Blog Paragraph 4: Slumdog Millionaire

Gender in Slumdog Millionaire

            In the film Slumdog Millionaire, director Danny Boyle focuses on the Orientalist stereotypes that sexualize and disempower women through their bodies and subservience to men.  According to Orientalist stereotypes, women in an Indian society are seen as sexualized beings and exist specifically for man’s pleasure and disposal. The character of Latika embodies the gender differences and enables Boyle to critique gender discourses through her fairytale existence. Latika is subservient to the dominant male society and exists as a sexual pawn that only acts when told to do so, as she does when her mob boss boyfriend commands her to make a sandwich and switch television channels.  In Latika’s childhood she stands in the rain while Jamal and Salim find protection under a shed and she must wait in the rain until given permission to enter by one of the boys.  At a young age she is conditioned to understand her subservience to men and a role that denies her a voice and mind.  A she grows she becomes man’s sexual toy and her body exploited for man’s satisfaction. Boyle shows this exploitation through his use of camera angles and lighting that highlight Latika’s beauty and allure by shooting pieces of her.  The camera focuses on her henna tattoos, jewelry, and her bare body to highlight her sensual nature.  In the camera’s eyes, Latika is a fragmented being, always doing what others expect of her and the angles in which she is shot depict the view of the world and deny her existence; she exists by the ways in which others dictate her life for her. Fragmentation in Boyle’s film explains the roles women must play in society and their lack of agency in a male dominated world. Latika is constantly shot behind bars, trains, doors which prevent her from being seen clearly and deny her a dominating presence on screen.  Latika, much like the stereotypes in place for women, represents the inequalities between men and women and women’s difficulties in finding a place in a “growing” nation that denounces gender changes.  

http://ladevey.blogspot.com/2010/05/sex-slave-trade-globalization.html
An issue that the film deals with pertains to the problem of globalization and human trafficking.  While I do not condone this horrible act, many are unaware that sexual enslavement/prostitution, as Lawrence states,"Additional evidence of licentiousness was provided by Muslim polygamy and Hindu child marriages, in which the bride was expected to have intercourse on or even before her twelfth birthday, a custom which shocked some commentators" (Lawrence 217).  In Indian culture, sex trafficking and the exploitation of child labor dates back to the 1800's.  When the British colonized India, Indians used their women and children as a way to meet the needs of the British travelers by offering services foreign and exotic to them.  Men wrote of the 'horrific sights,' but brought the customs to the attention of many people and began implementing practices. Globalization has largely contributed to the rise of capital and the demand for human trafficking.  Women and children have little to no voices in society, so therefore makes the sales realistic and plausible, no one will question the disappearance of an unknown citizen.  Many victims of this slavery are women and children of the Dalit class; the Dalit class being linked to the untouchable class.  The Dalits do not have a place within Indian society, so they are viewed as items that will not be missed, and offered up for trade. One can argue that globalization and capitalism preys on the poor. Countries with traditionally defined, class/caste systems, associate success only with the upper echelon.  The lower classes are the tools for the rich to exploit and force into human bondage.  

The video above, relates the horrors of sex trafficking, trying to raise awareness to victims.  Young girls are forced from their homes, the parents are coerced, promised money for their children's bodies, and the daughters are sent away.  The effects of capitalism and the lack of money among the lower class members is evident by some families desperation to sell their children for some money.