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Volume-04 ISSN: 2455-3085 (Online) Issue-03 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary March-2019 www.rrjournals.com[UGC Listed Journal]

Gender in Popular Punjabi Music

Kiranbir Kaur

Research scholar, Panjab University Chandigarh (India)

ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT Article History The paper chapter deals with portrayal of gender in popular Punjabi songs, focusing on the Published Online: 13 March 2019 subordination, objectification and trivialization of women. The paper also brings out the underlying causes of misogyny in these songs, be these of feudal and patriarchal nature, or Keywords related to decadent consumerist culture in the heydays of rural capitalist prosperity, or folk music, green revolution, anomie and escapism in the face of present-day agrarian crisis. The paper also notes that consumerism, objectification, agrarian there popular Punjabi music has heard no counter voices of resistance from women‟s crisis. perspective even though there are some popular female singers.

1. Introduction c. How was the relationship of gender with caste and For the simple reason that it enjoys mass appeal, popular religion viewed in these songs? music is an instructive index of the views, values and beliefs d. Were there any discernible differences between current in a society. Gender related expressions in popular traditional/folk music and contemporary popular music Punjabi music of recent decades ought to be treated, therefore, on these gender questions? as sociologically and culturally significant reflections even if e. Do these songs reflect any changes in gender these expressions are morally abhorrent. equations before, during and post Green Revolution? f. What, if any, were the counter-hegemonic themes It is in this spirit that this chapter examines varied and strategies adopted by women singers? expressions of gender-related issues in current popular Punjabi music. The basic argument is that even though the 4. Research Methodology blatant and violent forms of misogyny in this music are new, There are several layers to the thematic of this music. It is they can also be seen as the most degenerate forms of gender well nigh impossible to unpeel all of them in a one paper. I prejudices that had always existed in Punjabi society. chose, therefore, to focus on only those themes and expressions which have a direct bearing on questions of In order to establish this context, I preface the main gender relations. discussion here with two kinds of backdrops. One, I go into the socio-cultural context of being a woman in the Sikh, and Jat, In more operative terms, the objective of this study is to social orders. Second, I relate the gender question to the make to survey of popular Punjabi music produced in the last changing nature of social economy of Punjab. The paper deal ten years in order to examine the forms in which gender find briefly with its two earlier phases, pre-capitalist subsistence concrete expression in lyrics, singing and visual elements in agriculture, and capitalist agrarian relations, before zooming in music videos. on the question of gender relations in the post-Green Revolution period. Selection of Songs Since I wanted to focus on the most recent phase of 2. Objectives of the Study popular Punjabi music, I chose the segment of 10 years from The present study is an attempt to break through that 2006 to 2016. The period had seen a spate of music with an magic spell and use popular Punjabi music as a living archive ever-growing number of singers producing frequent songs. In of contemporary socio-cultural life of Punjab, a state caught in order to identify the most popular among them, I went online to a flux of sudden prosperity, consumerism, decadence and see which songs had made to the Top 20 on YouTube every eventual decline, all brought about by the Green Revolution year going by the number of hits. Music companies like T- introduced in the 1960s from above. I believe that studying the series, Speed Records, Saga Music, Vehli Janta Records, thematic of popular Punjabi music is to study not just Punjabi Amar Audio, White Hill Music, Lokdhun Punjabi, Jass Records culture and social psychology; it is, at a deeper level, also to and Indian Music Mafia had their music had made their music study the sociology, economy and politics of Punjab. available on the YouTube. However, there were no YouTube Top 20s prior to 2012. For the years preceding that, we chose 3. Research questions the data provided by DD Punjabi.

1. How were gender relations portrayed in the selected Thus I generated a list of 200 most popular songs. These songs: were then categorized in terms of their themes. The most a. Were gender stereotypes questioned or reinforced? prominent themes were: dominance and glorification Jats; b. Were gender hierarchies and inequalities questioned class and caste hierarchies; objectification of women; or reinforced? pleasures of drugs and alcohol consumption; acclamation of

