Written By: Vinosha Thiyagarajan
In light of the discussion on the CTYA FB Page regarding HipHop Thamizha Adhi’s “Club le Mabbu le” song, I looked into how the portrayal and roles of females in Tamil music has affected our society.
If we look at popular heartbreak songs, there’s “Venaam machaan venaam”, “Yamma yamma”, “Pombalainga kathal”, and “Athu oru kalam” to name a few. How many heartbreak songs sung with a female perspective can you name? Compare that to how many are based on a male’s perspective.
On the other hand, if we examine Western music, there’s Justin Timberlake’s “Cry me a River”, Kelly Clarkson’s “Since you been gone”, Adele’s “Someone like you”, Maroon 5’s “Better that we break”, Taylor Swift’s “We are never ever getting back together”, Cee Lo Green’s “Forget you”, and the list goes on.
There is a mix of female and male perspectives which are widely accepted and popular in Western music. It’s unlikely for such a mix to exist within Tamil music if you look at the way Tamil music is originated.
Most Tamil songs are produced for movie purposes. Movies themselves have become predominantly centred around a male hero. Thus, the hero committing any wrongdoing against a female is uncommon which allows for songs such as “Kaathal en kaathal” that encourages violence against women, to be popular. This kind of male dominancy in Tamil music on this topic influences the way our society sees a breakup from a male or female perspective.
Songs that display drinking, smoking, or clubbing mostly involve males and the involvement of a female in movies comes in the form of what is called an “item number”, a highly sexualized song that shows women in a provocative manner. These songs display the same male hero that movies are centred around. What kind of message does this send?
From all I’ve seen in the Tamil community, it appears the acceptance levels of males drinking, smoking, clubbing is critically higher than females who do the same. Females are termed with derogatory terms. Tamil music has influenced the way such topics are seen in our community.
Personally, I think the song “Club le Mabbu le” is a catchy tune with humorous word play. Adhi has found a niche in the music market that has made the song popular. When taken literally though, it hides beneath it a dirty secret. The way society expects women to be. The way we have stereotyped what a “good” girl has to be like.
Bottom line is that Tamil society doesn’t approve of females drinking, smoking, or clubbing.
If we, as the youth in Canada, are indeed becoming westernized, why not become westernized on an equal platform where females and males who do the same things be accepted or rejected the same by society?
What do you think?
Check the video for ‘Club Le Mabbu Le’ here:
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Tags: Speak Out
