One fine morning a few days ago unable to concentrate on my work, I sat watching two adorable twin Asian babies dance to Gangnam style. Brimming with warm fuzzies, my eyes darted all over the YouTube webpage seeking out more cute fodder. Oddly, they landed on “Roadies X | Hyderabad Audition | Episode 3”. “This show still runs?” , I wondered. Little did I know that 14 minutes later I would be aghast. I had just chanced upon one of the most callous and bigoted treatments of gender and sexuality in Indian Television in recent times.
In Episode 3 of MTV Roadies, the Hyderabad Auditions, we are first introduced to Sherry from Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. After VJ Bani gushes over “Ujaaaaaaaain” we discover that Sherry wants to be a Roadie to receive acceptance and respect – owning to an alternate sexuality. At this point we are quickly launched into the audition room where Raghu and Rannvijay hold court.
[Viewers outside India can follow this link to the above episode ]
Right off the bat, the stage is set when Sherry promptly requests the judges to censor something – Sherry’s original name – Abhishek Soni. Naturally, the judges don’t oblige. Instead, rattling off Sherry’s audition form, the audience is made aware that Sherry is a pre-op male to female transsexual. What follows is a brutal cross examination and dismissal of Sherry’s rationale for her gender and sexuality on national television. Why ? Because two dudes overseeing a motley crew biking all across the country in the name of entertainment want to know how Sherry reacts under “pressure”. Well, they also want TRP ratings of course.
There were some real gems in this televised travesty of not just trans folk but every alternate gender and sexuality. Here is one! After having just heard that Sherry was raped at the age of 8 by two boys, Rannvijay in all earnestness asks her if there was any turning point in her life where she decided she was just going to be herself, come what may. Sherry confesses that in 2008, she fell in love with a woman she met through the Roadies website. Ah hah! I could almost see Raghu and Rannvijay’s faces simultaneously light up with delight. Now the “audition” could really begin! Raghu donning the robe of resident shrink proceeds to proclaim (under the guise of speculating) that maybe Sherry rejects men owing to past sexual abuse…Perhaps, just perhaps Sherry just did not want to become like her attackers?
Slick editing splices together the next idiocy. Raghu and Rannvijay discover that Sherry likes action movies! But hold on –at the same time, Sherry hasn’t seen Pretty Woman? My Best Friend’s Wedding? While educating us about Chick Flicks and having garnered enough evidence against Sherry, Rannvijay ordains, “Maybe you are a boy, who is attracted towards girls.” It gets better. Why does Sherry wear boys’ clothes? Can we make Sherry take off her jacket? Why doesn’t Sherry wax her hands like all girls do ? Does Sherry have hair on her legs?
Dramatic background music leads into the following proclamation.
Raghu: “Shall I tell you something, Sherry… Abhishek… This is an act!”
Of course once the audition wraps up, Raghu and Rannvijay speak directly to the camera to state their disclaimer…err….I mean… confession. You see, they were just playing mean to see how Sherry reacts under “pressure”. All this while Sherry breaks down outside and refuses to speak to VJ Bani about how much fun she had.
Owing to the profusion of reality TV shows, the Indian audience probably tolerates a lot of hogwash that calls itself entertainment. And perhaps five years ago this MTV Roadies segment would not even blip on our radar, inured as all queer individuals are to insufferable injustice. But now? We as a country face a so called ‘cultural emergency’ where people are jailed, banned and chased out of the country owing to the wishes of a select few, easily offended, rabble-rousers. We, as a country, also face a ‘gender emergency’ where women are abused, raped and killed in horrifying numbers because of the rules, mindsets, intolerance and prejudices of men. A mere two weeks ago, a much lauded Justice Verma’s report put forth that “all sexual identities are entitled to protection”, that , that “India cannot deny the citizens the right to be different.”… that all “sexually despised minorities” must be protected.
