I am analyzing the most viewed Bollywood music videos on YouTube using the Sex Role Perspective. While analyzing with the Sex Role Perspective, I will utilize the items for evaluating masculinity and femininity as presented by Hyde (1995, p. 134), and these specific items will be italicized. In this post, I will be discussing the lyrical music video for “Tum Hi Aana” from the Bollywood movie Marjaavaan.
Link to video: Lyrical: Tum Hi Aana | Marjaavaan | Riteish D, Sidharth M, Tara S |Jubin Nautiyal,Payal Dev,Kunaal V
Translation of lyrics: https://lyricsraag.com/tum-hi-aana-translation-marjaavaan-jubin-nautiyal/
Evaluating Masculinity
- Reinforcing stereotypes
- The main male character is shown beaten up and wounded in a few scenes. In addition, he is shown in jail punching a wall out of frustration in one scene. These instances reinforce the stereotypical masculine trait of aggression.
- The male character’s physical appearance portrays him to be athletic, have a strong personality, and be conventionally masculine in general, as he is big and muscular in stature and tends to wear more athletic, edgy, and dark colored clothing.
- At the end of the music video, the main character shoots the female character with a gun, murdering her. He obviously does not want to murder her but appears to have been forced to do so, likely because of gang involvement. However, his murdering of the female character reinforces stereotypically masculine traits of being aggressive and forceful, in addition to being individualistic and analytical in a way for deciding to go through with the murder instead of resisting his commands.
- Resisting stereotypes
- The main male character is cheerful, warm, and affectionate towards the main female character in many instances, all stereotypically feminine traits.
- The male character is forced to murder the female character due to gang affiliations. The fact that he was exploited by a gang and ends up obeying commands to murder his lover portrays the stereotypically feminine traits of being yielding and even gullible.
- The male character is shown distraught and crying at the grave of the main female character, his lover. Furthermore, the lyrics of the song, sung by a man, talk about missing someone dearly and begging them to “please come back.” This portrays stereotypical feminine traits of being compassionate, tender, and loyal.
- In one scene, the male character is shown spending time with a little boy, portraying the stereotypical feminine trait of loving children.
Evaluating Femininity
- Reinforcing stereotypes
- The main female character is often smiling at the male character and touching him softly on the shoulder or face. This reinforces stereotypically feminine traits of being cheerful, warm, affectionate, and gentle.
- The main female character appears to be unable to speak, using a form of sign language to communicate instead. In a way, this goes along with stereotypical feminine traits of being soft-spoken and tender because this disability makes the female character somewhat vulnerable and unable to fully or boldly communicate her feelings or opinions with others conventionally.
- Resisting stereotypes
- The main female character is often shown staring directly at the male character, is quite expressive with her emotions, and is active, doing things with her female friends. All of these things portray her to have a strong personality, a stereotypically masculine trait.
Shared by: Seela Raj
Image Credit: https://wallpapercave.com/wp/wp5931768.jpg
