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”کرک کرک)/2%ر کرو.

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Vmayed
Edited by Selvy Thiruchandran
Published by:Women's Education and Research Centre
17, Park Avenue Colombo 5 Sri Lanka.
Publication No. 40/E/18

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G1994 by Women's Education and Research Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka
All rights reserved. Published in 1994 by the Women's Education and Research Centre in Colombo Sri Lanka, No. 17, Park Avenue, Colombo 5, Sri Lanka.
This publication is made possible, in full, by a contribution from the Global Fund for Women, California, U.S.A.
Cover design : Nilar Cassim
Typeset and Text design : Tilaka Dissanayake
ISBN 955-9261-02-9
Printed by Karunatne & Sons Ltd.
647, Kullaratne Mawatha, Colombo 10 Sri Lanka

(a) Intants
Forward
Introduction
Major Trends of Feminist Approach to Media
- Selvy Thiruchandran
The Articulation of Gender in Cinematic Address: Sinhala Cinema in 1992 - Malathi de Alwis
Advertising in Sri Lanka, How does it Affect Women? - Neluka Silva
The portrayal of women in Recent Tamil Films and its Relevance to Social Reality - Bavani Loganathan
Gender Representation in Modern Sri Lankan Theatre - Neluka Silva
Women as Gendered Subject and other Discourses in Contemporary Sri Lankan Fiction in English - Nelufur de Mel
Major Trends Identified in the Sri Lankan Media and the Recommendations Made by the Media Monitoring Committee
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75
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Foreword
It is indeed a pleasant task to write the foreword. Writing a foreword in an indication that the task of writing or editing a book is completed, since the forward is usually written as the last task. However, I feel I have a more pleasant job at hand i.e. to place on record our gratitude to our friends and collaborators - the Global Fund for Women for their kind assistance. They helped us with funds for a rather ambitious project.
The multi-lingual media-monitoring committee that was set up by the Women's Education and Research Centre did the monitoring of both the print and visual media for specific periods. Members of this committee selected their own tasks and the area of monitoring the print and the visual media. On completion of their tasks they were required to present their findings at seminars organised by WERC. Participants represented a wide cross-section of the society: researchers, advertisers, media personnel, television producers, university lecturers and a few under graduates. The presentations were followed by a discussion.
Our original intention was to publish a book with all the papers presented. However, we had a practical difficulty in combining the Sinhala, Tamil and English papers in one book. Hence we decided to publish the Sinhala and Tamil papers in our bi-annual journals Nivedini. Ms. M.I.S.F. Zulfika's paper The Image of Women as Reflected in Tamil Mainstream Newspapers and their Relevance to Contemporary Social Life, and Shanthi Satchithanandan's paper, Tradition and Modernity: Women in Tamil Teledramas are being published in our Tamil Journal (November 1994, No 2). The portrayal of Women in Sinhala Newspapers by Ms. Mala Dassanayake and The Image of Women as Portrayed in Sinhala Mainstream Journals are being published in the Sinhala journal (November 1994, No. 2).
Zulfika's paper has identified a few salient features vis a vis;
that the contents of the Women's page in newspapers, is restricted to home, kitchen and child care.

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that women are used as models for advertisments which bear no direct relevance to their gender. E.g. automobiles, ciggerettes and tobacco advertisments.
that the use of gender in joke columns and snippets, are usually demeaning to women.
that there is a lack of originality in some of our teledramas, and inability to relate to Sri Lankan culture.
that there is a need to create an alternative media to counter negative images on women, and emphasized the lack of funds to produce such television programmes.
Mala Dassanayake, Kisholi Perera and Tilaka Dissanayake say:
that newspaper articles provide negative images of Sri Lankan women in order to further commercial interests.
that women are portrayed as commodities, and such portrayals are unethical.
that efforts be taken to break the male monopoly in media management.
that while the Sri Lankan women have contributed largely to provide foreign exchange to our country, as workers in the tea and rubber plantations, Free Trade Zone and as domestic workers maids in the Middle East, their contribution to the Sri Lankan economy has gone unnoticed in the newspapers. Instead, the role of proprietors are emphasised.
ano that most articles limit the roles of women to those of a housewife and mother. The man is constantly represented in
the bread winner's role.
or that most newspapers and journals cater to a male- dominated
audience and the women's pages are reserved for women.
t that most articles on women concentrate on their physical
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appearances and almost never on their personality or intellect.
Malathi de Alwis has done an extensive analysis on the Sinhala films of 1992 while, Bhavani Loganathan has tried to relate social reality to the filmic representation of women in Tamil films. Our sincere thanks to Elizebeth Harris, who edited Bhavani's paper and offered useful suggestions. Neluka Silva has concentrated on two aspects of the Sri Lankan media: Gender Representation in Modern Sri Lankan Theatre and the Impact of Advertising on Women. A slightly different exercise has been undertaken by Dr. Neloufer De Mel who has selected contemporary Sri Lankan English fictions for a gender-specific analysis. She has elaborated on the construction of femininity within other discourses in Sri Lankan fiction.
Despite these in-depth studies of the various aspect of media, there remained areas that needed to be incorporated to make it comprehensive and total in terms of the requirements of a book.
Hence, two more essays are added: on feminist media theories and a general introduction to the book. Both these are attempts to place the various studies in a feminist perspective. This foreword would not be complete without mentioning the outcome of the research. Though
attitudinal changes are slow, we made an attempt to write to newspaper editors, film producers and advertisers to get them to rethink their attitude to gender representation, to indulge in positive images and to give more weight to realism in their portrayals. However, this conscientization process undertaken by Women's Education and Research Centre will continue to be a constant feature of our activities.
Selvy Thiruchandran Director WERC

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Introduetion
Why are feminists concerned with media and their images? Feminists, it must be emphasised, are not merely engaged in the media as a literary review. They go beyond that. Their multi-dimensional concerns with the media, apart from being a literary critique, have a social dimension, which analyse the impact a media product leaves on the minds and behaviour of both women and men. While studying these effects there is simultaneously an inquiry into the mechanisms through which women are degraded. The levels and types of the degradation of women, where equality, dignity and honour are denied to them, are highlighted with a social consciousness. However, feminists are not alone in this task.
Video games such as Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog described as man eating tigers and electronic cocaine have been linked to increasing number of child suicides in Hongkong. Children's complaints of dizzy spells, nausea and numbness in arms in other part of South - East Asia have also been seen as the effect of such violent video games (I impact Vol. II No. 1 April 1994 p 11). It was a few months ago that we heard of a painful case referred to by a trial judge in England as a crime of unparalleled evil and barbarity. A toddler, snatched from his mother, was battered with bricks and a metal bar, and left to be sliced into two halves on a railway line, an incident with a striking resemblance to a scene. in Child's Play 3 - a horror movie. The Judge has remarked that violent video films may have played a part in the crime.
This is not to present a grim picture however. Taking the premise that technology is neither value-free nor neutral we can also list the success stories of women's groups and other social activists who have used technology and non-technological media as tools for empowerment, as tools for consciousness-raising as well as for creating awareness of social and personal issues. We have no doubt that the media creates an effect or an impact on viewers, listeners and readers. The effects can be both positive and negative. We need to be concerned therefore not only with the content of the media but also with the manner of presentation and the quality and type of men and women who produce is as it is they who are responsible for the

product. Such people should be mindful of the messages and the meanings the audience constructs and receives. That is why feminists direct their time and energy to study and research the content, the manner of presentation, the people who are responsible for the production and the power structures that control such productions. The meanings and messages, the impact, influence and effects such messages leave both in the consciousness and in the subsequent behaviour of women and men have also become areas of inquiry. However, the ultimate result of this whole exercise is to change the negative content and the negative ideology that supersedes such content. The assumption behind these statements is that content and message are mostly negatively gendered. The last task feminists are involved in is that of monitoring the media. Media studies have become a major part of both women's studies and other deciplines which are interested in the effects of the media from a social and pSychological point of view. The ultimate concern of the project, however, is to change the world.
The study, Women's Education and Research Centre conducted was part of our media monitoring project. The media personnel and others who attended the series felt that more exposure is needed and that the bOSSes who decide on the content especially in the advertising sector, need to be invited when such information is disseminated by researchers. They can be changed only by direct confrontation, where questions are asked and a two way process of a dialogue is created as a means of raising their consciousness. Those who usually attended our Seminar Series were those already converted to social thinking in general and to feminist concerns in particular.
Both the print and the visual media in Sri Lanka were monitored. Films, teledramas on television, TV advertisements, newspapers, women's pages in the mainstream media, and women's magazines were studied and analysed and the main trends identified. Most of the paperS presented are direct reportage and are not involved with much theorising, though this is not a serious defect as far as the objectives of the media monitoring project are concerned. However, theories cannot be altogether ignored. Hence an attempt is made to highlight a few theoretical premises.
The feminist concern with media started in the '60s. Betty Friedan's
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Feminine Mystique (1963) which influenced feminists in many ways criticised the media though not with detailed analysis. Following this many others were drawn into the media studies.
It was generally believed that women are either absent in the media as persons of worth or their roles are trivialised or condemned resulting in the creation and reconstruction of new patterns of discrimination which legitimise the old order of hierarchy and inequality. The second phase of the media critique had two interesting phases which interacted with each other to produce a paradigm: the ideological representation within particular power structures. In short the new development in theorising centred around the following:
The ideology of patriarchy which presupposes hierarchcal, relations inequality, oppression, Subordination discrimination is reproduced through media representation and has behind it, economic structures and social relations.
This complex assertion is slightly different from the early media studies. Elsewhere in the books I have categorised the types of feminist media theories and hence will not repeat them here but say something different that is connected to them.
Lana Rakow's Women Making Meaning (1992) while tracing the history of the feminist contribution to the study of media has also identified the 1980s as a turning point in communication. It was then that the mainstream disciplines acknowledged the challenges and contributions made by feminism to media studies. The personal is political has entered the field of media issues, and topics often overlooked were brought into the arena of media and communication studies. Pornography where women's bodies are used violently and with sadism, female sexuality, verbal harrasement consumerism, the male gaze for pleasure, and the patriarchal control exercised through signs symbol, and language were some of the issues with which the media images of men and women were associated. When the spectrum of media studies increased in the above order, a reconceptualisation of media theories followed. Though many feminists challenged the male bias in Freudian psycho- analytical theory it was used again in media studies to understand certain trends
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and manners of internalisation patterns. Women as a category of analysis was challenged and gender, a universal pattern of an identity factor, was rethought of. Women within the larger categories of race, class and ethnicity were discovered to have different experiences of subordination and discrimination. That the media have played an active role in making these patterns visible at one level and at another level have tried to legitimise them further was the complaint of many media studies in general; but women within these patterns of subordination had even more specific identity was a feminist discovery. The multi-disciplinary approach of feminism was brought again into the agenda of academia with regard to media studies. Post structuralism and Post-Modernism became the latest pet theories.
However, post-structuralism and post-modernism have also been met with criticism. Post-structuralist argument that the individual subject is created by ideology or discourse and language, has in one stride challenged the universalist and humanist identity. Post-Modernism while rejecting all narratives such as Marxism and Freudinism calls them essentialist theories, and opts for contexualism. Rejecting gender as a category fits well into the rejection of grand old theories and the contexualisation and localisation of issues connected with women into a now and here paradigm (when women are placed within the categories of race, class and ethnicity). These two theories too have no universal acceptance as tools for understanding a phenomenon. Both Post Structuralism and Post Modernism are also criticised for a lack of coherence and for its fragmentation and specificities and for its no position' stand.
Amidst all these grand positions our main concern is the content of the media. The easy way to categorise the contents is to either call them positive or negative images. The definition of positive entailes unpatriarchal, equal and dignified images. The negative connotes just the opposite. However, these categories seem inadequate. What is negative could very well have been the real image in society which was depicted with realism and what is positive could very well be a dynamic bossy boss of a woman, a stereotypical manager who is arrogant or hierarchically high. These images are far from being positive images. They are also rejected by the feminists as male images. This is not to de-emphasise the content factor but to say that contents also need be viewed contexually and with critical feminist
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positions. However, the content analysis factor is changed or rather improved with more sophistication. Film theory which is a combination of post- structuralism, psychoanalysis and Semiotic theories is brought into the arena of media studies. This theory, more specific to films, described how femininity is a construct as masculinity is, and how these constructions create subject positions which readers and viewers identify with. The identification process entails different readings and interpretations. The content of the media, that is, the images as reflection or distortion of social reality is now moved to the notion of representation. Representation involves a selection of presenting, structuring and shaping, and not merely the transmitting of an already existing meaning, but the more active labour of Making Things Mean (Stuart Hall 1982:64).
Stuart Hall's contribution to the theory of representation and the ideas of construction and meanings has linked media studies to cultural studies. His emphasis on the power relations as a structure which is not static but a site of constant contestation is a significant land mark. This has shifted the focus of attention from the content to response and the reception of the viewers and readers. The audience, he argues, may decode the encoded messages differently. The decoding process is determined by the experiences to which the viewers are Subjected to and exposed to. Some media content may strangely have an appeal to some, whereas others may not see the same appeal as strongly.
Bhavani Loganathan's decoding of the contents of Roja, a Tamil film, is very typical of this process. Roja, the heroine, is a product of a patriarchal ideology, a husband-centered rural woman. The state is clearly an agency of counter terrorism against the Kashmiri Muslim rebels. The Muslim rebels are treated as the other, the gun-toting terrorists whose terrorism is often laced with religious fundamentalism, an equation depicted by the constant prayers they were indulged in amidst their militancy. Indian nationalism is posited against Islamic nationalism, constructed in the film as Islamic terrorism. Loganathan's analysis of the film has clearly bypassed the above codes and her decoding has identified other positive images for the heroine.
Other encoded messages in the film have been significantly not
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decoded with the result, Loganathan's analysis has stopped with an identification of a positive side for the heroine's characterisation. In fact she has emphasised the independent mind and the sense of judgement of Roja the heroine. Others like Pandian (Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XXIX No. II March 12, 1994, P. 642-44) have seen the role of the other woman, beautiful and enticing who sets the hero free, as something of a formula in Indian film making. Loganathan's analysis has completely overlooked the role of the other woman. However, Pandian's assertion through his critical reading that "it is the other side of this overlap between state and patriarchy, which is the fulfilment of the Hindu middle class male desire signified in the film by the restoration of the nuclear family" is indeed another reading of the film. Accordingly Roja (the heroine) falling at the hero's feet for no reason is a version of the patriarchal Hindu (read Indian) norm.
Going by what Hall says, the researchers (audience) have decoded the messages differently. Each ones decoding is here determined by the experiences to which he/she is subjected to and exposed to. Hence the differential decoding by Loganathan and Pandian.
This introduction is certainly not to give answers to the numerous questions raised both by others and myself, but only to highlight certain relevant issues. This is also an attempt to draw linkages with some theories and perhaps to augment the theoretical approach of the papers collected in this volume. The main objective of those at WERC and the others who participated in the debate is clearly to demonstrate that human dignity in the person of a woman should be maintained at all costs and that obstacles placed towards such a goal should be identified and removed. That the contemporary media is the worst offender is a realisation that has grown from a simple identification process to one shrouded with sophisticated theories and explanations.
Selvy Thiruchandran
November 1994 Colombo 5. Sri Lanka

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eferenees
Friedan, Betty. 1963. The Feminine Mystique. New York:
W.W.Norton.
Hall, Stuart. 1980. Encoding/Decoding". In Stuart Hall, Dorothy Hobson, Andrew Lowe and Paul Willis (ed). Culture, Media, Language: Hutchinson, Ch.10, pp. 128-138.
Rakow, Lana F. (ed.). 1992. Women Making Meaning: New
Feminist Directorions in Communication. New York/ London: Routledge.
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Major Trends of Fenninist Approach
Selvy Thiruchandran
The general pattern of feminist scholarship that highlighted the absence of gender within the general social science theories applies equally to media theories as well. Focussing their emphasis on genderstereotypes in the narrative and presentation of films, they point out the patriarchal bias in the media theories. They argue that such stereotypes are treated as given and natural and are not questioned (Agarwal and Bhasin 1984, Russell 1980, Tuchman 1978). Though there are similarities in the way they approach the problem, there are disagreements among the feminists in the manner they are divided as liberal feminists, radical feminists and socialist feminists. Even within these groups of feminists they are disagreements in the way they approach media analysis. However they agree that the gender stereotypes and the specific messages given out specially for women with prescriptive behaviour patterns are representations of a patriarchal system. Women as wives or playing subsidiary roles like nurses to doctors and as secretary to the boss are identified as examples of the limited roles perpetuated for women. It is generally concluded that these are under-representations and not true to social reality and that they are part of a dominant value system. While this is a major trend of their argument the liberal feminist school identified the problem and suggested ways and means of changing the gender representation by appealing to women to enter the managerial and Supervisory positions in the media structures of management (Friedan 1963).
Socialist feminists argue mainly from Marxist analysis drawing heavily from the Marxist concept of ideology and the Gramscian theories of hegemony and common sense. The

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Althusserian concept of ideological state apparatus which includes the media as a socialising agent like the family and the church is also employed to understand the internalizing process. The emphasis significantly shifts to the construction of femininity as part of the dominant ideology. In tracing the cultural aspects of the reproduction of gender inequality they move away from the limits of economic determinism and the correspondence theory to seeing ideology as manifestations of a complex socio-economic process (Barret 1980, Steeves 1987:95-135, Winship 1987, Williamson 1978, Women's studies group 1978). Women Take Issue (Women's Study Group), for example lay special emphasis to engage with the personal dimensions of culture in the political context of feminist analysis.
The radical feminists have undertaken only a few media studies and hence their contribution to media theories is also limited. That the media are in the hands of the males and therefore the media representations will also have a male bias, is basically the premise from which they conclude that the media, operate to the benefit and sustenance of patriarchal structures in society. However, they too have contributed to an argument that "media distortion contributes to a general climate of discrimination and abuse of women (Davies et al., 1988:6).
Before concluding the major trends of the feminist approach to media, one has to also take note of gender objectification to which the feminists have drawn attention (Gaines 1982: 47-59). The objectification of women in terms of commodity and fetishism draws heavily on marxist models of culture linking their debate to capitalist relations of exchange.
It has however, to be added that within their focus on media as part of cultural studies or as an art form, many feminists have been influenced by the critical theory of the Frankfurt school, post-structuralism, psychoanalysis and semiology (Coward 1984). Journals such as m/f and Screen have carried media
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analysis of this nature. However, the Althusserian frame work was questioned by a few. Althusser's emphasis that the economic level finally and in the last instance determines ideology was seen as inadequate for understanding gender inequality (Firestone 1970, Mies 1986). Others including Daly have extended their argument to say that limited economic determinism does not anyhow explain gender inequality in relation to female sexuality (Daly 1978, Mackinnon 1989).
Dominant Wales, their einforcement and Containment
While I subscribe to the socialist feminists analysis which links the theories of hegemony and which rejects the economic reductionism, the critical theory of the Frankfurt School in my opinion has offered sophisticated and analytical tools for the understanding of the social inequality and relations of domination and subordination at the cultural level.
The Frankfurt school (Max Horkheimer (1972), Herbert Marcuse (1968, 1970), argued that the influence and power of the media was great. They condition our thinking and colour our visions "by inducing us to live mentally in a world of hypnotic definitions" (Tony Bennet, 1982:44). There is Sometimes an implicit and sometimes a more open understanding in their work that the mass media play a strategic and central role in reinforcing and consolidating the dominant Social norms and values that legitimise a particular social System. This understanding is relevant as far as the media analysis of gender specific portrayals are concerned.
However, the most worthwhile contribution of the Frankfurt school was the central role they assigned to ideology and its study, thereby undermining the economism of classical Marxism. Equally important is the attention they paid to the aspect of containment, by which they argued that the
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contradictions of capitalism are contained through the ideological factor of the mass media. This argument could be extended to understand certain aspects of gender subordination which too are contained by the ideological legitimisation sought through the hegemonic principle.
The Marxist thinking that the media reflect ideological images which are mostly of the dominant value-system, which are perpetuated, consolidated and reinforced with or without relation to social reality (McCron 1976, Hartman 1979) is similar to the Frankfurt school argument. The theory of the ruling class ideology as corresponding to the dominant value system is used in the socialist feminist media analysis as well.
However, in analysing the film image, the contents and the messages from a cultural perspective and in my task of linking them to the historical past and the contemporary present, I am compelled not to exclude semiology.
Film Theory, with Special teference to Semiology
Semiology as a form of film analysis has become popular for the last ten years. It has in a sense invalidated the former content analysis method of the conventional media theorists.
Semiology has its origin in the linguistic theory of Ferdinand de Saussure (1960) called the science of signs. Levi-Strauss (1967, 1969) later drew from this concept and developed this model of the language to study cultural systems and kinship relations. Marxist structuralism relying on a universal law of signification used this theory to analyse science and the entire social practices from the question of signification. There is a signifier (language) and a signified (concept). Events do not have or Suggest just one dogmatic meaning. Meanings are constructed through Social practices and languages. Meanings are
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constructed and produced through symbolizations. Meanings are not given. Hence different meanings are constructed of the same event. For one meaning to gain currency, it has in the process underwritten, marginalised or perhaps nullified other meanings constructed before. Thus it had by then, become a dominant discourse through institutions which preferred another construction. As to what choices should be made regarding the meaning produced and constructed, the conventional media analysts have opted for selection and exclusion but the signification theorists (Saussure 1960 and Jakobson 1956) have described the process as one of selection and combination from a social and symbolic content. There is indeed a struggle over meaning which results in the creation of collective social understandings. Hall has put it very effectively.
"The signification of events is part of what has to be struggled over, for it is the means by which collective social understandings are created - and thus the means by which consent for particular outcomes can be effectively mobilised. Ideology according to this perspective, has not only become a'material force', to use an old expression - real because it is 'realin its effects. It has also become a site of struggle (between competing definitions) and a stake - a prize to be won - in the conduct of particular struggles. This means that ideology can no longer be seen as a dependent variable, a mere reflection of a pre-given reality in mind. Nor are its outcomes predictable by derivation from some simple determinist logic. They depend on the balance of forces in a particular historical conjuncture: 'on the politics of significations" (Hall 1982:70).
Semiology was used by Christian Metz (1974a, 1974b) and Umberto Eco (1973, 1976) to analyse film on the same
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principles as language. That the film is like a language, the image like a word and the narrative sequence like a sentence, is the premise on which the theory is founded. The elementary narrative is central to the film experience. The film's code system is like grammar. There are codes specific to cinema and codes that cinema borrows from other media and cultural systems. The code that is unique to cinema is montage. The codes are the medium through which the messages are transmitted.
In the language of the film there are connotative meanings and denotative meanings. Denotation is simple, direct expression. The connotative ability of the film language is a unique factor. The connotation can be either conscious or unconscious.
Semiology's attempt to see meaning from a structured whole with a focus on the internal mechanism from which meanings are produced, offers a theory to place, in a meaningfully investigative perspective, the category of women. This could provide an understanding of the marginalised woman from an entire structure. The fact that semiotics views the entire film as a signifying system allows us to see that women function as a sign within a system. In the communicative function, the sign expresses denotative and connotative meanings, the direct, suggestive and inferential. The latter more often is united with a value system or a dominant norm or social practice of a period of history, a country or of an ethnic or religious group. The element of a connotation has linkages with the myth about women and about a social-historical period and its customs and traditions. What is more important is that in the system women themselves have the connotation of a myth. Her real signification is marginalised. What emerges is the image of what she signifies from man's point of view, what she represents for man. This section could be concluded by saying that attempts could be made to understand the woman question by examining the configuration of the ideological practices and an overall signifying system from the filmic experience.
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Audienee esponsve, Arreptanec, mitation and Internalisation
However, within the debate of feminist media theories or those of the main stream media theories, the aspect of audience response in terms of the impact a film has on the audience has remained controversial. The relationship between films and the audience is a complex one. Planning research methodology to identify and measure the impact is equally a complex procedure which can evoke arguments of methodological criticism. Films can be one of the sources which influence and shape attitudes and opinions. Films do not pick up themes from a cultural vacuum. Hence to decipher the influence and to separate it from other cultural influences and previous experiences is extremely difficult. The second problem is to ascertain whether the impact is totally due to the film or the film experience has triggered a deeply felt consciousness into an imitating act.
Thirdly, not all people imitate, internalise and build up role models. To this category belong all those researchers who feel they are above the ordinary audience and they are investigating others internalization. That the audience responds selectively and perceive differently is the assumption behind this. This is not to deny that there are indeed very specific cases where audience have imitated behaviour which was due to the film experience. This is where the critical theory of the Frankfurt school is useful. The media, it argues, perpetuates, consolidates and reinforces a particular ideology as part of the dominant value system. By this process, the media legitimises a particular ideology and the process of acceptance is made easy. The acceptance is also due to the fact of it being the hegemonic ideology through which the audience can seek social acceptance. Films can influence audiences by not simply forcing behaviour patterns for imitation but by offering specific attitudes and values and messages of a more general nonspecific kind, which the audience have already accepted. The contents of the film is presented as productions of knowledge
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or as cultural messages or as symbolic pattern of Social existence. Reinforcing conventional attitudes and norms are done more often than setting out new forms of attitudes and behaviour. Reinforcing conventional attitudes forms the basic ingredient for the commercial success of a movie. In the Indian context the film contents assume another dimension. In India, historically and culturally, all cultural productions whether books, plays, dance, music and all other art forms have connotations of divinity. These are considered the results of the grace of the goddess of learning called Saraswaty. Elevated to levels of divine revelation, they help the process of acceptance, imitation and internalization for many viewers.
Conclusions and the Core Questions
The conceptualisation of the media as perpetuating, consolidating and reinforcing a certain ideology, with or without relevance to social reality, should form as the core question of a feminist investigation. Whether women respond selectively to the messages on the basis of their divisions of class and caste also should form a significant part of the inquiry. This inquiry should also take note of the fact whether the messages of the films have persuasive powers and have brainwashed the women and conditioned their thinking. The construction of meanings, which is sought through the language, and its linkages to specific ideologies are discussed here to show their relevance to spoken language, everyday language and film language, in effect, to ideology. The significant factors such as, meanings expressed through the gender ideology and its relevance to Social reality and the internalisation through perception, (across caste and class) and containment should form the core theme of any media inquiry.
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Tuchman, Gaye. 1978. "The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass Media" in Tuchman, G. et al (ed). Hearth and Home. Images of Women in the Mass Media. New York, Oxford University Press.
Williamson, J. 1978. Decording Advertisements, Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. Marlon Boyar, London.
Winship, J. 1987. Inside Women's Magazines. Pandora Press,
London.
Women's Studies Group. 1978. Brimingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. Women Take Issue. Hutchinson, London.
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The Articulation of Gender in Cinematic AddresS Sinhala Cinema in 1992
Malathi de Aluis
Introduction
Feminist film criticism has been primarily influenced by semiotics - the study of the split nature of signs, by psychoanalysis which has attempted to dissolve the veneer of surfacial meanings through the study of the human unconscious, and by Marxist analyses of bourgeois ideology and hegemony (cf. Brown 1990, Mulvey 1989b, Saco 1992). As a feminist Social Anthropologist, I am especially interested in exploring the production of sexual difference through a bourgeois and patriarchal cinema and in seeking ways to rupture such dichotomous and rigid forms of gender representation and 'reading.'
There has been substantial research on the representation of women in Sinhala cinema upto date (cf. Abeysekera 1988,1989, Jayamanne 1981, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c, Jayaweera 1979, Silva 1989, Somaratne 1988) with the main contribution to this feminist critique being from Laleen Jayamanne who wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on this topic. However, though the exclusive focus on the representation of women has provided extremely useful insights into the sexism prevalent in the Sinhala cinema, it has also tended to "unwittingly reproduce the patriarchal treatment of Woman as the defined (and thus deviant) sex and Man as the invisible (and thus normal) sex" (Ang & Hermes 1991: 314). This position then becomes problematic both theoretically and politically. What is required of feminist film criticism today is an understanding of the articulation of gender, of feminine as well as
I am grateful to Pradeep Jeganathan for discussing with me many of the issues raised in this paper and to Malani Dassanaike and Bandara Menike for their companionship and their enthusiasm for the Sinhala cinema. This paper is dedicated to my father who instilled in me a love for the Sinhala novel and cinema much against my youthful anglicised protests

