A few days ago, Monica Dogra, the actress and electronica musician, put out a “call-to-action” that swept across Facebook. In the slickly made video and on an accompanying webpage, she explains that she is seeking to “crowdsource” funds for a project that will strike at the heart of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which effectively makes homosexuality illegal in India. Her project, she explains, “is for legislators all over the world to decriminalise all consensual acts of sex regardless of gender identification”.
It all seems brilliantly simple (or simplistic). People who work in the fields of film, television, fine art, fashion, music and theatre “are all powerful, altruistic, and progressive", Dogra claims, but they “stand alone as islands at a very critical time”. She aims to set loose a “tsunami of change” by encouraging these groups to talk to each other. She hopes to achieve this by making a “high-art music video” that will be exhibited at the next Kochi Biennale.
Her appeal asks viewers to donate Rs 50 lakh for the project.
Here’s why it’s problematic in many ways: If you truly want to help the community and truly claim to know them, you need to understand that music videos do nothing for them. Remember last year’s advertisement with hijras asking Bangalore motorists to wear seat belts? It got the people who made the advert lots of attention but did nothing for the hijras.
The hijras pulled out a couple of days from their lives to look respectable and went to a job that only exists in this social message video, but that didn’t really create acceptance for them among a broad section of society. The ad’s message itself had nothing to do with the hijra community, and they end up objectified further as props for a larger public safety initiative. That's a small example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions.
What India’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer people need is action that will help overturn Section 377. Changing legislation involves hours and hours of legal research and court time, all of which costs money. That is a great place to send some cash, in case you want to help out. There are other areas on which one could concentrate, as well, such as education and employment for LGBTQ people.
There's another problem with this appeal. As someone who has worked in contemporary art over the last decade, I’m confused by the use of words such as “high art”. Most often, it's just a marketing ploy used by galleries. Historically, when you claim to be "high art/culture", you're basically saying you're bourgeois. Why anyone would use that sentiment in the context of this video is baffling. It is an unfortunate reference to an elitist privilege that many already use to critique LGBT movements across the world. In a country like India, it’s easy for this sort of conversation to completely bypass the grassroots that need it desperately.
Already, members of the LGBT community are expressing their concerns about Dogra’s project on her appeal’s webpage. “I find your language extremely problematic and revealing a lack of understanding of trans communities, the very communities you claim you are trying to support with this video,” said one respondent. Added another, “Thanks for wanting to support, but would be fabulous if the money you were raising was actually being used by the community for something they needed rather than a music video! I am glad you are an ally, but as an ally maybe some more in depth conversation with the people you want to support.”
Needless to say, this is not an attempt to shut the project down. Dogra clearly has the reach and the celebrity to inspire people enough to part with their money. Think of what this could lead to, if the project was opened out to include a genuine collaboration with the queer community, truly helping their voice spread wider.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
It all seems brilliantly simple (or simplistic). People who work in the fields of film, television, fine art, fashion, music and theatre “are all powerful, altruistic, and progressive", Dogra claims, but they “stand alone as islands at a very critical time”. She aims to set loose a “tsunami of change” by encouraging these groups to talk to each other. She hopes to achieve this by making a “high-art music video” that will be exhibited at the next Kochi Biennale.
Her appeal asks viewers to donate Rs 50 lakh for the project.
Here’s why it’s problematic in many ways: If you truly want to help the community and truly claim to know them, you need to understand that music videos do nothing for them. Remember last year’s advertisement with hijras asking Bangalore motorists to wear seat belts? It got the people who made the advert lots of attention but did nothing for the hijras.
The hijras pulled out a couple of days from their lives to look respectable and went to a job that only exists in this social message video, but that didn’t really create acceptance for them among a broad section of society. The ad’s message itself had nothing to do with the hijra community, and they end up objectified further as props for a larger public safety initiative. That's a small example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions.
What India’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer people need is action that will help overturn Section 377. Changing legislation involves hours and hours of legal research and court time, all of which costs money. That is a great place to send some cash, in case you want to help out. There are other areas on which one could concentrate, as well, such as education and employment for LGBTQ people.
There's another problem with this appeal. As someone who has worked in contemporary art over the last decade, I’m confused by the use of words such as “high art”. Most often, it's just a marketing ploy used by galleries. Historically, when you claim to be "high art/culture", you're basically saying you're bourgeois. Why anyone would use that sentiment in the context of this video is baffling. It is an unfortunate reference to an elitist privilege that many already use to critique LGBT movements across the world. In a country like India, it’s easy for this sort of conversation to completely bypass the grassroots that need it desperately.
Already, members of the LGBT community are expressing their concerns about Dogra’s project on her appeal’s webpage. “I find your language extremely problematic and revealing a lack of understanding of trans communities, the very communities you claim you are trying to support with this video,” said one respondent. Added another, “Thanks for wanting to support, but would be fabulous if the money you were raising was actually being used by the community for something they needed rather than a music video! I am glad you are an ally, but as an ally maybe some more in depth conversation with the people you want to support.”
Needless to say, this is not an attempt to shut the project down. Dogra clearly has the reach and the celebrity to inspire people enough to part with their money. Think of what this could lead to, if the project was opened out to include a genuine collaboration with the queer community, truly helping their voice spread wider.