Yet, MTV India and the producers of Roadies and Raghu and Rannvijay in their quest for ratings, eyeballs, advertising revenue, Roadies team members, whatever it may be, chose to commit a grave error. Through their playacting, they did not protect. Instead, they attacked a member of a ‘sexually despised minority’. They did not choose to use their influence over the many young things who watch the show to educate them about sexualities and gender identities. Instead, we now know how to identify a chick flick.
Dear Raghu and Rannvijay – This may have been your producer’s decision. This may have been Sherry’s decision even. But here are a few comments on the video of Sherry’s audition :
“i think aye banda ladkiyo ko burbak banake shoshan karta hai … harami hai saala”
“raghu n ranvijay u cought him yaar”
“yup he iz a boy and i think he has done this to get attention”
This is the entertainment and education you provide. Obviously the subtlety of your disclaimer is lost on many. Understandably, you guys cannot pay heed to all the comments that come your way. However, here is another comment you must read even if it is about you. Last one. I promise.
“these idiots cannot respect the sensitivity involved with people who assign unconventional gender identities to themselves. accusing a woman of being a man pretending to be a woman is, even for roadies, an exceedingly insulting thing to do.”
You guys always had a choice. You could have ignored Sherry’s alternate sexuality entirely. You could have shown Sherry an ounce of the sensitivity you showed Aniket, a later contestant whose only merit badge was that he had tried out for Roadies for 10 years. But no – Sherry had to be put under “pressure” for you to decide if she was worthy enough to be on your show. Sherry, who was raped as a child, who bravely lives as a cisgendered individual in India, who provides visibility by coming on TV (whatever may be her agenda but does so nevertheless). This Sherry is someone you got to decree as worthy or unworthy of a reality show. This Sherry, a woman, is someone whose jacket you asked to take off and hands and legs you asked to show on television. This Sherry is someone you accused of lying and acting if only to rattle her. This Sherry is someone whose personal journey and strength you made a mockery of with your words. All in the name of an audition. In the name of a reality TV show. In the name of entertainment.
If this is not an attack on a sexually despised minority, I ask you both – What Is ?
PS – Hyderabad just had its first Pride March ! Yay! Rather unfortunate that at the same time as such a momentous event, the uploaded video shows the city as venue to such absurdity by MTV Roadies, Raghu and Rannvijay.
Yen ra Raghu, Idhi Nyayama?
No matter what the intent, NOTHING gives them the right to bully or humiliate & that too in public. Their hearts maybe in the right place ( am told they were also kinda supportive of a gay individual in some episode sometime) but they certainly cant be allowed to be damaging in how they go about expressing it… In any case, if their intense ‘judging’ worked, they wouldnt have produced a bunch of very lost-souls in their shortlist as ‘roadies’ over the seasons! LOL
Many individuals who are gay-friendly could also be transphobic and very ignorant of trans issues.
I agree. Dan Savage is an excellent example of that. He LOVES gay marriage but seems to have an issue with “drag queens”. It’s very sad all around and puts me off of supporting his efforts or any involving him.
I agree with you Deepen, Their hearts may be in the right place and I am quite certain they actually are gay and trans friendly as individuals. However, it remains that through their playacting, in the name of a show – the crew of MTV roadies in this episode demonstrated a pretty rotten level of (ir)responsibility. They blatantly ignored the influence they yield on folks who watch that show today – Why ? For what joy ? Why pick on sexuality/gender as a “test” only for those who appear to widen the spectrum? At the very least, given the contextual circumstances i.e the country as it is today – common sense could have prevailed.
Its not only abt sexual minorities, these idiots do not know how to talk to anyone… plus they abuse contestants, get physical etc.. What exactly are they trying to prove?? and wat is their claim to fame? that they know bad words etc?
I dont know why any body watches this crap.. what have u got to prve expecially to dick heads like raghu and rannvijay.. who made them God to see how other others react ‘under pressure’?
Enuff said.. people shd stop watchin roadies… it may be fun watching others being humiliated but if u were in that boat, u’d know how much it hurts..
What a horror! No excuse for such phobic behavior. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, QC. Please tweet, write to GLAAD about this. MTV is an international media house, so I am sure GLAAD will act.
