Why is our society going in reverse gear in adopting some so- called
moral stands ( in fact stranded in islands of heightened hypocrisy) more in
tune with the views of orthodoxy of the 17th century?
Where is the question of mediocrity when a person has undergone so many
tests and trials of competition 'RELEVANT TO THE PROFESSION'?
It is like saying a cricketer is mediocre just because he cannot
articulate well or rattle views on every subject on earth.
It is a contest of beauty cum physical fitness cum talent cum
grace cum poise cum vibes a person carries as per certain parameters set by
rules of competition and sponsored by many in the fashion and cosmetic
industry.
It is not a contest to test whether the contestants were masters at philosophy,
science, mathematics, environmental studies, politics, social studies, history
and so on.
In the present day any ten-year-old kid has an opinion on every subject,
and it is a very good
positive sign of exposure to information ( how they understand or interpret
comes next).
Media does ask even a child of a celebrity questions on certain global
issues.
What is wrong with Fashion Parades- how hypocritical we are.
There was a time in India when the self-appointed cultural police
vehemently opposed, especially through the media criticizing and condemning
right left and centre all genre of beauty contests like fashion shows, cat
walks and especially the commercial advantage that the Miss INDIA contests had.
It was not in the early 70’s or 80’s but in the late 90’s when the Indian films
were portraying women as vulgar as possible. So , I found this to be hypocritical.
Therefore I wrote in Eves Touch Adam’s view column at that time. Quote
the article as it appeared:-
How hypocritical can we get?!
Is there anything wrong with beauty? Or contests? Or both? Are we sure
we object to cynosures? Or are we peeved at the parading of an ectomorphic
entourage of long legs and perky breast in see –through dresses, transparent
wrap-skirts, and pieces torn asunder sticking on the body like strings of
noodles slipped from a fork? Because all these promote the vulgar portrayal of
women and increase the pornographic voyeurism of our youth. And we would be
right on all these scores to object to a romantic twaddle that passes for
culture and spoils the young minds. But haven’t these very things been shown
day in and day out in Indian films for decades? In fact , our films abound in
all these and much more, from sexpressive clothes to suggestive gestures to
uncompromising postures to an enormous amount of veiled vulgarity.
We never object to viewing these films with our children. But we make
such a hue and cry about beauty contests, which have nothing to do with
vulgarity. In a beauty contest, the judgment is not only on appearances but on
many other aspects of the personality. The winner is expected to have the face
of Venus, the brains of Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of
Macaulay, the figure of Juno, the voice of Cordelia. She is expected to be a
Protean artist, a Triton among minnows, a Dulcinea to all, patient as Griselda
and so on.
Even if it were a mere test of beauty, what is wrong with it? Beauty may
be skin deep, but it is at beauty that our eyes peep, our hearts leap, our
memories want to keep, what haunts us in our sleep, so what if it is just skin
deep? Once a father told his son, “Remember ,beauty is only skin deep”. The son
replied, “deep enough for me, I am not a cannibal”.
Our self- proclaimed , moralists will be satisfied if our winners in
Miss India contests and Fashion parades declare as a woman once did when asked
what gave her such a lovely complexion and what cosmetic she used, “ I use for
my lips truth, for my voice prayer, for the eyes pity, for the hands charity,
for the figure uprightness and for the heart , love”.
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