Feminism – a confusing and distorted word in today’s world. After watching four movies such as Gunjan Saxena, Dangal, Thappad, and Bhoomi, I started to think about the role of a feminist father in a girl’s life.
A father can teach his daughter that she has the voice to speak and wings to fly. Gunjan’s father did the same. He has always been there for her, with her dream and in her ups and downs. And he was the happiest when she achieved her dream! What if all the fathers around the world give their daughters the wings to fly as Gunjan’s father did?
When she was ready to give up her dream ones, he was not ready to give up his dream. Because his dream was to make his daughter’s dream come to reality. Literally, I had a thought after watching the movie that, what a father! This movie proved that a father can be a girl’s best friend and her motivator. How many girls over there have a father like him? If you have, then you are the luckiest!
When it comes to Dangal, we can see a strong father who makes his daughters strong and gives their wings since childhood, when the daughters had no idea about their life or career. He trained his daughters not only wrestling but also how to be strong throughout their life as he says to his wife that, no boys need to choose my daughters, my daughters will choose boys for them! And he insists his daughters be independent as once he said, “your bapu won’t be there to save you every time, I can only teach you to fight. But you have to fight yourself!”
Even though he is a rough and strict father outside, he loves his daughters more than anything, that we can see in many scenes in the film. He always wanted to make his daughters win without concern about society or what others will say, or whether my daughters will get good grooms. What if all fathers think like that? If they think, we will get more gems like wrestlers Geeta Phogat and Babita Phogat. They made it because they born to a wonderful father!
In Thappad, we can see a loving father who is always there for his daughter. When his daughter needs to come out of married life, he is the person who stands for her and supports her. All along the film, we can see the father-daughter friendship. That friendship and unconditional support give her the strength to take bold decisions in her life.
We all may hear that the best thing a father can do to his daughter is to love and respect her mother. We could see that clearly in this movie. Amrita grew up seeing the way her father loves and respects her mother. She expected the same from her husband. That made her realize how much disrespect she gets from her husband. She could deal with the mental trauma, because her father dealt with it easily, without saying a word to adjust with a disrespectful husband.
If all fathers listen and support daughters as Amrita’s father does, the number of suicides and the domestic violence against women from their husband’s home can be reduced. But how many fathers support girls from getting out of a suicidal marriage? How many fathers think that a divorced daughter is far better than a dead daughter?
How does a father react when his daughter got brutally raped? In Bhoomi, the loving father held his daughter’s hand when she got raped. He never taught his daughter that her life is on her body and never said it is better to suicide than living life like this. He held her even closer when she got body-shamed in the court. How many fathers teach his daughter that a girl’s life is not on her body? Moreover, how many fathers think that their daughter is important than their family status? If they do, there will be no suicides after the rape, and there will be no honor killing!
Yes, every girl deserves a feminist father, to make her dreams come true, to make her strong, and to hold her hands when she falls. Teach your girls to live a life she wishes to rather than teaching the rotten patriarchy rules!
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