Thanks for your support on this, Shri. Indeed, a lot of folks ..gay or straight… are ignorant of trans issues. In some ways, I believe the same of myself. But as we wade through murky injustice pretty much together, there has never been a better opportunity to learn !
this is not the frst time that a trans gender has arrived on the auditions.never have any disrespect been shown.on top of that,raghu himself has treated over kindly and sensitively each candidate.even sherry was treated softly,unexpected on a roadies pi.what else guys.?the interviewers have a job in their hand,making a show.they have to test the mettle of each n every candidate.thats wat an aspirant wishes too.the boy should have told raghu n rann that they r gettin it wrong,and explained his side.raghu n rann made him feel comfy at the beginning,frndly chitchatting him ,as they understood the sensitivity of the candidate.wat else do u expect?
i dont expect u to understand my comment and the predicament of the interviewers.but i made a try.
Arka, I hear you – The Roadies crew had a job to do, Yes. They issued warnings to the contestant, Yes. However, I definitely do not believe that the MTV people were in a predicament of any sort – on the contrary, they had a choice on how to portray this particular contestant/audition ( as they do with everyone ) and went with a mind-bogglingly insensitive option – “Let’s bully the contestant over her sexuality and gender choices to test their mettle!”.
Importantly, as I told someone yesterday, Being kind and sensitive to queer folk of any combination of diversity is not an ONE OFF event. It is a mentality that must be replicated ..again and again and again. So no, no brownie points for their past kind treatment of queer contestants – if only because, it makes why this audition ever happened even harder to understand!
Spot on!
Well, to be fair, the second Aniket came into the audition he wasn’t going to get selected that much was obvious so it could be understood why pressure wasn’t put on him. As for bullying Sherry, I don’t think they bullied her any less than they bullied any other contestant! You can’t expect special treatment for having a different identity ! If you watched most of the episodes, there were other people who went through problems, and Raghu puts pressure on them as well! Also, I think its pretty evident that when you enter a show you cannot expect them to do what you want. Yes, they need TRP ratings and they will do things to get it, going on a show broadcasted on national television and then expecting it to be edited just the way you want it is like putting something on the internet and expecting it to be private. Also, Raghu’s psychology does make sense and he says maybe it’s an act. If it was he really believed it was an act he would have treated Sherry worse like he did with that idiot with the S3!
OMG! I have been obsessing on this all day. Long story short, it’s a huge travesty that these two have used their position as one of the most widely watched TV shows in India to promote homophobia. What’s even worse is that Raghu is apparently gay friendly, and should have had better sense than to do this.
*must not go on a rant*
*homophobia and gay used in the above statement are meant to include transgender individuals. This is a good example of when one should not angry type.
Indeed Sherlock, better sense should and could have reigned supreme! I guess if Raghu, who I understand is instrumental behind the creation and development of Roadies and is queer friendly – has a particular viewpoint on the events of this episode, we are only too happy to hear from him.
An honest question. Anyone who auditions on this show knows exactly what they are getting into. Every audition runs thru in the same way. I have stopped watching the auditions because of the way participants are humiliated – male and female. Should we be feeling worse for this person compared to others on the same show?
Akshara – I suppose the issue here goes a bit deeper than how one contestant is treated vs another. I do acknowledge that the contestant in this case probably knew exactly what she was getting herself into – However, the point I am making here is that gender and sexual diversity is something as much to be protected as say, caste or religious diversity. We don’t see them needling a contestant over those aspects , do we? Heck no – that would get them in hot water and there are probably broadcasting guidelines against such programming content. Similarly, how is it OK for them to needle a contestant over their sexual or gender choices? I assure you, if the MTV roadies crew had an audition that discriminated against any other established minority in this country – we would be feeling the same. not better or worse. just the same – outraged, insulted and very disappointed.
I just dont enjoy seeing anyone humiliated, period. But yes, you have a valid point that if it was done basis religion or caste, they would have the I&B ministry in a snit. Point taken and appreciated.