masculine subject positions that are on offer in the cinema. For as Michael Kimmel has argued: "Masculinity and femininity are relational constructs, the definition of either depends upon the definition of the other' (1987: 12).
One of the central aims of this paper then will be to analyse feminine and masculine subject positions that were made available through the Sinhala cinema during the latter half of 1992. I shall pay special attention to six of the seven films that were re-screened at the Sarasaviya Film Festival in March 1993: Sinhayangeth Sinhaya, Malsara Doni, Okkoma Kanapita, Chandi Rajina, UIIma yangana and Kula Geya. The Sarasaviya Film Festival is the only indicator of which films were popular during the previous year as it is based on box office returns recorded by the National Film Corporation (Daily
News 3/20/93)2.
However, before I move onto analysing the films I would like to briefly explore the socio-cultural engendering of male and female subjects.
Masculinizing Spectators and Authoring Subjects
Obviously, a conceptualisation of the audience' is crucial for a reading of any text produced by the electronic media be it film, TV or radio. Laura Mulvey's article "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" published in 1975 played a pivotal role in the analysis of the audience or spectator in the field of feminist film criticism. In her attempt to understand the 'magic' of the cinema, Mulvey argues that the spectator, controlled by the economy of the gaze and involved with the psychoanalytic concept of scopophilia (pleasure in looking) which includes voyeurism and fetishism, is 'masculinized."
The extreme contrast between the "darkness in the auditorium (which also isolates the spectators from one another) and the brilliance of the shifting patterns of light and shade on the screen" notes Mulvey, promotes the illusion of voyeuristic separation, "an illusion of looking
2 In the past, the seven most popular films were chosen from the votes sent in by readers of the film weekly Sarasaviya which is a publication of the government owned newspaper group Associated Newspapers of Sri Lanka.
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in on a private world" (1975: 8). This positioning allows the spectators to repress their exhibitionism and project their repressed desires onto the performer (ibid). This desired object, the performer, is the fetishised woman who "stands in patriarchal culture as a signifier for the male other, bound by a symbolic order in which man can live out his fantasies and obsessions through linguistic command by imposing them on the silent image of woman still tied to her place as bearer, not maker, of meaning" (1975: 7). The woman is 'silent' because in a “world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female'"(p. 9). This passive and silenced woman is simultaneously looked at and displayed with her appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact. But her display also functions at two levels: "as erotic object for the characters within the screen story, and as erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium, with a shifting tension between the looks on either side of the screen' (ibid).
Mulvey received a great deal of criticism for having 'masculinized' her spectator/audience and she attempted to reply her critics in
another article in 1981.3 Here, she notes that the persistent question she received was 'what about the women in the audience' (1989a: 29). But one could also ask what about the homosexuals in the audience 2 This latter question illuminates another crucial issue that often gets elided when we talk about a gendered audience; the multiplicities of subject positions that exist within the categories of 'male' and female. As Virginia Nightingale has remarked, "the qualities that divide women, like class, ethnicity, age, education, are always of less significance than the unifying qualities attributed to women, such as inability to know or say what they want, the preoccupation with romance and relationships, the ability to care for, to nurture, others' (1990: 25). Similarly, there exists a typology of essentialised male character traits that are invariably imposed on men (cf. Easthope 1986).
In Mulvey's reply to her critics, she also refers to another articulation of gender that is often naturalised and taken for granted: "In-built patterns of pleasure and identification impose masculinity as point of
3 "Afterthoughts on Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' inspired by King Vidor's Duel in the Sun (1946)" in Framework 1981 and republished in Laura Mulvey, Visual and Other Pleasures. Bloomington: IndianaOniv. Press 1989. I will be citing from the latter publication.
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view"; a point of view which is also manifest in the general use of the masculine third person" (1989a: 29). This is a crucial point which I will return to later,
My major criticism of Mulvey is that she relies too much on psychoanlytic analysis which leads her to often make sweeping, universalizing and essentialising statements about human behaviour. She is unable to capture the polysemy of cinema audiences as her research is not socially grounded. I hope to rectify this absence in Mulvey by seeking to understand the sociological formulations of sexual identity and gendered subject positions through a poststructuralist feminist reading of sociocultural construction.
As feminists we take as our starting point the patriarchal structure of society. Simply put, the term 'patriarchal' refers to power relations in which women's interests are subordinated to the interests of men. Patriarchal power rests on the social meanings given to biological sexual difference. For example, one of the fundamental patriarchal assumptions is that women's biological difference fits them for different social tasks. As Mary Poovey points out, the patriarchal assumption here is not that women are not as important or valuable as men but that they are naturally equipped to fulfill different social functions, primarily those of wife and mother (1988). Being a good wife and mother calls for particular qualities, which are thought to be naturally feminine, such as patience, emotion and self-sacrifice. It is these expectations about women's 'natural femininity' that also structure their access to the labour market and public life. Therefore, it is taken for granted that women are best suited to the service industries and 'caring' professions such as nurses, teachers, housemaids while the 'aggressive' worlds of management, decisionmaking and politics are best left to the males.
it was the French feminist Simone de Beauvoir, writing as early as 1949 who first introduced the revolutionary notion that "woman was not born but made." Inher extraordinary book Le Deuxieme Sexe (The Second Sex) de Beauvoir was the first to attempt a total synthesis of the biological, psychological, cultural and historical destiny of the concept and situation of woman by disentangling notions of 'femaleness' from 'femininity'. Her central thesis was that throughout the centuries women have been forced into a secondary place in the world in relation to men through the imposition of 'natural' 'feminine' characteristics on women when in actuality these characteristics have been constructed for women by dominant
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patriarchal structures within society and have nothing to do with the biological make up of women.
To say that patriarchal relations are structural is to also suggest that they exist in the institutions and social practices of our society such as the family, the school, places of worship, the law, media, ceremonies and rituals etc. It is through these seemingly unconnected institutions and practices or "Ideological State Apparatuses' as Louis Althusser calls them, that we become socialized into our appropriate subject positions. In other words, we become trained to play a certain role-to behave and think in socially acceptable ways. Althusser described this process as interpelation (1971: 162-3). To interpellate can be thought of as the pushing or pulling of an abstract person into a particular role, a subject position. It is likened to hailing and "can be imagined along the lines of the most commonplace everyday police (or other) hailing: "Hey you there!' "(ibid).
Of crucial importance here is the fact that this process of interpellation relies on a structure of recognition by the hailed individual of her/himself as the subject of ideology. As Weedon points out, this is also a process of misrecognition "in the sense that the individual, on assuming the position of subject in ideology, assumes that she is the author of the ideology which constructs her subjectivity" (1987: 30-1, emphasis author's). It is to this positioning that Teresa de Lauretis also speaks (albeit from a different theoretical approach): "The construction of gender is the product and the process of both representation and self-representation" (1987:9).
Antonio Gramsci’s somewhat scattered speculations on hegemony also illuminates the workings of misrecognition. The brilliance of the concept of hegemony is that it provides an explanation of bourgeois patriarchal rule as being effected not so much by sanctions and coercion as by the consent and passive compliance by subordinated classes and genders (1971: 12). As I noted above, this passive consenting may not necessarily be seen as such by the interpellated subject who may even derive a certain sense of power through her/his subject position given a specific context. For example, many of the young girls with whom I went to the cinema wanted to get married so that they could have a home of their own inspite of them being aware of the life of drudgery their mothers lead and that would in turn await them.
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Yet, as Raymond Williams who has explored the operations of cultural hegemony has noted, hegemony also does not passively exist as a form of dominance. "It has continuously to be renewed, recreated, defended, and modified. It is also continually resisted, limited, altered, challenged by pressures not at all its own" (1977: 112). It is in such a context that the medium of film can be doubly persuasive as an arena of audio and visual pleasure. The lure of the cinema, "its invitation to be a certain kind of woman' is best illustrated by film critic Laleen Jayamanne who notes that after watching several Sinhala films a day over a period of weeks, "I found myself moving and regulating my gaze in the manner of the 'good girls' of the Sri Lankan cinema" (1992a: 71).
The above example returns us to Mulvey's formulation of a 'masculine point of view' and Weedon's delineation of "misrecognition. The female spectator here not only unconsciously imitates a form of behaviour that she has learnt will arouse male desire, but she also
derives a certain pleasure and power from such posturing through misrecognising that she is the author of this reproductive behaviour.
Formula Films & Heterosexual Desire
Sinhala cinema originated in the mid-forties and for about two decades its audience consisted mainly of the urban social classes (Savarimuththu 1977, Uyangoda 1989). Therefore, from its very inception, it was "ideologically stigmatized' by the nationalist intelligentsia as a "form of entertainment evolved from among urban folk of unacceptable moral values' and thus viewed "as a source of moral corruption and an agency of ethical degeneration and pollution' (Uyangoda 1989: 37). From the fifties onward there was a concerted move by the Sinhala intelligentsia, pioneered by the film critic Jayavilal Villegoda to create a truly indigenous Sinhala cinema. Two
Though she is aware that it is an oppressive pleasure and notes that the
solution lies in not denouncing the pleasurable but that the task of feminists
ဂျိမှိရှိ be p "call for, work for, new kinds of pleasures that are not oppressive" 1992a: 71).
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important components of this "true cinema" was that (1) it should be 'realistic' and aesthetically refined and (2) it should be home-grown and thus, the antithesis of 'formula' films that merely ape the Tamil and Hindi cinema of India (ibid.: 40).
Even today, almost all film criticism centres around analysing films according to the above criteria and consistently valorises the realistic while castigating the melodramatic formula film. Often, Sinhala film critics completely ignore formula films and only concentrate on
reviewing films that appear on the fifth circuit. However, any cursory glance at the box office records will show that it is the formula films that continue to draw the largest crowds and therefore, I consider the study and analysis of these films to be crucial to our understanding of the Sinhala film audience and the articulation of gendered subject positions. It is heartening that much of Laleen Jayamanne's recent writings have been on the form of Sri Lankan melodrama "that is critically thoroughly disreputable" and which has been "castigated decade after decade by local film critics and intelligentsia" (1992b: 31). Jayamanne's work in theoretically and historically exploring the centrality of this genre in Sri Lankan popular culture has been invaluable.
According to Jayamanne, the formula film in Sri Lanka has certain "scenes of attraction" that are very predictably identified with it: Love scenes, Night Club scenes, Wedding scenes, Lullaby scenes, Crying scenes, Fight scenes, Rape scenes, Murder scenes and Deathbed scenes. These scenes form a repertoire from which various combinations can
appear in a montage of attractions (1992b: 33). The audience appreciation "of such a flexible structure is striking, and the formula's ability to effect instant displacement between reality and fantasy could certainly open the social field to cinematic refiguring" (ibid).
These are regarded as high quality films and receive a special certificate of approval from the National Film Corporation. They are also screened at only specific cinema halls which are reserved for the exclusive showing of such films eg, the Regal Cinema in Colombo.
The combination that is used by the two most prolific formula filmmakers today, Hemasiri Sellapperuma and Sunil Soma Pieris, weaves in family themes, romance and parental love, with songs, comedy and heroism (Sarasaviya 7/9/92). These two directors have got this formula down so well that they are able to make a film within 12 to 15 days (Ibid).
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What also holds and keeps the Sri Lankan audience hooked on this formula has to do with the articulation and circulation of certain (hetero)sexual desires (Jayamanne 1992a: 59). The realization or failure, the 'vicissitudes of heterosexual desire are articulated within a series of discourses to do with class, family, kinship, caste and religion... the element of spectacle vis-a-vis song and dance is central' (ibid).
Not surprisingly, the majority of spectators who view these formula films are the very epitome of heterosexual coupling. At any weekend screening of these films, the packed auditorium is a sea of boy-girl, girl-boy couples. From the point of purchasing the tickets (the girls decorously stand to one side until each of their partners in the line come to collect them) and the softdrinks and snacks (the girls sit and wait till its purchased and brought to them) to the strong male arm that creeps around the girl's shoulders as soon as the lights dim, the male is the chief actor.
This ritualisation of cinema viewing by young lovers has often been 'explained' with: "Oh, they just go to neck." Undoubtedly, the darkened cinema hall does provide a very conducive setting now that the Galle Face Green and Vihara Maha Devi Park is being policed at the behest of elite moralists who can afford the privacy of a hotel room. Yet, this explanation seems far too simplistic. A visit to the cinema is still a very special event and though the price of an O.D.C ticket is still below Rs 20.00 it tends to be a rather expensive venture when one adds on the cost of transportation, snacks etc. The invitation "to see a film" by a boyfriend' is still considered to mark a transition from a casual friendship to something more serious. As one girl in my neighbourhood confided in me: "I don't go to the cinema with any old boy. Goodness, one never knows what they will do to you once they get you inside...Of course, the fact that you are surrounded by other people is a big comfort.'
If cinema viewing is so much a part of the courtship ritual in Sri Lanka, does the contents of the films really matter ? Let me preface my speculations with an anecdote. One of the films screened at the 1992 Sarasaviya Film Festival was titled Madh us a may a
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(Honeymoon). Obviously, the film title had fed many youthful fantasies and the cinema hall was absolutely jam packed with couples that day. However, as the film progressed, I noticed an unusual restlessness among the lovers. There were no song and dance scenes and no meaty fights either. Rather, this black and white film centred around the sober theme of a happy marriage gone awry due to the impotence of the husband as a result of an accident and his subsequent imagining that his wife was comitting adultery with his best friend. Soon after the intermission, when the relationship between husband and wife got progressively worse, there began a steady attrition of couples until the auditorium was half empty by the time the film ended. What was the reason ?
I suggest that it was not merely the paucity of the most popular 'scenes of attraction' such as song and dance and fight sequences but the fact that this film dealt with impotence --the absolute negation of virile masculinity. Impotence here disrupts the in-built patterns of pleasure and identification that impose masculinity as point of view' (cf. Mulvey 1989:29).
Let me return to my earlier point about the multiplicity of gendered subject positions on offer in the cinema and connect it to Raymond William's formulation of hegemony. I would like to suggest that though a multiplicity of subject positions are offered to the spectator, there are some positions that dominate over, others. This domination may not just work across genders i.e., male over female, but also within genders. It is this kind of articulation that Connell (1987) defined as "hegemonic masculinity." Robert Hanke who explored this notion further has argued that hegemonic masculinity refers to the "ascendancy of a particular version or model of masculinity that operates on the terrain of common sense and conventional morality that defines what it means to be a man, thus securing the dominance of some men (and the subordination of women) within the sex/gender system" (1992:190).
In addition, I would like to suggest that paralleling this articulation of hegemonic masculinity is an hegemonic femininity; its chief feature being that it is hierarchically subordinate to an hegemonic masculinity but in turn subordinates other subject positions of femininity and subordinate masculinity. These two formulations of
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sexual difference are constantly defined and re-defined vis a vis the other subordinated positions in the Sinhala formula film. In the following section, I shall explore the unfolding of hegemonic masculinity and femininity in some of the formula films I viewed in 1992.
Hegemonic Masculinity & Femininity
Sinhayangeth Sinhaya (Hero of all Heros) directed by Sunil Soma Pieris and Malsara Doni directed by Hemasiri Sellapperuma, both of which were shown at the ’93 Sarasaviya Film Festival, were excellent examples of hegemonic masculinity on display. The hero in both these films (played by Sanath Gunetilleke) is young, handsome, good, confident, competant and fully in control. He usually operates alone and achieves results through violence and action epitomising what Connell describes as a sure requirement for the sustenance of patriarchal power: "a hypermasculine ideal of toughness and dominance" (1987: 80). The heroine is his love interest who usually is the cause for this display of valourous action, and the final prize. She is young, innocent, beautiful and nubile and often falls prey to the "damsel in distress syndrome" (Pecora 1992: 70) which climaxes with her being rescued by the hero. As Mulvey has reminded us, "the presence of woman is an indispensable element of spectacle" (1975: 9).
In Malsara Doni, Tina (Geetha Kumarasinghe) who is a tough, sharp witted pickpocket who has survived many years in the very den of vice -the shanty, suddenly becomes helpless when she is kidnapped by the boss of her crime ring (who she has manipulated all this while) and is saved by the hero just before she is raped. In Okkoma Kanapita, these heroics are taken to a riduculous extreme. The heroine (Sabitha Perera) and her baby have to choke in a smouldering hut for at least 15 minutes (while several other characters just stand around tearing their hair and looking helpless) until the hero (Sashi Wijendra) fights all the bad guys' and finally comes to her rescue. In Sinhayangeth Sinhaya, Mahesh Pieris (Sanath Gunetilleke) is the ultimate hero, rescuing a variety of 'damsels in distress. His first conquest is a young mother who is about to walk into a bank that is being held up at gunpoint. The audience literally held their breath as they watched him fight off the robbers while trying to stop the baby's
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pram rolling all the way down the steps. His next conquests are two female university students who can't swim and fall into the swimming pool. Then it was the turn of his sister who was abducted by a rival gang. He manages to prevent her rape but has to go to jail for clubbing her woud be rapist to death. Finally, he rescues the heroine from her kidnappers and later, the ecstatic couple decide to move to
Trincomalee" so that the hero can start life afresh. The heroine's wishes do not count as of course, all she wants in life is to give up her job as a popular singer and be with her dream man. In Malsara Doni, it is once again the hero who controls the heroine's future. When Tina is offered the opportunity of becoming a filmstar; Janaka scoffs: "Mata thamai wada, eyata gedara" (employment for me, domesticity for her).
However, the heroine's rescue can often extend beyond the merely physical. In Malsara Doni, Tina is not only saved from her mafia boss but also from a life of moral degradation. Luckily for Janaka, Tina is not all bad.' Flashbacks of her "innocent youth" show her in a lama sari holding lotus flowers and dancing with her younger sister, and selling flowers at the village temple in order to support the family after her father's death. She is then tricked into coming to the big bad city and in her attempts to escape from a brothel, falls into the clutches of Akbar the thug who teaches her to become a pickpocket. Her greatest achievement is that she has managed to keep her virginity intact and she chides Janaka for thinking that she is not Ahinsaka (innocent). In Okkoma Kanapita, the heroine who is a domestic servant is not only rescued from a burning hut but also from a life of poverty and exploitation by her lover who is one of the heirs to the walauwa she works at.
In both Sinhayangeth Sinhaya and Malsara Doni, the heroine is a commodity of visual and erotic pleasure before she comes under the control of the hero. Rohini in Sinhayangeth Sinhaya is a popular singer who strides about the stage in a slinky black dress and high heels pleasuring the audience with her sexy figure and voice. Tina in Malsara Doni mesmerises her drunken mafia boss and cohorts with a flamboyant and sensuous dance. Their commodification comes full
7. The choice of Trincomalee is rather ambiguous in the context of the war in the North-east, especially as Mahesh had exhibited a desire to join the army before he was unfairly framed by an unscrupulous policeman.
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circle when they are 'exchanged" between the 'good hero and the 'bad' guys after an extended fight sequence. The hero's discontinuation of the heroine's opportunities for public' spectacles then is understood as being quite natural' and 'right' for she should now only be accessible to her husband's 'private’ gaze; she is his property.
In Chandi Rajina (The Rowdy Queen) directed by Somawansa Pieris, the eroticisation of Nalini (Sabitha Perera) as a sensuous dancer in a night club is also used to counter her other more ascendant persona in the film which is that of a skilled martial arts exponent who struts about in trousers, high heeled boots and a bandana, and is even tougher than her male assistants. The reason for her masculinization is legitimised by the fact that her main mission in life is to avenge her parents' deaths. However, this is understood to be a temporary phase as she also has a macho policeman boyfriend who not surprisingly, first saw and fell in love with her as she provocatively danced around him at the night club. At the end of the film they are paired together suggesting the familial tragectory of their future.
The hegemonic masculinity of the male hero is also foiled by his friends who are 'good, and his enemies who are bad. In Malsara Doni, Janaka's two closest cohorts are comical ineffectual men. One of them, Linganaga, is a thin effeminate man who constantly wrings his hands and speaks in a high accented voice. He is a continuous source of mirth through his inability to pronounce Sinhala words which is the usual sterotype of Tamils in Sinhala films and theatre. These comic characters' failing attempts at fighting the 'bad' guys who set upon the hero or heroine accentuates the machismo and prowess of the male hero and often provide comic relief in these usually lengthy fight sequences.
The male hero also often has other male friends who either look up to him as a role model (Malsara Doni ) or fight beside him but never quite match upto him. The best example of this latter friendship and male bonding was evident in Sinhayangeth Sinhaya. Mahesh and Dhananja (Ranjan Ramanayake) become friends in the university and belong to the same male clique that spends most of their time ogling girls. However, Mahesh proves his prowess over the others at an early stage when he takes a Rs 500/- bet that he could get "one of these snobbish university beauties" to fall in love with him. The fact that he is a Swimming coach is an added advantage. His strategy is to
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evince interest in one pretty girl so that the girl he really wants to attract --Rohini, becomes so jealous that she will do anything in her power to make him love her even to the point of jumping into the pool in the hope that he will rescue her and making the other girl's life so difficult that she leaves the university. However, Mahesh's plans go somewhat awry when Rohini confronts him boasting about his methods of conquest at the party he has thrown for his friends with his winnings. In order to placate the now irate Rohini who refuses to speak to him again, he 'attempts' suicide by jumping from a building in the university. When Rohini who is now distraught rushes to his side all her anger forgotten, the spectator realises that this is once again a trick that has been hatched by Mahesh and his friends as he has been able to jump straight into their outstretched arms and is thus quite unscathed.
This male bonding at the expense of a woman is taken to an extreme when Mahesh later collects Rs 50,000 for rescuing Rohini from her abductors, rejects her, and seeks out Dhananja and his garage gang who
had helped him in the rescue.8 He gifts the money to Dhananja so that he can "open a decent garage without having to put up shop under various trees." Be it Rs 500/- or 50,000/-, Rohini once again becomes the terrain for monetary transactions between these males.
Mahesh and Dhananja's friendship is strengthened through another kind of transaction as well. When Mahesh gpes to prison for killing his sister's would be rapist, it is Dhananja who volunteers to look after his sister during that year and at the end of the film, the suggestion is that he will be marrying her. The friends will soon have a tie of kinship binding them as well.
The bad guys encountered by the hero could be divided into two categories.
(1) middle or upper class men who are propelled towards crime and corruption primarily through greed.
It was probably this blatently callouse treatment of the heroine and the extensive fight sequences that led one female spectator to grumble that this was "a man's film" (overheard in the Ladies' Toilet).
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(2) lower class men who are either hired by the former or
whose 'evil' deeds have been thwarted by the "good hero.
The men in the first category are usually older to the hero --often the father or uncle of his love interest (Sinhayangeth Sinhaya, Chandi Rajina) who epitomise the degradation of the middle and upper classes. They usually drink (foreign alcohol) excessively, womanise and treat the women and servants at home very cruelly. In Sinhayangeth Sinhaya, Rohini's uncle lives off the wealth he accrues through her singing and locks her up in a room without food when she refuses to continue to do so. In Chandi Rajina, it is the fathers of both Nalini's lover and Sarath's love who had killed their parents and continue to be involved in wide scale fraud. However, in the ensuing battles that occur between these men, great effort is made not to have them killed by the hero and would be son-in-law. In Sinhayangeth Sinhaya, Rohini's uncle is killed by a repenting henchman of his and in Chandi Rajina, just as Sarath gets ready to shoot his intended father-in-law, his sister Nalini jumps in front of him and does the job herself.
The lower class 'bad' guys or thugs, invariably live in shanties, go around in gangs and drink excessively (usually kasippu) and womanise. Like the ubiquitous mercenary, they have no morals and are ready to do anything for money. The human side of these thugs are rarely seen as their main function is to facilitate the fight sequences which are essential to establish the machismo and goodness' of the hero who is always on the right' side. The grand finale of most formula films is the fight between the hero and the gang leader which provides the opportunity for the most spectacular displays of fighting. For though it is a foregone conclusion that the hero will be the victor, it is also acknowledged that the gang leader is the most skilled fighter next to the hero. In Sinhayangeth Sinhaya, an interesting class dimension was also added to this battle. Mahesh Pieris who is very much a middle class kid turned bad' due to an injustice that had been done to him, is actually encouraged by the police chief (who had been an acquaintance of his parents) to bash Cheena the thug leader to pulp so that he can get his frustrations (lodiya) out completely. The irony here is that though it was a corrupt police officer who had framed Mahesh, it is the lower class thug who has no 'connections who has to bear the brunt of Mahesh's frustrations.
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The role of the police in many of these films is also very interesting, In Sinhayangeth Sinhaya, the hero encounters both "good' and 'corrupt' senior police officers while in Chandi Rajina, the heroine's lover is an upstanding macho police inspector whose father unknown to him is a corrupt crook. Howerever, it is the lower rungs of the police force--the lowly sargeant on his beat, who often provides much comic entertainment. Though they never engage in fights with the hero, it is made blatently obvious that they are in awe of him and recognise him as being more macho than them. This was best illustrated in a scene in Sinhayangeth Sinhaya where two police officers on the beat (played by comic actors Freddie Silva and Bandu Samarasinghe) are looking for a dangerous thug called Podda (the hero). When they actually meet Podda and realise that he matches the photograph they are carrying they become terrified and comically cringe and fawn over the hero until he cooly takes the photograph from them and defaces it by drawing on it. The two policemen are now completely reassured that this is not the man they are seeking and merrily go on their way.
Interestingly, in Roy de Silva'sOkkoma Kanapita (Everything Inside Out), which was advertised as a "Comedy for the Entire Family," the hegemonic masculinity of the hero was continuously paralelled and parodied through the portrayal of an infantalized and homosexualized masculinity. Freddie Silva who is a stereotyped comic actor, plays the role of the mentally retarded eldest son from a wealthy walauwe. His faithful man servant, Kanapita is also played by another stereotyped comic actor in the Sinhala cinema -- Bandu Samarasinghe. It is Kanapita who washes and dresses Freddie and follows him around all day. The two men are constantly seen hugging and cuddling each other and on Freddie's wedding night Kanapita is found sleeping under his master's bed. When the bride's overtures get too steamy, the master seeks refuge with his manservant under the bed. Freddie has failed as a student in the nursery and he fails again in marriage. Though he desires a woman, he can never consummate his marriage due to his fear and 'shyness.'
On the other hand, Freddie's younger brother (played by Sashi Wijendra) is a handsome, tall young man who returns home after a ten year stay in London. Within a few days, he manages to captivate and
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charin the beautiful domestic servant in their house and even makes her pregnant. He goes back to London but manages to return in the nick of time to beat up all the 'bad' guys, save his sweetheart and son from a burning hut and settle all the outstanding family problems.
The brothers' choice of women is also interesting. Freddie's wife (played by Sumana Amerasinghe) is a tough, independant young woman who has married him on the condition that she be allowed to control his wealth. She bears all the markers of a 'westernized' women: wears expensive dresses, make up, high heels and sun glasses and drives her own car. When the long lost second son arrives from London, it is only she who can converse in English with him. She constantly bosses her husband and his parents and is capable of even beating up some of the 'bad' guys. However, she is a failure as a woman as the only man who would marry her is an imbecile who cannot impregnate her. In one of the song and dance sequences, this 'retarded' couple is shown getting vicarious pleasure by holding the younger brother's baby.
In contrast, the younger son's sweetheart (played by Sabitha Perera) is a beautiful nubile young woman who is hotly pursued by many men. She is innocent, loving, obedient and always decorously dressed in redde and hatte or osariya. She is also the perennial victim and "damsel in distress. As a domestic servant, she is at the beck and call of everyone at the walauwe including the older servants, one of whom sexually harasses her. She falls in love with the second son of the walauwe who impregnates her and then has to rush back to London leaving her to bear the brunt of her employers' fury. She and her baby are kidnapped and locked up in a hut which is later set on fire. However, her fertility and faith in her master is rewarded when he comes to her rescue like a 'real' man.
All the formula films I have discussed here have focused on heterosexual love exemplified through the youthful passions and posturings of the hero and heroine. Laleen Jayamanne has described this sub-genre as the 'Girl-Meets-Boy Formula' where the plot is structured around boy-meets-girl -- conflicts - resolution of conflicts
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(1992a: 58).9 The Sinhala formual film is not only formulaic in its plot structure and combination of "attractions' but also in how it codifies the bodies of its actors and actresses. Mervyn Jayatunga always plays the role of a 'bad' guy while actors such as Freddie Silva and Bandu Samarasinghe are perennial comic figures. Sabitha
Perera has become the quintessential nubile heroine0 while Sanath Gunetilleke and Jeevan Kumaranatunga (nephew of the now legendary filmstar Vijaya Kumaranatunga) battle it out for the role of the ultimate macho hero. This rivalry now seems to extend beyond the silver screen as Sanath Guinetilleke appears as one of the UNP candidates for the Western Province (Kotte) and Jeevan Kumaranatunge appears as one of the Peoples' Alliance candidates for the Western Province (Kelaniya) in the forthcoming Provincial Council elections.
Counter-hegemonic Masculinities
and Femininities
Raymond Williams has pointed out that hegemony not only has to be consistently renewed and defended but that it is also continually resisted and altered (1977: 112). The renewal and reiteration of hegemonic masculinity and femininity was clearly visible in the Sinhala formula films I discussed above. Unfortunately, they did not promise anything further and I had to look to the fifth circuit films to discover any creative re-working or challenge to this hegemony. Two such films that deviated from the formula film model were Sisila Gini Ganie (The Cold Catches Fire) and Kula Geya (The Family
House). The former incidentally, won the OCIC11 award for the best film of 1992 while the latter won the Sarasaviya award for the best
° The other sub-genre she describes as the 'Formula of Marital Life": married life - conflicts --resolution of conflicts, seems to have been absent here.
0 She however, continues to face competition from the somewhat aging stars like Malini Fonseka and Geetha Kumarasinghe and younger, up and comin actresses such as Sangeetha Weeraratne, Dilhani Ekanayake and Dilani Abeywardene.
11 This Catholic institution has contributed greatly to train competant and sensitive film personnel and to encourage the propagation of the Sinhala art film in Sri Lanka. An award from this organisation is the highest honour a film could receive in Sri Lanka.
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film of 1992. Interestingly, both films dealt with how men get corrupted albeit in an extremely clichetic fashion. In Sisila Gini Canie, Harris Makalande (Sanath Gunetilleke) the handsome and amiable lawyer from a 'respectable' Kandyan Sinhala family gets corrupted when he joins politics. In Kula Geya, Mervyn an honest, hardworking papadam salesman is lured by the grasping, luxurious world of business. However, unlike the macho and infallible heros of the formula films, both these men are shown to be not only strong and dominant but succeptible to many weaknesses and shortcomings as well. The pursuance of power and wealth leads both men to become extremely selfish and tyrannical and to forsake their families and good morals. However, the moral degeneration of these two men is very problematically exemplified through their extra-marital relationships and their respective mistresses are posited as erotic signifiers of their 'fall.'
In Sisila Gini Ganie, Annette (Sabitha Perera) is a half breed (part Sinhala, part Burghur) Christian woman who until she falls in love with Harris, ridicules marriage and its encumbent imprisoning familial ties and merrily flits from one relationship to another. While we are informed that the politician's name is Harris Makalande from the inception, his mistress Annette is rarely
mentioned by name. 12 Rather, she is primarily defined in terms of her (sexual) practices and attire. When Harris first sees her on the dance floor and inquires who she is, his friend smirkingly replies "Oh, she will grab onto anyone who will dance with her...everybody around here knows her..." As the plot thickens, she becomes known as the
'woman in the white dress."3
This sexually loose half breed's 'other' is Harris's, long suffering wife Kumari, who like him is from a well established Kandyan Sinhala family. While Kumari is always impeccably groomed in rich Kandyan sarees or a decorous housecoat, Harris's mistress only wears
12 Annette herself draws our attention to this after she has sex with Harris for the first time: "What sort of woman must you take me for, you don't even know mv. name."
Annette appears mainly in white dresses in this film which is a disruptive signifier in her characterization of a loose woman. I am grateful to Pradeep Jeganathan for suggesting that this colour coding may be an attempt to signify her innocence in the context of the crime that is committed in the film rather than her moral/sexual innocence or purity.
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dresses and in one scene, just a sheet. Kumari is also the perfect wife and mother while the mistress becomes too demanding of Harris's time and though she now longs to get married to him and have his babies she fails miserably in this task. While Harris sets his mistress up in a beautiful house and garden in which she happily plays the devoted housewife-decorating, cooking, gardening and serving tea, she lacks the final binding link to Harris which is the bearing of a child. We are treated to a rather extended shot of Annette lovingly hanging a painting of a mother and child in her sitting room and various scenes of her vain attempts to befriend Harris's son.
In all fairness to Sanath Gunatilake the scriptwriter and producer of this film, the characterization of the half breed femme fatale is done quite sympathetically. Harris's mistress has much more spirit and personality than his wife. While Kumari rather despairingly and passively accepts the fact that Harris has a mistress, Annette refuses to be sequestered in Harris's beautiful house for days on end without seeing him in order that his political campaign can continue smoothly. When a furious Harris hits her for 'abducting his son she hits back and fells him to the ground.
However, once in police custody she becomes the victim of various forms of abuse. Her private diary is 'edited' and used to the advantage of her previous lover, the Police Inspector. The media in turn uses her as the pivot of a massive sex scandal. One of the most insightful moments of the film for me was the conversation between a journalist and his new paper editor, towards the beginning of the film. The journalist is having a hard time collecting facts' about the disappearance of Harris's son until he begins to realise that a woman is involved in this case. When he reports this suspicion to his editor, the immediate reaction is "excellent, this will add to the mystery...let us headline the story beautiful woman...' at which point the journalist interjects that he has no details of the woman and is not sure whether she is beautiful or not. This leads the editor to launch into a very perceptive exposition on how people's curiosity is better captured by a reference to a beautiful woman irrespective of the fact of how she actually looks.
Though some critics of Sisila Gini Ganie have described it as a nihilistic film which ends with the question "What is the truth ?' I
4 O