RRIJM 2015, All Rights Reserved 1030 | P a g e Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary weapons and violence; love of expensive cars, SUVs, jeeps, women as fully equal to men. A more recent study of rock motorbikes, tractors; lust for luxury goods and brands; videos found that traditional sex role stereotypes continue to university and college romances; fascination with westernized predominate: 57% of videos in which women were present girls particularly in Chandigarh. There were also songs that depicted them in a „„conventional‟‟ manner (passive, dependent spoke of social issues such as fragmentation of agricultural on men, accenting physical appearance), while a third land, rural indebtedness, farmers‟ suicides, pollution of soil and presented them as strong and independent (Alexander, 1999). water, spread of deadly diseases like cancer, diaspora, migration through marriage with NRIs, honour killing of women, Researchers suggest “a link between adolescents‟ beliefs unemployment, reservation, deras, corruption, etc. about women as sex objects and their exposure to homogenous media depictions of objectified/sexualized I also found that even though the themes of these songs, women.” (Turner, 2008: p. 3).Because of the discriminatory they were at a broader level touching upon the main concern of practices imposed by social institutions, women are compelled this study, namely gender relations in contemporary Punjab. to confine themselves within the norms, values and expectations of the society. Rosaldo and Lamphere hold that 5. Review of literature women in patriarchal societies have often accepted and Gender and Popular Music internalized a „derogatory and constraining images‟ of Since most theories hold that music is a cultural reflection themselves (Rosaldo and Lamphere, 1974). of society, any assessment of the status of women in music has to placed in the social context. Aaltio & Mills (2002:4) 6. Gender construction in Punjabi society argue that feminine and masculine gender consists of the Being a Sikh Woman ideals and values which originate in culture. Understanding Punjabi peasant society is largely a Sikh society. The Sikh what gender means therefore equals understanding cultural religion has greatly influenced the traditions, values, beliefs dimensions. and culture of Jat peasantry. In the process, Sikhism has also Music has been described as an essentially gendered played a significant and complex role in the formation of discourse, a marker of sexual identity It has been said that “the women‟s identity, defining their role and place in social history of Western music is a history of sexual anxiety, relations and power structures. ambivalence, and negotiation” ( Cusick, 1994). Music industry is under the patriarchal culture. It is the “listening equivalent of At one level, given utter subordination of women at the the male gaze”. It excludes female desire and generates time, Sikhism contributed to a notable improvement in their sexualities as power and pleasure (Shepherd, 2003). Frith and status, particularly in the pursuit of religious and spiritual goals McRobbie stated that music is both a means of sexual and duties. The Sikh Gurus pleaded for full rights to women. expression but also as a mode of sexual control (Frith and They advocated equal status for men and women. A woman is McRobbie, 1990:p.387). One particularly disturbing gender considered to have the same soul as man and has equal right trend found in contemporary music is the extent to which to grow spiritually. As a result, a Sikh woman is allowed to lead women‟s bodies are being portrayed in a sexualized manner religious congregations, take part in Akhand Path (the (Aubrey & Frisby, 2011; Moncrief, 2004). Among recent continuous recitation of the Holy Scriptures), perform Kirtan, findings is strong evidence for an increasingly pornographic work as Granthi (priest) or a preacher, and participate freely in representation of women in popular music media (Allen, 2001; all religious, cultural, social, political and secular activities. Dines, 2010). On a closer look, however, a more complex picture would The representation of women in the media has always emerge. Consider, for example, the often-quoted verse of Guru been exploitative. It has, throughout the years, reduced women Nanak Dev from his „Asa Di Var‟: to being nothing more than objects to be won, prizes to be shown off, and playthings to be abused. Click and Kramer The world O, why call woman highlight primary gendered difference between males and Evil, who gives birth to kings” (JS Grewal, 1993). females in contemporary popular music, including: women‟s underrepresentation versus male dominance, women being It is not difficult to see that Guru Nanak‟s assertion about highlighted for their physical appearance and beauty versus the worthiness of women emphasized their role in reproduction men being highlighted for their musical ability, and women and furtherance of kinship: women gave birth to men, as well being portrayed as staying the same/never maturing over the as to the future mothers of men, hence men should regard years while men mature and gain increased responsibility over them as equals (Doris R. Jakosbsh, 2003). In other words, time (Click & Kramer, 2007). Sikh Gurus continued to regard women primarily as mothers and wives. Thus Sikh historian J.S. Grewal emphasized that It remains uncommon for women to be presented as even though Guru Nanak created much space for women, he independent, intelligent, enterprising, or superior to men. A did so within the patriarchal framework. content analysis of pop music and videos found that a majority (57%) presented women in a „„condescending‟‟ manner (e.g., Another historian, W. H. McLeod, argued further that Guru unintelligent, sex object, victim) and a fifth placed them in a Nanak not merely accepted but also idealized patriarchy (W.H. traditional sex role (e.g., subservient, nurturing, domestic Mcleod, 2007). The idealized social order is best reflected in roles), while 8% displayed male violence against women Anand karaj (the wedding ceremony of Sikhs). The bridegroom (Vincent, Davis and Boruszkowski, 1987). Only 14% presented is addressed first and enjoined to be „the protector of the bride

