In his book, "Orientalism", he speaks of the Orient woman as an entity who never speaks for herself but is a passive agent managed by the coloured mind. Throughout popular media, one comes across the presentation of the coloured woman as she who is shown as a suppressed housewife with no agency of her own, desperately trying to manage herself from within the shackles placed on her husband and the male patriarch of her family. But it becomes essential to question and understand to what extent women in the East are voiceless passive actors in their own lives and those of others. And what is happening in their lives that has led to their wanting to leave?
The character of Shashi from the film English Vinglish becomes an interesting case study to unpack this aspect.
Shashi is presented as a Hindi medium-educated homemaker whose entire life revolves around her family and taking care of them. The film depicts her presence as less worthy due to her lack of familiarity with English, where she is yearning for more and to be for her children and husband. Hence, she takes an English course when she goes to New York to help her sister with her daughter's wedding. On the surface of it, one can see the trope of liberation attached to a Brown woman only when she is away from the coloured man. As Said points out, this trope is visible based on his lack of support and claiming all that she can do is make ladoos (sweets). The movie depicts how, within the household, her life is nothing more than her kids, and she finally gets to look at and embrace her sense of self and identity as soon as she is away from them.
At the same time, the film also rejects this presentation of the Orient woman as a silent actor, as someone who chooses to be with her family actively and make her life about them. This brings in the aspect of agency and deciding how to spend one's life. In the 21st century, with imperial capitalism taking its place and the presence of girl-boss feminism, the idea of a liberated woman works and does anything else but domestic work. The film also actively challenges this trope and brings forward the aspect of agency, choice, and perspective of a woman's life beyond the gaze of a Western white feminist lens.
In this constant effort to decolonise oneself and hold a violent history and heritage of oriental thought and ideology, critically looking at media and understanding what is being presented becomes essential. In the case of Sashi, it becomes important to identify that where it is rejecting Western oriental tropes, it may be affirming them at the same time. As active and critical consumers of media, it is essential to identify these aspects.
Comments