felt that there was a calculated attempt to establish the innocence of
Harris's mistress and thus a certain 'truth,' for the spectator, despite the fact that the accused may not receive a similar judgement from the law or the media in the context of the film. However, I was disappointed that the only way the spectator's sympathy for this spirited and passionate woman was enlisted was by reducing her to that of a victim of patriarchy. From a carefree woman who cogently criticizes the patriarchal institutions of marriage and the family, she is reduced to being a frustrated housewife who longs for the gilded cage that she had evaded for so long. When confronted by the highly fanciful deductions of the police inspector she can only weep and call
upon God as her witness. 15
The establishment of 'truth’ was also the connecting thread that tightly bound Kula Geya together. The pseudo detectives here are a newly wed couple on their honeymoon who seek to unravel the truth behind the breakup of the bride's parent's marriage. The daughter (Vasanthi Chaturani), who had all this while blamed her mother for leaving her suddenly begins to realise that there is another, more seamy side to this story which is related through flashbacks. This 'seamy side of the story is exemplified by Ramya (Veena Jayakody) who first appears as Mervyn's best friend's mistress. She is an attractive and suave businesswoman who bears many markers of 'westernization": she lives alone with a female servant, speaks mainly in English, drinks alcohol and comfortably converses with a roomfull of males. Her most memorable lines in this film are: "Some women love chocolate, I love men." Ramya helps Mervyn to get a much needed loan and becomes a partner in his new firm. She soon abandons Suri (Mervyn's best friend) and becomes Mervyn's mistress.
Mervyn until then, had been a happily married man with a beautiful wife and two lovely young daughters. His devoted wife Edna is played by Sriyani Amerasena --"her clean features and womanly demeanor fitting her role" (Sunday Island 12/6/92). More comfortable in a humble cottage, Edna becomes more and more a prisoner in the
1 All the flashbacks the spectator was privy to were the mistress, version of the events, the conclusive one being the episode of the children's picnic near World's End in the fast encroaching mist.
5 Much of this analysis has been excerpted from a previous article, see de Alwis 1992.
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fancy houses Mervyn builds around her but never has time to share with her. Unlike her ambitious social climber husband, she seeks "nothing but family unity, warmth and love which cannot be bought with money" (Sunday Observer 9/6/92). Yet, this is not to be for Mervyn's mistress has begun to encroach upon the family nest first through numerous phone calls that summon Mervyn to her house as soon as he gets home from work and later, by ordering changes in the new house that is being built by Mervyn and Edna. Edna's tolerance snaps when she sees Mervyn in bed with his mistress. She writes a cryptic note that she is "sacrificing the present for the future" and abandons her family and home. She finds comfort in the arms of her cousin (Tony Ranasinghe) who in contrast to Mervyn is a simple, nonsmoking, highly principled school teacher who is always clad in a spotless white national.
Kula Geya has been heralded by many critics as being an example to all womankind. The reason for such enthusiastic praise stems from the fact that this film sympathetically and sensitively highlights the plight of a woman whose husband is having an extra marital affair. Unlike many other films that have dealt with this theme by valorising the long suffering wife who suffers in silence, Kula Geya shows that she has another option; she can leave her family and home and still find some happiness for herself. In this sense, it is an extremely important and progressive film and marks a significant advance in Sinhala cinema. Such sympathetic representations of women is central to Kula Geya director H.D. Premaratna's work observes Laleen Jayamanne and "brings in a new realism in its refusal to melodramatically punish the woman who breaks the norms of sexual conduct thought proper to women' (1992c: 29). This film is also a "dream fulfillment' of Sriyani Amerasena who had for a long time wanted to produce a film that women could relate to and derive strength from (Sunday Observer 9/6/92, Sarasaviya 1 1/26/92).
Many critics of Kula Geya also praised it for "avoiding pitfalls such as painting people stark white or black, directing our sympathy in toto to the wife or making the man the villain of the piece" (Sunday Island 12/6/92). Yet, they conveniently ignored one character that remained black from beginning to end --Ramya, the "sorceress' (Island 12/22/92), the "man devouring... hedonist woman' (ibid), the "prostitute who craves the adulation of men" (Sarasaviya 11/26/92). Sriyani Amerasena, who conceived this story also totally denies the
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culpability of Mervyn by pointing to Ramya as the sole villain who has no compunctions about hurting a fellow woman in order to satisfy her hitherto unfulfilled desires: "Edna's life is sacrificed in order to make Ramya happy. There are many women like her in our society. They are the cause of innumerable broken families today' (quoted in Sarasaviya 1 1/26/92). It is unfortunate that in order to highlight the plight of one woman, the characterization of another should be treated so insensitively and stereotypically. In both Sisila Gini Ganie and Kula Geya, the urban westernized woman remains the site of loose morality and is thus unable to transcend this good woman/bad woman dichotomy that is so inherent in the Sinhala cinema.
Two films that had women as the chief protagonists and provided counter-hegemonic models of femininity and masculinity were Umayangana (Subterranean Queen) directed by Ananda Fonseka and Roomathiyay Neethiyay (Beauty and the Law) directed by Mu Arukgoda. Imayangana one of the few existing Sinhala films that deals with the Supernatural centres around the greed for property. Elizabeth (Malini Fonseka) is murdered by her three uncles so that they can become heirs to her father's estate. Her teenaged daughter Theja (played by Malini's sister Damayanthi Fonseka) witnesses this brutal murder but is struck dumb from shock. She becomes possessed by her mother's spirit which relentlessly drives her to take revenge on the perpetrators of the crime. The contrast between this passive, silent and almost catatonic daughter and the sorrowful but violently powerful mother who works through her set out an interesting tension. The film's message was clear as even amateur film critic Carlo Fonseka noted: "Elizabeth is no feminist, but she is seen in practice to be working on the premise that in a fiercely patriarchal Society, women will win their rights only if they are strong enough to fight for them" (Sunday Island 8/30/92).
Almost all Theja / Elizabeth's encounters are with men. What especially delighted the women who watched this film with me was how Theja / Elizabeth dealt with sexual harassment in two scenes. The first occurs when she escapes from the asylum and hitches a ride on a container truck. A few minutes into the trip, the truck driver strokes the young girl's thighs and attempts to move his fingers under her dress only to find his fingers held in a vice like grip and her beautiful face transformed into an old woman's (Elizabeth's). He is so horrified that he crashes the truck.
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After the crash, Theja/Elizabeth happens' to walk into a farm which is being run by two male studs, one of whom is her uncle/cousin (Sriyantha Mendis). The two young men starved of female company are delighted to have such a beautiful young girl visit them. Left alone with her uncle/cousin who does not know her, Theja/Elizabeth sits on his bed and sensuously raises her dress up her thighs paralelling the gesture of the sexy young woman in the painting above his bed. The suggestion that the woman of his fantasies is now physically here is too much for this stud who hastily gulps down an entire glass of water much to the merriment of the audience. The young girl he had been ogling all this while with the thought of imprisoning her for his enjoyment (despite his more decent friend's demurs), suddenly turns the tables on him and plays with him in turn. When he returns in the night to extract what seemed to have been promised that morning, Theja/Elizabeth claws his face tearing out an eye. Amidst the gasps of horror at the sight of his gory face, my friend turned to me and sighed: "I wish we could all have an Elizabeth to protect us from such molesters."
Another refreshing change from the formula films was the more balanced treatment of the 'bad' guys in this film. The three uncles, the nephew and his friend all had distinct personalities which were however, somewhat stereotyped in order to make comic. The systematic humbling and ridicule these strong, macho men face at the hands of a mere wisp of a girl was an interesting disrupter of hegemonic masculinity. The only 'real' man in this film was Elizabeth's father (Joe Abeywickrema) who is portrayed as a dignified and aging patriarch who relents his earlier harsh action of chasing his only daughter out of his house and re-instates her as his rightful heir after her husband's death only to have her brutally murdered. His subsequent gentle nurturing of his now mute
granddaughter was a moving performance. 16
Though Roomathiyay Neethiyay was not a Fifth Circuit film or even shown at the Sarasaviya Film Festival, I thought it was the most progressive film that was screened in 1992. The film's chief
16 Incidentally, Joe Abeywickrema won the Sarasaviya Award for Best Actor for this portrayal.
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protagonist is played by veteran actress Malini Fonseka. Her lifestyle is interestingly quite independant and westernized' but the film does not censure her for this: she lives alone with her younger sister and a manservant, wears shorts, drinks orange juice and uses an exercise bicycle. With a devoted boyfriend -Ashok (played by Sanath Gunetilleke) whom she plans to marry soon, and a flood of modelling jobs coming her way after her spectacular win in a beauty pageant, her life seems to be pretty secure except for one jarring note - she has acquired another admirer (played by Jeevan Kumaranatunga). Unlike Ashok, this man is wealthy, bold and flashy. He throws an extravagent party for her and showers her with expensive gifts all of which are accepted by her with a youthful naivete. However, her admirer becomes incensed when he realizes that she is quite unimpressed by his courtship and truly loves her boyfriend. He cruelly rapes her in her own bedroom and ruins her life forever.
However, Malini is determined to take her rapist to court as she "owes it to the other women in this country." She is ably defended by a tough female lawyer (played by Sumana Amerasinghe) who declares in court that she too can feel the anguish of a raped woman. Though Malini's boyfriend along with his parents, worries about the undue publicity she will have to face, he respects her determination to fight her rapist and is supportive. However, the defense cleverly manipulates the facts and Jeevan is acquitted. Photographs of a beaming Malini with Jeevan are put forward to establish their intimacy." Another key exhibit of the defense is a painting of a scantily clad, shackled woman that hung over Malini's bed. Jeevan uses this painting to expound on the sexuality of women insisting that Malini too had wanted to be shackled and forcefully taken by him because that's how a woman gets optimum pleasure. While he celebrates his acquittal with a bottle of Scotch and a belly dancer, Malini and her sister leave town. She refuses to marry Ashok saying she cannot smile anymore.
Two years later, Malini's sister on her first day of employment as a personal Secretary is raped by her boss who turns out to be her elder sister's rapist --Jeevan. When Malini hears this, she confronts Jeevan at his office and shoots him. At his murder trial she points out that the reason she took the law into her own hands was because justice was not done to her two years ago. She is acquitted of manslaughter and
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the presiding judge gives up his robes to register his shame at the ineffectuality of the system of justice.
This film marked an important advance from most other Sinhala films for many reasons.
1)
2)
3)
No other Sinhala film has made the rape of a woman the central focus of its plot
Few Sinhala films have provided this much agency to a woman. Like Theja/Elizabeth in Umayangana, Malini "makes things happen in the sense of acting (doing) rather than simply suffering" (Jayamanne 1992a: 75). She has the "will to resist and change existing forms of terror and oppression' (ibid). -
(i) Except for a brief lapse into helplessness right after
she is raped, Malini is the one who makes all the decisions for herself and her sister. It is she who decides to go to court against the wishes of her fiance and future in-laws; she refuses to marry Ashok and moves to Colombo without informing him.
(ii) Malini does not resort to becoming a female bandit and
tracking her rapist down (which is the usual course of action taken by avenging females in formula films) but rather, seeks legitimate legal recourse. (iii) In court, she eloquently speaks for herself and takes counsel from a female lawyer
(iv) She is not interested in taking revenge which is the
usual and only legitimizing sentiment that could have propelled a female to action in a formula film eg, Chandi Rajina.
(ν) Her main reason for exposing herself to derision and
sexual slander by the defence is to stop her rapist from hurting other women.
Very few Sinhala films have attempted a critique of the
judicial system especially going to the extreme of having a judge give up his robes.
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Unfortunately, the progressive message of the film was marred by sloppy direction and editing. In addition, there were quite a few instances where the director had attempted to entice the audience by objectifying the female body in a very crude fashion. For example, the film begins with a beauty contest that featured entrants from the nine provinces in Sri Lanka. The spectator was treated to a tantalising array of women modelling a variety of clothing styles such as maxi, mini, midi, Indian sari and the osariya. The results of the contest were indeed revealing in its feeble attempt at ethnic harmony: the first runner up from the Eastern Province was dressed Muslim style' with the sari draped over her head, the runner up from the Northern Province was dressed Tamil style with her waist chain, pottu etc., and of course the winner was from the Central Province decorously dressed in the Kandyan Sinhala style' of the osariya. The winner of this contest never wears the osariya again during the rest of the film, but the point was driven home that this is the symbol of the pure and noble Sinhala woman.
Though the treatment of both rapes were somewhat sensitively managed, the rape Scene that was enacted in silohouette along with the title credits at the beginning was problematic. It didn't really depict what actually occurs in the film but rather, seemed to cater to the voyeuristic pleasure of the 'masculinized audience with an erotic segment of a woman being disrobed of her saree.
Conclusion
In the previous sections, I discussed the hegemony of a particular notion of masculinity and femininity prevalent in Sinhala formula films and the possibilities of subverting this hegemony through more creative non-formula films. I also suggested that the reason Sinhala film audiences continue to remain hooked' on the more cliched formula films is because they epitomise the articulation of heterosexual desire which forms the bedrock of patriarchal social relations. This gendered articulation refers to the process of "establishing a relation among elements such that their identity is modified as a result of the articulatory practice" (Laclau and Mouffe 1985: 105). In other words, it is in and through the very practices of media consumption -and the positionings and identifications they
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solicit-- that gender identities are recursively shaped, while those practices themselves in turn undergo a process of gendering along the way (cf. Ang and Hermes 1991:318). Laclau and Mouffe also remind us that this articulation is a dynamic process which is historically contextual and has no ultimate fixed meaning (1985: 105).
The notion that articulation is a two way process is crucial for it points us to view spectatorship in a new and broader light and provides us with a theoretical frame that can account for the ways in which spectators may consciously resist as well as modify dominant cinematic address. Laleen Jayamanne's anecdote of how a group of rural women 'read' Malini Fonseka's film Sthree (woman) is very revealing in this context. This film which was about the trials and tribulations of an old woman and her bull was "read as an allegory of our recent violent history" (1992c: 26). The vengeful killing of the cattle thief by the old woman was perceived "as an allegory of a mother's fierce and absolutely justifiable anger at the disappearance and brutal murder of her bull/son' (ibid). Janice Radway was one of the first feminists to recognize the importance of such nuanced readings of audiences. In her now well known study Reading the Romance, she claims that "the analytic focus must shift from the text itself, taken in isolation, to the complex social event of reading...in the context of...ordinary life" (1984: 8). Reading is itself "an active, though not free, process of construction of meanings and pleasures, a "negotiation' between texts and readers whose outcome cannot be dictated by the text" (Ang and Hermes 1991: 310). This line of argument surely suggests the increasing relevance of ethnography in the study of media consumption.
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Advertising in Sri Lanka:
How Does it Affect Women? (see Footnote)
Neluka Silva
This paper works on the underlying assumption that in the modern world advertising is one of the most powerful forms of social communication. Media in general has been considered a maker of ideology, public opinion and a moulder of values. It shapes the attitudes and values of people who tend to equate images with reality. Advertising is eSSSentially a visual medium and no other kind of images confront us so frequently and in such a density. Given the nature of the medium, it is necessary to look at the most potent vehicles through which the advertising industry achieves its objectives via the positing of gender and also class for its campaigns.
This paper analyses the representation of women in Sri Lankan advertisements in English and Sinhala in the last six to twelve months and the ramifications of it. Issues like class, nationalism and religion impinge on these portrayals in Sri Lanka at this moment in history, it is myopic to divorce the above issues from a discussion on women's issues as they form the gamut of subjugatory/oppressive forces.
We are so accustomed to seeing advertisements that we scarcely notice its effects on us. Hence it is a subliminal activity, subconsciously conditioning the viewer, appealing to fantasy/dreams. Advertising does not always mirror how people are acting, but how they are dreaming.....In a Sense what we are doing is wrapping up your emotions and selling them back to you'. In many ways advertising derives its
This paper followed a panel discussion on women and Advertising, by Pradeep Jeganathan, Malathi de Alwis and myself, held in Aug. '92. I am grateful to Pradeep, Malathi and Kumari Jayawardena for their valuable comments and discussion during the writing of this paper.