RRIJM 2015, All Rights Reserved 1031 | Page Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary and her honour‟. Then comes the turn of addressing the bride, with affinal male relatives, and adjusting as best they can to who is counseled to accept her husband-to-be as „a master of their affinal homes (Nicola Mooney 2010). all love and respect‟. The hem of the groom‟s ceremonial dress is then placed in the bride‟s hand and she follows him round In the Punjabi peasant society, there are few independent the sacred scripture four times. 1 This ceremony is amply roles for women. Their roles are fixed in relation to men. indicative of the intended nature of union. Women are mothers, daughters and sisters in their maternal homes; they are wives and daughters-in-law in their marital McLeod also pointed out that there was conspicuous homes. These constructions are essential to the organization absence of women as principal actors in Sikh history. He of kinship, caste, religion, and culture in Punjab, but also are argued that that Sikh history was almost completely the history constitutive of gender difference and women‟s inequality (Doris of the doings of men. Almost all the Gurus had wives, but R. Jakobsh, 2010). In Punjab, as elsewhere, women embody inevitably they performed their roles in the shadow of their notions of cultural tradition and boundaries of identity, including husbands. The wives and daughters of Gurus were certainly those of religion and caste (Chjatterjee, 1993 and Butalia, noticed, but only briefly so. For example, even though Mai 1995). Women bodies become sites for the representation, Bhago, Sada Kaur, and Rani Jindan were known, there very contestation and control of identity, invested as they are with few others like them whose names are known. When it came the notions of collective loyalty, purity, and nurturance. Gender to making important panthic decisions, the task remained firmly inequality and women‟s subordination are salient features of in the hands of men (W.H. Mcleod 2007). Punjabi society, are encapsulated in regional kinship and marriage practices including hypergamy, dowry, patrilocal Another scholar Doris R. Jakobsh noted that a single residence, ghund, son preference patrilineal inheritance, all set word, izzat, definedand characterized Sikh women: “Izzat is a within the honour- shame paradigm, and all contributing to multivocalic term defying simple translation… (it) is central to a hierarchical and unequal gender relation (Doris R. Jakobsh, whole complex of emotionally charged values including honor, 2010). respect, reputation, shame, prestige, and status… central to izzat is power, reciprocity, protection of one‟s social domain‟ In her important essay „Masks and Faces: Essay on (Doris R. Jakobsh,2010). Punjabi Kinship,‟ Veena Das captured the current Punjabi kinship and marriage networks as well as expectations from One should also not ignore the fact that a parallel and women within such networks. Women, particularly daughters, contrary tradition is found ina form of Sikh literature known as are the repositories of honour; dishonorable conduct on the rahitnama, which denigrates the relative position of women part of daughter can ruin the family forever, leaving parents (W.H. McLeod ,2005). For example, it is said in the Chaupa „unfit to show their face‟ to the biradari (kinship group) of the Singh Rahitnama that “A Gursikh should never trust a woman, family. It is often said that it is the duty of the father to kill an neither his own nor another‟s. Never entrust a secret to them. errant daughter rather than allow her to smear the good name Regard them as the embodiment of deceit. Never keep of the family‟ (Veena Das, 1976). company of women belonging to another man‟s family. Never touch the feet of any woman other than one‟s own mother. Nicola Mooney‟s ethnographic study of gender disparity Never eat food left by a woman (W.H. McLeod (ed.), 1987). for Jat Sikh women titled „Lowly Shoes on Lowly Feet‟, shows Trying to explain the limitations of gender egalitarianism in how many of the inequalities that Jat Sikh women suffer are Sikhism, historian Baldev Singh argues that the Sikh features of their being Jat and Punjabi rather than their being movement developed in a very corrosive patriarchal culture, a Sikh. While Sikhism advocates equality among both castes mix of Hindu patriarchal values superimposed with Muslim and genders, yet inequality prevail in the everyday lives of patriarchal values (Baldev Singh, 2011). many Sikh women. Many Jat women believe that equality is a theoretical declaration rather than a statement of social fact. Being a Jat Woman Mooney noted that izzat marks the reputation of both the While Sikh religion had a considerable influence on the individual Jat male and his family, and is constructed through tradition, values and beliefs of Jat peasantry, the influence had the deportment of his wife, sisters, and daughters, who attend its limits. A number of deeply entrenched traditions were to sharm in their modesty and humility. integral to the culture of Punjabi peasant society prior to the rise of Sikhism, which are therefore not attributable to Sikhism, but have survived. For example, genders practices like 7. Gender in the popular music of pre-green revolution maintaining purdah or ghund, and female infanticide, are period prohibited by Sikhism but continue to be pervasively followed in Punjab by Jatt community. For Jats, ghund represents the Folk songs of a region depict in simple but telling ways the everyday life of ordinary people. They also give expression to moral universe of izzat-sharam while, according to the Feminist the deeper inner world of emotions, desires, anxieties and historian Prem Chowdhry, the veil serves to sustain „the dreams. In doing so, they use the language and idiom closely balance of hierarchy‟ (Prem Chowdhry, 1994). Jat women liked to the culture, beliefs and social practices of the region. demonstrate respect for their in-laws by ritualistically For these reasons, folk songs are an extraordinary archive to prostrating to touch the feet of their elders, maintaining ghund study the place of women in a society of a given time.

The Punjabi folk songs of the pre-Green Revolution period are set against the pre-capitalist agrarian social relations,

RRIJM 2015, All Rights Reserved 1032 | Page Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary reproducing themselves without much change or challenge. In it I distill liqour, Gender roles are clearly defined. The lives of women is one You drink the first cup, my lover long spell of domesticity while men are mostly away, either Then I‟ll put it in bottles… tending the land or serving in the army. Women stay indoors except for brief moments when they go out to fetch water from Another boli talks of female sexuality as weapon against the well or carry meals to the men tilling the land. male ego:

The world of women is the web of familial relationships. Jati, if you want to beat up your Jat, For young unmarried women, it is their relationship with Beat him while he‟s lying next to you mother, father, sister, brother, maternal or paternal uncles and Then ask him what he‟s so full off, O Jati (Nahar Singh & aunts. It is a relationship of deep attachments, love, harmony R.S. Gill, 2004). and happiness. Yet the lives of young women are shot through with the anxieties about an uncertain future, of having to soon A new brand of folk-style music recorded on vinyl emerged leave for the house of in-laws. In many songs, daughters are in the 1950s. Surinder Kaur was one of the icons of this new described as paraya dhan, bighana dhan which literally means notion of “folk” singing. She was born into an orthodox Jat wealth of others. For example, one suhag song expresses the family, which did not approve of singing as a career. Her uncle anguish of daughters: had stated that singing was the work of “Kanjars” (crudely translated as “prostitution-mongers”), and that girls Don‟t feel proud of us daughters, father, of sardar (landowner) families did not sing; “Good girls sing We belong to others…. only devotional hymns” (Giff. Stuart Schreffer 2004). Don‟t have pride in your daughters, Father, your daughters are foreigners…. However, Kaur went on to sing many memorable songs Daughters are wealth for another giving an open expression to a girl‟s love for her lover or Send them off happily, father… husband. Some example of these songs were chan Kithe Guzari Aai Raat (where did you spend your last night my In many songs the paternal home as the source of love lover), Lathe Di Chadar (The Linen Bedsheet), kaladoriya and nurture is contrasted with the home of in-laws as a source (Black Striped Veil), and Akh kashni (Blue eyes). of tyranny and torture: Yet despite this new openness of a sort, kinship relations I was a prisoner at my in –laws continued to provide the Punjabi folk songs their fundamental For no theft or crime. thematic.

