Born Into Brothels Summary

From the documentary Born into Brothels, one of the children who stood out to me was Puja. Puja was described as a brave girl because she took many pictures of people on the streets and not a lot of people liked to have their pictures taken. She came from a generation of prostitutes, but have better surroundings than others because they come from a Brahmin family. Although she eats well, dress well, and doesn’t come from a poor background, she still needs to follow the footsteps of becoming a prostitute just like the rest of the women in her family. Her father seems to have drinking problems and would beat up the wife if she were to refuse to give him any money. Puja seems to be desensitized to the violence her mother gets from her father because of how often it occurs. Throughout the documentary, Puja was a bright kid who really wanted to go to school and loved hanging out with the other children. However, in the end of the documentary she was forcibly taken out of the school and had to become a prostitute. It was a real shame because a whole new opportunity was given to her so that she wouldn’t end up the same as the rest of her family. Family

pressure took a great role in the part since she was the only child in the family.
The lived experience of women and children in the documentary counters the aspirations embraced by the followers of Hinduism.

In the Hindu tradition, women are to be respected and should not be mistreated since they are considered a gift from gods under a pledge. Women are also considered aspects of Nature or the embodiment of Universal Mother in her aspect of pure energy. The tradition prohibits harassment and negligence towards women and states that it is the man’s duty to protect and take care of his wife until the end. Women in the Hindu tradition play a secondary role since Hinduism is a predominantly male dominated religion. It is their duty to help their husband perform obligatory duties and enable him to continue his family tradition. It is also the wife’s duty to give birth to children and to take care of

them.
However, the documentary shows a different perspective of women and children that live in the brothels. In the brothels, instead of men being the dominant role, women played a dominant role of trying to provide for their children. Majority of the women did not have husbands and since they come from poor social background they have no choice but to survive by selling their bodies. On the other hand, the women who did have a husband neglected their wife and children and were addicted to drugs and/or alcohol.