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power by working on a level at which viewers attach a generalised significance to what they have seen and heard, evaluating it and locating it within a negotiated place in their knowledge or memory where it may continue to do modifying work on other constituents of their consciousness or subconscience. Advertising reinforces the familiar, but it does not replicate the familiar, rather it constantly weaves in an element of the fantasy which imbues the familiar and is located within the paradigm of the reality. It is this element of fantasy that tanatalizes the viewer.
Acknowledging this power in advertising, it becomes very difficult to dispassionately analyse the potency of advertising in creating/reinforcing dominant stereotypes that operate with gender. Sut Jhally argues that
never in the history has the iconography of a culture been so obsessed or possessed by questions of sexuality and gender.
In advertising women are treated largely as children.
There are two reasons for this obsession. Firstly, gender is one of our deepest traits as human beings. It reaches deep into the innermost recesses of individual identity. We constitute our identity primarily in terms of our gender. Secondly, gender can be communicated at a glance because of our intimate knowledge and use of the conventionalised codes of gender display. Since advertisers present or attempt to present a certain type of reality', they probe and regurgitate the codes of everyday life and experience. Sut Jhally states that
a critique of advertising then has to start with an acknowledgment that advertising gives pleasure and wields strength in the images that are communicated. This is the site of its power. Advertising plays an important part in the discourse of gender because in today's consumeristic society, advertising and gender are almost synonymous. This is an arena in which gender is equated almost exclusively with sexuality. Whether it is to sell cars, after-shave cologne or pickaxes, it is not unusual to include a sparsely-clad woman in an advertisement. Another stereotype that operates with a vengeance, particularly in more traditional societies like Sri Lanka is the mother stereotype. Thus the subject positions for
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women are polarised into two extremes. Viewing women from this restricted perspective can result in treating women in the most dehumanising and degrading manner.
With regard to the Sri Lankan situation, in the last decade or fifteen years the market economy has expanded considerably. The United National Party's open economy policies, the impetus towards foreign investment and the unqualified advocacy of entrepreneurship and business have engendered a society that is consumeristic in its outlook. This boost in the economy has generated an upsurge in the local advertising industry. The major advertising houses are constantly vying with each other to secure the accounts of the top multi-nationals and advertising has become an amphitheatre in which mercenary machinations are sometimes resorted to. In this ethos then, how is gender deployed to encourage consumerism?
In the Sri Lankan advertising industry I perceive a dichotomy in the representation of women's roles. On the one hand both the industry and the models that are employed are drawn from the upper class middle class strata of Sri Lankan Society. Hence, their degree of westernisation is far greater than the average Sri Lankan. In most cases the products that are advertised are targetted at this stratum of soceity. Yet in the advertisements, women are almost always defined in traditional, conservative terms. There is almost a wish-fulfilment in delineating and confining women to a halcyonic past where they were very much within the domestic sphere engaged in wifely' duties. As Michelle Rosaldo argues,
"a woman's place in human social life is not in any direct sense a product of the things she does (or even less, a function of what, biologically, she is) but the meaning of her activities acquire through concrete social interactions".
In the following sections :
Some advertisements in English and Sinhala will be studied and the ways in which they reinforce the dominant stereotypes and the
ramifications of these male chauvinist portrayals within a genre that transcends class/race and linguistic boundaries.
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English Adverdisenhents
This section analyses the ways in which women are portrayed in the English advertisements and the roles that are assigned to them. The dominant stereotypes that operate are that of the subservient domestic, the mother, sex object and the stereotype of the girl child.
The power structure within the context of marriage is frequently depicted in the English advertisements. Predominantly, the dictates of the man are closely adhered to by a submissive woman. The Ponds cold cream advertisement is a good example which clearly demonstrates the politics of the marriage market and the way women are conditioned into accepting this role.
The protagonist is despondently sitting in front of a mirror and complains that she cannot be "Akka's bridesmaid". An older woman advises her to use Pond's and the next thing we find is that her face looks much clearer. In the final shot she is seen catching the bride's bouquet and the bestman whispers to her,
"Someday you'll make a lovely bride".
What the advertisement highlights is that it is not the bouquet that she is set to catch but a bridegroom.
By having the woman catching the bouquet it is pre-empted that a woman's ultimate aspiration is marriage. The exultant look on the woman's face when she catches the bouquet conditions the viewer that she is looking forward to it, so there is no threat to the social standards. Tied to this is the underlying implication that a woman who is beautiful will/can get married. Thirdly, it is the man who makes the statement giving his seal of approval to her, which is the highest endorsement. Problematising this kind of advertising exposes the overarching ideology of Sri Lankan society that despite modernisation, the options for women are limited. She has to be a wife, and subsequently a mother. There is no place then for single women in this paradigm. What is often the case is that no matter how qualified/intelligent a single woman is, there is a strong Sense of pity and assumption that she is "incomplete". In today's Soceity ridden with war and ethnic strife, marriage takes on an even greater significance as it fulfils the requirements of the social system
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which ensures reproduction and maintenance. Subtle but insidious attempts are made by the State, religious organisations and the media aligning marriage with the rhetoric of procreation of the Sinhalese and Tamil races. Mothers are exhorted to produce children as a means by which soldiers can continue to fight for Sri Lanka. The primary role for a woman is that of procreator.
Practically all the dominant images circumscribe women to the domestic sphere, with emphasis on mother and homemaker. In advertisements like Maggi noodles, Anchor, Nespray milk products, household appliances and of course babycare products, it is always the mother figure (often a perfect one at that) which emerges. The identification of women with domestic life subliminally stresses that for women domesticity comes 'naturally'. For instance in the Singer range a smiling mother is always the centre of focus and very blissful in pandering to the needs of her family. A consequence of the domestic or familiar orientation has to do with the ways in which women are perceived by the rest of society.
But this kind of advertising throws into conflict the ascribed roles of mother and increasingly in modern Sri Lanka, the wage earner which women are impelled into embracing. As Malsiri Dias notes:
In Sri Lanka, a woman's success in reconciling roles depends not only on economic variables which affect family life, but on cultural attitudes which direct family activities. In the middle income groups, the conflict might arise more from the woman's inability to abide by cultural expectations while performing a dual role. There is an almost total disregard for her capacity to be an equal and essential partner in the process of production. Societal expectations are weighed more on her ability to perform her domestic role, especially child care."
Even in the advertisements which do challenge the stereotypes, the attempt is superficial or becomes mere tokenism and the subtexts reveal paramount sexist structures. One that received accolades was a Nestomalt advertisement. A business woman is depicted in a work situation where she occupies a position of eminence and power. She is seen in discussion with her colleagues and then drives a plush car. This is meant to represent the new breed of career women. However, the final shot is where she is at home with her two children typifying the
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efficient mother. Though there is an endeavour to change the dominant stereotypes, this seems a lukewarm effort. The reinforcement of the image of woman as mother overrides the rest of the message. The move is to establish that a woman may have a career but she has to subscribe to soceity's construction of mother. The fact that in the advertisement she is seen entirely blissful in this role, strengthens the case for motherhood.
Because women are felt to be close to their children, men are completely excluded from the domestic context in the Sri Lankan advertisements. The rituals that are portrayed in babycare products - Rebecca Lee, Baby Cheramy and Pears of holding/cuddling a baby enforce the distance between men and their families, for the father rarely participates in these rituals. Distance permits men to manipulate their social environment, to stand aloof from intimate interaction and accordingly to control it as they wish. In societies like in Sri Lanka, where the culture sanctions the exclusion of men from the domestic sphere and discourages overt displays of emotion in the family, the father embraces a role of authority and power.
In such a context the woman in English advertisements almost always occupies a subservient role to the male. They are shown to derive utmost pleasure in using convenience devices (whether it is a microwave oven, washing machine, refrigerator) or beauty aids to make the males in their lives happy.
A typical example is the Singer oven. It begins with the husband stating "I never regretted buying her a Singer oven". The woman is seen initially slaving over the fire, hassled and irritable, but with a Singer oven she is able to cater entirely on her own for her daughter Natasha's birthday party. The delectable array of food on the table all prepared by her and baked in the Singer oven is prominently displayed. In the meantime the running commentary on the achievements of the woman and the oven are voiced by a man. In this elysian domestic milieu, the husband also makes a significant appearance: he is seen reading a paper and examining the birthday cards that his daughter receives, while in the background his wife is bent over the oven complete with an elated smile on her face. This kind of advertising brings up several issues. Firstly the woman is located firmly within the domain of the kitchen. She is posited as the homemaker, cook. The onus of domestic chores is
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emphasised as a pleasant one which provides her with immense satisfaction. Her husband is the voice of authority. His duty is to buy her the appliances that ameliorate her domestic lot. It subscribes to patriarchy by investing him with the position of power to talk about this. He does not make any attempt to help her. Rather he eats the food that she prepares and ultimately takes credit for buying her the cooker. This advertisement points to an underlying ignorance of woman, because it denies them the capacity to even initiate the purchase of an appliance that is useful to her. In addition, her function is to satisfy the family's needs. There is also an underlying notion that because he has bought her the cooker, and he therefore has fiscal power, the husband is freed from any responsibility in the kitchen.
An advertisement that subtly reinforces the subservient position of women appeared frequently and was particularly advertised for International Women's Day (See footnote). The People's Bank account Vanitha Vasana illustrated some of the sexist perceptions that imbue Sri Lankan Society. In launching an extraordinary account prepared exclusively for women', the advertisement portrayed a woman traditionally dressed, holding a lamp. The clasped hands connotes the worship posture, significantly emphasising the image of the Asian women. The wording though is what stresses the prevailing attitudes. The account is projected as a 'tribute to the mothers and daughters of Sri Lanka'. As in the above advertisements, this pre-empts the role for Sri Lankan women, where the primary subject position is that of mother. Secondly, the draw on March 8th every year which consists prizes of gold jewellery, furniture and electrical items points to the fact that these items are very much within the domain of women. There is a subtle denigration of women because it is as though women are
* An interesting phenemenon has arisen inthe past few years which has been highlighted by the State, is the celebration of Women's Day. The slogans have been appropriated by the State and now with Mrs. Premadasa Projecting an image of the womman of the nation' and showing utmost concern for women, the media has also begun to give this day prominence. Kumari Jayawardena explains its negative repurcussions in an Interview with the Island, 713/93.
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incapable/disinterested in higher interest rates, better loan facilities etc which is customarily associated with banking and finance. Hence though women have been permitted access into a hitherto male domain, there is an undervaluing of her status with the inbuilt sexist mechanisms of the lottery, to safeguard the hierarchical position reserved for men. A potent way of devaluing and even denying intellectual ability in women in the media is constantly accentuating external beauty and appearance of women.
By their valorisation of an adherence to outward beauty and beauty care, these advertisements place tacit pressure on women to look good and measure a woman's value solely in terms of appearances. Cosmetics, jewellery and perfumes are another set of advertisements that portray women in excessively negative terms. A plethora of advertisements that bombard the local media are those of luxury products. Frequently stars are used to promote these commodities. In projecting the faces of beautiful women whether it is Sangeetha Weeraratne or Geetha Kumarasinghe external beauty is the focus. The mass of jewellery and make-up that they use highlights the external beauty and femininity of her. We are told that we should also use Lux because then we too can be like the stars. But the stars themselves appear very frivolous and superficial which denote that women do not seem serious enough to be intellectually challenged. If they are endowed with any intelligence it is only in the arena of luring a man' and here women are shown as devious and capable of going to any extreme to succeed.
Analysing some of the most potent advertisments in this category reveal the above phenomenon. The latest advertisement on television of Voodoo perfume characterises woman as a witch/temptress and an aura of mysticism imbues the scene. A man is seen to be lured by a group of young, goodlooking women all presumably using Voodoo. The man is dressed in a safari style costume reminiscent of the colonial explorers in the east. He is drawn by the woman and taken to the chief priestess in charge of her temple, which becomes the temple of love. This Scenario is juxtaposed with a modern scene where a young macho' looking man is mesmerised and enticed by a beautiful woman at a party/dance. There are several implications and underlying assumptions in this advertisement. The woman/men are posited as a temptress alluding to Eve in mythological terms tempting Adam. Hence the entire responsibility of enticement is placed in the hands of the woman. The
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man is exonerated from any guilt in the seduction process. This ties in with much of the rhetoric that women are conditioned by, of 'asking for it, especially in more extreme situations of rape where men are not made culpable for their sexual urges. Yet despite this image of woman as temptress, another dynamic emerges. While woman seems to be the hunter, this is merely an aura. The real hunter is still the man, symbolised by his costume. The hunter's costume reinvests the power role, the woman then becomes his quarry to be hunted and it relegates the woman to a subservient position. The switch to the modern, familiar scene of the dance floor denotes that the status quo has not changed, the power relations are in place.
Another problematic aspect of this advertisement is the inbuilt racism that surfaces. It bolsters our internalised perceptions of the hunter and the exoticism of the African, the mysterious voodoo which historiography presents as pervaded with an air of evil.
Many of the advertisments also encode the romance model of Mills and Boons etc. For instance, advertisements like Debutante - First Love, Black Knight, Goya are based on the stereotype of a young beautiful girl and her knight in shining armour (literally the case in Black Knight). In most of the advertisements women are denied intellectual prowess. They are depicted as at the mercy of the man. The heroine is often overwhelmed by the strength of the hero and eschews any part in directing the course of action but endows him with sole power to take decisions for her. These advertisements subscribe to all the stereotypes for women, the naive, coy feminine heroine who waits in anticipation for a man to come and provide her with the happy ending. Besides the simplistic worldview this portrays, the danger of this kind of advertising is that, in addition to bolstering the fantasy element, it advocates women to be passive agents without taking control of their lives and actions. The one advertisement of recent times which overtly seems to empower the woman is again negative. In the Black Knight advertisement the woman takes an interest in the man and then decides to pursue' him. She positions herself in places where he will be and at one point is portrayed with a pair of binoculars looking out for him. While this may seem radical in terms of inverting the traditional mores in an ethos where the woman is disallowed to be a part of the courting process, at least initially, this is received in negative terms. For men in particular,
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the. woman becomes 'cheap', a tart who runs after the man. She is seen as a "feline wench'' whose actions are reprehensible.
Because the emphasis of women in advertisements concentrates on external beauty, invariably sensuality leads to the provocative, sexual aspect of woman. Affiliated to the above is the image of woman as sexual object. Sexuality is deployed to sell products or services. To be able to buy something is equated with being sexually desirable. In this genre of advertising, woman's body, particularly the legs, neck etc are given sexual emphasis. In advertisements of jewellery, focus is not on the entire body but often the neck and bare upper body, or just the hands or ears etc. Here the woman is devalued and objectified into a commodity where only a part is visible. Her identity as a human being is relinquished. Women become defined as an object for the commodity that is advertised. Sut Jhally states that within advertising woman is reflected in four basic ways :
1) as a symbol for an object and thus exchangeable with
it;
2) as a fragmented object made up of separate component parts that are not bound together in any coherent way to create a personality;
3) as an object to be viewed; 4)as an object to be used."
Thus whether in Swarna Mahal or Vogue jewellerey or shower curtains, advertisements it has become the norm to view half-clothed women often draped in the arms of a man. Usually technical devices like sound effects especially music enhances the erotic/sexual overtones by creating an atmosphere of near lasciviousness. But even the ones that explicitly objectify women become attractive because objectification is a pleasurable part of sexuality.
Parts of daily life have to do with sexuality and thus there is nothing wrong with individual messages that focus on sex and gender....Some parts of sexuality have to do with objectification, so that individual ads in that sense are not false. The falsity arises from the System of images, from the advertisements as a totality and their cumulative effect...It arises from the institutional context within which
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advertisements are produced and suggests that attempts to modify its regressive features should be concentrated at this level.'
It is this kind of imaging that leads to other aspects which can then breed violence. One such advertisement that merits discussion is the Avenger Men's Cologne. About a year ago this advertisement appeared in which a woman is seen walking down a lonely alley and accosted violently by a young man. She slaps him in fury and walks past. The next shot shows the man liberally spraying himself with Avenger cologne and the scene is repeated, but with a difference. This time the woman walks past but when she sniffs the cologne she falls into his arms and the final shot depicts her in an erotic pose with the man. The final sentence of the adveritisement is "Avenger, brings out the man in
you".
Several women's groups and irate individuals protested against the
dynamics of this advertisement. This image sanctions the use of violence on women, in order to 'ensnare' her. It endorses a man using
any means even violent, be it aftershave or coercion. An underlying
sanctioning of rape to capture the woman is advocated. When
questioned, several people did not in anyway find the politics of the advertisement heinous. On the contrary the entire onus of blame was
placed on the woman (heavily made-up and in a short dress) that she
"asked for it". Women should not be walking alone on the streets at
night. The notion of 'asking for it is spurious argument that is put
inherently espouse patriarchal attitudes. But what appears to be the
reality is that there is an immense danger of sexual play in a world of male violence where sexually provocative means asking to be
attacked".
Looking at the contestations, one significant force that made an impact, albeit not as potent as was anticipated, was the virulent protest against the insidious message of Avenger. The letters to the editors of various papers highlighted the ramifications of such imaging in the media. The advertisement was removed for a while and the advertisement was doctored to a slightly less offensive degree. The fact that some action was taken by the advertisers after this reaction points to a possible Sensitivity in future to the portrayals of women.
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While women are confined to these subject positions in the advertisements the girl child also falls prey to conditioning. In most of the domestic appliance advertisements a girl child is often included. It is as though the girl is being groomed for the future when she too will be a mother. This is blatantly espoused in for example the Anchor advertisement, where the last line declares
Today's child is tomorrow's mother.
As Michelle Rosaldo explains:
Insofar as a young girl has a mother to love and to follow, she also has the option of becoming a little mother', and consequently of being absorbed into womanhood without effort. Female manners and activities are acquired in a way that seems easy and natural. ... This continuity, characteristic of a young girl's development through puberty, is in radical contrast to the experience of boys, who must learn to be men.'
The politics of imaging the girl child in advertising also needs analysis. Two such damaging advertisements were that of the CTC Eagle Insurance, 21St Century Bride and the "Dot" toffee advertisements.
In the former, a girl child playing at being a "bride" and in both the television and press advertisements, the caption read 21st century bride. Albeit the subsequent advertisements used girl children in the role of doctor and architect, this advertisement was one of the first and hence distrubing. In using this kind of image, there is the underlying conditioning and socialisation of the girl child into the role of wife. It is expected to come naturally to them. Because biology dictates that women will be mothers, it is taken for granted that this is her only duty in life and in Sri Lanka motherhood is almost always dictated and preceded by marriage.
In almost all advertisements that concentrate on the domestic milieu, when there are children it is a girl child that is portrayed. The girl is her mother's helpmate helping her around the house with cheerful alacrity in Singer cookers, Rinso washing powder and even Anchor milk. In the Robin blue advertisement the girl is shown sitting on her mother's lap questioning her about the whitenes of her school uniform. This can be
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read as a subtle conditioning of the girl's role from her young days to be a mother/housewife. Her brothers on the other hand are usually playing football/cricket outdoors while she is in the kitchen. The sociocultural role of the girl as the mother's aide and the perception that she should be her understudy, ready to take over when the occasion demands, casts an unduly heavy burden on the girl-child. In rural and working class families where married women work outside the home, older girls are expected to care for their younger siblings often at the cost of their education. Even if schooling is not denied, time budget Surveys show that there is an uneven distribution of household chores between boys and girls. As Jezima Ismail comments:
Generally, cooking, laundering and house cleaning are considered as almost exclusively feminine activities ..... Division of labour has been difficult, despite the strides taken in making equality of sexes a reality. The chief reason for this is the fact that both men and women accept the traditional segregation of masculine and feminine tasks ... Sometimes stereotyped gender role conceptions have made it difficult to alter these tasks. o
The dominant ideology in such advertisements is symtomatic of the traditional authority and privilege that the male child occupies in Sri Lankan/Asian Societies. For example, customarily the male child is treated as someone who deserves special care and nurturance. This situation also impinges on nutrition where the male child gets special and a greater quantity of food. This favoured position in the mothersson relationship later on adversely affects the complementarity of the husband-wife relationship. Part of the move in these advertisemints feeds into the notion of machismo that are indoctrinated into boys. It is not unusual for parents to berate their boys for not being manly'. The preSSure from family and society is enormous. Boys who are seen involved in the house are invariably labelled sissies. This kind of notions are damaging for it precludes the break down of the prevailing Stereotypes. Jezima Ismail further notes
Sex stereotyping and the division of household chores
according to gender must be eliminated. Both male and female children should be initiated into the complexities of household
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work So that equality of opportunity becomes a reality to both sexes.'
However, the point must be made that the later CTC advertisements that use the model of the 21st century child, recognises and empowers the girl child. The recent advertisements depict a girl child as a doctor and architect for the future. This can be read as a shift in the traditional power structures since professional spheres such as medicine and architecture which were considered male domains have an equal number of women entering the fields. The grudging acknowledgement of this by the media presages positive attitudes for the future.
Having described the potent stereotypes that operate in English advertisements, it is clear that these images are largely negative. They confine women to a narrow range of subject positions. It is important to make a concerted effort to challenge these. But the reasons for such portrayals must be considered.
One factor that must be taken into consideration in English advertising is its class bias. The English media in Sri Lanka caters to a conservative anglicised minority concentrated in the urban centres. This section of the populace is essentially English speaking and comprise the middle or upper class strata. In terms of advertising this group is very significant for they are perceived as the potential consumers for most products as a result of their economic power. It is often the case that advertising agencies are perpetually Seeking Sophisticated advertising campaigns to lure this group into buying their products. Thus some of the salient features that can be evinced from advertisements in English are the inbuilt class biases. The sophisticated technological and conceptual innovation that are used are also a part of English advertisements. It is also this coterie of people who exhibit their allegiances to western cultures influences. Yet for all its overt "liberal attitudes in terms of lifestyle etc, as reflected in the English advertisements, the chauvinist structures are very much in place. The media is a double edged sword where on the one hand it reflects the overarching sexism that operates, on the other the media becomes a conduit through which the negative stereotypes are bolstered.
This group which projects itself as the enlightened' segment of the populace reveal the reactionary ideology they embrace when issues of
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gender are challenged. These attitudes are embodied in the ideas that are transmitted via the advertisements in this language. Those involved in the making of the advertisements themselves hail from this class, thus when issues that are problematic or volatile are handled, there is an aversion even antipathy towards presenting a different approach in case the agency loses its client. Having had the experience of working in an agency I have found that part of the regressive attitudes stem from the clients. The top end of the hierarchy are controlled by men. They maintain a hegemonic position towards dictating the concepts they feel must be projected to the public. This hegemony is immensely potent. The dominant images in advertising supports the nourishment and maintainance of such culture-bound assumptions about the sanctity of marriage and the responsiblity to her family which helps to promote an ideology of male dominance. I have talked to several women (particularly university.students) who vehemently argue that there is nothing injurious in the representation of women in local advertisements. They often feel that feminists have got hold of a hobby horse and are making a fuss over nothing. Thus women themselves maybe culpable in perpetuating the overarching sexist attitudes and transmitting these ideas to their daughters. If these attitudes of a minority have so much effect, then the biases of the mainstream Sinhala media will no doubt be more influential and this will be discussed in the next section.
Sinhala Advertisements
In situations where the majority of the populace use the indigenous languages, the media in the national language becomes a powerful force. In the past decade or so there has been a great boom in Sinhala advertisements. While English advertisements cater to a narrower, more affluent target group, its Sinhala counterpart appeals to a wider cross section of the populace in terms of both race and class, for Sinhala advertisements appeal to Tamils and Muslims as well.
The consumer class in Sri Lanka has increased and overtly at least it appears that people have more money to spend. The rise of a lumpent bourgeoisie and business class has made advertising in Sinhala a competitive, aggressive enterprise. Commodities such as mammoties,
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fertilizers, tractors which previously rarely had elaborate advertising has now gained tremendous sophistication. It is not anomalous to find a variety of agricultural implements being advertised today. As Siromi Fernando notes:
The emphasis on modern technology, equipment and appliances marks the rapid transition in the country from a traditional rural society to a modernised urban one. Under export and industries, the Silumina places heavy emphasis on garments, art works and gems"
Sinhala society in general tends to be much more conservative and upholds very traditional views towards women's roles in society. The archetypal Sri Lankan woman is posited as demure, submissive, the carrier of national customs and rooted in the domestic milieu. However, this image is in contrast to the reality where women participate in a variety of ways outside the home and contribute to the upkeep of the family.
In the Sinhala ethos motherhood is also valorised. At present the mother in Sri Lanka does not merely fulfil a biological function but in addition embraces the role of protector of the Sinhala race, progenitor of values and morals and in times of crisis the symbol for mother Lanka.
The image of the mother/traditional woman is prevalent in Sinhala advertisements. Dominant stereotypes of mother/wife, homemaker are widely popular. Advertisements for Astra margarine, soap and even the National Savings Bank, the mother takes centre stage, keeping her home clean or putting aside some rice for a rainy day. Unlike in the English advertisements, here the women are dressed in cloth and jacket sans the glamour of their English counterparts. While homemakers and housewives are central, the woman's role outside the home is rarely mentioned (except in the case of the farmer's wife/helpmate who embraces a secondary role to the man).' The media seems entrenched in relegating women to the domestic arena. It is interesting that the media projects this domesticated/ traditional image which is a contrast to the reality. As Kumari Jayawardene points out :
Society at large seems to have accepted the concept of the working woman. Whether it is the garment factories, the Free
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Trade Zone workers or the office clerk, the myth of the stay-athome housewife has been relinquished. In reality most women perform some sort of work outside the home. A large segment of the women in Sri Lanka work in the fields or in the plantations. It is the work of women that has secured the greatest foreign exchange revenue, firstly in the plantation sector and now in the garment sector.
With the advent of modernization, much of the rural, traditional fabric is being eroded. Hence there is a potent move by the media and popular culture to capture or preserve the pristine culture. In the media, particularly in advertisements, romantic illusions are fed to its audiences. There is a harking back to a nostalgic time where women were viewed as the ingenuous village lass, clad in the saree or the cloth and jacket. Thus today in almost all the advertisements in Sinhala, the stereotypes project the traditional ambience and are appropriated by the mass media to tap into the ethno-nationalistic project. For instance, the agricultural setting is stressed in most of the advertisements. But here women are rarely empowered. Women are depicted as the doting wife who is enthusiastic about her husband's acquisition of a new tractor or some other convenience, which she knows will alleviate her status in life.
Another predominant stereotype that emerges from Sinhala advertising is that of the village damsel. Commodities like Sunlight soap, Raththi milk powder, Rinso washing powder and agricultural implements deploy this stereotype.
In the Sunlight advertisement for example, the entire scene revolves around a harvest time in the paddy fields. A young girl becomes the cynosure of attention because of the cloth that she wears. The older women admire her and comment that it must be a new dress. She states (blushingly) that it is merely washed with Sunlight soap. In addition to invoking the usual double associations of beauty and youth, this kind of imaging appeals to a particular Sinhala ethos. The village damsel stereotype is located within the parameters of the traditional agrarian milieu. It reveals a romanticising of a bygone era the antithesis of the corrupt town.
The young girl, "simple and pure" who helps out in the harvest subscribes to a power structure where women though in effect playing
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an integral part in the economics of the agragrian economy, are nevertheless relegated to position of subservience in popular culture and media. At this time, in perpetually deploying this stereotype these advertisements incorporate a wish-fulfilment. By delineating the woman as merely the bearer of food for the workers, there is a repudiation of her role in the arduous part of the harvest process. As a beautiful woman she is merely an object of admiration and inocence.
An advertisement in which there is an effacement and denigration of the woman's role is the Raththi milk powder advertisement. A young girl in cloth and jacket romps in the meadows with a cow in the background. The pastoral genre itself is problematic in its portrayal of women since it denies empowerment to women by making them appear frivolous and constantly dependent on the adoring 'swain'. Placing women in the pastoral context is symptomatic of the attitude that women are often like little children who enjoy dancing around in the fields eschewing responsibility which the man must shoulder. Her naivety strips her of the ability to make decisions. She must be protected and indulged in. This milieu, valorized for its pristine qualities, focusses upon the stereotype of the innocent village girl and focusses upon her innocence (and underlying this is the perenniel issue of virginity) which must be preserved.
At a time when the rural character is being threatened with the large exodus of women to the Middle East and the labour force in the garment factories and the export sector and women are becoming empowered through their exposure to greater economic status and education it becomes necessary to reiterate the traditional hierarchy. The rapid expansion of western cultural products through television and video is also a recent development that 'threatens the norms of traditional and indigenous culture. As Vidyamali Samrasinghe points out
These societies had evolved from an agrarian base where patriarchal control was evident, into an urbanized, technologically advanced industrial base. However, the change in the economic structure has only reduced but not removed the traditional values and norms of patriarchy.'
Another reading of this portrayal is that imaging of women in Sinhala advertisements appears to display a nexus with the disconcerting rise of
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nationalism that has affected Sri Lanka across the boards. The rise of cultural fundamentalism in the ideological terrain is reflected in cultural practices and art forms. While the overt move is to endorse the indigenous in dress and values, the influence of tourism and multinational business ventures make the reality somewhat different.
Another frequent stereotype that operates in Sinhala advertisements is the virago figure, loud-mouth and domineering. The Crocodile mamoty advertisement is the prototype of this. The opening shot is of a despondent couple. They lament that they are unable to achieve much from their harvest. The woman then spots a neighbour using a different type of mamoty. She challenges her husband, hinting that he is not a man' if he does not try out this new implement. His masculinity is questioned and threatened by her and this serves as the catalyst for him to buy the Crocodile mamoty. The wife's role is reminiscent of Lady Macbeth where her function is to goad her husband into proving himself vis-a-vis the prgduct he utilizes in the harvest. The most irksome part for the man in this advertisement is that he has to bear the taunts of his wife, who is posited as the subordinate in the marital relationship. His pride is at stake as well as his masculine prowess so he succumbs to her pressure.
The above image is closely connected in ideology to the woman-as-sex object figure. Woman-as-sex-object is celebrated and endorsed. While an abundance of advertisements appeal to rural life, several advertisements place women in the historical roles relating to indigenous culture. A predominant image is that of the Sigiriya fresco. Several soap advertisements, particularly Ranee, Sandalwood and Lux invoke this culture. The image of the fresco is juxtaposed with that of a woman or women dressed in a similar manner. There are several implications in this. Since the women are half-naked, the issue of nudity is brought in, emphasisng sexuality. However, here sexuality is sanctioned because it draws upon the traditional Sinhala woman. While the nationalists would create a furor over a westernised half-nude woman, this image is becomes the model of Sinhala culture. Culture is made to seem so glamorous that the flagrant sexism is disregarded.
Many of the Sinhala advertisements (especially in the newspapers),
center on rituals of puberty ceremonies and traditional Sinhala customs of womanhood. For instance a Veytex advertisement has a shot of a girl
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being bathed and worshipping her parents. Puberty rituals in Sri Lanka are often equivalent to wedding celebrations. While in reality the practices of such ceremonies can be quite disconcerting to the young girl, in the media they are depicted as blissful and almost vital to the community. They are tied up with the perception of the woman as a potential caregiver and prepares her for her role as wife and mother. At puberty, her entry into womanhood is celebrated and her biological maturity is the focal point. She is showered with new clothes, jewellery and gifts, marking her status as a woman. Great value is placed on virginity, and purity of character is thought to enhance her moral worth.
These images feed into the prevailing cultural trends that are outlined by Sirima Kiribamuna where a young girl is prevented from seeing men for a period of time and denied particular foods (oil food). Every effort is made to keep girls within acceptable social norms for family pride is often thought to centre around well-brought up' daughters'. Hence there is an even greater protectiveness of fathers and brothers. Although these are traditionally more indigenous mores, by reinforcing them in the popular media, there is subtle pressure to conform to maintaining these structures.
In the Sinhala media juxtaposed against the "innocent" rural woman stereotype is her more heinous counterpart, the western woman. An abundance of advertisements deploy this image. For example, the Lalitha Jewellery Mart advertisement presents three pictures of non-Sri Lankan women, two White models and one Asian model. The western women are in sophisticated clothes, beautifully coiffered hair and makeup and one of them sparsely clad. These images work against the stereotypes of Sri Lankan women and appearing in a Sinhala paper, it would have been a transgression if Sri Lankan models were employed. Although there would be protest that these images were against the traditional culture and a profanation in a Buddhist ethos, a carte blanche operates in employing the image of the western woman. The implicit assumption is that the western woman by nature is morally lax and the permissive attitudes that she embraces would enable her to display her body in this manner. A dichotomous situation seems to prevail in advertising with regard to western or westernised women. On the one hand, some products seem to merit the imaging of the sexual, loose' westernised woman, for example, the Singer Contessa sewing machine advertisement. A woman in a bare shouldered dress is seen in the arms
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of a good-looking man in a suit with the line "Rata andhumak paradavanna, nava vilaasithavata obama masaa ganna"°. The imported clothes are important as symbols of status, class and Sophistication which everyone must aspire to.
Yet tied to this are insinuations that this woman is also the agent of cultural bastardization, or cultural pollution. She is shown to transmit to egregious values alien to our culture. These negative stereotypes assigned to women are not confined to the foreign woman. The popular media also targets Sri Lankan women (often Burgher) who adopts western dress, speaks in English and appears westernized as invariably loose'. In an advertisement like Avenger, many of the viewers felt that a woman who is so westernized, deserves what she gets, because a Sri Lankan woman would never behave in such a manner. The perception that is rife is that these women are responsible for the breakdown of the family and other sacrosanct Sri Lankan values. As Kamla Bhasin and Nighat Said Khan point out
Women are accused of destroying peaceful' homes. The peacefulness of most homes is a facade. A. long as women don't ask men to share housework, to take turns to wake up at night to attend to howling children, there is peace."
Since many direct translations from the English advertisements operate in Sinhala, concepts which are alien to the majority are also communicated. It is commonplace to see very western concepts being translated into the national languages. In many Sinhala advertisements, it is not unusual to see women leading what seems a lifestyle completely contradictory to the reality of the populace. One advertisement that depicts this phenomenon is the Sinhala Coke advertisement. A popular star, Sabitha Perera who is associated in film with more traditional roles is portrayed in a lurid western dress dancing in a nightclub sipping Coke. The final shot is of her red painted lips sipping the coke in an erotic way making the sound "aaaaaah". The straw is almost a phallic symbol. Her pouty lips and outrageous clothes merely serves to bolster the stereotype of the Western woman as harlot. Modelled on the Western Coke advertisements the concept behind the advertisement is divorced from Sri Lankan reality. This advertisement depicts a fantasy (that of the DJ and the nightclub) which the large section of this country cannot identify with.
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Another advertisement that works on similar lines is the Lux beauty soap advertisements. Popular film stars like Sangeetha Weeraratne in short skirts twirling handbags appear to lead a lifestyle that is extremely western and upper class. Here also the dichotomous situation prevails where a large number of Sinhala advertisements that employ the image of the westernised woman is vilified for eroding the cultural ethos of our country but also emulated in a country where modernization is taking place at rapid pace. Sangeeta Thapa notes of the Nepalese context which is relevant to Sri Lankan advertising as well
The advertisements aired do not fulfill the needs of 90 percent of the population who cannot afford to indulge in manicure, maintaining their hair with the right brand of shampoo or experimenting different recipes."
In identifying the stereotypes that prevail in the Sinhala media, it must be mentioned that as in the case of English advertisements, there are a very limited number of roles for women.
Comelusion
While this paper has attempted to look at the dominant images of women in Sri Lankan advertising, there are trends which have emerged and ways in which the negative stereotypes have been challenged. The protest against Avenger and its subsequent modifications marks a significant trend that even in a limited way, some impact has been made on the advertisers that this kind of imaging of women is outrageous.
Recently, there have been some advertisements which depict women in much stronger roles, For example, the Sunsilk shampoo empowers woman in a more positive way. She is seen in control of her milieu, yet not in an overbearing or aggressive way. Another advertisement which merits mention is the Candy washing machine where instead of having a saree-clad upper class woman desperately trying to look authentic and traditional and ending up totally implausible, the young woman is presented in jeans and a T-shirt which is appropriate to the class and social milieu of this target group. Other gradual changes seem to be emerging (such as the Winthrop advertisement sometime ago, where the
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father is depicted cuddling his baby) the changes may account for the fact that many of the copywriters in the advertising houses are women.
Another aspect of advertisements in Sri Lanka is the way in which men are also entrenched within a limited gamut of stereotypes. In the majority of the advertisements, the masculine or macho image in the male is overstressed. Men are constantly portrayed as strong with bulging muscles, building houses carrying heavy furniture and an underlying pressure to prove one's masculine prowess. Thus in advertisements like agricultural implements or Nestomalt the men are seen bathed in perspiration involved in arduous physical work. Invariably after their feat, a woman appears in the role of comforter or supporter. There is the subliminal focus on the sexual appeal as well, that the macho men attract the beautiful women. Lifebuoy soap, Harrods T-shirts, John Player cigarettes all circumscribe men into these roles. Their masculinity and virility are derived entirely through the products. The other figure that predominates is that of the business executive. Smartly dressed in tie or suit, this figure is seen in the world of finance, usually with a briefcase and fiddling with facts and figures that women seem unable to cope with. By confining men into these models, modern Sri Lankan Society precludes deviations in positions for men. Thus from childhood the male child is pressurised into studying science or business/commerce subjects in School, forced into participating in sport and taking on the role of husband/father/breadwinner. This type of advertising perpetuates and bolsters the male chauvinism that is in-built in our Society.
In the Sinhala advertisements, there is the underlying machismo that comes to the fore. For instance, several advertisements are based on the assumption that if one buys one particular brand as opposed to another, he is more of a man. Hence even in the case of an agricultural implement, a woman will goad her husband into purchasing the product by challenging his masculinity. The classic Lady Macbeth situation which rarely seems to fail. Thus with popular culture and the media reinforcing and subscribing to the stereo-types, any aberrant cases that do not fit the role models are invariably treated as outcasts. Thus prejudices toward homosexuals, men who study Arts courses, men who choose deviant careers from the mercantile sector or professions like medicine, engineering or law are treated as anomalies.
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A study of the representation of women in advertising points out that we have in Sri Lanka is an essentialisation which makes facile dismissals on several levels. Anything Western is either depicted as insidious, baleful, acting as a force of cultural bastardization which is denigrated vituperatively or alternatively emulated with unqualified enthusiasm. The indigenous, traditional woman, be it peasant, mother or teacher is valorized and given as a cohesive, authentic entity.
While the trend is for women to be constrained by narrow role-models and the conditioning of the girl-child also to adhere to the rules, there appears to be a space for new roles which women can take on vis-a-vis the media. A significant number of advertisements in the recent past have empowered women into embracing a greater number of positions, which are more complimentary. At the institutional levels certain changes are already in progress which have ameliorated the situation in general for women. However, in order for the status quo to change there is a need for a multi-pronged challenge. Unless the media and particularly the advertising industry (which is extremely potent) remodels its imaging, it is futile to expect changes in attitudes, Ultimately it is the media that can make or break the dominant perceptions in society. Thats where the advertising industry can make a difference.
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10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Notes
Sangeeta Thapa. "Development Communication in the Women Development Sector of Nepal'. Report on Development Communication: Nepal's Experience. Aug. 1989
Jeery Goodis. Nelson 1983. As the Brain Tunes Out the TV Admen Tune in. Globe and Mail.
lbid., p.4
Sut Jhally. "Advertising, Gender and Sex: Whats Wrong with a Little Objectification'.p.1
Sut Jhally. "Advertising, Gender and Sex: What's Wrong with a Little Codification'.p.4
Malsiri Dias. "Marriage, Motherhood and Employment'. Women at the Crossroads. (ICES,Colombo.1990) p.219
Sut Jhally. p.7
Michelle Rosaldo. A theoretical Overview
“Cultural Traditions and the Girl Child'. Sirima Kiribamuna. Social Justice. Vol. 26. No. 3. March 1992
Jezima Ismail. "The Impact of a Career on the Marital and Family. Women at the Crossroads. (ICES, Colombo, 1990)p. 2311232
Ibid.p.239
Siromi Fernando. The Cultural Environment of Sri Lankan Women: A Comparision of the Aspects Revealed in Sinhala/English Newspapers and Sri Lankan English Fiction. The National COnvention On Women's Studies. CENWOR. 1992
Jezima Ismail. "The Impact of a Career on the Marital and Family. Women at the Crossroads (ICES, Colombo, 1990) p.238
Vidyamali Samarasinghe. "Gender Equality in Developing Countries'. Women at the Crossroads. (ICES, Colombo, 1990) p.8
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15.
16.
17.
18.
“Cultura TraditionS and the Girl Child". Sirima Kiribamuna. SOCial Justice. Vol.26. No. 3. March 1992
An aproximate translation: By sewing clothes which are sewn in the contessa, you can outdo the local look and fit into the western look.
Kamla Bhasin and Nighat Said Khan. Feminism and its Relevance in South Asia. (Kali For Women. India)
Sangeetha Thapa. p. 33
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The Portrayal of Women in Recent Tamil Finns and its televance to Social
teality
Bhawani Loganathan
Films in the twentieth century have formed a major part of mass communication and have also served as mass-entertainment to people of different socio-economic status from the era of silent movies, to the talkies' era. It is indeed worthwhile analysing why films have occupied Such an important place in entertainment. AS Roberg Gaston, media critic and the Director of Chitrabani, a Calcutta based institute involved in development communication puts it succinctly,
"A painting, dancing or a song is a means of expressing emotions but what is extra-ordinary about a film is that it is capable of expressing emotions itself".
A language system comprises signs which are inter-communicative unlike the cinema which is a one-way-communication. In spite of this, films have become popular because they use images that become signs within the whole film.
With the development of technology in the mid-twentieth century, films have assumed a Superior position to stage dramas, as they express themselves through time/space more effectively. Furthermore, as a synthetic art they combine several art forms such as speech, dancing, music and action. Hence, they have a tremendous impact on Society as mass entertainment. In the words of Satyajit Ray, the well known director of Indian films,
"Cinema is a medium which is capable of conquering and analysing even the iota of a change, in thoughts

