the best way to invest in mutual funds, which are safer than investing in shares and debentures. There are numerous companies out there which invest your money in safe projects and from which you earn interest later.
  4. For those adventurous investors who don’t mind taking risks because you learn from your mistakes, equity funds are the answer. Before you begin investing, you require a Demat account, which can be opened with the help of any broker. Equity funds or shares require a lot of research about the company, its projects and so on, but the return on equity funds is generally more than mutual funds.

So start investing early and have a good back-up plan for some emergency or just in case you need cash for some fun (Say, how about a spontaneous excursion or your dream of travelling alone?).

 

Feature Image Credits: allbusiness.com

Prachi Mehra

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State of Co-Curricular Activities in Delhi University

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Famed for its performing societies and star alumni, does the University’s ecosystem encourages the growth of co-curricular activities?

If there’s anything that the University of Delhi is famous for besides its headlines-grabbing cut-off percentages each year, it’s the star alumni. Apart from politicians, some of the country’s top artists are also DU graduates, partly stemming from the fact that Delhi in itself is a city that promotes such fields with its various cultural centres that regularly hold performances and workshops by experts.

At the college level, however, the stepping stone for the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan is the college societies. Upon closer inspection, though, it becomes obvious that enough is not being done to facilitate their workings. Right from the inception stage, it is difficult to find out about the formalities required to start a society. The presence of a faculty advisor is also a condition and it takes a lot of hassle to find a convenor because most of the teachers are already under a lot of workloads, having no incentive to take on additional responsibility. Further, the music, dance, and theatre societies require spaces for their daily practices. In institutions like Jesus and Mary College and Hans Raj College, it’s cumbersome to book the Auditorium for practices as obtaining the administrative permission takes a lot of time, which leaves students without proper practice spaces. Colleges like Miranda House, Kirori Mal College, and Sri Venkateswara College do not have proper auditoriums currently, which results in finding nooks and corners of the college for practices. This becomes tiring, and due to no allotted space for each society, societies secure spaces on a first come first serve basis, leaving other groups in a lurch. As performances and competitions’ season nears, these colleges have a disadvantage since necessary rehearsals are unable to take place.

A good portion of the already meagre society funds has to be devoted to booking external auditoriums during the fests’ season as well. Lack of funds is usually cited as the reason for the delays in construction and repair work, but recurring stories of the collapse of unused funds amounting to crores contradicts that claim. Finally, the members of these societies themselves are often not treated well by the faculty and administration. Professors are often unwilling to co-operate regarding rescheduling of the internals on account of performance events that the members have to attend – which is representative of the disinterested attitude of the University as a whole.

There are a few efforts being made. Miranda House, for one, has developed an app that lets societies book spaces online, cutting scope for bureaucratic work. Such efforts, however, are very rare and should be the norm instead of an exception.  On the whole, a very sorry state of affairs exists and it’s quite saddening to see that basic facilities are unavailable in the country’s premier liberal arts colleges due to administrative roadblocks, sitting on funds, and an ironically uncaring attitude in the world beyond academics.

Image credits: DU Beat

 

Rishika Singh

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Jingoism Disguised As Patriotism

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A rational approach would suggest that liberalism is directly proportional to the progression in time but in today’s scenario, all means of sound judgment seem to be clouded by the veil of pseudo-patriotism. While patriotism is an emotion that requires inward reflection of our duties as national citizens of the country, pseudo-patriotism necessitates the exhibition of the same, disregarding consensual willingness. As is incessantly debated, the many folds and crevices of patriotism seem to have acquired a false sense of affinity towards jingoism, and in the grand scheme of things, if this ulterior wave persists, the essence of patriotism will soon get drowned in the battle cry for nationalistic fervor.

In a recent case in Madhya Pradesh, School Education Minister, Vijay Shah instructed the government schools in Satna District to answer their roll calls by enunciating, ‘Jai Hind’ from October 1. His insistence stems from the martial chants of ‘Jai Hind’ as a greeting and suggests that repeated intonation of the same will foster the love for the country, in the youth, as is deemed necessary by certain political segments. Another bizarre implication of instilling committed patriotism in the people is the order passed by the Supreme Court to play the national anthem in cinema halls across India before the feature film begins and all present in the hall are mandated to stand up for the same as a part of their “sacred obligation”.

