Sofia Ashraf is a Tamil rapper and singer who came to fame with her song “Kodaikanal Won’t”, a song attacking Unilever for the mercury pollution in Kodaikanal. She is known for her relevant and socially conscious content and recently produced a new single titled “Tam-Brahm Boy”.
The focus of this song is a woman’s unapologetic expression of her primal sexual desires and feelings which have been constantly stifled and deemed a function of promiscuity and bad character. The subject of these emotions is the quintessential Tamil Brahmin Boy, who is described as a visual treat and as somebody who’s intellectual capacity can make women swoon. This song makes no qualms about being stereotypical, but that is what makes this song incredibly catchy and humorous.
The woman in this video finds herself aroused by his “tan brown bod”, his gentle, simple ways, and fantasises about grabbing him by his poonal. It is this visual imagery evoked by the lyrics that makes it extremely bold and rare, coming from a woman. This video isn’t about “objectifying men” as it doesn’t reduce them to their penises or look at their existence as tools for sexual gratification. However, this song IS about women feeling the love and OPENLY expressing it too.
Many viewers have referred to this song as one that supports caste inequality, and one that walks over the caste struggle to support the feminist struggle. The News Minute has claimed that Tam Brahm boys are beautiful and belly bodied because they have been fed creamy curd and desi ghee all there lives, given their caste privilege. Their intellect as well as their appeal has completely been attributed to a sentiment of caste superiority that has been coming through the ages. The glorification of the Tam Brahm Boy is regretted because this will in turn reinforce caste hierarchies.
Many critics of this video insist that the word Tam Brahm should only be used in a context where they are being called out for their privilege and not one in which they are being praised or appreciated.
Caste References Can Be Neutral Too
Sofia’s response to the entire situation was sensitive as she claims to understand the reason for this controversy. Her video is quite obviously an attempt to create something that was funny and not something that was normative or realistic. As a viewer, the “subliminal hints” that suggest a glorification of all Tam Brahms is absent, as this song targets a particular individual and not a community in its entirety.
It is extremely problematic to condemn the usage of the word Tam Brahm in a neutral context and espouse its usage in a context that is negative to that particular community. While acknowledging the centuries of social oppression carried out by the Tamil Brahmins, we do need to recognise them as a separate social group with their own identity and culture.
Our attempts should not be to vilify or dismantle this community, or even to deny its existence as a separate sub culture, but to alleviate other oppressed social groups so that equality can be achieved.
We cannot expect Sofia Ashraf to preempt each viewer’s reaction to the video and the possibility that in somebody’s mind, Tamil Brahmins will be seen as superior. The allegations of casteist microaggression is extremely far-fetched and drawing links between glorifying a single Brahmin’s physical appearance and reinforcing caste stereotypes is one that is extremely flimsy.
This video is openly sarcastic and it isn’t fair to brand it as casteist in its entirety.
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