I agree dat it is not rite 2 bully.n raghu havng a horror childhood due 2 bullyng also agrees 2 dis statement.mayb dey wer tryng 2 find out whether sherry was enactng tryng 2 b sumthng she wasnt.(raghu n ranjvijay tryng 2 show d audience 2 nt try such stunts just in order 2 get in d show.mayb)
Vinitha – it is an interesting way of looking at it that you propose there! Yet, something tells me that is not that simple. I don’t imagine that was the takeaway most people had – “that one should not do stunts to get into roadies”… a simple text disclaimer before the start of the show would have sufficed for that.
what can be expected from these two a******* they just know how to bark and how people tolerate them:/
Hi there,
I love what gaysi family does for the queer community, so thank you for being vocal. I honestly believe change starts small and you guys have catapulted it.
Also I watched the episode and I read your post. Thrice.
Although i’m not an ardent fan of the show [i dont watch it unless someone links me to an episode online or whatever], I somehow disagree with the writer. I’m sure Sherry KNEW the consequences of auditioning for a show like this, and on a platform like Roadies, most contestants are thrashed irrespective of gender. And i use the term ‘thrashed’ here to mean vocal thrashing more than anything else. Threatening, bullying, etc is all part and parcel of any audition videos of Roadies you find out there. It is not new.
Through your post, it makes me feel like you want the public to be overtly sensitive to queer. I’d rather be treated equally than made to feel like i have a handicap, which obviously i don’t. It’s unfair that as part of the queer community, we need to use that card. “Just because I’m queer, you need to be overtly sensitive to my needs”. The fact that I’ve acknowledge my sexuality and choose to behave a certain way, it is because I am confident and I’m independent.
So i’m a little surprised as you why you would want Sherry to be treated any different just because she is pre-op or whatever. It shouldnt matter. Also rather than protect, i think part of the audition showed the public that irrespective of sexuality, Sherry reacted to the judges in the way ANYBODY would react. She didnt play the victim card here, neither should you, writer. I think we need to be more open and accepting and while Raghu and Ranvijay or the show should have made the disclaimer at the beginning of the audition, i think they chose to not give the contestant ‘special’ (as in VIP kind of special) treatment. Which is fair. And TRPs? What’s new? We know that the entertainment industry will do anything to meet that. Not JUST Mtv.
Watch other episodes of the show, they treat most contestants the same. And the comments you mentioned? They can be found there, too.
Yes, as a community you understand the problems of being transgender and the issues transexuals post-op and pre-op face. It is part of your daily nomenclature. It isnt part of the Roadies team. It also came across as genuine interest initially as they tried to understand Sherry’s pain. Their reactions to when Sherry brought up rape was not subtle. They felt that pain. They even told Sherry not to talk about it if it made her feel uncomfortable but SHE SAID SHE WANTED TO. So you cant hold that against them.
To me [and honestly, this is just my opinion] came out as a little unnecessary and over the top. A tiny bit attention seeking rather than awareness, which is what I assume your intention was. But i also understand how outrage and our need to be heard works. Know that, as a community, it’s a lot more accepted than it used to be and y’all our supported too.
Cheers,
Michelle.
Dear Michelle,
I think you have missed the entire point of this post. The problem is that she was not treated the same, she was wholly discriminated against.
1. No contestant is ever asked if they are male or female. Forget picking on them BECAUSE of their sex. If Sherry says she is a woman, then she is a woman. She doesn’t need to watch chick flicks to prove that she is a woman. And by that example, I am not a woman either.
2. She is picked on specifically because she is in transition and is there for forced to prove that she is either one of the two sexes.
3. Why couldn’t they have pulled the stupid tricks they pull on others. For example the game they play with the MMA guy, the one where they ask him if he can catch the note.
4. They disregard her past experience of abuse as a significant moment in her life. Apparently being rape and realizing you are trapped in the body of the wrong sex is not a life changing experience. WTF!
5. They are pointing out that she is transgender as if it’s news to this girl. They basically have behaved exactly like a chauvinist would. They uphold the values of exactly all those uneducated, homophobic, transphobic pigs. The question here is more about their manhood than Sherry’s womanhood. A real man would never pick on another person’s gender.