The bench referred to Article 51(A) (a) of the Constitution, which states that “it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem”, in the processing of this order.However, it seems that the lawmakers are conflicted among themselves because until now, the law precisely stated that it has been left “to the good sense of the people” not to indulge in indiscriminate singing or playing of the national anthem. The playing of the national anthem prior to a film is not only unnecessary but also a blatant contravention of an existing law altered and modified to suit the convenient propagation of a flawed nationalistic outlook.

As is popularly preached, there is a time and a place for everything. There is a certain kind of mood that complements the recitation of the national anthem and the unfurling of the national flag. An atmosphere as nonchalant as that of a cinema hall, reveling in the undertones of humour, sarcasm and wit fail terribly at incorporating the anthem and garnering reverence for the same. The theatre audience consists of a majority, who view it solely as a means of entertainment and exercise their involvement as dormant participants. Instilling patriotic sentiments in a crowd that is only casually aligned to the cause and predominantly treats it as an unnecessary precursor, in itself defeats the purpose for which it is so crudely being materialised.

Both, nationalism and patriotism reek of honor and esteem and rise way beyond the modern day construct of ethnocentricity. It is high time that the learned minds are set free to explore and redefine their allegiance.

Image Credits: The Indian Express

 

Lakshita Arora

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Events

A Saturday with Strangers: Pop-Up Cafe 2.0

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On a regular Saturday afternoon when one is expected to be catching up on beauty sleep or stuck in droning lectures, DU Beat had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of Project FUEL (Forward the Understanding of Every Life Lesson). Founded in 2009 by Deepak Ramola, Project Fuel organised its second version of the highly successful Pop-Up cafe in The Founders’ Cafe, Delhi. More than 20 strangers formed the wonderful gathering.

The thought behind this idea is to create stimulating conversations and get people from all walks of life to interact and share their life lessons with each other. All participants were placed in different groups such that nobody on one table knew the others. Each group had a moderator who conducted an ice-breaking first introduction and followed it up with similar activities to keep the conversation flowing. Placards with questions were allotted, and all participants were then supposed to answer them immediately. There was another activity which involved putting paints on a sheet of paper, and crushing it subsequently to interpret the myriad of patterns that were formed. After this, everyone shared a life lesson they learnt, which created a trove of lessons for anyone who’s going through the same to refer to. The next activity banked heavily on sociometry, and engaged everyone in a passing-the-parcel game to eventually encourage them to share their deepest worries in solidarity and develop companionship in the process. The event ended with an open-mic session, where participants recited their poetry and shayari and related to each others’ experiences in the process.

The breezy weather coupled with fairy lights adorning the venue complemented the entire experience to develop it into a wholesome, enriching memory. Events of this sort, which promote learning through life lessons, are appreciable when in today’s day everyone is caught up in meaningless shenanigans of their own. With this, another edition of the Pop-Up Cafe was concluded on a successful note.

 

Feature Image Credits: Charu Saxena

Vijeata Balani
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Shri Ram College of Commerce Organises Youth Conference 2017

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With the theme “Bridges not Boundaries”, Shri Ram College of Commerce held the sixth edition of the annual Youth Conference on the 22nd and 23rd of September 2017. The two-day event saw a confluence of distinguished personalities from the fields of politics, cinema, music, and comedy.

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Day 1 kicked off with a with a lamp lighting ceremony by the Guest of Honour, General V.K. Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs. In her brief address, Professor Simrit Kaur, Principal of Shri Ram College of Commerce, thanked the sponsors, attendees, and speakers for participating in the conference and hoped for the enriching two-day extravaganza. General V.K. Singh spoke candidly about his early days in the army, power of entrepreneurship, and his transition from military to politics. “Confidence between the men and the officer wins wars. Be it an insurgency operation or a full-front war, the moment your team loses trust in each other, that moment you lose,” he said, asserting the need for teamwork. When asked about the difference between working in the army versus working in politics, he answered, “In the army you know who the enemy is, but in politics you don’t.”