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and in sentiments. The powerful characteristic of cinema is that it could reach every corner of wisdom and supply knowledge. It has great powers of influencing the development of an individual as well as that of a society..."
As such, in the hands of thespians it became an art of its own. In the hands of "King makers" it became a spring board which helped film stars to leap into the political arena. Ronald Reagan the former President of the United States, M.G.Ramachandran the late Chief-Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha Jayaram the present Chief Minister of the same state, Vyjayanthimala Bali ex-member of parliament in India, Gamini Fonseka the former Speaker of the Sri Lankan State Assembly and the late Vijaya Kumaranatunga are some of those who came into politics through the film medium. Cinema has often displayed a dual role both in reinforcing existing and atavistic values and in promoting social change. For instance, cinema in the pre-revolutionary Soviet Union was a sort of opium which provided the masses with gratification, stopping them from seeking Social changes while in the post-revolutionary era it was used as an instrument of societal change. Similarly, films played a key role in the development of Dravida Kalakam in Tamil Nadu in the fifties which at that time displayed some progressive traits by focusing on caste oppression, blind superstitions and the plight of women in Society. On the other hand, within this somewhat uneven process of evolution, cinema has become a medium of culture in trying to define the status of women in the Society and in the portrayal of women as Guardians of cultural and religious norms. Films such as Kannaki, Sathi Savithri and Sathi Anasuya were popular among the masses as well as among the middle class.
But now when looking back over these five decades of social and cultural changes, one begins to doubt whether the present day films really reflect the new role' of women which is different from that of the traditional woman. This paper therefore, is an attempt to see whether the portrayal of women in recent Tamil films is a true reflection on their present status and to what extent these films take note of their problems. Some pertinent questions that should be posed while reviewing the selected Tamil films are :
Is the contemporary cinema a reflection of social reality?
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Do they monitor social and cultural developments within the community, portraying women as they are ?
Are the images of women in films of the recent past meant to drug the audience, mainly the masses, into a dream world and cloud their thought process?
These are some important questions that we shall now attempt to explore in the following section.
Tami Film Industry in Sri Lanka
The number of Tamil films produced in Sri Lanka is numerically so small that they have not made much of an impact. The main reason for this was that the Sri Lankan Tamil film industry in its stage of infancy could not compete technically and commercially with the already established Indian film market. In addition, some of our talented film makers such as Balu Mahendra who has won many a film award in India, Kuganathan who produced quite a few box-office hits in Tamil Nadu, Kandeepan a young music director who is establishing himself in the film world at the moment, have preferred to stay in India. In view of the above, we could only monitor Indian films. The films selected for this paper are those which were released between June and December 1992 in India. Even though the same films were not simultaneously released in the theaters of Sri Lanka due to import formalities and financial restrains, they are readily available as video cassettes. Hence it is practically possible to view them, some of them before their formal release in India. During this period twenty four films were viewed and monitored. Of these, only twelve are selected for this study. Film reviews which appeared in South Indian Tamil magazines such as Bommai, Kalki, Anandavikatan and Suba Mangala are being used to Substantiate a few of my arguments.
The Films and the Gender Specific Messages
The number of films taken for analysis is twelve during the period from June to December 1992. Of these, only three films are of heroine -
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oriented' themes, and only two films ROJA (The Rose) and THEVAR MAKAN (The Son of Thevar) give equal importance to both the male and female characters, the latter getting deeply into the problems within the community and those of rural, land disputes. The rest of the films are all hero-oriented, among which some over-emphasize such roles, because the actor concerned is a super-star with high commercial value for the distributors. In such films, the role of the female characters including those of the heroines, are underplayed to boost up the image of the super-stars. The films are analysed chronologically to identify the gender specific messages and meanings.
CINNA MARUMAKAL (The Younger Daughter-in-law)
This is a family story where the younger son of an extended family falls in love with a modern college girl. After a fair amount of family opposition, the young couple get married and the girl comes to live with her in-laws. She is then faced with a mother-inlaw who is a tyrant' and who treats the other two daughters-in-law in an arrogant manner. She is shown as interfering with them often; the narrative shows the process as to how this young girl tames the motherin-law.
Though the story appears to have a heroine-oriented theme and was advertised as dealing with women's emotions, the actual screenplay focuses more upon the role played by the father-in-law in trying to bring harmony within the family and in protecting the newly wedded daughters-in-law, the actor concerned being the well-reputed Sivaji Ganeshan. The popular Tamil weekly Anandavikatan when reviewing this film says,
"...the rest of the cast are having a ride on Sivaji's shoulders..."
The film does not portray the real problems, the psychology of the relationship between the two women and the power struggle" within the extended family which in fact is the root cause of all their disputes.
Apart from this, the film shows, in detail, how the heroine, as a college
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girl, is eve-teased by the hero. After marriage, she is molested by the brother of her mother-in-law in their house, a scene where the director seem to have concentrated most on depicting the Sordid details of violence. However, it is obvious that this part is irrelevant to the story and could have been avoided. The scene fulfills the need for sexual violence as part of the formula designed by the film producer.
Dialogue such as,
"If the wives are not kept under control, the women of present days will sit on our heads",
adds to the negative attitude towards women and strongly advocates that they be kept in their houses, emphasising the subservient role designed for women and wives in the home.
ANNAMALAI (The name of a Man)
This film was a box-office hit in Tamil Nadu, largely due to the casting of Rajni Kanth, as the hero Annamalai, a small dairy farmer. He lives with his widowed mother, owning a small plot of land in the heart of the city, and is friendly with the son of a rich man who dupes him by exploiting their friendship and acquiring his land through foul means. The innocent young man now turns hard and vows to avenge them, becomes rich, and takes revenge on those who duped him, making them fall at his feet at the end of the film. Within this story is a sub-theme,which involves a rich girl falling in love with the hero. Her attempts to attract his attention through the self-degrading antics that heroines in Tamil movies are usually subjected to, typically characterize their relationship prior to marriage.
The theme is based on exploitation of the poor, leading to revenge and then success. Women in this story are used merely for cosmetic' effects. Singing songs and dreaming of the hero, the heroine behaves as if she does not have anything else to do. The director tries to spin the
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usual fairy-tale' of rich-girl and poor-man's love affair. Other than this, the role of heroine does not contribute towards the story in any way. Dressed in ultra-modern outfits through the first half of the film and in traditional saree in the second half, she is shown to be a person who believes that her world is nothing beyond her husband and home. She is not consulted in any of the problems that her husband is faced with, the marriage transforms her from a modern girl to a traditional wife, and the change of the dress is symbolic of this transformation. The only female character who has a dignified image in this film is the widowed mother of the hero. She is shown to give orders, rather than advice to her son in his task of avenging the enemies.
Apart from this the scene of a helpless young girl who is ill-treated by her husband, is brought in to legitimise the secondary status of a wife in a Tamil society. When she comes to her mother's house with scars of her husband's brutality she is told by the brother to return at once to her husband's house.
"She who tells her natal family members her woes in the husband's house, is by no means a woman",.......
he chides her. The voiceless and rightless wife has no one to go to, when subjected to violence. She has to go back to her guardian and lord, her husband. The message given to the audience here is that, whatever physical torture a woman may go through in the hands of her husband, she has to, continue living with him, in his custody. Once married, she should not confide in her parents or any of her family member about the injustice done to her, in her husband's home. The woman once married is alienated from her natal family, and has to break her ties with her natal family and has to belong to her husband and his family. This message is repeated emphatically by her brother, which is a patriarchal social custom in Some parts of India.
ITUTANTA CATTAM (This is Law)
This film begins with a hint of a modern' woman, since the heroine is a police inspector. The hero, a senior police officer comes on transfer to her town with his little daughter. The flash back shows that his wife
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and father were killed by a notorious and influential gangster. The heroine who lives close to his house, poses as a house maid, a role model built for women as home makers and house maids, cooks his food, and plays the role of a nutritional mother to his child, so that she can win over his affection and the child's. A message is thrown that even in the disguise of a maid, she is at ease playing the nutrient motherhood role. Between these, the audience forget her primary duty to society. Later, the two meet at the police station as officers and vow to avenge this particular gang. When the gangsters get to know this, they kidnap the child, kill her and send the body to the father as a warning signal. Thereafter, the two of them spread a drag net for them, in the course of which heroine gets injured and her womb is removed due to severe damage. Once she convalesces, she traces the group and makes the arrests. In the court house, the trial fails as the judge is bribed by their leader and all of them are released as not guilty'. As the verdict is being read, the hero and the heroine shoot down the convicts and the judge, thereby doing justice' to the cause by punishing the wrong doers.
In a small town where the position of a police officer commands respect from the public, the heroine poses as a house maid, does all the house work and tries hard to attract the hero's attention and love. This is a very unrealistic presentation, where the audience are made to believe that a man can be won over by a woman, only if she plays the traditional role of wife and mother, no matter whether she is a State officer of police. Her powers and status as a police officer come into play only after she comes to know the fact that she cannot bear children. Until then, she is shown to spend her time trying to win the affection of the hero. The film makes no reference to the problems of gender bias she may encounter in the police service or how she receives moral support from the women in the town. The woman with a womb, capable of mothering, is symbolically treated as the woman/mother equation. The woman without the womb - incapability to conceive - becomes a sign again to explain why she renounces motherhood, and becomes a serious police officer, in a man's role.
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ROJA (The name of a woman)
The theme here is of anti-state terrorism versus patriotism'. A cryptologist of the Indian army goes to a suburban town to see his prospective bride who confesses her love for her cousin and that she would not marry anyone else. The hero in an attempt to save the situation of an arranged marriage, and also to help the prospective bride out of a predicament, announces to her parents that his preference her younger sister - Roja. Roja, though given in marriage to him, feels humiliated and shows her protest in many ways after she moves into her husband's house. Later, she comes to know of the true circumstances in a conversation with her sister, who by now is married to her lover. Now she believes her husband and insists that she goes and lives with her husband on the Kashmir boarder where he is posted for duty. In Kashmir, he is kidnapped by the separatists who demand that their leader in custody be released. Roja with her limited knowledge of the situation acts spontaneously, meets the officials, and has a confrontation with the separatist leader who is in army custody, as well as with the Army Commander insisting that her husband be saved and given back to her. The film depicts all the efforts made by this rural girl to secure the release of her husband.
Here the heroine a high school educated, sub-urban girl from a peasant background, is portrayed as an individual with a mind of her own. Her sense of humiliation when her sister is rejected by this man, her refusal to accept his explanation about her sister's affair, her wanting to verify facts directly from the sister and her courage in requesting a meeting with the terrorist in captivity make her a unique personality. She does not shed tears or make melodramatic speeches about her ill-luck. When she is given a lecture by the Army Officer on her patriotic duty and not to insist on conceding to the demands of the terrorists, she spontaneously poses the question,
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"Would you tell the same if my husband is the son of a politician?"
The other female character in the film her mother-in-law, is portrayed as a well balanced individual. When the new daughter-in-law walks into the kitchen for the first time, she inquires about her taste and choice of dishes instead of giving a stereotyped lecture' on how she should learn to cook according to her husband's taste.
This particular film portrays women as individuals, capable of decision making, yet not alien to their own tradition and culture.
BHARATHAN (The name of the hero)
A simple, straightforward social theme, where the hero is affectionately brought up by his elder brother and sister-in-law in a middle class family. The older brother is involved in drug deals without the knowledge of the family, and gets killed when he refuses to obey the gang. Circumstantial evidence makes the younger. brother Bharathan the victim and he is sentenced to life imprisonment. Meanwhile, the sister-in-law, now a widow, commits suicide. The rest of the story relates how Bharathan escapes from the prison and takes revenge on those who were responsible for all what happened.
The two female characters in this film are the heroine who happens to be the fiancee of the hero, and his sister-in-law. Their presence in the story is to give a boost' to the hero, the actor concerned being a super-star. The entire presence of the heroine is to add glamour to the film. She falls in love with the hero, makes the necessary plans for his escape from prison, and shortly before the climax is revealed to be a free-lance journalist. No further reference to her life as a journalist is shown in the film. The sole impression given is that she is a woman whose prime duty is to save her lover. Likewise, the sister-in-law is shown to be a stereotype' housewife in Tamil films, who cannot cope with the situation and hence takes her life. The suicide glorifies her personality.
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Street and gang violence using fire arms and explosives, dominate the film; of the 2 3/4 hour run a major portion of 30 minutes is allocated to mere violence unrelated to the main plot.
SEVAKAN (He who serves the Society)
A police officer who is committed to civil and human rights is the theme of this film.
A dutiful Deputy Superintendent of Police living with his unmarried sister is being continuously harassed by his half-brother and step-mother for their own personal benefits. The step-brother, who is involved in illegal business with a corrupt politician, tries to get his halfsister married to the politician's son so that they can get a policeman into their network. The young DSP when raiding a hotel finds an unmarried girl being molested by a policeman and saves her. He also marries her when her name is stigmatized after the incident. When he refuses to give his sister in marriage to the politician's son, the latter takes revenge by torturing and killing his wife who is now pregnant. Ultimately, the hero gets all of them punished by the law.
The three women in this film fall into the category of traditional wives looking after the home and do not possess any other aptitudes. The heroine repeatedly emphasizes her gratitude towards her husband for saving her from the stigma, and towards the end is shown to sacrifice her life for his sake, hence glorified at death.
However, certain positive, more realistic traits are shown regarding prostitution. It is depicted as a social problem for women. When a brothel is raided by the police, the inmates relate their own stories as to how they were compelled to enter this profession. The police officer gets the assistance of the local citizen's committee to rehabilitate them. In the same way, when the DSP receives his transfer orders to another town, the women of the area stage a protest and demand his reinstatement.
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About 30 minutes of the film is 'allocated to all kinds of violent scenes, most of these being thrust' into the story. The molestation of the sister, the brutal torture and killing of the pregnant woman and gang warfare on the streets are shown in much detail, frame by frame, so that the audience gain ideas as to how to conduct these, rather than see the implications of violence. The frequency of such scenes could have been minimised and made suggestive' rather than explicit.
VANAME ELLAI (The Sky is the Limit)
This film, made by the popular director K.Balachander, is based on frustrations of the youth, and attempts to bring out positive solutions to these. An unemployed boy and another who leaves home after realising how corrupt his father is, meet one another. Two girls of whom one escapes from a forced marriage and the other is a victim of rape, join these two boys and all of them decide on a particular date to commit suicide to register their protest against Society. The date is fixed for a hundred days later, before which all of them decide that they should enjoy their lives. One of the boys who believes in living, reforms them with the covert help of his father. This makes them realize that human lives can be put to better use by serving the community and the society and all of them decide to engage themselves in these tasks.
The two teen-age girls in this film represent middle class women. One runs away from her home to escape a marriage to an old, rich man who is her father's boss. The other, an educated city girl, gets gang-raped while travelling in a train for her marriage. Here the rape scene is not elaborated with gruesome details but related by the victim herself injust four sentence. While four of them share the same roof during their stay together, all of them equally share the household chores.
The act of rape in this film is handled by the director as a social problem,in a compassionate manner. Here the victim relates the incident in four sentences without any flash-back to the act. Neither does the theme culminate in the suicide of the victim as a means of escapism.
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The narration forcefully illustrates the fact that the cause for youth frustration lies both in society and in the conduct of their family members.
This film could act as a saviour for disappointed and alienated youth by showing them that a meaningfully productive life could be ahead of them. The producer is sensitive towards the concept of gender equality and tries to fulfil a vision towards upholding it.
THILAKAM(The name of a woman)
This is a heroine-oriented theme where a wife avenges the murder of her husband. The husband, an honest police officer, is killed by a gang of drug smugglers while conducting investigations. After this, his educated, full-time housewife enters the police force by competitive examination. As a deputy superintendent of police, she takes up duties in a sub-urban station and lives with her only son. Her independence, self-dignity and honesty make her gain respect among the public as well as among her colleagues. She enters into direct confrontation with the gangsters on many occasions and finally makes the arrests. On the day of the court case, she is gunned down by their men outside the court house. Before she dies, she makes her son wear her hat as a symbolic gesture that he should carry out the same task as his parents.
Despite the good theme, the frequent scenes of violence have negated the impact this film would have created. A scene where the gangsters cut a child's finger and the torture and killing of a pregnant woman both extend for more than two to three minutes which is obviously revolting and diverts the attention of the audience from the story itself. One feels that such scenes are incorporated into the movie more for commercial reasons. Though the film tries to project women in non-traditional professions and treats the women characters with dignity and purpose,it tends to indulge in another 'new wave' torture. The heroine in the captivity of the gang, hands tied behind her back, is forcibly put a kumkum, and one of them tries to tie a yellow thread symbolic of a
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Thali. The director has tried to justify this particular scene by saying that these men killed her husband earlier, and are now ridiculing her widowhood. But such culture-oriented violence is increasingly being shown in recent Tamil movies. This is clearly a rendering of sadistic designs based on very specific traits of gender oppression. Torturing and killing pregnant women is fast becoming a part of the formula.
INNISAI MALAI (The Rain of Sweet music)
This story is about the members of a music troupe. A female vocalist is being manipulated by its manager, who is aware that she is the illegitimate child of a wealthy man in high society. When she falls in love with a a member of the troup and the affair suffers problems caused by the villain. Ultimately a police officer brings the lovers together.
Despite the fact that this film is produced by a woman, (Shoba Chandrasekar) the film contains all the ingredients of a typical commercial product. The sexy cabaret, the movements of which betray the sexual act, and the commodified woman's body speak, in no uncertain terms, of woman's subordination and over-emphasises the role of the hero. The dialogue is also of the same order. The heroine, a modern girl, gets slapped by her boy friend but she shows no protest and SayS,
"Do you know who does such a thing? Only a husband has the authority to do this to his wife...."
Violence here is legitimised as part of a husband's authority and dominance over her. Here the dialogue and the facial expression of the heroine indicating that she relishes male dominance and enjoys being physically assaulted by the man whom she loves.
Another scene, is typical of the above sentiment. The wife of the businessman gets to know that her husband is a bigamist and has an illegitimate child. She consoles him by saying,
"This is no drime. All men have been doing this..."
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Here the director sends out a message' to the audience that polygamy is a man's prerogative, and that a good wife' has to tolerate it.
The role of the hero is overplayed wherever possible. When the heroine is gagged and locked up in a room by the villain, she throws down her hair accessories to indicate her presence but does not remove the plaster across her lips. The hero after breaking into the room removes the plaster and saves her. Removing the plaster is a role assigned to the hero.
This film is an example to show that women as part of the system have succumbed to the standards set by the mainstream media.
THEVAR MAKAN (The Son of Thevar)
The story is about the feudal families of a village. Two brothers develop enmity due to land dispute and this is carried over to the next generation as well. Periyasamy Thevar, the older brother, has two sons of whom the elder one takes care of the family property and is an alcoholic, while the younger son, Sakthivel is sent for higher studies abroad. After completing his studies, he returns to the village with the intention of starting his own business in the city. He is accompanied by his equally educated fiancee Bhanu, who is of a different community, caste and economic background. However, his father accepts her as his daughter-in-law and Bhanu returns to the city to make preparations for their marriage. Back in the village, the family enmity erupts, leading to the father's sudden death, whereby Sakthivel had no option but to take over the family responsibilities and remain in the village. When the public is denied access to the main road through private land, he tries to solve the problem by mutual agreement with another farmer and is thrown into a situation where he marries the farmer's daughter Panchavarnam. Bhanu returns to the village, is enraged at first, then understands the circumstances and bids farewell to the couple. Back in the village, the family enmity gets
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further aggravated and finally Sakthivel murders his cousin and goes to prison.
The two female characters in this film, Bhanu the modern city girl and Panchavarnam the rural peasant, are both wholesome' personalities. Bhanu who tells Sakthivel,
"You are no longer the man whom I loved; You have now become the son of this soil"
symbolizes the attitude of an educated and compassionate humanbeing and not that of a stereotype heroine who would try to justify his act of marrying another woman. Likewise, Panchavanam the rural girl, questions her father as to why he did not get her consent when arranging her marriage. Here the two of them are dignified individuals, bound by the very same values and traditions observed by the men in their respective societies. The focus is on their human qualities, and how they assert themselves in a rigid, caste-oriented, rural Society.
AAN ENNA,PENN ENNA ("What does it matter whether it is a boy or a girl?")
The theme of the narrative here is the long established custom of treating the girl-child as a stigma in Society.
An alcoholic father, after having two daughters by his first wife, remarries in order to produce a son. The second wife gives birth to a daughter and dies at the child-birth. This child Jyothi is disowned by the father and is brought up in an orphanage. After she grows into a teenager, she returns to her family, virtually fighting her way into her home, where her step-mother and stepsisters are subservient. While coping to live with them, she rebels against her father's atrocities and decides to educate the older sisters. She takes up the 'so-called' male-dominated jobs such as waiter, assistant to a blacksmith and auto-driver. Her labour helps the sisters to go for further studies and they climb up the social ladder. One of them becomes a Government Agent
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while the other becomes a stage-singer. When the father continues to ill-treat them, they leave their home at which point the mother decides to go along with them. The story tells how Jyothi fights against all odds in life which ultimately makes the father realize that daughters are not inferior to sons.
This film portrays the heroine as a person who believes in gender equality, rebelling against injustice done to women. While working as an auto-driver she organises the drivers' union and demands for their rights. She works independently, turning down gender-oriented privileges.
"If daughters are considered as burden by their parents, we daughters should take up more and more family responsibilities. The sky is our limit".
This is a positive attempt to portray the equal status of the girlchild.
Conclusions
Women portrayed in these films are very seldom a reflection of the present socio-economic reality, with themes picked from a middle class perspective in which the families live in cities and sub-urban areas, the women are not shown to share any economic responsibilities with the males in the family. Neither do they reflect the problems faced by most middle-class women in their homes and work places and their struggle for survival; the heroines wear clothing and jewels in their homes which no middle class housewife or college student could afford, and speak a "prescribed' dialogue of 'wifely duties only. Their interests are shown to be within the family circle and they do not extend beyond to the community or the society they live in.
The directors often go to the extent of exaggerating women's sacrifices towards their husbands and children, labelling them 'good wives or 'good mothers. Women become totally submissive, lack powers for decision making and depend solely on their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons in that order. Dialogues and scenes give the impression that
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they 'enjoy' male dominance and violence inflicted on them. Such scenes tend to "reinforce' the traditional roles of housewife/mother which are fast disappearing in our society due to various socio-economic reasons. Apart from framing women into streotypical roles, the minority phenomenon of women doctors, engineers and managers is ommitted, whereas this is an emerging social reality.
In ANNAMALAI, the film shows the upper-class heroine who, without any of her class interests except in her attire, declares her love to the slum hero who is riding on a push-bicycle with his milk cans and buffaloes. The 'message' sent here is that a woman is recognized and respected only if she is a wife or a mother, the role of hero's girl friendcum-fiancee taking the second place in this heirarchy. Single women have no social status irrespective of their education, career or personal achievements. These are of "minor' importance to her personality; what is more important is that she should make 'self-sacrifices and this alone 'glorifies' her image.
A few films attempt to portray the image of 'modern' women who are educated and economically independent. But very few of these characters receive merits. Here, the directors seem to adhere to a patriarchal value system which diminishes and demeans women's intellectual capacity. In addition, the climax scenes usually portray the hero Saving the women from the villain. These scenes unambiguously give the message that women being frail and weak need to be saved by masculine strength and that out of stupidity they have got into a mess or a violent situation. Then the superior wisdom takes them out of the
CSS.
Apart from these, there is a third category of women who are neither 'traditional' nor 'modern' in their roles. They exist purely for the sake of the hero and their only 'goal' in life is to win his heart. Such a heroine makes her presence felt in the film by means of song and dance Sequences, dialogue and gestures which plead with the hero to accept her, together with an array of sensual attire. These 'synthetic' women have little self-respect or human dignity and are created by the film media to add 'glamour to the final product and boost up the hero image, especially if the actor concerned is a super-star. There are no parallel characterisations for men; men characters are not used to enhance another character,
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As mentioned by Aruna Vasudev in Women and Media Analysis, Alternatives and Action (1984),
"... Media portrays sex stereotypes, mothers, wives, dependents etc. Women are seldom shown as economically independent ie.professionals, farmers, labourers. The pre-dominant image is that of selfsacrificing housewife. The reinforcement of the concept of traditional women by values, attitudes, and behaviour always perpetuates the view that male is Superior in every way, to the female."
Widows in Tamil films fall into a separate category. The 'unwritten' code of ethics in films is that the widow, no matter what her class background may be, should wear a white saree and be devoid of jewels and cosmetics. Either she does it wilfully or other women around her make her do it. It is not uncommon to see Hindu widows in present times, wearing coloured attire and jewellery. The dialogue mentions widow-remarriage with much reluctance and apology, whereas it is increasingly common and accepted by the society.
As Inqulab, a progressive poet, says (Suba Mangala July 1992)
"...the 'filmic culture' is no reflection on the changing social culture that prevails among the various communities and classes. Among the working class, widow remarriage is a common occurrence in the past and in the present."
A few films contain anti-woman sentiments expressed through proverbs and stigmatize women through their own gender. However, a few of them really show solidarity with women. A typical scene, is that the young bride is held responsible by other women for the untimely death of the groom.
Violence Towards Women and Children
About fifty percent of the film viewed contain sadistic violence towards women. Some of these films were advertised as " themes with ladies
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sentiments" but they indirectly degrade women making them objects for mass entertainment. It is obvious that such scenes are irrelevant to the story. The films "CINNA MARUMAKAL" and "SEVAKAN" show molestation/rape scenes with undue details and the scenes are lengthened to satisfy perverted minds. The scenes are extended for two to three minutes during which the audience virtually receives a 'step by step' instruction to the act. Instead of emphasizing its psychological impact of the rape victim and its social implications, the focus is on sadism, so much so that the average film-goer believes that rape is something that no woman can escape in her life time.
In earlier films, rape and molestation were committed by the villain, but recently, it has been 'taken over by the hero and his associates and the heroine either falls in love' with the hero or is compelled to enter into a marriage with him thereafter. It is noteworthy mentioning the quotes of Rajam Krishnan, the well known novelist and feminist, in her book "Kalanthorum Penkal":
"... During the eras of social underdevelopment, a marriage act by the name "Paisasa vivakam' (devil marriage) is quoted in Rig Veda and in Dharmasutras. According to this, a woman while sleeping, or when in a mentally imbalanced state can be forcibly acquired by a man. How ever, this had been strongly opposed by Vasishtar and Apasthamber who called it 'menial'".
Torture to pregnant women is also a form of 'new wave' violence in recent Tamil films. The director seems to believe that the introduction of such torture scenes could 'earn' the sympathy of female audiences. Judging from the percentage of women in the audience for such films, one cannot argue that their assessment is incorrect. Domestic violence, especially wife-beating is still being glorified in Tamil films. Physical assault by the husband or boy friend on the woman is considered to be the right of the male, and women are shown to readily accept it as a symbol of his 'manhood and his rights' and possibly as a 'gesture' of his affection towards her ("INNISAI MALAI").
Wife beating is treated as the right of the husband and the wife is expected to dutifully compromise in the situation justifies by such statements as in the journal KAMKARU VITHTHI (1984) of Nava Lanka Sama Samaja Party, which has given a distorted explanation to the act of domestic violence as,
"... The relationship between man and woman is a complex one, to which there is no easy answer. To an outsider it may look as if the man is harassing and beating the woman. But
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if we look closer, it is merely a bit of fun and games between the husband and wife..."
Widow molestation and rape as shown in earlier films had the justification that any single woman, living without the custodianship of a man could be subjected to such humiliation. Recently, however, this act has acquired a new 'dimension' through which the widow is tortured by forcibly making her wear a coloured saree, by applying kumkum on her forehead and tying a yellow string around her neck. In "THILAKAM" the director tries to justify that the widowed police officer who wants to avenge her husband's murder, is being humiliated by the same gangsters.
Violence against children has been recently incorporated into Tamil films in the most sadistic manner and is bound to create a fear psychosis among the audience, especially the parents. The child's fingers are cut to punish the father, in THILAKAM. In another, (SEVAKAN) the daughter is killed and sent in a package to her father. Why such scenes are being introduced increasingly is a topic for further discussion.
Public violence such as arson and the use of highly sophisticated fire arms provides 'mass entertainment in recent films. In "BHARATHAN" violence occupies approximately 1/6 of the total duration of the film. Apart from the obvious question as to how the hero gained access to such weapons, one could also feel the story lagging behind.
In conclusion, we can easily say that the 'space given to women in most of the Tamil films is marginal, within which she is not portrayed as an individual but as one whose existence is totally linked to the male characters. Ashis Rajayakshsa's description of this phenemenon is indeed very candid. His paper on "Women Watching" (Lokyan Bulletin 4:6, 1986) says,
"... The reduction of women into objects, or their identification as male property, constitutes a way of looking and of portraying women. Women are shot in different ways for men, the fragmenting of themselves into parts of the body, the use of their voices in sound mixing, the pattern of editing..."
The status of women, their levels of oppression and subordination are necessarily not projected, as they exist in today's society. The motive for such projection however, is to perpetuate male dominance and glorify female subservience. As we have noted, it is not men alone who are subjected to this kind of film making, but some women producers and film makers have also
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fallen into this trap. What we see is not a true reflection of social reality but a crude and exaggerated depiction of what the film makers think that the audience would enjoy. However, we cannot generalise on this.
Women whose awareness is limited and women who accept secondary status due to various social factors seem to accept and appreciate these films arising out of false consciousness. Hence images of women projected in the films give a false idea of social reality but could possibly lead to retrogressive changes in society, if not brought into the limelight.
This should be the task of all the progressive women's groups and the press. They have an important role to play both, in critizing the film censor board and providing guide lines to the audience.
I remember with gratitude, all those who had encouraged me to sensitize myself on issues relating to the Women in Tamil Films'. My sincere thanks are to Dr. Elizabeth Harris and Dr. 8:ly Thiruchandran for having edited the manuscript of my paper, despite of their busy schedule.
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Referenees
Ann Enna, Penn enna , by Mouli, December 1992.
Annamalai, by Suresh Krishna, July 1992.
Bharathan by Saba, October 1992.
Bhasin, Kamla. ed. 1984. "Women and Media:Analysis, Alternatives and
Action, New Delhi, ISIS Publications.
Bommai. January 1967."Interview with M.G.Ramachandran", Madras,
Chandamama Publications.
Boyle, Sharmini.1991. Images of Women. Colombo, Centre for Women's
Research.
Cinna Marumakal:Film review in Anandavikatan, 7th June, 1992.
Devar Makan by Bharathan, November, 1992. : Film review in The Hindu,
23rd October, 1992.
: Film Review in Kalki, July, 1992.
Gaston, Roberg. 1990. The Oubject of Cinema. Calcutta, Seagull
Publications.
Gayatri Devi.1991. "Tiraippatankalil Tamilp Penkal" in Oakthi, February
1991. Madras,...
Indiran.ed. 1989 0atyajit Ray:Cinemavunì Kalaium, Sivagangai, Annam
Publications.
Innisai Malai by Shoba Chandrasekar, June 1992.
Itutanta cattam by Senthil Nathan, Sept. 1992. : Film review in The
Hindu, 26th June, 1992.
Jayawardene, Kumari. 1986. Feminism in Ori Lanka in the Decade, 1975
to 1985. Colombo,Women's Education centre.
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Krishnan, Rajam. 1989. Kalantorum Pen. Madras, Dhagam Publications.
Lenin, B. 1992."Kalainan Viyapari Akumpotu Torruppokiran" in 0uba
Mangala. June 1992.
Malyala Manorama:Year Book 1992. "Vitiyalukkakat Tamilp Penkal". Tri
vandrum, .....Publication.
Mankayar Malar. August 1992.Madras, Kalki Publications.
Narayanan, Arantai. 1981. Tamil Cinemavin Katai.Madras, New Centuary
Books.
Rajayaksha, Ashish. 1986. "Women Watching" in Lokayan Bulletin 4:6.
Roja by Manirathnam, August 1992. : Film Review in The Hindu, 28th
August, 1992.
0cvakan prod. Sri Ram Film International,... 1992.
Sri Govindasamy, S. "Tamil cinema" in Virakesari 6th June,1992.
0uba Mangala. July 1992."Interview with Poet Inqulab", Madras,
...Publications.
"Tamil Cinemavil Penkal" in Kalki, July, 1992.
Thilakam by Ragu Vaasu, Sept.1992.
Vasudev, Aruna. 1984. "The Woman :Vamp or Victim" in Women and Media :Analysis, Alternatives and Action, New Delhi, ISIS
Publications.
Vaname Ellai :Film review in Kalki, 7th June, 1992.
I benefited a lot in the formulation of my ideas for this paper from the Phd. thesis The laealogical factor in the subordination of Women A Comparative Analysisof Tamil Women of Madras across Cast and Class (Unpublished thesis Vrije University of Selvy Thiruchandran)
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Gender tepresentations in the Modern Sri Lanka Theatre
Neluka Silva
As a genre, drama is one of the most potent, if not the most socially powerful and collective artforms. By its very nature it is a public medium, and in the theatre, an audience (whether consciously or not) makes a statement. The theatre in Sri Lanka is the most vigorous popular genre outside the electronic media. Virtually every night of the week plays are staged and these are surprisingly well-attended by audiences drawn from a variety of social strata. The contemporary Sri Lankan theatre serves as an index of prevailing ideologies, which makes an interesting case for study. The theatre posits itself as embodying the radical' voice lashing out at the repressive structures of society. The radical appeal is generally sanctioned by an audience which conceives the theatre as a medium for propagating 'revolutionary' themes. Yet the radical theatrical project is often fraught with reactionary representations of a number of issues, notably gender, ethnicity and race. Most of the current plays work within the patriarchal, chauvinist and even xenophobic
The material in this paper was for a conference on Women and the Media held by Dhaka University in December 1992. Some of the material taken from the author's BA Honours Dissertation Responses to Crises - The English Theatre in Sri Lanka in the Eighties - (unpublished) March 1992. I wish to thank Dr. Neloufer de Mel and Mala de Alwis for their contribution. I am particularly grateful to Mala de Alwis for her insightful comments anad discussion during the writing of this paper, in addition for reading through the draft paper and for her constant encouragement.

