Fatima Sana Shaikh On Tackling Patriarchy

Brut India

Actor Fatima Sana Shaikh speaks to Janice Sequeira about the flip side of social media and how hard it is to challenge patriarchy.

Transcript

00:00There used to be discrimination in the society.

00:02Because patriarchy breaks like this.

00:06It takes centuries, it takes generations.

00:11I wanted to understand, we were talking off camera,

00:15when we first started using social media,

00:16maybe Facebook, Orkut or MySpace,

00:20we used to use it as a means to just have fun, right?

00:23Not to show off our lives or constantly show everyone,

00:29I'm roaming around here, my life is so cool, I'm so beautiful.

00:32But today, social media has become such a massive monster, right, Fatima?

00:36It doesn't matter if any nameless, faceless person comes and abuses you.

00:41Correct?

00:42So, on top of that, you're a celebrity,

00:45you're a public face, you're on your way to stardom.

00:48What does it mean to be a public face in 2020,

00:51where there's so much social media glare?

00:54I think there's a flip side to any positive thing.

00:59The glare we're talking about, it was there before too.

01:02Whether it was any medium, whether it was a newspaper or a radio,

01:05there used to be magazines where we used to interview,

01:08we used to discuss, we used to gossip,

01:10that what's happening with this actor, this affair is going on, this isn't going on.

01:14It was there before too, now the medium has changed.

01:16I think this social media has given job opportunities to a lot of people.

01:23For actors also, for anybody who's minutely creative, it's a great platform.

01:28Because if you're a little creative, you have the internet,

01:31you educate yourself, you upload something, it'll go viral,

01:35you'll become famous, you'll get opportunities,

01:37maybe you'll even get a career.

01:39So, there is a very good positive side to it also.

01:44So, I think every person has a perspective of how they're taking it.

01:48Either you fight, or you struggle, or you only look at the negative side of it.

01:53I'm taking only the positive side because I think,

01:56if you have a tool, why not exploit it for your benefit?

02:00There is going to be a flip side.

02:02Anything that is available, any medium that is available,

02:06it will definitely have a negative side.

02:08And it will only get worse as the technology advances.

02:11You've come to this understanding that this is how I need to use it

02:14as compared to letting these social media platforms use me.

02:18But, there are many of our audience who spend the whole day on social media, right?

02:24For whom it's very difficult to ignore the trolling,

02:27ignore the hate comments.

02:28It is extremely difficult.

02:30So, that is something I think that we should speak about and talk about

02:33that how to tackle it.

02:36Because the internet, especially during these last 6-8 months,

02:39the negativity and hatred, especially for female actors,

02:42female content creators, has increased a lot.

02:45But, it was there before.

02:46There used to be discrimination in the society.

02:49Before, if a woman would meet a man, she would say that he is such and such a woman.

02:55In the society, it was said that if a woman in the village

02:57had a little bit of her skin down,

02:59then all the men in the society would say that she has no character.

03:02Women also used to say that.

03:03So, this happens.

03:05And the biggest sorrow is that, I just want to say this personally,

03:08when a woman makes another woman fall down or says bad things about her,

03:13I feel like, to me especially, that is one of the greatest disservices.

03:16Because, I don't know, I just feel like this innate sisterhood has to be there.

03:21I think it is unfair to expect this from women who have lived a certain way.

03:28Because patriarchy doesn't break like that.

03:32It takes centuries, it takes generations, it takes a lot of education.

03:36There are a lot of things.

03:38You have to understand that these women,

03:41who don't have exposure, whose world is so small,

03:44who don't know anything, they are so innocent that they feel that

03:49if you touch them, they go to school.

03:51But, they are so ingrained.

03:54So, you know, I feel it is unfair to expect that.

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