Is this fair?
Tania Hossain Firoz Dhanmondi, Dhaka
I am writing about the TV advertisement of a cardiac hospital, which has become very popular recently. Although the advertisement has received a lot of praise, I think its concluding line is grossly unfair towards women. Praising the doctors of our country and their efforts, a patient who underwent surgery at the hospital tells his son, "Amar desher shonar chhelera achhe na?"My question is, are only the "chelera" (sons) of our country worth praising? In Bangladesh, women have been very successful in the field of medicine (not to speak of other areas where they are equally successful). There are female cardiologists working at the same cardiac centre that claims to owe its success to the "shonar chhelera". I think that the term used should be "shonar shontan", praising the children of our county, rather than the sons only. It is high time that the unfair custom of considering men to be superior and hence responsible for the country's success, and considering women to be mainly responsible for household chores, came to an end. It is unfortunate that the advertisement of a reputed, modern institution should portray so primitive and discriminatory a concept. I have heard others arguing that the dialogue in the advertisement was not targeted against women. However, it still does display an unfair perception, which we all should try to brand as obsolete. The popularity of this advertisement may turn out to be a means to promote discrimination against women, whether or not that was intended by the company. The media can, and should play a major role in raising awareness against this custom.
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