parameters of populist and popular ideologies. In the representation of women and the ethnic minorities the negative formulae are very much in place (Neluka Silva: 1992, p.22).
This paper concentrates on the representation of women in the Sri Lankan theatre. Gender issues have always been overlooked in the theatre as insignificant. Yet it is necessary to evaluate how gender has been deployed, conditioned and contested in this genre in an era of extreme violence and conflict. The 1980's have been a watershed in the Sri Lankan socio-political scenario and has affected society on all levels and fronts. On the political level the ethnic conflict in the north and east, the civil war in the south have had deep rooted repercussions. On a social level, the events that have entered the public arena are the increased impetus in tourism, the advent of AIDS and the mass exodus of workers to the Middle East. The exodus to the Middle East is particularly relevant because the greatest number of migrants have been women and this phenomenon has altered the traditional familial structures of both rural and urban sectors. Women in Sri Lanka have challenged and are challenging the stereotypes by which they are bound, breaking the traditional roles which constrain them. "Traditional' roles of women are themselves problematic.
South Asia shares the legacy that colonialism has left behind, the homogenising notion of domesticity. Colonialism confined women to the private domain and within this domain they were defined as mother/wife/homemaker. The attributes of 'true womanhood' by which a woman judged herself, as was judged by her husband, neighbours and Society at large could be divided into four cardinal virtues - piety, purity, submissiveness and dometicity (Barbara Welter, 1966:151-174). Popular culture, particularly the theatre, is a very effective conduit through which the post-colonial legacy is rearticulated/reinforced.
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This paper is divided into sections on the English and Sinhala theatre since each caters to distinct audiences demarcated by class. The English theatre is very much the arena of the upper class elite. The Sinhala theatre alternatively, caters to the middle, lower middle and lower classes, and is regarded as the popular theatre. In terms of gender stereotypes also there are discernible differences. While there are some overlapping roles for women in both theatres (for instance, the romantic heroine, the mother) other distinct stereotypes operate which are defined by the class from which the practitioners and audience are drawn. Thus while English plays deploy the socialite, gossip and essentially upper class women and the domestic and Sinhala plays are devoid of the servant class and utilizes the mother figure, the western women and the rape victim largely for political reasons. An analysis of both theatres covers the entire range of subject positions that Women occupy.
The English Theatre
The English theatre in Sri Lanka is sustained by a minuscule coterie of urban, upper class anglicised elite. The audiences in turn are drawn from this class for whom English is a first or near first language. I have discussed the English theatre's representation of women because this group in Sri Lanka project themselves as liberal", westernised and sophisticated in their attitudes towards ethnicity and gender. Hence it is necessary to evaluate the stereotypes that operate and the contradictions that arise between what is professed and actually represented on stage.
In the English theatre, gender is a problematic issue that is excluded from discussion or alternatively used as a vehicle for laughter or ridicule. Audiences also rarely perceive the underlying implications of these representations.
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The most popular playwrights among the English theatre present a good case for analysis. Nedra Vittachi and Indu Dharmasena are two women playwrights who have been writing for the past decade or so. Vittachi and Dharmasena deploy a narrow set of female characters which reinforce the patriarchal chauvinistic structures of Sri Lankan society (upper class or otherwise). In interview both playwrights vehemently declared that Sri Lankan society is very oppressive to women and their work attempt to expose the prevalent Sexism and challenge existing assumptions. But the plays point to the dichotomy between what is avouched and textual revelations. Yet it would be too facile to place that onus of blame on them. It must be remembered that they cater to an audience that sanctions such stereotyping, an audience that refuses to question or destabilize the status quo and accepts dominant ideological structures regarding class, gender or ethnicity. Yasmin Gooneratne in quoting Amirthanayagam points to the attitude of snobbery and isolation that prevails among these audiences.
It is true that this group has lost most of its connections with the way of living of the larger community, but there is something valuable in its own. The English educated middle-class is, in a sense, isolated and uprooted; but what virtue is there in complaining of rootlessness? It is finally one's own deficiency if one submits to the chaos of the society in which one lives. It is a personal lacking and a fault (Gooneratne, Yesmin. 1992:5).
Unfortunately, this attitude appears to be upheld by the English-educated minority even today. This possibly explains the lack of large audiences for serious theatre in Sri Lanka. Hence the plays concentrate on the domestic milieu and the characters are those usually present in domestic comedy. There are the domineering, gossipy socialites, the naive, beautiful heroine and the underclass women, the domestic
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servant. In all Dharmasena's works there is a Colombo 7 figure. Characters like Aunty Lala (Its All or Nothing), Tracy (Sky's the Limit) and Primali (A Convenient Marriage) invoke much of the comedy through their preoccupation with fashion shows, cocktail parties and malicious gossip about others from their own circle. They waltz in and out of stage (each time in a new outfit). Their backbiting is extremely vicious. This keeps the audiences in uproarious laughter because the audience in most case is familiar with the gossip discussed and find it hilarious that the latest Colombo Scandals are exposed on the public stage. A typical example follows:
Mabel: "You're a fine one to talk about dirty linen.
Don't know whose aunt is in Angoda".
Tara: "Anyway everybody knows about your
husband's bucket shops". (ms.p.7)
In this sense this strand of theatre is reminiscent of Restoration comedy and its insular, claustrophobic kind of theatre. Very often these characters are used to manipulate the plot. They are the virago type figures who impede the marriage of their daughter/niece and their mercenary, classist outlook though laughable, exhibits the underlying chauvinism.
The other female character that abounds in Vittachi and Dharmasena's plays is the naive heroine. The innocent young girl becomes the pivotal point. It is the complexities of her love-life or her money which propels the plot. This woman feeds into the internalised notion of the beautiful but brainless woman who has to be protected from the viles of the world by a handsome, macho (not accidently rich) male hero.
An analysis of the audience shows that it is almost surprising
that such a "westernised" group would blithely accept and actually sanction such portrayals of women, particularly a
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group that boasts of an increasing number of educated and independent women. On the other hand it is a fact that even in the case of educated Sri Lankan women, there is a reluctance to publicly espouse their independence. Most women downplay their self-assertiveness and prefer to act the shy retiring wall-flower whenever possible. The men, while depending on the women's career for economic reasons, nonetheless desire their women to take as a role model the heroine of these plays. For both men and women then this role feeds into a wish-fulfilment of their socially programmed outlook.
Another stereotype that feeds into both the sexist and classist notions of the audience is in the delineation of the servants. The servants in the plays are always women (although in reality men servants are also common). This woman is polarized from the upper class lady of leisure. They are also demarcated from their elite counterparts by the dress (native dress of cloth and jacket) and also language. The upper class characters essentially use English but these characters speak in Sinhala or sometimes in "broken English" and in both instances the linguistic difference alienates them from the norm and therefore creates the comedy. Aligned to these characters is the domestic who usually goes to the Middle East for employment. She is entirely ridiculed in terms of the lurid dresses she is made to wear, and the faux pas in speaking English. For instance the Dubai returnees say things like "fineaffle" for pineapple which appeals to the classist attitudes of the audience. While it is common for the upper classes to parody these women who work in the Middle East, it is essentially these women who support their families. In addition their migration also broadens the roles for women and has helped the situation for women. The classism that is evident towards these women in popular culture reflects underlying problems. The status and participation of women in the labour force in Sri Lanka is riddled by cultural taboos and the ideology of female seclusion which exists to varying
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degrees. Women are discouraged from participating in wage activity beyond the four walls of the house since this type of labour is looked upon with suspicion and mistrust. Thus even in the theatre, these playwrights seem to operate within the mainstream doctrine of social and ethnic chauvinism.
It is interesting that the most important theme in the plays is marriage. Viewed as a female' preoccupation, the marriage game is worked out in great detail in the plays. The very Selection of the theme is pertinent. The institution of marriage confines women to the patriarchy. In this case what is particularly relevant is that marriage depends almost entirely on monetary constraints. This marriage is like a business contract, without romantic elements. As the title suggests, Dharmasena's Convenient Marriage, revolves around a marriage which takes place to save the family from financial ruin. Of course Dharmasena leaves everyone happy by culminating the plot by making her hero and heroine (who simply married for convenience) fall in love with each other. Thus marriage for the upper classes is connected to money and dowry. These plays show that the old traditions are not relinquished when it comes to money. The practice has come to reflect a commercial ideology such that often times, the monetary consideration receive priority over the merits of the bride. By constantly fetishising the upper class practices of marriage in their plays these playwrights are (unconsciously perhaps) subscribing to and endorsing these very practices. The selection of the romantic plot excludes confrontation of social or political issues facing the larger populace. In addition, the romance paradigm seems most important because it formally encodes a system of hierarchical relations that have ideological repercussions. This recognizable conventional system of hierarchy relationships is also the ideology of racism and patriarchy.
These two playwrights make an interesting case for analysis because in addition to their popularity, as the two major
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women playwrights it is interesting to evaluate their perspective in terms of gender. I feel that to read these plays simply as reactionary stereotypes is simplistic. In Vittachi's previous works, Pasteboard Crown, Smart ASS and Poppy there are extremely powerful female characters who become a potent force. However, that Vittachi turns to other female portrayals (as in these plays) are an indicator of general trends emerging in the English theatre. In times of national crisis, it is customary to adopt escapist modes in popular culture, blotting out the fraught context of the present. In the last few years, popular culture both in the indigenous language and other languages has reflected the general penchant for hackneyed, stock devices and themes. The romance mode seems to offer a conduit for escape, recouping tradition, enabling a temporary effacement of the conflicts that are faced outside the environs of the theatre. Vittachi and Dharmasena cannot be held responsible for an apathetic audience that refuses to challenge their modus operandi. Significantly, it can be felt that the playwrights seem to have the last laugh, because their myopic audiences are unable to grasp the subtle caricaturing of their own class and take stock of the elitist attitudes that they embrace. In interview both Vittachi and Dharmasena were very aware of the underlying sexism in Sri Lankan society. In satirising the stereotypical gender roles, they were trying to uncover dominant attitudes, but audiences seem to view these plays and characters on a superficial level, accepting the stereotypes without question.
Other English playwrights also confine women to these narrow stereotypes. Furthermore the role of mother is central in the plays (I will be dealing with this later). In most other works what is notable is the exclusion of women completely from the plays. It is as though they are incapable of articulating complex issues. Most playwrights are insensitive to the issue of gender discrimination. Ernest Maclntyre is perhaps the one playwright who highlights the sexism that is rife even in the upperclass context. In his play Rasanayagam's
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Last Riot the manner in which the men treat Sita the main female character reveal their sexism, as they refuse to acknowledge her awareness of a complex socio-political situation like the ethnic problems in Sri Lanka.
It is in the Sinhala theatre that the most problematic aspects of gender are shored up. The next section deals with the representation of women in the Sinhala theatre.
The Sinhala Theatre and the
epresentation of Women
Modern Sinhala theatre is a popular cultural genre that has secured a place of recognition among the urban and Semirural audiences. Despite the advent of teledrama and the availability of films, the appeal of the theatre has not waned. Each year plays are presented and the more popular plays remain on the boards for years. Unlike the English theatre in Sri Lanka which is closely knit in character and exhibits a deep aversion to depicting the socio-political exigencies of the country, the Sinhala theatre serves as an index of prevailing ideologies. It has been blatantly critical of political injustices lashing out at places where attention seemed long overdue. Yet while it enthusiastically embraces a radical political project, accentuating women's issues and gender discrimination that women face in contemporary Sri Lanka has never been a priority. In most plays there is an absolute insensitivity towards women. In the plays where women characters feature, they never enunciate their grievances but become a mouthpiece to espouse the cause of men. What is often found is that women are used specifically as symbols\forces to mobilize men to fight for various issues, for example, to fight against the government, or in contrast to fight for the motherland.
This section examines gender representations of women of
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the most popular plays in the last decade. There will be a discussion of the trends which have contest these stereotypes and the implications of these plays in the future.
The escalation of the war in the north and east of Sri Lanka and the reign of terror in the south in 1988/89, have led to a prolific body of resistance literature both for and against the State and counter State forces. In the war and conflict plots, women embrace stereotypical roles. For instance in a play like Bashmantharagatha, the heroine is very much like Grusha in The Caucasian Chalk Circle who waits for her soldier lover to come back from the war. Typically she is the young romantic lover. Even her name Pavithra (purity) Suggests this.
The figure of woman is be used to illustrate the defiling of innocence and purity. After her lover leaves, she is raped and killed and her plight is designed to highlight the futility of war. Once she is raped, she does not appear on stage and it suggests that her function is merely to symbolise rape, not just of womanly purity but the rape of a nation via the war. Other plays like Dawala Bishana, and Platoon also use the persona of the young lover and the rape scene but rape is deployed as a war strategy but not to challenge or question the overarching implications of rape on women and oppressive structures of society.
Throughout war, rape as a military tactic against the enemy has been employed. In the ethnic conflict both the State and the terrorist groups have indulged in rape as a means of oneupmanship. In the Sinhala theatre, playwrights have represented rape on stage as a symbol of war. Cynthia Enloe has noted that it is such periods of national crisis that ideas of feminized sacrifice becomes even more exaggerated" (Cynthia Enloe, 1989). But what is notable is that rape is never articulated as the most blatant abuse of male domination against a woman. The audience is simply made to
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empathise with characters like Pavithra (Bashmantharagatha) but the victims themselves never discuss the politics of this act on themselves or other women.
Closely connected to woman-as-rape victim is the positing of woman-as-mother in war rhetoric. Partha Chatterjee has argued that "the new patriarchy of post-independence nationalism has subtly inverted the ideological form of the relation of power between the sexes through the adulation of woman as goddess and mother (1989). The mother is the sign for the land through her spiritual qualities of self-sacrifice, benevolence, devotion and religiosity (Partha Chatterjee, 1989). The role of mother is an ascendant signifier in the popular theatre. In a cultural ethos which sanctions the role of family, motherhood and nurturance mothers are valorized not only for their biological function but are perceived as carriers of tradition and national culture. The status of the women cannot be adequately understood without taking into account the institution of family, the basic societal unit. As the primary nurturer/caregiver and homemaker, she is paramount in continuing the cultural heritage. But as carriers rather than creators of tradition women in South Asia have been condemned to represent the stereotypes and models created in the minds of men. A woman's, worth is measured in terms of her biological function. Although mothers are present and even dominant in the Sinhala theatre, their portrayals suffer from important and symptomatic limitations and constraints. It is the mother who is a conduit for the dissemination of values (essentially Buddhist values) but they also have an added onus, which is the preservation of the honour of the nation. In Bashmantharagatha the mother becomes the protector not only of her family but continues the cultural practices that have been disrupted as a result of the dislocation of her family.
But at a time of war and socio-economic and political insecurity the mother image takes on a larger role, that of the
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motherland itself which is being violated and desecrated by war. In Sri Lanka today the mother figure adorns the propaganda machine of both the Sinhala State in the call for protect the motherland', 'save our motherland' and so on, and the counter-propaganda of the LTTE. Therefore, utilizing these sentiments in the theatre appeals directly to the populist/nationalist sentiments of the audience. In addition, woman-as mother is used as a voice to articulate political injustice. An instance of this occurs in the play Magatha where the mother takes on the burden of fighting a corrupt judicial system that allows the murder of her son. Because it is a mother's grief (the most effective) that is used to focus on the injustices of the judicial system, the play is very powerful theatrically and its central theme is carried through.
However, motherhood is never questioned or shown as confining to women and the theatre endorses the view that a woman's primary function is to be a mother. The options that are presented to women in the theatre are extremely limited and if a woman is not a mother/wife, then the most startling portrayal is that of the whore', harlot which is also synonymous with the western woman.
Plays like Dvithva, Platoon, Thalamala Pipila posit the role of the loose woman. This character, unlike the traditional Sinhala village lass, embodies morals which are suspect, and occupies the antithetical position to the good woman. There is no attempt to create Sympathy towards her, and she is devoid of any positive qualities. In Platoon, the tart appears in scanty clothing and flaunts herself in front of the soldiers. Her behaviour is so odious that when she is raped we as the audience are meant to have no sympathy for her because the central idea is that she asked for it'. What is intriguing in this portrayal is its politics. This woman embodies western values in terms of dress (usually a dress or skirt, trousers as opposed to the traditional national dress of saree), very often she indulges in vices like Smoking and drinking. These traits,
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in addition to being coded as western are also linked with those of the city which is identified with moral turpitude and cultural pollution. The underlying ideology behind the representation of such a character is that these values are alien to the Sri Lankan culture which is regarded as pristine. The racism that operates in this delineation ties up with the rise of the nationalist and fundamentalist movements in Sri Lanka. A movement like the Jathika Chintanaya blame the nation's ills on the foreigner or the western, which becomes an easy scapegoat in times of political crisis. By reinforcing this stereotype the Sinhala dramatists are feeding into the internalized prejudices of the audience and are (unconsciously perhaps) giving kudos to the fundamentalist movements that have taken root. Thus in addition to the gender biases, ominous trends are emerging from these portrayals which tie into the ethno-chauvinistic project.
Tremds of Comtestadiom
While the popular theatre has been entrenched in largely negative stereotypical portrayals of women, women have come to the forefront to challenge this status quo. Several plays have been performed in the recent past which can be considered pathbreakers.
In March 1992, Ranjini Obeysekere produced Lorca's translation of The House of Bernarda Alba which received wide acclaim and can be regarded as a pathbreaker in the Sinhala theatre. This play focused on the concerns of women acted out by women in a refreshingly innovative way. The play was extremely relevant to Sri Lanka for it captured with vigour the repressive social structures that bind women. The frustration of the women, particularly in the arena of love and marriage and the subsequent suicide of the protagonist was a reminder to audiences that time aid modernization have not changed the situation for the majority of Sri Lankan women.
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For the first time perhaps the play viewed the issues from a woman's perspective and the ways in which they can fight the system. The character of Barnardo herself was significant because as the repressive mother figure her control over her daughters pointed to the internalization of the patriarchal ideology that women themselves espouse to. While many feminists saw this play as a way of contesting the system, many reactionary responses revealed the attitudes rife among audiences. But on the other hand this outcry is to be expected but the fact that this play ran for several nights to full houses in Colombo reveal that the time has come when women themselves are not enabling the chauvinism to go uncontested. Bernardage Sipirige can be seen as the stirring of newer, broader subject positions in the theatre for women.
Other plays like Dukgannaia Rala, Dawallaa Bishana have broadened the roles for women. What the popular theatre in Sri Lanka today reveals though is, that as Uma Chakravarti comments "the twentieth century has continued to reproduce in all essentials, the same kind of womanhood that the nineteenth century has so carefully and so successfully
constructed as an enduring legacy for us" (Uma Chakravarthy, 1989).
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Bibliography
Boehmer, Elleke. "Stories of Women anad Morthers: Gender and Nationalism in the Early Fiction of Flora Nwape" in Motherlands: Black Women's Writing from Affrica, the Caribbean and South Asia. Susheilea Nasta (ed). (London: The Women's Press, 1991).
Chakravarti, Uma. "Whatever Happened to the Vedic Dasi. Orientalism, Nationalism and a Script to the Past" in Recasting Women - Essays in Colonial History. Sudesh Vaid and Kumkum Sangari (eds). (Delhi: Kali for Women, 1989).
Cynthia Enloe, 1989
Enloe, Cynthia. Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989)
Gooneratne, Yasmin. "The English Educated in Sri Lankaa: An Assessment of their Cultural Role" in South Asia Bulletin Vol.XII, Number, 1992
Gooneratne, Yasmin. "The English Educated in Sri Lanka:
An Assessment of their Cultural Role" p.5
Neluka Silva "Representation as othering the other - The foreigner in the Sinhala Theatre" Pravada September 1992
Partha Chatterjee, 1989. The Nationalist Resolution of the Women's Question'. Recasting Women: Essays in
Colonial History, eds. Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid. New Delhi: Kali for Women
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Vittachi, Nedra. Three's Company (manuscript) Barbara Welter. 1966 The Cult of True Womanhood' in
American Quarterly No. 18, Summer 1966: 151 - 174.
Uma Chakravarthy, Whatever Happened to the Vedic Dasi -
Orientalism, Naationalism aand a Script for the Past'. Recaasting Women: Essays in Coloniala History.: 79
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Women as Gendered Subject and Other Discourses in Contemporary Sri Lankan
Fiction in English
Nelufer de Mel
Sri Lankan literature in English does not occupy the status of a major player in the country's mass media scenario'. Those whose choice it is to write in English are those whose education and family backgrounds have their roots in the history of English as the language of colonialism and socioeconomic privilege in Sri Lanka, and as such, belong to a very small milieu. Mismanagement of the teaching of English as a vital second or third language', and the continuing institutional marginalization of Sri Lankan English have meant that those fluent and confident enough to write in (the educated, standard) English remain a mere handful. The lack. of a large reading public for books in English predicates a commercial reluctance on the part of major publishers to publish any but one, or at the most, two books per year. Those writing in English are forced therefore to publish personally, or collectively through The English Writer's Cooperative, look to an interested NGO, or put their faith in the Arts Council of Sri Lanka which, after competition, awards Rs. 10,000/- to different categories of writing, or the National Library Services Board which at most agrees to buy Rs. 25,000/- worth of books but after they have been printed by their authors in the first place. The fact remains then that most books published in English are self-financed.
A selected reading of Sri Lankan fiction in English produced

