Chronic. For seven years, economist Shrayana Bhattacharya crisscrossed India’s poor neighborhoods to interview women about their work. A difficult mission, as the interviewees are reluctant to talk about this subject which seems to them to be of no interest. Rather than asking them about their salaries, working conditions or aspirations, the economist chose to engage the conversation on Shah Rukh Khan, a revered movie star in the subcontinent. Tongues loosened. Speaking of their admiration for him, they evoked, in the background, their desires, their frustrations, the problems they face in their work. “By telling me when, how and why they turn to Shah Rukh, they tell us about when, how and why the world breaks their hearts”, writes the economist in his book Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh (HarperCollins, 2021, untranslated).
The testimonies gathered make it possible to better understand, other than through statistics, the growing marginalization of the female labor force in the country’s economy. India is the only country in the world where development has been accompanied by a fall in the participation of women in the labor force, to a level which is one of the lowest on the planet, close to that of India. Iran or Egypt. In 2019, they represented only 20% of the working population. The situation has worsened since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic since it is, in the vast majority, women who have lost their jobs. Their place in the labor market depends on their status in society. “My family thinks that the only job that can suit a woman is to have a successful marriage,” testifies Gold, a young air hostess originally from Jaisalmer, on the borders of Rajasthan, whose education was considered by her father as a simple “leisure”, while waiting for her marriage.
“Escape from a confined life”
Watching the movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (The Indian Family, in French), in which Shah Rukh Khan plays, Gold discovers that“there is another world than Jaisalmer, and where decent men live”. The film takes viewers to London, where Indian women like her can work, open shops. Although distant, this world is ultimately not as hostile as his family portrays him, locking him in a marriage or a home for his « protection ». Gold then chooses to emancipate herself, at her own risk and peril, because to distance herself from her husband or her family is to take the risk of becoming an outcast. “If you treat work as a vocation and not just a detour on the road to marriage, you must continually provide evidence that you are a so-called ‘honorable’ woman,” adds the economist. She explains that most women therefore stay at home, doing domestic chores, unpaid work that is not recognized as such: “Music and movies are a way to escape a confined life, where going to the doctor, even after your husband beats you, requires his permission. »
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