Born and raised in the Doaba 8. Gender in the popular music of green revolution period I was married off to a far off Jungle Green revolution brought about a fundamental shift not I‟m crane deported from home, O friends just in agricultural practices but also in social relations in Punjab. Another song depicts her torture at the hands of her in laws: Women turned out to be a major victim of the new patterns of development. Green revolution „masculinized‟ agrarian My Saas fights, my Jathani pulls my hairs production by destroying the integral relationship between And my Devar taunts me, O brother… forestry, animal husbandry and agriculture, displacing from work women who were earlier providing sustainable inputs. Many folk songs speak of the deep anxiety of women (Kamla Raj, 2007). According to eco-feminists, the “Green about bearing sons rather than daughters, for on that alone Revolution” focused on increasing yields and entailed a shift in would depend her status and security in the family: inputs from human to technical. Whereas earlier women played a significant role in managing the agricultural systems, their Oh, girl, away with whiteness, knowledge and inputs were now marginalized by technological I‟ll dirty the bed interventions. Their role in agricultural production changed Buy me the darling son… from being primary producers to subsidiary workers (Vandana Shiva 1998& Sontheimer.S, 1991). Yet, it is not as if women‟s subordination and marginalization completely kills their inner voice. The absence In sheer quantitative terms, too, the proportion of women of men from the home during the day creates spaces for in work force fell drastically; touching the lowest in 1991- women in which they sing to one another of their hopes, fears, 2001.Women participation in work in Punjab was only 4.4%, unfulfilled dreams, frustrations, sexual desires, love and anger. which was much lower compared to the national figure of 25.65 Boliyan, a form of women‟s folk songs, give vent to their sexual percent. Women lost their economic independence since with desires. For example, one boli evokes an association between the increased income and consequent higher social status for her own sexuality, seduction of her lover, and the custom of the families as a whole, women were the first to be withdrawn illegal distillation of liquor: from the work force as symbols of that newly gained status (Dr.L.C.Mallaiah, 2007). I dig a round hole (in the ground)