in 1992 and 1993, (including works published abroad by expatriate Sri Lankan writers which engage with the dynamics of the Sri Lankan socio-political fabric) points to the missed opportunities this unhelpful publishing environment facilitates which need to be addressed. For apart from the lack of exposure to a wider reading public afforded at present only by the few authors rich enough to publish their work, the paucity of translations from Sri Lankan English into Sinhala and Tamil and vice versa preclude the vital dialogue necessary at multiple levels within the country for the creation of a truly dynamic body of literature.
This lack of dialogue is particularly unfortunate because a relatively sensitive awareness of how gender operates and is articulated in contemporary society can be seen in the works I will be looking at. Such representaions would make a vital contribution to a wider discussion amongst the reading public on issues such as the construction and appropriation of gender, the commonalities and differences that bind the experience of women, the grip of patriarchy and the contradictions and diversity that abound within a marginalized group itself such as women under the rule of patriarchy.
I stress gender for many reasons. Our gender is the product of both biological factors and the process by which we have been socialized into playing the roles of male or female. These roles are constructed in relation to each other and an unpacking of the discursive underpinning which inform constructs of both male and female identity, and an insightful listening into the dialogue- most often on unequal terms - between male and female cannot be achieved through a focus on femininity for instance solely in terms of biology, divorced from the patriarchal socio-cultural practices which construct and police it, often with its own complicity. For even in a work of fiction which has no male characters, the reader is constantly called upon to evaluate, condemn or
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praise female thoughts and actions on the basis of a cultural conditioning which carries patriarchal norms. These enter a Foucauldian archive, a network of all that which conditions us and governs our behaviour and is all the more complex because we are not always conscious of all the ideological strands that are within it and which produce us. In fact the potency of the Foucauldian archive lies precisely in what we are unconscious of in terms of our conditioning and therefore that which is difficult to locate, more so as it is ever shifting. In a patriarchal structure therefore, much of what we take for granted in terms of dress codes or model behaviour for women have their roots in a patriarchy which dictates an identity for a woman which is then disseminated through popular culture, education, family upbringing and literature. It is against such an identity within which many women have felt imprisoned that many of the characters in the stories I will be looking at rebel.
A related debate that raged elsewhere in Aijaz Ahmad's critique of Edward Said's Orientalism' is useful however, in guarding against an exclusive focus on gender as the only form of otherness against and from which identity is derived, and that this otherness is not always constituted in Manichean terms. What Said called Orientalism was the manner and stereotyping by which the West constructed an identity for the Orient which then allowed it to manage and colonize the latter, because the stereotypes justified the need for the Orient to be developed, civilised and acted upon by the West. A central insight of Said's, (influenced by Fanon), was the fact that the West in fact was constructing its own identity at the time of its imperial ventures, in relation to this Orient. It evaluated its own civilization and histories on the basis of their difference from the Orient which was coded as underdeveloped, pagan, irrational and effeminate.
Ahmad takes Said to task for implying that as Europe establishes its own identity by establishing the difference of
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the Orient... all European knowledge of non-Europe are bad knowledge because they are already contaminated with this aggressive identity-formation.' Ahmad insists that the implication of Said's argument is that Europeans were ontologically not capable of producing any true knowledge about non-Europe.' Although this critique in turn implies that identity formation is a far more conscious and deliberative act - when in fact Said's discussion of the nature of the discursive terrain on which such identity is mapped problematizes such positivism - Ahamad's argument is useful when appropriated into the terms of the gender debate. For it warns against looking at patriarchal constructs of female . identity as always made in bad faith, that male and female identities should not be seen purely in Manichean terms as polarities which contaminate but never enablingly inform each other. It should also remind us that patriarchy constructs itself in relation to not just the female gender but other paradigms such as the state, nationalism, patriotism, race and class as well.
Just as the West imposed an identity for the Orient, patriarchy constructs woman as a gendered subject, and within the hegemony of a patriarchal literary establishment and tradition, women writers have been given a particular space - that of autobiography and domestic life. The long involvement of women authors in the genres of letters and journals (which embody that most private space) has its roots in this history. Traditionally too, the autobiographical nature of women's writing resulted in its marginalization by a literary critical establishment dominated by males, for its perceived inconsequentiality in terms of public/world' affairs and its inability to contribute to great debates on culture and morality. But women readers of women writers have always known that the strength of these works lie in the personal as political, and that in these autobiographical/domestic settings are their collective concerns. That this given space has been creatively used then by women authors to challenge and
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problematize patriarchy and explore questions of womanhood is of significance.
It is the autobiographical intimacy of letters that Sita Kulatunga relies on in her novel Dari the Third Wifeo to explore the ramifications of polygamy from the point of view of a young Nigerian girl married off to a rich man as his third wife. The novel's structure is a series of letters written by Dari to a Sri Lankan school friend" and in this fictitious creation of authentic' correspondence - fictitious because it is both an author's fiction and a representation by Dari of herself as a cohesive entity which, discursively, she can never be - is an invitation to the reader into a privileged intimacy, for letters are confessional by nature. In them is a skilful evocation of a young girl caught in an ambivalence that problematizes stereotypical nations of the harshness of polygamy and adolescent marriage without however reneging on conveying their frustrations and injustices.
It is this ambivalence, conveyed through an exploration of Dari's predicament that makes for the success of the book. Dari is naturally shocked and frightened at having to marry an unknown man and regretful at a missed opportunity of higher education. But the author also charts a young girl's sexual awakening which makes her excited at Bello's attention. That Dari can and does fall in love with her husband and that her love is reciprocated is what forces us to acknowledge creative possibilities in a cultural system - particularly one that is unfamiliar to us - that problematizes our own relativist assumptions which enable an easy dismissal of polygamy as completely abhorrent and always discriminating against women.
Yet it is the contradictory duality underlying the experiences that Dari writes about which makes her story really meaningful. The love of the couple makes Bello's death in a car accident at the end a harsh tragedy for Dari to bear, but
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ironically, frees her to pursue her higher studies. Dari is the favoured wife - the one chosen by Bello for companionship and the only wife to move with him to the town house, but imprisoned nevertheless in her identity as the third wife. She is dependent on Bello for everything and totally isolated. Ameena, the second wife, predictably scorns her, while Fatima, the traditional, accepting' first wife talks to and advises Dari but is shown to be destructive in unwittingly frightening her about Ameena's evil charms. Dari in fact ends up believing that the still-birth of her first child is the culmination of those charms. This sense of isolation - she can only express her fears to her two friends through her letters - is skilfully underscored by the prison-like compound she lives in. The only window in her room is a pitifully small square' at the back, so high Dari has to climb on a stool to reach it. (p.50) Encouragement is there for Dari in the acknowledgment of her ability by her school teachers, but she has no real access to it. Her biggest sources of encouragement lies in her own restless feminist sensibility which makes her relentlessly aware of her situation, guilty about her complicity as an all too consenting third wife and frustrated at not being able to further her education or have money of her own. But here again, Only God knows best what the future holds and sometimes I wander, a refrain throughout the leders, forces our acknowledgment of the complexity of a cultural system that prevents Dari's doubting of her religion, (there is however a slippage here in that this doubting is shown by the author to wholly emanate from exposure to Western books and knowledge) but its soothing chants and prayers are what she misses when she moves into tOWIl.
This ambiguity makes the novel enabling for also throwing light on other discursive pressures that are reflected in the text. The novel on the one hand gives voice to the ambivalent position of Dari as a woman at the fluid intersections of burgeoning awareness of herself as an economic pawn,
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sensual woman, wife and mother. In its concentration on the intensely personal it travels well to other cultural contexts where the father figure of Bellow represents a patriarchy that is familiar, and in doing so, reinscribes the validity of the personal as political which energizes so much of women's writing. On the other hand, the creative possibilities within polygamy that are stressed in the novel, mainly depicted through the love of the couple, are discursively constructed by the author at the expense of the other wives of Bello who are denied a meaningful agency throughout the work, and a most sympathetic treatment of Dari as she competes with them for Bello's attention and buys into the system. Moreover, Dari's reliance, as a widow, on the charity of Bellow's son by his first wife is shown as a fate she is resigned to, and a positive respite from the rapaciousness of Bello's brothers, rather than an oppressive disempowering she needs to fight against - all of which preclude a keener and more overtly feminist critique of polygamy as it impinges on the lives of these women, and as patriarchal structure which controls their sexuality. It is possible to see that the operative discursive pressure here is one which makes the author, an outsider who comes from another cultural context, tentative in critiquing polygamy from a relativist stance. And this, while it signals a refusal on the part of Kulatunga to be judgmental from the outside which is well taken, falls short nevertheless of a truly creative exploration of the issues confronting women in polygamous cultures.
In Chandani Lokuge's title story in the collection Moth and other stories, it is the Janus-faced portrayals of the women that disappoints. But we need to be aware that the narrative voice is Lalith's, the village boy in love with a rich young girl Mala, seduced however by her mother. It is a story drawn in bold strokes and one that merits analysis of how gender and sexuality are articulated within it, particularly for how the protagonist's psychological resistances throw light on common cultural codes that operate in Sri Lankan society.
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It is important that Lalith is critiqued in the story for an opportunism which seeks to gain instant Socio-economic advantage by marrying into a rich family. Marrying Mala was for him, the chance of a life-time', a lottery ticket to a new life."(p.3) Significant because we distance ourselves from Lalith and learn to take the virgin/whore dichotomy he slots women into as a reflection of the cultural and individual codes that produce him rather than authorial acknowledgment of its reality. Lalith's mother, in this stereotypical framework, is the steadfast, simple, devout village woman. She acts as the voice of conscience within Lalith. Guilt ridden at being seduced by his mother-in-law to be, it is his mother he thinks of after the climactic moment of sexual intercourse. She (mother-in-law) came towards me... She held out her hand and body. I jerked forward. When I slept I dreamt of the full moon riding the sky in the village. Mother and I were in the temple.'(pp.7-8)
That this moral conscience is identified with a pure' mother figure, the rural, and Buddhism, through the elision of the mother and the village temple Lalith always sees her at, taps into widely held constructs of gender and culture that circulate amongst the Sinhala urban and rural middle-class. It reiterates the forceful impact of a Buddhist ethic which subsumes the erotic and within a particularly current nationalist framework codes sexuality, often blurred with the urban and the West, as corrupt and sinful. There is enough evidence outside this literature to suggest that this is a construct which circulates widely in the media. The most cursory glance at contemporary Sinhala theatre and cinema shows that the stereotypes of women impressed in Lalith's mind are familiar. They exist in polarities: the steadfast, poor, devout rural mother at one end and the sophisticated, Westernized, urban seductress at the other. They form a norm in which the further loading of a capitalist/business ethnic on sexuality acts against the urban Westernized. (And here Lokuge is guilty of having internalized this, for the
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bewitching intended mother-in-law in the story is a successful hotelier, the tourist hotel again a signifier of a corrupting commodification of local culture weakened by the intrusion of alien (usually Western) tourists.) Elsewhere, the Sinhala film Kulageya (1992) marks this dominantly by having the dialogue between Mervyn and the business friends (one a drunkard, the other a seductress) who drag him into a world that alienates him from his family entirely in English. The character of Ramya in the film is a familiar identity - a seductress who is English speaking, urban and Westernized - a stereotype which allows Lalith in Lokuge's story to present himself and Mala (her young age shown to determine her innocence and helplessness) as victims of the sexually rapacious mother, the moths who burn to her flame.
The representation of women elsewhere in Lokuge's short stories militate against Lalith's essentialist views of women, except in the disappointing In the Name of Charity' in which the rich woman remains, without any subtle nuances, stereotypically haughty and insensitive. But generally there is sensitivity in the stories to the burden of women, often helpless and victimized by their families. The story NonIncident' is a summation of this. The mother here carries a triple burden of being a woman, Tamil and underclass/ uneducated. A tea plucker married to a Sinhala planter (almost incredible given the social hierarchy that operates, but more of this later), she is the butt of her husband's racism and victim of brutal rejection by both husband and son who is brought up by his paternal grandmother never to know the embarrassment that is his mother. Their refusal to claim her body from the lunatic asylum is a continuing denial of her basic rights and their cruelty to her in life. But if this story depicts the plight of women in its darkest textures, there are others in which women play the usual socio-domestic roles, all shown to be victims if not of domestic violence, of economic pressure and loneliness. Manel in A Man Within' copes with her husband and two children and growing debts,
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but just about, leading a strenuous and routine life with no future. This story is a masterful piece describing how Sunil the protagonist, caught in a web of debt, becomes a target for terrorist blackmail, picked to carry a bomb into the Central Telegraph Office at which he works in return for a large sum of money. In its emphasis however on recording experience only through Sunil's perspective, important within the framework of the story for its portrayal of a man under enormous pressure, Mala the wife is denied a voice of her own. We are aware of her through Sunil and as long as this denial of her own agency prevails, she cannot even be shown to be capable of overcoming the situation she and her family are in on her own terms.
The one woman who does try to make something of her life is Roshini in Point of Contact. There is an astute construction here of one of the most difficult domestic scenarios in which Roshini, a beautiful and capable young woman, is trapped in a marriage in which she has to make do with being a housewife. The complexity of the story and its setting arises from the fact that Roshini feels guilt at her frustration. For her husband is kind, gentle and patient. These qualities, without however a sensitivity to Roshini's needs for herself as a capable woman both within the home and outside it, as well as her Sexuality, are shown as inadequate for a fulfilling marriage. When Roshini tells Nihal she would like to go out to work because she is bored and would like to earn her own money, his response is:
Roshini, listen to me. I love you - I love to come home to you in the evening and find you waiting for me, looking so fresh and beautiful. I love to have my meals cooked by you, served by you. Who will see to these things if you go for a job? .... Anyway, the women in my family don't work.'
This is patriarchy, buttressed by, tradition, at its most
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insidious for there is no overt cruelty but a hegemony that is forceful nevertheless. It sets out parameters that limit the woman the most, as she contends with her guilt at being frustrated.
She is vulnerable now to other men looking for sexual escapades, yet mature enough in this case to see the man she meets on the beach as all froth and bubble'. But from now, the imagery in the story turns violent. Waves curled in whirls of blue, swell, loomed pregnant, laboured
shockingly smashed' and The sky seemed on fire, like a burning funeral pyre." (pp.90-1) The longing for motherhood - maternal imaginings - as an escape from boredom is here infused with a sub-conscious violence that carries Roshini's disturbed psychological state well. Finally she is shown to crack under the pressure and maniacally cut off her long tresses of hair - that symbolic marker of South Asian femininity - which coil around her feet. We know she will incur the wrath of her husband for the deed. As to her liberation, cutting off her hair will possibly be only a momentary act of rebellion as she slides into a psychotic state, for there is nothing within the story to signal a consciously mature awareness of how she can help herself.
All Lokuge's stories then end in displacement, rupture and violence both at domestic and public levels. But if Lokuge's women characters end weakly and tragically, we also need to be aware that these endings are influenced by other discursive pressures that determine a writer's particular stance. It is possible to see in this case, the discursive pressures on the emigrant writer Such as Lokuge who now lives in Australia, which almost predicate that she looks at the abandoned homeland as a place of fracture where an interesting site of how the pressures on an emigrant writer both buttress and overdetermine the exploration of gender issues. In Moth and Other Stories the land of birth is eternally violent. This is made possible by a general effacing of the agency of that
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violence. Apart from the story A Pair of Birds which deals with subtlety and skill the rupture of a friendship after the 1983 Sinhala-Tamil riots, terrorists, whether LTTE or JVP, are shown to be shadowy, penetrating private and public space, but faceless, with only unblinking, pitiless eyes ferreting into him, exploring, exposing his soul" as in the story The Man Within' (p.62), known only by a serial number. It is the impact they have on people and the landscape that is mapped through the perception of different voices that structure these stories, none however, from the terrorist's point of view. The landscape filled with bombs and terror, which make even its flowers violent, the crimson of the Nelum turning into a Red-shot smudge on white-gold temple sand" (p.63), without a dialogic relationship between protagonist and terrorist, except in terms of the terrorist's impact on the former, legitimizes the nihilism in the whole collection that Sunil expresses in The Man Within': Wasn't the country as helpless as he was? A country stripped and exposed starkly, just as he was - unprepared and incapable of self-defence or self-control" (pp. 62-3) it is symptomatic that in contrast, the one story set in Australia has a landscape that is welcoming, a place of refuge, although of course for the immigrant character in the story there is no real sense of belonging. She and the landscape will always be alien to each other. Nevertheless lives can be lived here in contrast to a native land which T cring (es) in terror."(p95)
The same possibility of change in a different cultural setting is central to the theme of A Change of Skies by Yasmine Gooneratine' who emigrated to Australia in 1972. As Gooneratne depicts it, the migrant experience is a series of trade-offs. What one gains is always offset against what one loses. The protagonists in this novel undergo a symbolic name change. Bharata and Navaranjini Mangala-Davaisnghe, with all the attendant cultural baggage these names imply - associations of India, the scholarship in Indian languages of Bharata's father, and the rich heritage behind the name of the
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woman - are changed to Barry and Jean Mundy. In changing their names, these two conform to Australian habits of shortening names. It is a gesture towards integration which has however its satiric repercussions. The sound Barry translates into Sinhala as `beri" to mean cannot' and so, in the context of the male, impotence.
In terms of gender hierarchy which this novel is always conscious of in nuancing Barry's pomposity and condescension towards his wife, the name change allows Jean access to an equality, a partnership with her husband that the Asian name Navaranjini would have foreclosed. But is it all in a name? Gooneratine's satire which exposes the absurdities of the pompous husband, the stereotyping of Aisans by Australians and vice-versa, the emigrant nationalist, academia and the trendy feminist/ethnic activist, gives voice to gender, racial and pedagogic hierarchy anywhere. In cocking a snook at a brand of militant feminism through her heroine Jean who becomes a Successful businesswoman in Australia by making a profession out of oriental cookery - that drudgery of most housewives - Gooneratne makes a claim for a woman's right to choice that jabs at political correct stances which downplay and deny a vision and capability such as Navarajini's.
It is when one examines the development' in Australia of Barry and Jean in the larger context of the patterns that inflect emigrant experience and writing, that Gooneratine's work testifies to the tensions that abound in such constructs. For there are contradictions - what Stephen Greenblatt calls small textual resistances' - in the work which can be read as Symptomatic of the emigrant writer coming to terms with that migration. An uncovering of them leads us to an understanding of the ambivalence that frame an emigrant writer such as Gooneratne who, while laughing at her immigrant characters, exposes her own tense stance towards both her native and adopted lands. Take for instance the
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astounding arranged marriage in this novel between the Sinhalese Bharata and Tamil Navaranjini, which even the friendship of the families don't hold up, given the social customs that prevail in Sri Lank which insist on arranging marriages according to caste, class and ethnicity. (The marriage between Tamil tea plucker and Sinhala planter in Chandani Lokuge's story Non-Incident' resonates here as it can be read as a similar textual resistance.) In the scheme of Gooneratine's novel this is a small point and not particularly important to the story, except that it throws light on her attempt to bring together in the Sinhala Barry and Tamil Jean a composite Sri Lanka even as the satirizes her characters for seeing others in such generalized terms.
My emphasis on placing both Lokuge and Gooneratne within the context of emigrant writing is deliberate, for we have to be mindful that although women's issues figure prominently in the works of these women writers, they do not comprise the only issue. Nor are feminist discursive pressures the only set of parameters that produce these texts. For we see in the works of both Lokuge and Gooneratne particular pressures on the emigrant writer which frame the native land as a ruptured, terror-filled eternity with cultural practices that are manacles, overdetermining and underpinning the way feminist issues are presented. Gooneratine's statement in an interview with Anne Susskind is interesting in this respect. She said, Many migrants concentrate on what they lose - their homeland, language, culture and brining their children up in alien environments. I think I'm writing about people's capacity to change, a country's capacity to change, that no one needs to get Stuck at a stereotype. Jean has no concept that she will develop a career when she comes but she does.' What is crucial here is that it is the new land that affords the possibility of self-awareness and change. In fact the difference in emphases between the texts of Lokuge and Gooneratne who have migrated to Australia, and Sita Kulatunge whose sojourn in Nigeria was temporary, points
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forcefully to the presence of these discursive pressures. In Kulatunga's work, Dari's letters to her Sri Lankan friend imply that the latter has access to opportunities Dari is cut off from. In Gooneratne, it is not that everything about the native land is abhorrent. But it is symptomatic of her position as a writer that what she values in the homeland is the past, the ancestral Walauwa, which is treated with a far gentler irony than the harsh satire aimed at contemporary Sri Lanka which is hollow, violent and chaotic - everything the airline magazine, Edwina, the daughter of Barry and Jean, reads on her trip to Sri Lanka clumsily tries to erase. The differences then indicate that textual variations are not wholly the result of individual differences and choices on the part of their authors, but those also produced by various overdetermining discourses which vary through locale and time.
Similarly, when one looks at Jean Arasanayagam's Fragments of a Journey', we see yet another set of parameters - textual requirements of travel writing - impinging on how gender is represented in the short stories. Women's travel writing as a popular genre came into its own during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries when women started writing of their adventures in and impressions of the colonies where their husbands, sons or relatives were posted.' As in letters and diaries (often included as textual strategies in women's travel writing), it is the subject position that is central as the author recounts experiences through a personal involvement and vision. Often authors embark on journeys of self-discovery, whether they are conscious of it as such or not, and the characters depicted are shown, together with the author, to be taking part in one dramatic narrative.
Arasanayagam's title story Fragments of a Journey' makes clear that the woman traveller Deva, journeying in India with her husband and daughter is on such a voyage of selfdiscovery.
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All her life she had begun these journeys, some of which were completed, the experience gathered from them, stored in her memory-house to be relived and rethought of ... Journeys are then in a sense, never complete. They must begin all over again. They become pilgrimages of discovery ... These then are the diaries that I write in my mind, that I carry back with me..." Deva thought to herself." (p.66)
We enter into the intimately personal here, and the closeness of Arasanayagam's voice to that of her protagonist is obvious to readers of Arasanayagam's poetry in which the images and metaphors that Deva thinks in echo and resonate. For instance Dewa pondering over her journeys - as if, taking up a book of paintings of ancient temples and murals she slipped into those pages and walked in that re-incanatory passage along the shores of Mahaballipuram where the rathas lay drowned in the sea bed watching the sunken chariots whose stone wheels had ceased to churn the path of war in some warrior's destination' (p.66), is completely in keeping with Arasanayagam's own emphasis on, and admiration of Hindu myth and religio-cultural ritual which feature prominently in her poetry.
Traces of a colonial discourse that required the travel writer to present him/herself as an explorer - adventurer who conquers the arduous and strenuous obstacles the new land presents can be seen in this tory. The reader is taken through a journey in which Dewa moves from hotel to hotel, sleeps on soiled mattresses, journeys eight hours in a bus, travels throughout the night, sprains an ankle, attends to a sick daughter and is cheated by locals etc. Repetition becomes wearying Dewa realizes, and the exploration is strenuous. (p.68) Here is a woman taking on the mantle of a male adventurer, coping with the obstacles with stiff upper lip and a sense of resignation. It is significant that when Dewa does feel completely integral to the new landscape and culture it is
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at a moment in which she is detached, momentarily from her family' (p.79), and so, divorced from wifehood and motherhood. Yet, in the detail that catches Dewa's eye is an emphasis on the domestic that points to feminine interests. She often describes various foods, cooking utensils, men ironing clothes, flowers, gardens, women's clothing etc. Is this a significant contradiction? Sara Mills argues in Discourses of Difference that this is a common discursive practice in women's travel writing. The stereotype of the adventurer who overcomes numerous obstacles is so obviously masculine, women writers have difficulty in completely adopting this role with ease.' Thus there are constant disclaimers in the texts by the women authors of their masculine ability through humorous interventions and self-negations. It is possible to see Dewa's attention to domestic detail in Arasanayagam's story, as a discursive negotiation with which she dilutes somewhat the identity of a resourceful and stoic masculine explorer that this genre of writing requires her to take on for herself.
The multiplicity of discursive pressures on a text and its author include the pressures brought to bear by reader responses. While women's writing was never taken seriously in the public domain until the feminist debate forced both the publishing and critical establishments to take note, contemporary readers- particularly women - expect of female writers a greater understanding of the issues surrounding women's lives and a dedication to exploring, analysing and even offering solutions to women's problems in their work. My reading so far, in focusing exclusively on women authors and how they articulate gender is a case in point. It is precisely this pressure we bring to bear when reading a text, looking for representation of multiple and overdetermining factors that interest us which makes us disappointed when a text, authored by a woman in particular, fails to take issue with women as gendered subjects in all its ramifications. An exclusive focus on women's writing is however in bad faith,
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and does not suffice for an understanding of how reader expectations produce differences in the work of female and male authors in the way gender is articulated.
There can be seen on the whole, a more honest confrontation with patriarchy in the work of the women authors I have looked at which is lacking in the work of contemporary male writers. In James Goonawardene's One Mad Bid for Freedom' women figure briefly just twice in the whole work. In an otherwise interesting novel which depicts facets of contemporary Sri Lanka in absurd exaggeration - a form which comments with irony on its subject matter - the women are mere sex objects, giggly sexual partners of Korale and the members of his club. In Rajiva Wijesinha's Lady Hippopotamus and Other Stories,' when women characters function centrally in the narrative, or are drawn in bold cameo roles, it is their subliminal sexual desires that provide the twist in the tale. This in itself - returning the sexual to women whose spinsterhood and widowhood has meant a denial of their sexuality by society (this group includes the male Christian priest who is subject to similar moral censure) - would have been refreshing if not for the fact that except in the story Exposure' which deals starkly with the economic necessities of prostitution, the subject is not given full treatment throughout the whole collection. When, as in Lady Hippopotamus the sexuality of the boarding mistress becomes a subject of scandal, the facade of insensitive adolescent schoolboys the narrative voice takes on, precludes anything more than a gossipy, shocked moral judgement. There is a daring and refreshing presentation of both male and female sexuality in Carl Muller's Jamfruit Tree," but the Burgher girls, unlike their resourceful, stoic mothers who are shown to soldier on with drunken husbands, economic deprivation and the struggle to maintain respectability, are depicted as being just sex mad, reinforcing a familiar cultural stereotype of the young Burgher woman as sexually free and therefore tainted.
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This leads us to the question of biological determinism. Are men incapable of portraying women characters and their concerns in any realistic and complex way? The history of literature, drama, poetry and fiction have shown us that this is not the case, for there are many portrayals of women by men which convince. In contemporary Sri Lankan Fiction in English, it is Romesh Gunasekera who delineates the inner compulsions of women characters most skilfully in his collection of short stories Monkfish Moon.' In three of the stories Gunasekera concentrates on women, deftly sketching in Carapace' the flitting nervous ambivalence of a young girl as she awaits a visit from a intended marriage partner from Australia who offers her an opportunity to a life of glamour she dreams of, while her love, although unarticulated, lies with an older but less acceptable beach hut chef, or probing a daughter's reflection on her father's politics in Ranvali'. But it is in Batik that there is the most skilful portrayal of how a woman is affected when politics encroaches into the domestic space. In England, Tiru and Nalini (he a Tamil, she a Sinhalese) are shown to invest equally in their home, their best moments together when they redecorate their house, sharing ideas, compromising on differences. Nalini's entire world is this home and her husband, and so it is in order that the fissures which arise from Tiru's preoccupation with Tamil Eelam politics and his subsequent neglect of her, erupt most keenly in this domestic space. Gunasekera's depiction of the tension between husband and wife is deft and at the end, counterpoised to the tender sexuality the couple shared before this intrusion of politics into the personal, is Nalini's controlled but slightly hysterical stabbing of a chilled chicken she prepares to cook which grows into an act of violence as she smashes a cup when even her pregnancy fails to evoke interest in her husband.
In contrast, an example from the popular press illustrates an
almost total neglect of woman as a gendered subject in the work of authors writing in Sinhala. An article by Ranjit
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Dharmakeerthi which cites eight short stories that appeared in the Ravaya - a popular weekly newspaper in Sinhala - and so, those that carry popular cultural attitudes which speak to and are reinforced by a larger Sinahala speaking public, throws light on the different preoccupations of writers within this milieu.' Seven of the stories written by males emphasize variously the pitfalls of the open-economy framework within the country, human rights abuses by the government and the psychological pressures on men impSosed by the sociopolitical and economic crises in the country. It is only the one female author, Kumuduni Manel de Silva whose protagonist is a woman, who charts in the story Agadhaya', a widow's struggle against economic problems and isolation which drive her into the arms of Perera aboutique keeper.
What this points to is a continuing discursive pressure on male authors to intervene in matters of public' importance such as political crisis, public morality etc., in which giving voice to women's concerns is not a priority, while the female author continues to examine what is seen as the private space. This is to a large extend induced by artificial divisions at the level of reader expectations, and by extension a larger public culture, which demand from male authors radically different interventions to those expected from female authors. These expectations in turn dictate the texts that foreclose male authorial acknowledgement of gender issues. If the publishing and literary critical establishments in Sri Lanka take a more activist stance in facilitating publications, translations and debate on these issues, we will see in the near future a more complex engagement on the part of both male and female autors and their readers with gender and other discourses that frame us.
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Notes and teferences
This paper was first presented at a seminar on The Media and Women' sponsored by the Women's Education Research Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 1993.
The medium of instruction in Sri Lankan schools is in one of the indigenous languages - Sinhala or Tamil.
In 1993 there were just three translations and one adaptation of works from English to Sinahala.
Edward Said, Orientalism Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978.
Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures (London: Verso), 1992. p.178.
Sita Kulatunga, Dari, the Third Wife (Colombo: Kulatunga), 1993. Pagination will be from this edition.
Sita Kulatunge taught English in Nigeria for two years (1984-1985) and draws from her observations there.
Chandani Lokuge, Moth and Other Stories (London: Dangaroo), 1993. Pagination will be from this edition.
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1 O.
11
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
In 1986 a bomb did go off at the CTO killing over a 100 people. Lokuge roots her stories in a Sri Lankan reality by continuously referring in them to real incidents such as this.
Yasmine Gooneratne, A Change of Skies (New Delhi: Penguin), 1992. Pagination will be from this edition.
Stephen Greenblatt, Marvelous Possessions (Oxford: Clarendon), 1992.p.65.
Yasmine Gooneratne quoted in Anne Susskind, Sydney Morning Herald, 27th July 1991.p. 17.
Jean Arasanayagam, Fragments of a JourneY (Colombo: Women's Education and Research Centre), 1992.
See Sara Mills. Discourses of Difference: An Analysis of Women's Travel Writing and Colonialism (London: Routledge), 1991.
Ibid.p.78.
James Goonewardene, One Mad Bid for Freedom (New Delhi: Penguin), 1990. As there are few Sri Lankan male authors writing in English, I have had to look beyond the '92-93 time frame to illustrate my point.
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17.
18.
19.
20.
Rajiva Wijesinha, Lady Hippopotamus and Other Stories (Colombo: English Writers' Co-operative), 1991.
Carl Muller, The Jam Fruit Tree (New Delhi: Penguin), 1993.
Romesh Gunasekera, Monkfish Moon (London: Granta) 1992.
Ranjit Dharmakeerthi, An xamination of Short
Stories published in Ravaya from January to March 1993', Ravaya 4.7. 1993.p.6.
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Major Trends dentified in the Sri Lanka Media and the
ccommendations Made by the Media Monitoring Committee
that most Sri Lankan formula films are copied from Indian films. There is a need for originality in Sinhala cinema.
that there is a need to study the impact created by the Tamil films, on Sri Lankan Tamil women.
that the image of Western women presented in Tamil films, as wearing short dresses and make up, is treated within the dichotomies of the liberated woman and the slut.
that there is a need to provide an alternative media by women's groupS.
it was Suggested by advertisers that copies of the paper on Advertising in Sri Lanka... be sent to the leading advertising agencies.
that participants should write to the editors of newspapers insisting on impartial advertising.
that letters to the editors of newspapers and journals be sent, urging them to include articles on women's issues and not merely to present articles on dress making, fashions, cake making, housekeeping and child care.
that the need to conscientize women journalists so that they change their attitudes.
that newspaper articles provide negative images of Sri Lankan women for commercial exploitation commercial interests.
that women are portrayed as commodities and such portrayals are unethical.