6. To repeat QC’s point from above: had there been laws, like there are in other countries against homophobia/transphobia, that punish people for open discrimination like this, they would not have had the guts to go on this rampage, for the fear of being sued. This obviously ties into a larger problem of equality in this country, and how laws need to be amended, and implemented, but doesn’t mean we should disregard this as an example. It’s only because gender is not a caste or religion that people get to abuse it and get away with it. We will not allow that to happen.
7. What I have said again and again, what is truly a shame is that the hosts claim to be LGBTQ friendly, which means they should have been ore careful with their portrayal. I believe that anyone who has the power to educate the public, and specially in India when MTV Roadies reaches to the smallest of towns, should do so. What they have basically said here is “I support the LGBTQ community and there for I am allowed to abuse them to their face.”
8. Last but not least, we at Gaysi have far more important things to do than seek attention. We get quite a bit of attention. In fact we have a line of people giving us attention standing right outside at this very moment. If you can go so far as to assume our intentions then let me go so far as to ASSUME your blindness to outright abuse towards our community. It’s not about what they did to her, but about how they have openly ridiculed the transgender community.
Thank you to QC. May continue to seek attention!
– SH
Like i said I disagree with you on this instance.
The contestant need not have boldy written all she did on the form if she didnt want them to talk about. More often than not, they use cues off the audition forms to pick on people.
I still think you’re completely missing the point. They moved on from her story of rape because she was clearly uncomfortable about it. I dont blame them for not knowing how to question a pre-op transgender individual but I do agree that if they didnt know how to approach it, they shouldnt have approached it at all.
And about my point on attention seeking, you may have read that wrong or i may have punctuated it incorrectly. By “A tiny bit attention seeking rather than awareness, which is what I assume your intention was” – I meant that the intention of your post was to raise awareness – WHICH I UNDERSTOOD – through the tonality after reading it thrice but it didnt come across to me that way the first time round.
And to Sherlock Homo, Please understand that I am not trying to be an asshole here, I had an opinion and i chose to air it. You don’t have to agree with me, or I, you. I support the community y’all run and I don’t see the point in trying to cause friction by assuming anything. I KNOW the author’s intentions were good and right but just like Raghu and Rannvijay used the wrong language.approach, i felt this post wasnt written to the tune or potential it should have been.
Cheers. 🙂
Michelle – First, Thanks for taking the time out to both – speak out and get involved in this issue. Be it critique or support, we at Gaysi appreciate every comment written and are glad you support the community. As you correctly gathered, the intention of this post was to raise awareness about an issue, which has now snowballed into much deserved attention.
I will elaborate a bit more on some of my thoughts in my response to Akshara’s comment because I believe they address some of the issues you have brought up. Broadly, our – the queer community’s – primary cause is that of equality and non-discrimination. It is that simple. The problem in society is that the yardstick – the “normal” has always been boy or girl / straight or straight. Just as say in the US, before the civil rights movement – the “normal” was to be white. Equality for those who don’t fit the “normal” then suddenly takes the garb of something to be fought for and received, because it just isn’t given freely. Kind of like a weighing scale that is not calibrated correctly. Even when you’ve lost 20 kgs, it will only claim you have lost 10 ( pretty offensive, right? especially if you have been exercising your rear end off ! ). Hence, the need for raising awareness, bringing up the issue of sensitivity… I understand that you may believe it to be overt or over the top … but Michelle – society has repeatedly time and again demonstrated that it is calibrated against us. My tact wasn’t even one of attention seeking in this article to be honest, it was written one morning in sincere hurt and disappointment – I like to believe the folks at MTV are liberal minded and hence, would not propagate something so hurtful even in the name of entertainment, so this was just pretty heartbreaking.
