Just moved in!!

Well...I've just moved in....

This blog, unlike my blog at Yahoo 36o is intended to be a more serious one.....designed to discuss books, movies and media- related issues....

I can't call it a non-personal blog.....because it will be an expression of my personal views, which may or may not be shared by others...but it will not contain information about my personal life...

So to begin, I present...

News pe views....

There are a few news items that have caught my attention lately.....
The first one is about how little girls are becoming more aggressive after watching and imitating Hermione Granger hit Draco Malfoy in the third Harry Potter movie. The scene in question shows Ms. Granger punch Malfoy, after which she exclaims "Boy! That felt good!", and is cheered by all her friends....Apparently, the message conveyed is - Girls hit, it feels good, and it gets approval from the peer group. The article went on to say that traditionally, women are less aggressive than men because society disapproves of aggressive behaviour in women. But now, because of female role models on T.V. who have no qualms about kicking ass, little girls are becoming more and more aggressive.

Now, I personally agree with the article on two points-
1) Watching violent models on T.V. increases tendency towards aggressiveness.
2) Society discourages aggressive behaviour in females.
However, I do not agree with the article on one important point. The article says that women are less aggressive than men. This statement according to me is too vague. It does not specify the type of aggression. As psychologists recognize today, women and men are equally aggressive. They differ only in the type of aggression they exhibit.

Men generally indulge in overt aggression, i.e., physical or verbal aggression that is clearly observable- punching, kicking, hitting, mauling, shouting, screaming, hurling abuses etc. Women on the other hand, indulge in covert aggression. Covert aggression, is not directly observable. It involves causing emotional or psychological hurt rather than direct physical assault. It offers the person engaging in it a certain degree of anonymity, and therefore women, who are prevented by societal norms from being overtly aggressive choose the path of covert aggression. Covert aggression includes- talking behind a person's back, spreading rumours, defamation, sabotaging a person's interpersonal relationships or interfering with a person's work.

I'm not saying that women cannot be overtly aggressive or that men cannot indulge in covert aggression. However, it is generally found across the life span, and across cultures, that men are more likely than women to indulge in overt aggression and that women are more likely to be covertly aggressive.

Now, as the article says, the depiction of female models on television who are physically aggressive or verbally abusive may very well serve to increase overt aggresion in girls because it creates a picture of aggression as being socially accepted. The question that I want to raise however, has to do with the depiction of covert aggression on T.V. If watching girls hitting on punching on screen can influence little girls to punch and hit, then watching the scheming saasu-maas and conniving bahus in our daily soaps should also encourage covert aggression in girls, right? Turn on any popular T.V. serial and you will see many examples of women bitching behind each others backs, indulging in blackmail and causing serious harm to someone's reputation by spreading rumours. This is true not only of Indian soap operas but also American soaps and sitcoms...just watch Desperate Housewives or The Bold and The Beautiful someday and you'll know what I'm talking about. The influence that such rubbish can have on young minds is great, but unfortunately, since covert aggression is hidden aggression, and because of a lack of awareness among the general public, such things continue to be shown on television. Its food for thought, isn't it?

A peice of news that I found to be particularly hilarious, is that the Himesh Reshammiya hit "Jhalak Dikhlaja.." from the movie Aksar, has been banned in a village in Vadodara because, apparently, singing the songs causes the ghosts of the dead to attack the villagers. After watching the news report on T.V., I couldn't decide who was more idiotic....the ghosts, the villagers, the T.V. channel and its crew who regarded this important enough to be shown on T.V. or me, for having seen the stupid report!

One last piece of news that interests me is the one about "ringxiety- the telecommunications equivalent of the phantom limb syndrome". It means that sounds or sequences of notes similar to the ringing of a cell phone, can trigger the false perception that the phone is ringing. But ultimately, the article says, it is more likely to be caused by a psychological need to always be connected. Now, does that ring a bell or what?