Secondly, introduction of social relations on purely look with lust on another woman of his age (Piara Singh commercial criteria led to the destruction of traditional Padam (ed.), 1995). But contemporary Punjabi singers don‟t community (Vandana Shiva, 1991).Traditionally, reciprocity have any theme apart from women body and her body parts. and extensive networks of mutual obligations among cultivators marked agrarian life. The penetration of market and Green revolution had brought about the culture of capital destroyed these networks. Atomized and fragmented consumerism and hedonism, which reduced woman to nothing cultivators now dealt directly with banks, seed and fertilizer more than a commodity or consumable item. This attitude was agencies, food procurement agencies, electricity and irrigation quite evident in popular Punjabi songs like Mein jaagan savere organizations. The destruction of traditional community caused te kudian chufere, (I wake up in the morning with girls around extensive cultural erosion and created a deep moral crisis. me), Yaaro aaundian rehndia kudian te bassan (friends girls Nothing was now sacred and everything had a price (Kamla are like busses will keep coming and going), Dhai minute da Raj, 2007). Third, the steady rise in incomes and spread of kamm hai saada kudian fasaun da (it‟s just matter of two and affluence encouraged a lifestyle and culture of conspicuous half minutes for us to make a girl ours). consumption. The increased objectification and exploitation of women in Consequently the violence against women also got popular music is a result of rise of the consumerist culture amplified. The circulation of new cash in a society whose old where she is used as a commodity for the carnal gratification of forms of life had been dislocated led to an epidemic of social male desire and she is exploited in consumerist societies as a diseases like alcoholism, smoking, drug- addiction, the spread consumable item. Her bodies are reduced to objects on purely of pornographic films and literature and violence against commercial criteria. women (Pritam Singh and Navtej K. Purewal, 2013). We discuss below in some detail the sub-themes Patronized by the rich peasantry, „folk‟ singing became a prevalent in this latest phase of popular Punjabi music. flourishing business in Punjab after the Green revolution. The most popular singer of that time, Amar Singh Chamkila, ‘That Girl in College’ emerged from this crass commercialization of music. His songs Due to the orthodox notions of women as the family were lewd, abusive of women, and provoked sexual violence. honour, many Jat women were confined to their homes. But Some of his songs like ate wangu gun tee begane putt ne the expansion of educational institutions in Punjab expanded (somebody‟s son kneaded you like dough) bach k raha kar tu their social space. This celebration of collage and hostel life nakhro koi hath pher ju tere te ( beware you girl somebody will was a major theme of Punjabi songs during 2005-2010.But the harass you ) mae sikhar dupehre nahundi c o chorri chorri colleges and universities are portrayed as addas of aashiqui. takda c (I was taking bath in the peak of afternoon he (brother The songs revolved around girls, friends, romantic liaisons, –in –law) was secretly watching me) bhen saalye teri ne hun relationships, and breakups, nostalgia for collage life, and the kandam hogi (sister-in- law your sister has become useless) wants and needs of collage going youngsters. Some songs objectified her body parts and showed women as replaceable typical of this genre are: Collegean chh hoyian chuttiyan kere sex objects. His songs were so vulgar that women were not mae bhane ava (colleges are closed my lover and I don‟t have allowed to attend his akharas. During the 1970s, Chamkila was any other reason to come out from home), college de topper receiving far more bookings than his contemporaries such as kra tee fail ve sara sal class koi loon na ditti (college topper Kuldip Manak, Gurdas Maan and Surinder Shinda who sang failed as you didn‟t allow me to attend even a single class), more traditional kind of music (Gulzar Singh Shaunki,2004). colleage diyan yaadan bda satondia ne (I miss memories of college a lot). It was against this backdrop that Sant Jarnail Singh Bindrawala launched an ideological crusade against the Songs released during 2010-2015 shifted focus from cultural corruption of Punjab. The most ardent followers of college to university life particularly at Panjab University, Bhindranwale were children and women; because both were Chandigarh. Liberated from the boundaries of home, women in relatively free of the new culture of degenerate consumption these songs are shown enjoying freedom. She chooses her and worst hit by violence it generated (Vandana Shiva, 1991). partners and dates lovers. But she is also portrayed as rather Things seemed to have changed for the better when the flippant and non-serious about her studies: Kehti hae student militant "social reform campaign" forced many singers to switch but I doubt (she claims that she is a student but I doubt), bebo over to religious songs (Ramesh Vinayak 1993). But the deyan gallan pink pink kalli bathi krdi c drink (the girl with pink change was to be short-lived, as vulgarity in popular Punjabi cheeks was drinking alone(in club), pehla Ta Kudi Ne music was to return with new force after the decline of Ludhiana Vi Ni Tappeya Si.. kudi Saturday Saturday kar de militancy. rendi ae, (the girl hadn‟t even gone beyond Ludhiana earlier… keeps on saying Saturday Saturday (so that she can party), 9. Gender in the popular music of post-green revolution nakro uni de vich pardi ithe moj mastya krdi sute te suta laundi period: major themes aa ( girl studies in the university, is a chain smoker and has lots of fun). It is quite evident that the religious norms and moral codes of traditional Punjabi society started losing their sanction. The These girls are roundly and squarely mocked for dressing Sakhi Rahit placed in the early eighteenth century exhorts that up in western outfits, visiting clubs, drinking and smoking. Such a Sikh should consider a women older than his age as a songs reveal how the young Punjabi male feels at once mother and a women of his age as sister. A Sikh should not

