Sree Gururaja: The Barbershop Girls

Dear friends

Sending this video to you as it shows that change is possible though it has taken more than three decades ( as the first girl child study in India was done in 1987) - the lyrics are in Hindi set to a folk tune from Uttar Pradesh and the subtitles provide full translation.

To think that this is being promoted as a commercial for the Gillette blade- I’m not saying anymore as I want you to see the video and judge for yourself!

Best regards
&Sree

Gillette India has launched its latest campaign – #ShavingStereotypes – with a storyline that redefines gender stereotypes. Featuring the Barbershop Girls of India, the film follows on from the hugely successful global campaign “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be”.


The digital film, created by GREY India, tells the true story of two barbershop girls, Jyoti (18) and Neha (16), from the village of Banwari Tola in Uttar Pradesh. The film shows everyday village life from the eyes of an eight-year-old boy whose thoughts are summed up from everything that he witnesses around him. Based on the insight ‘children always learn from what they see’, he notices how gender roles are clearly defined in society, and while men get to earn a living or indulge in sports, women are restricted to household chores.


As the story progresses, we see the prejudice effect and what the subliminal patriarchy has on the young boy’s mind. It becomes vividly apparent when he accompanies his father to a barbershop and to his surprise he sees two girls ready to shave his father. The boy is puzzled and voices this concern to his father who pauses before responding that a razor wouldn’t know the difference between a boy and a girl.


The film then moves to the two sisters Jyoti and Neha Narayan, showing how they have challenged gender stereotyping often found in Indian villages by running their father’s barbershop - providing a service one would most often associate with a male barber. With their father and the entire village of Banwari Tola supporting, encouraging and standing by the two girls, the village is seen to be setting the right example and inspiring the next generation of men because children do learn from what they see.