The second speaker of the day was former Miss India, social activist, entrepreneur, and actress, Gul Panag. In a highly interactive session, she shared stories about her modeling career, education, aviation dreams, and her tryst with public speaking that started in Patiyala Government College and remains till date. She also invited a fan, who was named Gul after her, on the stage.

The second half of the day resumed with the coming of Aranya Johar, a Mumbai-based poet who recently came to limelight with her poems such as “A Brown Girl’s Guide to Beauty” and “A Brown Girl’s Guide to Discrimination”. She highlighted the misconceptions people have regarding feminism. She explained that feminism is not only about women but is also for men who are suppressed by the patriarchal conventions of the society. She also recited the aforementioned poems to the audience before ending her speech.

The ebullient crowd finally witnessed the much awaited speaker Usha Uthup. The legendary singer was humorous as ever from the minute she got onto the stage. She talked about her personal life, reminiscing her childhood days. It was only a matter of time before she started singing, bringing the auditorium to life. The crowd erupted in applause as she sang one song after the other. From “Skyfall” to “Kolaveri Di”, claps and cheers were all that could be heard inside the hall. Gurcharan Das, author, public intellect, and former CEO of Procter & Gamble, happened to arrive while Usha Uthup was still performing. He talked about how to find one’s passion and also shared a story addressing that the right attitude is essential for organisational success. He quoted “We learn how to make a living. We must know how to make a life.”

The day ended in disappointment after Mohit Chauhan did not arrive even after a long wait of more than two hours. To make do for his absence, a singing competition was organised, followed by performances by individuals and the music society of the college. It was later announced that Mohit Chauhan would come the next day instead. Delhi’s rains could not deter students of various colleges from turning up at SRCC Youth Conference’s second day. The auditorium was bustling with energy of the students. The first speaker, Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Aviation arrived in the auditorium with the Principal of the college, Simrat Kaur. He was felicitated and then rose to address the audience. He emphasised that the students of today are the leaders of change for the future. He said that the three complicated problems that these world leaders will have to solve are – global warming, shortage of natural resources, and urbanisation in a way that quality of life is ensured in all cities and villages. During the question-answer round, he descended from the stage to talk to the students one-on-one. He enthusiastically answered all the questions and even quoted John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country has done for you but what you can do for your country.” He wants Indians to work for their own country rather than other countries where they go to study and settle down. He ended by teaching the students to dream big and think global.

Rega Jha, the Editor-in-Chief of BuzzFeed India, arrived at the venue clad in a bright yellow jumpsuit exuding energy. She started her speech by asking the audience if anybody had said anything really dumb on the Internet and to everyone’s surprise, the entire audience had done that. She narrated her own instances from the past of being trolled. While laughing, she commented that our generation has said the dumbest things on the Internet in history. She talked about Mira Rajput being trolled for her motherhood statement and none of the people trying to teach her in a courteous manner, and how the new song ‘Bol Na Aunty Aau Kya’ is immensely sexist, validates rape culture, and is simply obnoxious. People have gotten into the habit of calling out people online for something they had said ages ago. While interacting with the students, she said that nobody should be called a ‘Nazi’ in reference to terms like ‘grammar-nazi’ or femi-nazis’.  Before leaving, she taught everyone that one should be accepting of people changing and evolving because people’s perspectives change every day. She also stated that we shouldn’t make fun of people with weak English.

The next speaker was the most awaited guest, Mohit Chauhan. He was welcomed into the auditorium with claps and hoots by the students. He started his speech by saying that he didn’t think much of himself as a speaker and that speaking gives him jitters. He introduced the audience to his childhood living in Dharamshala, Kullu and such hill stations, how music took over his soul from a young age and how he would camp alone in the hills for peace and creativity. He told the youngsters that he chose science stream as he was a fine student and he went on to study B.Sc. and M.Sc. hoping to get a decent job hailing from a family of bureaucrats but deep down he wanted to make something of his own. He talked about meeting A.R. Rahman in November, 1998 in Delhi, hoping to work in Bombay soon but actually got a call to sing for the movie Rang De Basanti after 6 long years. His quote that touched the students was, “You don’t realise you are working hard when you are working with passion”. The audience roared when he finally picked up the guitar to sing ‘Dooba Dooba Rehta Hu’ and ‘Tumse Hi’ of Jab We Met while the students sang along. After the students’ chant of ‘Sadda Haq’, Mohit Chauhan relented and sang it for the eager audience at the end of which the auditorium reverberated with the thunderous claps and the singer left behind a chirpy audience.

