The problem faced by single women when she steps out of the house is best captured by Mrinal Sen in his film, Ek Din Pratidin, (And quiet rolls the day) principally revolving round two daughters -- Chinu, Minu -- and their mother.
A middle class young woman dares to work outside the house after much assurances are sought from her about maintaining propriety and not bringing a bad name to the family. One day she does not return on the appointed hour and that unleashes all the embedded fears, apprehensions and misgivings.
The tongues start wagging. The entire film is based on the reaction of the other characters on the young woman not returning home at the appointed time.
The film, usually, can be pegged on the issue or the trend that is topical but for a great film maker like Mrinal Sen it is symbolic of the dilemma that one gender faces, usually seen as weak and dependent on the male in a society that has strictly assigned gender roles to each of the sexes.
If the man is the breadwinner and women is the homemaker incharge of bringing forth the next generation, this equation can be disturbed by the changing economic patterns and social relationships that, in turn, result in the clash of values; those age-old and much-venerated ones and those forced upon by a change in circumstances.
It is often with great reluctance that men in the family allow their women to work for a living because earning of any kind by women is considered to be tainted and of dubious nature. The economic pressures force a crack in the patriarchal fortress. It is gradually accepted but with loads of apologetic mediations.
It is much later that the families start to take pride in the achievements of their women, other than running the house efficiently, bringing up the children properly, and of maintaining good relationships with the husband’s family. Even if the women are successful, they are judged and harshly on the role played within the family as mother, wife, daughter-in-law, etc, etc.
So, when a young woman goes out to work it is a step forward into unchartered waters and threatening everyone else maintaining traditional attitudes. The various characters do not know how to cope with this change and to come to terms with the changing reality. But since all are involved, most want the rebellious act to end in tragic circumstances so that no one dares to take the unbeaten path again.
The most vulnerable point in the defenses of the male is his ‘honour’ or the ‘family’s honour’ and it is placed against the backdrop of the general lines that have been drawn to sift good from evil, chaste from fornication and vice from virtue.
The concerns reflect it all. Some are concerned about the safety of the women in bodily terms when stepping out of the house but others are more concerned about the ‘honour’ of the women being violated forcibly. The larger chunks of the characters are suspicious about the role of the women herself in all this for there is a lurking suspicion of the women being a willful partner in this transgression.
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And if she is a willing partner in all this transgression then it is the consequence of her being allowed to step out of the house and take baby steps towards her independence in society.
As the ethos of the entire film is built around sex, sexual violence, and sexual freedom it becomes the focal point of the emotional matrix that generates incendiary tension. Man is being consumed by the primordial fire of jealousy.