"Eight tablets and the second journey to south india. Be a part to support the education for the women in south india."
I saw the television documentary about the women in India and was dismayed at the cruel destiny
suffered by so many girls being killed for the only reason of being a female. Furthermore, I was taken
aback by the women’s frm belief that they are to be blamed if they give birth to a girl. It is my opinion
that this very sad and erroneous belief needs to be corrected and I wondered if a simple animated
film might offer an explanation and consequentially a better understanding of the fact, that it
is the man’s genetic constitution deciding the child's sex.
As a logical consequence, I contacted the Andheri Group, and asked if they would be interested in a
project of this nature. Miss Janine Langer, India Desk, Andheri-Hilfe, gave me a positive reply by
supporting my idea. Furthermore, she also informed me that the Andheri Group will be carrying on
with its activities for the next 3 years (means 60 new villages will get in the project). For three weeks we made our researches in many different villages in South India, Madurai, so that we could understand what the visual symbols were which the women knew and understood.
With all the information which we got during our researches in Madurai, I started the animation work. The very important perception was that all of the women who we met knew about the symbols x and y. Mostly they didn`t know which stands for the man or the woman, but they always understood that this two symbols had something to do with the gender. The subject "sexuality" is off-limits in India, so I needed to figure out how I could pack the fertilization in to a picture which the woman could look at without being ashamed. The animation contains a story of the child’s gender determination without using symbols like we know as sperm, egg, penis, vagina, making love etc.