Seeking TRPs is not new, picking on contestants is not new – that is how the show roles, yeah we get that. But it crossed the line when it picked on the contestants sexuality and gender choices. Would they have picked on someone’s religion, caste, sex or skin color even ? They wouldn’t and they couldn’t. That is the equality we seek. That is the reason I use terms like the “new normal” to suggest that they could have ignored contestant’s diversity altogether. Their reaction to the contestant’s rape isn’t debated – it is the insensitivity that followed that begs revisiting. Its like “hey! I know x & y about you now, because you shared it with us – now I can use it against you to suggest that you are wrong and you don’t know a thing about yourself !”
You are right in many ways – yes, we need to be heard. Yes, maybe we a tad bit more familiar with gay or trans nomenclature than the next straight person. Why ? Because we are gay or trans ourselves. However, just because they are ignorant does not mean they can have to use their ignorance to attack someone, even if it was all just an act? The issue, Michelle, is that a lot of people take what they say seriously – as if that were the firm truth. When it comes to the issue of queerness that already faces so many hurdles and challenges – do we really deserve liberal channels and shows like MTV calibrating society’s dial against us when we are desperately trying to turn it back to 0 ?
Regardless of our differing stances, we welcome your alternative opinions and thoughts on this space. Please write in anytime and hopefully, the awareness this issue generates proves educational for all of us in small ways. Just as a parting note though: it wouldn’t hurt to become aware of the queer nomenclature, we are all around you and the queer community itself is learning everyday too – about what pre-op or post-op or m2f or cisgendered means, these spaces are a great place to start! 🙂
Thanks Sherlock! 😀
Thanks, EVERY point here puts things into the right perspective.
“I support the LGBTQ community and there for I am allowed to abuse them to their face.” is clearly the ‘POWER-TRIP’ they are on. Very imp for us not to get confused nor lose clarity.
If you strongly feel against Transphobia shown by MTV India and the Roadies crew, you can do the following :
Write to Manish Tewari (Information and Broadcast minister) at mib.inb@nic.in. And/or drop in a mail to the regulation body : Indian Broadcasting Foundation : ibf@ibfindia.com and call them at 91-11-4379 4488.
Your support will be much appreciated.
@QC – Thanks for bringing this to the forefront.
So the choice of movies defines whether a person is a male or female or gay or lesbian or transgender or trans? Wow. Hats off to the stupidity of MTV Roadies.
You should send this to The Hoot on mediawatch. Felt so wretched after reading the article. Horrible show it was always, but this crosses so many limits.
[…] yes, we know. “But what’s the theme, yaar?” You’ll probably remember the infamous MTV Roadies episode where the usual bullying duo took down yet another kid because she wanted to be referred to as […]
You people do remember there was a gay man in audition last season and the way they handled his audition so well , blurring his identity to save him humiliation in real life
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBSrTb6CZ8H0&ei=fLN9UdWgLofXrQfIw4DgAQ&usg=AFQjCNH1Ja3NVbxMvKznU3KnRMm11HPK0w&sig2=EzFolgOfw3Hxw5uQzOPOKQ
I won’t say they are transphobic …
AS SOMEONE SAID , THEY HAVE TO RUN A SHOW
If you notice , the judges also say “You will not understand the reasons of why we say what we say ”
THEY SAID IT JUST BECOZ THEY HAD TO ! If they didn’t , people would have thought a guy in drag fooled them into believing he is really a she ..
I am not saying its not a ‘she’ , its just that people wouldn’t take them seriously
WHAT I FIND SAD is the video description citing ‘struggling with sexuality’ … People still don’t know difference between gender and sexuality
[…] the recent months, we have reported two discriminatory instances targeted towards the TG community: MTV Roadies & Mahesh Murthy. And then there are countless others that go unreported every single […]
I m openly gay and I m proud to be one. n I m not only for Gay rights, but also for everyone, transgenders, atheists, women, etc.
I admit that I was once a man with trans-issues, but I never dared to act upon them, cuz deep down I knew that these fears are irrational and wrong. Transgenders are worthy of the exact same respect, love n profound compassion as others. n india, where transgenders were classified as Gods, now abuses them? SHAME!
Until that ignorant Raghu issues a formal apology, watching this patriarchal homophobic transphobic show would be similar to be in the same tent with the nazi russia.