Super Hit Punjabi Songs That Are Deeply Sexist But Didn't Get Called Out for It

Punjabi songs that take the Bollywood route to success are turning sexist, problematic day by day. The lyrics are offensive and normalise stereotypes, and they pass without much needed uproar in society or media. The fact that millions are watching these songs and dancing to them only makes the situation more complex. We picked some of the sexist Punjabi songs from the top of the charts.

Laung Laachi: This song claims to be the first Indian song to have become the most viewed song. The music is peppy and so the song quickly soared through the charts. But the problematic part of this song? How women as portrayed as gold diggers,  demanding girlfriends or wife. In this song, the woman is seen= asking for a pair of payals. I don't know why the makers didn't think of the male character simply gifting her payals rather than showing her seeking them.

Lehanga : Song featuring Mahira Khan and sung by Jass Manak has over a billion views. The storyline of the song is even more problematic than the lyrics, as the plot only shows a girlfriend asking for a "Lehanga" in the whole song and how she convinces her boyfriend for that.

I mean, what kind of relationship are they trying to show where a girlfriend has to do such things just in order to get a gift from her partner. Why portray a woman like she is dependent and demanding? 

8 Parche : Song by Bani Sandhu has lyrics like " Bebe baapu puchde munde di degree Ki dassaan 8 chalde tere te parche Tu yaara pichhe phirda pavauna 26’an 26 saal di kuwari baithi tere Karke". The song implies that the woman's parents are asking about the man's degree and work, and she is hiding from her parents that the man is a goon with more FIR filed against him.

Apart from such lyrics the plot of the theme is also problematic where the boyfriend, a criminal who troubles and sometimes even fires bullets on other people who just takes a move to talk to her girlfriend and the girlfriend is shown praising his deeds rather than taking action against a criminal lover.

Kale Je Libas - The song was very much loved and appreciated by everyone on the internet. The problem lies in the storyline where the guy constantly keeps an eye on a girl in his neighbourhood, what she wears, where she goes, and the girl seems to enjoy it, and It can't be true a woman can't enjoy someone watching or following her, today if a woman faces such things the first things comers to her mind is to kill that man or to give the man to the police.

Diamond : Song by Gurnam Bhullar again a very popular song from Punjabi Music Industry but with a very problematic way of showing a woman.

In the whole song the woman's character is shown as a gold digger who is only impressed by lavish cars ,costly gifts and has an obsession with diamonds. Why such a wrong portrayal of women as girlfriends?

Coka : Punjabi hit song by Sukhe and Muzical Doctorz, the song is about how a man praises her lady interest and her nose ring in the entire song. In the entire song, the lady is portrayed as a thing which the singer wants to have and that's why praising her from head to toe like anything. In the entire song, the woman is just used as a showpiece, attracting the viewers with her moves and adding glamour in the song.

Surprised? So more often than not we don't even pay attention to the meaning or the words and dance to the beats. From the negative portrayal of women as gold diggers, being demanding or showing a man stalking a girl have been all central to the success of these videos. It's high time we take objection and force them to write better music.