RRIJM 2015, All Rights Reserved 1034 | Page Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary infatuated and insecure vis-à-vis these girls: tere pichhe Most of the songs in this category insist that a woman has college chh lya dakla (girl I took admission in college only immense desires for luxury but needs a man to fulfill those because of you). He has to pick up fights on her behalf: college desires as she is herself incapable of meeting her expenses. ch kundiyan de sing fas gye ni tu pava te pittne (boys are fighting in college because of you). He also blames her for his Some examples of such songs are the following: iss gal di failures in studies munda ataki v BA vicho fail ho gya (the boy zidd sari vech te zameen… Jat Jattan de munde da ohh has again failed in his graduation). jagake tur gye ( she accused me of not being a Jat as I was not spending on her so the Jat within me woke up and I sold Her expensive demands and conditional love my entire farmland for her), niyai walev Jat ne chak te 8 kille c ( Many songs criticize girls for enjoying a lavish and Jat belonging to Niyai (village) sold his 8 acres for you), rehndi expensive lifestyle at the expense of their boyfriends, khundi peali vikati ki kehne kudiye tere ( I sold my whatever my especially Jats, who are made to spend huge amounts to cater left farmland for you), nakhre vikhaundi c . . . kharche karaundi to their demands. Her love is reduced to her yearning for his c ( she used to through tantrums and make me spend a lot), materialistic possessions. In every such song, girls are after Oh apple da phone shevi generation Tenu pehliya ch ley k dita only the car and cash of the boys: pehla mang payi tu gaddi di, yaar ne Hor kine nikke mote kharche ginava Haje oh v paye chhoti bhi nahi baddi di, rehndi khundi pailli vikaati . . tu ta lista bahar ne Oh sach aakhde siyane runna sohniya de rukh cotton county paundi c ni ohne gant laita and tu kitthe PG vich chatte hon na har (I got you sixth generation iphone as soon as sardi c ohne flat laita (first you demanded a car not a small but it came out .. how many other small expenses should I bring up a bigger one... I sold my whatever little farmland I had for you... that are not even in any list.. it is true that when beautiful girls you used to wear cotton county but he upgraded you to Gant, lick tress they ever go green again), girlfried matho bhal de earlier you stayed in a small PG but he got a new flat for you), brand…(my girlfriend seeks brands from me). tere sare sounk puga du ga ( I will fulfill all your dreams), ohda kharchili da c khracha lakkan da kudi lut put k lae ge sada kam Breasts, butts, and legs trucka da ( spendthrift used to spends in lakhs and robbed my Cultural degeneration spurred by market economy and whole business of trucks), jeba ho geya khali utto chuk lya consumerismled to the creation of Punjabi songs which karja sari he zamin gene paa te tere ishq da assa mul taran reduced women to commodities. Women were viewed as sex lagga ne jatt zindgai v dao utthe laa te ( my pockets have objects and sex itself was seen as a conquest. Women were become empty, I have become indebted, I have pawned my nothing more than objects to be won, prizes to be shown off, land and put my life at stake for your love), yarri Chandigarh and playthings to be abused. Instead of portraying her as a waliye ne teri krage hath yaar de khade (the friendship of person with her own views, feelings and needs, she became Chandigarh based girl spoiled me), pyarr da bukhar tenu unna the assemblage of body parts, mainly breasts, butts, and legs. chir chadya jinna chie Jat de jeb strong c ( you were crazy in These songs describe women as purjaya ve (o spare part) love till the time Jat‟s pocket was strong,) kudi kendi phla whiskey botal wargi (like bottle of wiskey), bomb figure, band jaguar lae deyo phir jinna marji pyar lae lao.. una chir mae v bottle (shut bottle), paoua jide kadh waliye ( you are as small haan nhi karni jinna chir tusi dollaran di chan ne karni ( the girl as quarter of bottle), wiskey de bottle wargi (you are like a says get me Jaguar car first after that you can do as much bottle of wiskey). romance as you want… I won‟t say yes till you don‟t spend money on me). The praise of female beauty is not new in Punjabi songs. But the representation of women in old folk Punjabi songs was The Cause of His Economic Ruination deeply immersed in the rural, peasant psyche and agrarian Having exhausted its potential, the Green Revolution no aesthetics. She was described as Saru de kad wargi, and her longer provides constantly increasing agricultural incomes lak garve warga. These folk songs were more about praising which peasantry had got used to. There is in fact decline in real her beauty rather than objectifying her, and chose cultural incomes, and unsustainability of agriculture leading to symbols to define her beauty. Secondly, folk songs covered unemployment as well as distress sales of land. The downward almost all aspects of women‟s life. Their emotions and feeling turn has created social anomie, escapist dependence on were very beautifully mirrored in the themes of folk songs. The drugs, and resort to senseless violence. The frustration often Punjabi lok-geet usually depicted patterns of everyday life. manifests as a false machismo, which trivializes problems by They represented the social and psychological ethos of that putting the blame on the only easily available victim: women. society. For example, giddha and boliyan depicted various Women are blamed for economic ruination of their men. In social concerns of women and expressed their desires. many songs, man makes the allegation that he sold his property to meet the expenses of his girlfriend. The lyrics give Songs which came out in recent years do not have any the impression that if they have luxury cars and branded such cultural context. They in fact are far removed from the cloths, they can impress and seduce any number of girls. In reality of Punjabi society. They ape music and dance styles documentary Mardistan (Macholand): reflections on Indian popular in the West. In the videos, the woman wears scanty manhooda young male student of Panjab University confessed clothes which reveal more than cover her body. There are no that only after listening to rappers like Honey Singh did he expressions on her face. She gyrates like a doll. realize what girls of today really wanted. As mentioned earlier, Amar Singh Chamkila started the trend of vulgar and double-meaning songs in the 1980s. He sang songs of graphic description of female body, extra-marital

RRIJM 2015, All Rights Reserved 1035 | Page Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary affairs, drinking, drug use, pre-marital sex, inter caste and I end up saying bad things to you but I can‟t live a moment inter-clan relationships. After his killing, no Punjabi singer sang without you... ohh my Jati I wish that you get the remaining vulgar song for around a decade. But with the decline of years of my life ). A „bad woman‟ is a sexualized animal, a militancy in the state, the same kind of music has staged a seductress, a „whore‟. She is to be desired, used, and comeback. Singers like Honey Singh use words like whore and dispensed with. She deserves despise rather than respect. bitch for women (I.P. Singh & Rohan Dua, 2013). Another song purchase ve kariye je vike taan sahi… chakko chakko kush The binary between the „chaste white‟ and „wicked black‟ fresh nhi milna by Money Aujala (I will purchase you if you sell is so absolute that there is no room for any shade of grey. It is yourself to me.. pick any of them as no girl is a virgin), clear that the young Punjabi male would want to marry an describes women as second hand stuff: kudiyan te bussan innocent and chaste girl and expect her to fit perfectly into his yarro aaundia hi rehniyan ( girls and busses will keep coming) patriarchal household: vivah ude nal kravage jeri bebe nu portrayed women as objects of enjoyment. pasand hovege (I will marry the girl which my mother likes). In the song bebe de pasand (my mother‟s choice),a boy is listing Another stage was reached when women began to be all the rules which she would have to follow after marriage. She compared not to liquor but drugs. A number of songs compare would attend to household chores, take care of children and in- her with white drug chitta, smack, opium, etc: chitiye ne chette laws, and live her life in accordance with her husband wishes. wargi madi nikli (girl you are as bad as cocaine). While they are unfit to be married, seductresses are okay Fear of Her Promiscuity as mistresses. It is natural for men to desire them. For Many songs express the anger of men at women who instance, in the song brown rang a man is propositioning a girl, exercise sexual freedom and enter into multiple relations. The asking her to ban mitran de whore I mean mittran di ho... Urre songs would call her a selfish bitch or a whore: Jinney gal de aa tenu ek gal samjaava maade purze nu kadi hath nai na ganni de tere manke ne une tere yaar vairne ( girl you have as paava aa (o girl become my whore I mean become mine... and many boyfriends as pearls in your necklace). The man let me make one thing clear to you I never lay my hands on threatens to wreak revenge on her lovers: Tere samne thok k week spare parts). It is a throwback to the culture where it was jana ne jehra tere vich bolda (I will shoot your lover in front of a matter of pride and status for a man of upper caste to you), Varkya vangu paaddu mai ashiq tere ( I will tear your maintain two houses, one for his legitimate wife and the other lovers just like pages of book). He curses her and wishes her for his mistress. the worst fate: kire pan ge mare ge sap ladke sanu dhoka den waiye2 (you will be bitten by snakes and insects because you Perils of Crossing ‘Lakshman Rekha’ cheated on me), o dil todan waliye tenu jail ho jave.. ne tu aaun Even while girls are allowed to attend college, education is wale papers choo fail ho jave ( my heartbreaker, I wish that not meant to prepare them for career and economic you are imprisoned and fail in your exams ). independence. Rather, an educated bride attracts a better groom. The idea of female domesticity is strictly maintained in These lyrics obviously reflect male frustration at being Jat families. While receiving higher education, girls are asked unable to dominate control, and conquer women. It is most also to learn cooking, stitching and so forth to fulfill their telling to contrast the above mentioned attitude towards principal responsibilities at home. women with his celebration of his own promiscuity. A good example of this is Honey Singh‟s song: na aisa na tu soch re She is exhorted to stay within the confines of patriarchy chori everyday meri new love story (don‟t underrate me, I have and domesticity, obeying the diktats of father, husband and a new love story every day). This is typical patriarchal mother-in-law: tod du ga lattan peke jaa k vekh lye (if you go to mindset, which expects several virtues in a woman but your mother‟s house I will break your legs), meri bebe nal exempts himself of those. The first among these virtues is karye kam gharda (after marriage you have to do the chastity. A woman should think of no man in sexual terms household chores with my mother), jeri gal manu na pasand before marriage and, after marriage, no man other than her baliye raha kar ute rajamand ( the thing which I don't like you husband. remain in favour of that).

