Objectification of women isn’t new, it has long been normalised as a crucial part of mainstream entertainment. For years, filmmakers and even independent songwriters have relied on suggestive lyrics and sexualised visuals as ‘playful’ elements to entertain the masses. But with Indian rapper and songwriter Badshah’s new Haryanvi song, Tateeree, the objectification of women has hit a new low. It has stirred a huge controversy, compelling YouTube to officially remove the singer’s music video. But this time, it’s not just the obscene lyrics that have found several viewers deeply uncomfortable with Badshah’s new song.

Why Badshah’s Tateeree song is facing severe backlash

 

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Soon after Tateeree‘s release, viewers took to social media to question both the lyrics and the music video’s visual choices. The video depicts young girls wearing school uniforms and dancing to suggestive lyrics within a classroom-themed setting called Badshala, the stylised version of paathshala or school.

In Haryanvi folk culture, Tateeree, also called tatiri, is a bird that is metaphorically described as an attractive girl. In Badshah’s modern pop song, it is used in a more double-meaning context, relating to physical attraction and flirting. The lines, “Aaya Badshah doli chadhane, In sabki (school girls) ghodi banane” reflect a pedophilic mentality. In this context, they refer to Badshah coming to take the brides, minor girls, away to make them his mares. The slang implies dominating or sexually claiming children. Such vulgar language and equally questionable visuals made the song highly inappropriate and problematic.

Badshah’s response to the controversy

The outrage soon moved beyond the internet. As reported by United News of India, several people filed complaints with Panchkula’s Cyber Crime Police Station. But it was after the Haryana State Commission for Women flagged the song for its objectification of women that the authorities took action and removed the music video online. As the backlash grew, Badshah issued a public apology on Instagram, saying he never intended to hurt sentiments. But does the apology do justice to the execution of such a crude piece of art? More so, this is not the first time an artist has used the schoolgirl trope for objectifying women.

The problematic schoolgirl trope

Badshah isn’t the first to face criticism for launching a music video featuring suggestive school-themed visuals. Earlier, Indian singer and songwriter Guru Randhawa’s track “Azul” drew similar criticism online. In his music video, Randhawa plays a school photographer who becomes inappropriately attracted to a schoolgirl. This is undoubtedly problematic. But such songs and other demeaning artistic projects raise a bigger question: why is pedophilic behaviour being normalised as romantic storytelling in the mainstream entertainment today? Why does an industry constantly chasing creativity keep falling back on the same provocative tropes, finding new ways to objectify women of all ages?

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