dsc_3507The last speaker before the lunch break was Bimal Jalan, who has been in the advisory committee of the government, been the Chief Economic Advisor, and the Governor of RBI twice. In his speech, he talked about the cyclical movement of the economy, India’s literacy rate, incentives, the complex system of administration, rural development, UPSC’s selection criteria of candidates, India’s economy, and poverty. He jokingly mentioned in the answer to a question that he wouldn’t have approved of demonetisation but what could one do after the government had announced it, except simply follow it. Before leaving he said that a reform that this generation has to do is make better roads in Delhi as he was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half. The students then proceeded to lunch.

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The second session  of the Youth Conference resumed around 2:30pm. The energy of the audience was still pumped up to the zenith level of their enthusiasm to welcome the subsequent speakers. The session kicked off with Rajeev Shukla, Chairman of IPL and a journalist. “There can be personal differences but there is no space for personal rivalry in politics,” he said. He talked about his career in journalism and narrated how he grew close to politics and the Indian National Congress. He advised the students to try different things in life and take rational decisions. The next speaker in the pipeline was Sudhir Mishra, an Indian film director and screenwriter known for directing critically acclaimed movies like Hazaro Khwaish Aisi, Dharvi, and Chameli. He is a graduate of the University of Delhi and has three national award under his belt. The session with him was extremely humorous and entertaining. He urged the people to pursue what they love.

Karan Thapar, the next speaker, said, “When you look at me, don’t look at my religion. I am an individual first. If you see me as a member of a religion, you see a blur. But that’s not me. That’s not my identity. I am me because I have an individuality.” He was very concerned about the rising intolerance in the country and addressed the audience with very balanced views which pushed the students into contemplation. An engineering drop out, singer, and composer, Siddharth Slathia who is well known for singing the cover version of ‘Tum Hi Ho’ staged an enchanting performance at the SRCC Youth Conference. Talking about his career he said, “You may not be the most talented person but you can be the most hardworking person”. He took the audience back to the retro times and the crowd swayed to his melodious voice and rocking songs.

The pumped up crowd finally witnessed the much awaited performance of Zakir Khan. The walls of the auditorium reverberated with the chants of ‘Zakir Zakir’ when he entered. The audience got on the top of their enthusiasm when he started  delivering his signature jokes which gave a perfect closure to the conference.

SRCC Youth Conference 2017 was a full-on extravaganza that left its audience stunned!

 

Image Credits: Sahil Chauhan, Hemant Goyal, and P.V. Purnima for DU Beat

Niharika Dabral
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Karan Singhania
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Prachi Mehra
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Sandeep Samal
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The Hegemonic Demon that is the “White Gaze” in The Bluest Eye

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Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye explores why in a pluralistic society, under the pretense of being tolerant, we still prefer “whiteness” in our magazines and on our TV screens.

Toni Morrison, a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winning American novelist, wrote and published her first book, The Bluest Eye, in the year 1970. In Morrison’s novel, she investigates what happens to a young, black girl living under the “white gaze” of 1940s America. The novel tells the story of an 11-year-old girl, Pecola Breedlove, who wants to have blue eyes because she views herself as ugly. It’s a female Bildungsroman, telling her story as she grows up, black and female, in a racially discriminatory America. In the novel, Morrison unabashedly challenges western standards of beauty and demonstrates that the concept is socially constructed. Morrison’s novel was inspired by one of her black classmates who wished for blue eyes, much like Pecola. She thus wrote the novel to explore the roots and effects of racial self-loathing, wondering, “Who told her [classmate]? Who made her feel that it was better to be a freak than what she was? Who looked at her and found her so wanting, so small a weight on the beauty scale?” Thus, Morrison’s novel is an attempt to “peck away at the gaze that condemned her”.