Madonnas and Whores Similar conditions are defined in lyrics dhoyege tu kache Nothing illustrates better the male confusion and duplicity orr gande bartan.. dekhegi bas saas bahu aur durdarshan..ban in gender relations than the binary distinction between „good ke reh jayegi tu house biwi ( you will wash underwear‟s and women‟ and „bad women‟. A good woman is innocent like a used utensils and you will spend rest of your life only child and pure like Madonna. She is a good wife, but even watching TV), sadi pag deya puniya kraya krege ( (girl don‟t more, an ideal mother. Unsullied by any sexual desires of her show me any attitude) you will help me wear my turban after own, she embodies social virtues in which chastity and „purity‟ our marriage). are greatly valued. Such a woman deserves to be praised, respected and worshipped: sidi saddi jatti sadi paryea toe soni There are a large number of songs which underline the ( my simple innocent Jati is more beautiful than angles), gusse peril of girls taking education seriously as a stepping stone to vich tenu uccha neeva bol pende aa par tere bina ik bing v na gaining independence: ghar patya jauga beh ja chup krke (stay rehnde aa ..merie sardarnie tenu umar meri lag jave ( in anger peacefully or our family will be spoilt). In a very popular song sarpanchi the woman wins the village panchayat elections and asserts her claim to be the sarpanch of the village. But the

RRIJM 2015, All Rights Reserved 1036 | Page Volume-04, Issue-03,March-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary male members of community insist that she will not able to latthan toe dardi aa) (I am sacred of removing my dupatta handle the village functions as she is a woman and a widow: from mu head as it is not good for your honour). pind da sare kam kaj thane ate kachari ne bhi hunda gal hor honi c tu ae ikali kahri ne (the whole village work and visiting One obvious explanation for this anomaly is that there is court and police station is not your cup of tea as you are a not even a single female lyricist in industry. Thus female widow). This shows the separation between the “public singers are singing songs written by male lyricists. Further, not domain” where men predominate and the “private domain” only lyricists but video directors and music composers are also where women function. male:

Vulnerable She and Her Macho Protector Sex role socialization and music Male dominance is very prominent in Punjabi songs. Men Persons are born male or female but they become perceive women to be weak, helpless and in need of constant masculine and famine according to the norms of their particular protection. Songs like munda shonki gym da (the boy is fond of society. Gender roles are primarily socially, not biologically, gym), asla (weapons), same size aa ne patlo tere lak te Jatde determined. (Scanzoni & Scanzoni,1996). dole da (o slim girl your waist and my bicep size is same) depict men as strong and muscular while girls are shown as It is disconcerting but not surprising that the singers who weak. Songs like same size ae tere lak te jatt de doleda and sing these misogynistic songs have huge fan following among kurian te kuriyan ne kudiyan da ke ae (girls are just girls.. what girls. The explanation clearly lies in their socialization because of girls), dheeya depicting girls as naïve, weak and possessive. of which they internalize male view of women. They are in fact submissive to men and seek protection. Many of these songs also show how their protective instinct can lead men to violence among themselves over These songs do not sing of real women, let alone real women: feelings of real women. Rural women of Dalit or marginal rakhi roop lye kam auaga athre subah da jatt ne (I‟ll come peasant background are completely absent in these songs. in handy to protect your beauty as I‟m quick tempered Jat), Rather, a large majority of these songs revolves around the sare kam jayaz ik asla najaiz tere karke rakne painda rakhn imaginary life of high profile urban girls artificially labeled as (my all woks are legal but still I just need to carry illegal Jattis. weapon because of you), aa khada tera thar wala yaar ne rakhu tang krakane jehre khang de(here is standing your Objectification of women in popular media affects young boyfriend with Thar and I will kill all who so ever tease you). girls so much that they become obsessed with their physical appearance, body shape and fashion. They are body-shamed Jat hitler ban gya teri rakhi karda (Jat has become cruel if they are not fair and slim. Her body is valued over her talent. like Hitler while protecting you), Jat vehla fir da c bodyguard This was something evident in folk songs too patli da te vivah ban gya tera (till now Jat was an idler now he has become ho gya bhari rah gye kuwri, ajj yaar nu Milan toe rokia mukke bodyguard). hoye powder ne (today preventing me from meeting by beloved was, my empty box of powder). Young girls of this Female Singers Parroting Gender stereotypes generation are convinced that they look unattractive without A notable feature of the current Punjabi popular music is makeup. that there are several female singers but there is very little representation of women‟s perspective on gender relations. Let New standards of beauty have emerged. That is the alone raising a voice of dissent or protest, female singers seem reason that beauty business (beauty parlors and slimming to be uncritically endorsing male-centric and misogynistic view centers) is blooming in the Punjab. In a small village where I of gender relations. For example, the famous Punjabi singer have done the survey I noted that the village had around 8 Miss Pooja calls herself dumb in her super hit song kenda jinna beauty parlors. ke dimag tera patt honeye unna ke jatt da kharab renda ae ( the deranged section of Jat‟s brain is equal to your whole Eroding identities and its cultural expression brain) The dreams that young Punjabi woman expresses in The Green Revolution which ushered in rural prosperity in these songs is to become a slave in the patriarchical Punjab has all but faded. The state is neither a land of household: Mae chondi aa tere ghar aa k pakava mae roti ve (I prosperity nor peace; it is a region riddled with discontent and wish after marriage I could cook food in your house), Kdo violence (Shiva: 1991). While real incomes have fallen, there banu ge mae teri pakki gulam ve (when will I become your has been no respite from inflated aspirations and ostentatious permanent slave), jinnu vajde salute paa k tura nal suit hove expenditure. Large sections of peasantry are under mounting kurte pajama wala jatt ne (a Jat who wears kurta pyajama, is debt. saluted by all- I will walk with him wearing a Punjabi suit, Mae akkhan save hovan ja na sir toe chunni ne leni chidi (you Agriculture in the state had long ceased to be a way of life. should not remove dupatta from your head even in my It had become a purely commercial activity. It is no longer a absence), ho mardi aa tere ae veiley attitude de.. hove tere viable occupation. The youth of the region are leaving naa da chura te pyar sada gura tenu hatthan nal khava tatte agriculture yet they do not have any alternative profession. fluke ( boy I like yours thug attitude… I want to my wear Nearly 48.6 per cent farmers who committed suicide in Punjab bangles in your name and I will cook warm food for you with in recent years were below 35 years of age (Vikas Vasudevan, my own hands), teri muuchh nivi na hoje mae sir toe chunni

2016). This reflects that mainly the young and middle age farmers have faced the burden of agrarian distress. In the pre-capitalist peasant society, women played a significant, even if secondary and subordinate, social and For some years now, sociologists have been raising economic role. They were also culturally assigned to act as the alarms about the sharp social decline in Punjab. It is very repository of patriarchal values in the name of family and relevant to recall Frankel‟s argument here that „the large scale kinship honour. As long as they conformed to the broad experiment of Green Revolution has not only pushed nature to outlines of the role assigned to them, they enjoyed a certain the verge of ecological breakdown, but also pushed the society degree of autonomy and authority as mothers and mother-in- to the verge of social breakdown (Frankel, Francine R. 1971). laws, and enjoyed a certain degree of paternal and fraternal The state witnessed disappearance of traditional frames of affection and regard. There is a little doubt that Punjabi women references which helped people define themselves and their had internalized these male expectations and largely lived by place in society, and feel secure in their personal and collective them. The traditional folk songs of Punjab highlighted and identities. eulogized that role.

It is in these conditions of social anomie that current The gender thematics of popular Punjabi music changed Punjabi music industry is exercising a powerful influence. with the commercialization of agrarian relations, rising Young boys lack clarity and vision, nor do they have any sense consumerism, and atomization of society. Removed from the of secure future. In this situation they are trying to escape the real work a day world, women became socially invisible, and harsh reality by living in an alluring but illusionary world of became the objects of fantasy, fetish and abject desire. seductive women who become the object for their sexual pleasure as well as their miseries and failures. The agrarian crisis of post-Green Revolution Punjab has created a crisis-ridden male psyche. Falling incomes, debts, 10. Conclusion unsustainability of agriculture as profitable occupation, and the There is little doubt that despite the exhortations of Sikh lack of any alternative avenue have created not merely anomie Gurus for gender equality, Punjabi society always remained but also a hurt ego, bent on drug-induced violence. Women are male-centric. What changed over the decades was the manner now not only fetishized objects of desire but also despicable in which the place and role of women were visualized within creatures responsible for destabilizing and destroying the that male-centric world. secure male-centric world of yore.

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