To 10 years and more

American author Mary Angelou has probably had one of the best perspectives on gender equality. She said, “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” In reality, gender inequality is a result of too many factors; patriarchal mindset, female infanticide, man-hating to pay gaps...the list is endless. 
Let’s just say women and men are seen in a different light altogether. While a woman is considered to be ‘the fairer sex’ who is the homemaker, a man is deemed the breadwinner who should not be emotional. Population First, a body that started off to address the sex ratio in the city, found that the A-ward (the VIP ward in the city) had the lowest sex ratio compared to any other ward in Mumbai. The myth that education has anything to do with women equality and empowerment was thus busted; and Population First decided to launch a girl child campaign in 2005, in order to take up the cause of gender sensitisation. This is how Laadli was born.

A decade and counting
This Tuesday, Laadli celebrated ten successful years at the Tao Art Gallery, Worli. The organisation’s core team recognised the works of those who are closely associated with it. The do witnessed supporters and well-wishers of Laadli, and had guests across sectors such as theatre and arts, music, advertising and media among others. The event commenced with words by Mr. S.V. Sista, Executive Trustee, Population First and Dr. A.L. Sharada, Programme Director, Population First followed by a screening of a short film, which highlighted the journey of Laadli. Celebrations continued with a felicitation of ten patrons who have been part of the campaign from its inception. This included Manjul Bhardwaj, screenwriter Anjum Rajabali, Vibhuti Patel, Tina Mehta, Campaign Magazine’s Gokul Krishnamurthy, Ramesh Narayan, K.V. Shridhar, singer Suneeta Rao and Deputy Representative of United Nations Population Fund’s Toshihiro Tanaka. 
At this occasion, we interviewed Dr. A.L. Sharada on the journey of Laadli, its achievements and why feminism is often confused with ‘anti-men’. Excerpts...

dna: Talk to us about the evolution of Laadli.
Dr. Sharada: Laadli started as a campaign on gender-biased sex selection at birth. However, we soon realised that it is not the backwardness in education or economic well-being, which is responsible for the bias but the prevailing patriarchal mindsets that undervalues women, promotes inequality and justifies violence against them. This helped us focus our campaign more sharply on addressing gender inequalities and biases in society. The best way to do this, we realised, was through influencing the major influencers—media, advertising, films and youth. If they promote a positive image of women and address gender issues with sensitivity, we would see a change in the way India perceives and treats its women.

dna: Women empowerment and equality is generally portrayed through anti-men campaigns. What do have to say about the same? What according to you is equality of gender?
Dr. Sharada: It is sad that people think feminism, gender sensitivity is equal to anti-men campaigns. They are not. Gender stereotypes impact men as much as women. They also make or do not make choices as per the definitions of masculinity in society, which are restrictive and do not allow them to develop as complete individuals. A man who wants to be a house husband is bound to face more ridicule than a woman who wants to work outside. ‘Boys don’t cry’ and 'mard ko dard nahi hota' are some such notions that restrict the emotional expression of men. However, in the case of women, the stereotyping leads to considerable restrictions on their movements, access to spaces, sexual and reproductive choices as well as their participation in economic activities. All these marginalise them in society and there is a need to draw attention to this aspect of gender inequality, and help build a more inclusive society.

dna: What is Laadli’s approach?
Dr. Sharada: Laadli is a positive campaign. We believe that there are many people who are concerned and who are making a change in their own way in media and advertising. They just need a platform, an opportunity to showcase or articulate their ideas. Laadli has been using theatre techniques and other innovative training methods for the same. Laadli provides these through its media awards, gender sensitisation workshops, fellowships, consultations and more. It draws the opinion makers and thought leaders into the campaign.

dna: Ten years of Laadli calls for nothing less than a celebration. Tell us what are the major achievements of Laadli in these years.
Dr. Sharda: The greatest satisfaction is that whoever has come in touch with Laadli has had a transformational experience, as they are challenged to think beyond stereotypes. When people say that they are not able to watch films and TV without being conscious about gender stereotypes, I feel very happy. This is the first step towards gender sensitivity.
Over the years there is a noticeable change in the quality of reporting as well as the portrayal of men and women in films and advertising. It is also a fact that the public is more receptive of them. The change is coming from within the profession, and that makes it sustainable. The fact that we have so many leaders from the media, advertising and films supporting us, shows that we have been able to reach out to the major influencers.

dna: What are the important activities Laadli has devised for the upcoming months/year?
Dr. Sharda: Keeping up the spirit of Laadli, we would like to take up more activities though various organisations and networks. Development and promotion of gender style guides for media and advertising, gender scoring of media organisations, capacity building of various media persons, media monitoring and research on gender sensitivity in the media are some such initiatives which we are already working on.