Morrison goes on to offer a decisive critique on the homogenising effect of the white aesthetic so prevalent in most of our cultures in the world. She rejects the beauty of the white consumer culture because it separates women “from reality”. Women of colour start internalising the crippling notions of beauty that this white culture propagates. This perpetuation of the dominant culture’s aesthetics and tastes, their standards of beauty and fairness, have always and still continue to contribute to racial tensions. The novel, in its endeavour to question the yardsticks of socially constructed notions of beauty, makes the reader confront his or her own reality.

Not only is the novel beautifully written, Morrison’s prose being so vivid, she is also able to implicate the reader in the destruction of this little girl and her dream to be “beautiful”. Morrison’s contempt for the racial bias in popular American culture, and her rejection of a white-defined form of female beauty are reflected well in her first novel. Pecola’s mother, Pauline, also internalises the damaging racial self-loathing because such has been the coloniser’s influence over the “weaker” masses. The coloniser goes on to “invisibalise” the “other”.

One’s visibility thus gets knotted with one’s beauty. In The Bluest Eye, Pecola’s self, her presence as a subject, remains unrecognised by those who have absorbed the white standards of visual attractiveness. In the tragic swamp of alienation, Pecola’s only saviour, her blue eyes, are ironically also symbolic of the colonial instrument of oppression. What strikes one as being crucial here is the homogenising effect that white culture creates. Much of it is interestingly manufactured as a product of western capitalism. Rampant consumerism, movies’ and media’s role are to be blamed for the skewed notions of reality which people of all colours embrace. Thomas Fick argues in his essay, entitled “Toni Morrison’s ‘Allegory of the Cave’: Movies, Consumption, and Platonic Realism in The Bluest Eye” (2000), that, “Movies are the centrally destructive force in [The Bluest Eye] not only because of the values they present but because of the way they present them: as flawless archetypes above and outside the shadowy world of everyday life.”

Despite the increasing presence of black celebrities, the white aesthetic still strongly defines beauty and worth in today’s racist culture. Many of the contemporary black celebrities, such as Halle Berry, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Vanessa Williams, and others, are whitewashed to appeal to white audiences, thereby denying the black body. Famous black women are often anglicised on the covers of magazines: their hair and skin lightened and curls straightened. “Just as English has become the lingua franca of the world, so the white, blondified, small-nosed, pert-breasted, long-legged body is coming to stand in for the great variety of human bodies that there are,” comments Susie Orbach, a British psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, writer, and social critic.

Media conglomerates thus fabricate lies. Advertisers clutch on to insecurity as a selling tool, instead of embracing empowerment. The many fairness cream advertisements and products, advertisements for silkier and shinier hair, hairless bodies, skinny bodies, and many other campaigns hold testimony to this. It is the coloniser’s body which echoes on our television screens, which we consciously choose to watch.

What The Bluest Eye as a piece of literature does is to subvert the “white gaze”. What we, as self-aware citizens in this world of majoritarianism, must do is to resist and disrupt the gaze. Morrison, time and again, does it with her words. As Adrienne Rich once said, “This is the oppressor’s language, yet I need to talk to you.”

 

Feature Image Credits: Teen Ink

Ankita Dhar Karmakar
[email protected]

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DU Rejects NSUI’s Request for Recounting of Votes

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The University of Delhi has rejected Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) plea for recounting of votes in the recently concluded Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections. Even though a recount of votes will not take place, the grievance redressal committee has permitted Meenakshi Meena and Avinash Yadav, NSUI candidates for Secretary and Joint Secretary respectively to view EVM-wise data.

 

NSUI claimed it won three not two posts in the DUSU panel post elections and alleged that the results were tampered due to intervention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah. NSUI’s National Media In-Charge told Scroll.in., “The CCTVs were not working properly, and many officials from the ABVP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were present in the counting centre.” NSUI asked the Election Commissioner to recount the votes and also submitted an official complaint to the grievance redressal committee. It had also threatened to move to the Delhi High Court soon.

 

Avinash Yadav, NSUI’s candidate for Joint Secretary of DUSU lost to RSS affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Paridhad’s (ABVP) candidate by 342 votes. NSUI’s candidates for the positions of President and Vice-President, Rocky Tuseed and Kunal Sehrawat bagged the seats by 1590 and 175 votes respectively.

 

Image Credits: Hindustan Times

 

Vijeata Balani

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