Intro: “We should not hurriedly come to the conclusion that women were discriminated against in our society based on western criticism and attitude to compare with their life style and life values… The message that I give to the men, I am giving to the women too. Have faith in Bharat and its traditions.”
– Swami Vivekananda,
Prabuddha Bharat?
At a time when we are celebrating the festival of feminine power, Navratri, an introspective investigative research is published on Female Characters in Popular Films. The report conducted at the behest of UN says that across the borders film industry perpetuates stereotypes and discrimination against women. The study commissioned by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in its investigation analyses conclude that the popular films across the most profitable countries and territories internationally give only one third space to the feminine characters. More appalling finding is about Indian films in which women are not only under represented tbut are stereotyped in ways that portray woman as an attractive commodity. For a long time this is being perceived as a negative trend in Indian society, and now this study has provided a scientific basis for the discussion.
Talking against obscenity and vulgarity is termed as anti-woman and being conservative in modern discourse. In fact, many intellectuals justify this trend on two counts: one is ‘freedom of expression’ and the other is the ‘demand-supply law of the market’. Both these justifications stem from the same ideological roots of Western concept of liberty and choices.
Let us examine the demand and supply law first. Why and since when did it become a trend in a society like India? It’s only after the process of liberalisation through which film industry became a big market. Though sensuality and intimacy was part of popular films initially, it was not used as a tool for marketing techniques. So like other products, market is created for stereotypes like ‘Beauty-Queens’ and ‘Item Songs’. Now this beauty or item has to be a woman. If it was just a matter of demand only, then good films like Merry Kom would not have done excellent business.
This brings us to the other logic of freedom. How many of the woman depicting themselves as a commodity do that out of ‘free’ choice? If objectively found most of the depictions are forced and are linked to the logic of market laws. So the time is ripe to denounce this trend and start a movement against commodification of the powerful gender. More importantly, it needs to be challenged ideologically to reflect upon the Indian view of empowerment according to which the man-woman relationship is complimentary to each other rather than it being exclusive. It neither portrays women as ornaments, nor as being weak and allows them to choose what they feels fit to do as a woman rather than blindingly imitating a man.
As a powerful medium that can influence and shape perceptions of large audiences, the films are key players for the gender equality agenda. And because with power comes responsibility, one cannot get away with it in the guise of market demand. One cannot get away with this responsibility in the guise of market demands. To instill this responsibility institutions like certification boards have to be more pro-active and sensitive to the social needs. For the move does not does not intend to curb creativity and attractive depictions but crossing the limits for marketing purpose is a disastrous crime that no society can afford.
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