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that efforts be taken to break the male monopoly in the media management.
that while Sri Lankan women have contributed significantly in providing foreign exchange to our country as workers in the tea and rubber plantations/Free Trade Zone and as house maids in the Middle East, their contribution to the Sri Lankan economy has gone unnoticed in the newspapers. Instead, the role of the proprietors are emphasised.
that most articles limit the roles of a woman to those of a housewife and a mother. The man is constantly represented in the bread winner's role.
that most newspapers and journals cater to a male dominated audience and the women's pages appear reserved for women.
that most articles on women concentrate on their physical appearences and almost never on their personality or intellect.
that the contents of the Women's page in newspapers, are restricted to home, kitchen and child care. The focus should be on gender related problems such as violence against women, women and literacy and other such contemporary issues.
that the use of women as models for advertiments which bear no direct relevance to their gender. Eg: automobiles, cigarettes and tobacco advertisments should be avoided.
that the use of gender in joke columns and snippets, in a manner demeaning to women should be avoided.
that the lack of originality in some of our teledramas and their inability to relate to Sri Lankan culture was pointed out.
that the need to create an alternative media to counter negative
images on women and the lack of funds to produce such television programmes was emphasised.
38

Action Oriented Follow-up Programme:
It was decided that all the participants should individually write to the censor board indicating the degrading manner in which women are portrayed in newspapers and journals.
It was suggested that other non-governmental organisations too, should write to the censor board regarding the same.
It was also proposed that media monitoring should continue even after the workshops are completed.
It was stressed that there was a need for more publications on women's biographies in Sri Lanka, particularly women who have achieved merit in various fields.
It was suggested that an action committee be formed which would write
to newspapers and other media on any negative, gender biased reporting.
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A Few of Our
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