Lack of Women Identity and Agency in Bollywood

The female protagonists in Bollywood films often lack a voice and agency. The story narrated is always that of the male hero and the female protagonist is a mere appendage. According to psychoanalytic theory, this could be termed as phallocentrism. Laura Mulvey in her essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ states that “the paradox of phallocentrism in all its manifestations is that it depends on the image of the castrated woman to give order and meaning to its world”.

The only role of the female characters is to further the plot of the story and to aid the hero in the process of identity-formation. Women, be it the sister, the mother or the love interest of the hero, are always secondary characters. Bollywood films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Pardes and the recent ones like Dabangg, Zero are a great example of this. It is always the hero who is shown in Bollywood movies to go through a journey and the women either are a cause of that journey or help him on his way. Rarely do we see independent women characters with well carved out identities.

Kareena Kapoor’s character in Chameli is one of such few examples of a well written, round female character. In the film, she emerges as a strong female character who does not need a male figure to rush to her rescue, every time she is in a problem. In fact, the film subverts the expectations of the audience in a scene where it is actually the street smart prostitute who rescues the hero.

In a more recent film, Thappad, the issue of domestic violence, which has been plaguing our society since centuries, is addressed. Taapsee Punnu’s character stands against physical abuse. She refuses to bow down to the patriarchal ideas and in her journey, challenges the ‘sacred’ institutions of marriage and family. The film charts her growth from a dependent, almost subservient house-wife to an independent woman and a single mother. The film also breaks the stereotype that domestic violence is an issue only for the lower sections of society. In Thappad, we see how physical and mental abuse is as prevalent in urban, educated and rich families as among the poor, rural society.

Male Gaze

In most of our films, the gaze of the camera is also predominantly male and to a large extent, determines how we perceive the female characters. The male gaze of the camera is probably the result of the fact that the majority of the films are written, directed and shot by men. The male gaze of the camera, combined with the male gaze of the hero, commodifies and fetishises female characters. John Berger in Ways of Seeing points out that in the films, “Men act, women appear. Men look at women, women watch themselves being looked at.” The sexist and selective male gaze of the camera is focused on selective parts of the female body. Bindu Nair in her essay- “Female Bodies and the Male Gaze” explains how women are turned into a ‘spectacle’-

“The gaze is invited to certain parts of the body selectively considered sexual – the eyes, the lips, the breasts, the navel, the buttocks and the legs…All these add up in objectifying and sexualising the body of the woman for the benefit of the (male) viewer.”

Nair, 2009

The famous “item songs” in our films are a great example of the male gaze at play.  The songs like ‘Tip Tip Barsa’ or ‘Fevicol Se’ show how the camera angles, the costumes, the makeup and even the actions of the female characters in these songs fetishise female body and cater to male pleasure, i.e. the pleasure of the hero and the male audience.

Conclusion

This problematic depiction of women in Bollywood films translates to real life as well. The impressionable minds of youth accept this sexist and misogynistic portrayal as the norm. This could be an important reason why women in our society face a lot of backlashes if they stray from the stereotypical idea of femininity and try to assert their voice and freedom. Films borrow from reality but they also influence our reality. Therefore, in a society where films largely shape our way of thinking, we need more films with strong and independent female characters. The need of the hour is good films which tackle the rampant misogyny in our society, and not increase it by projecting stereotypical and regressive ideas of femininity. We are definitely on the path of change and progress, but we are not there yet. The Hindi Film industry is waking up to the importance of this issue, but there is still a long way to go.

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“It is very difficult for a woman to make up her mind to enter politics. Once she makes up her own mind then she has to prepare her husband and her children and her family. Once she has overcome all these obstacles and applies for the ticket then the male aspirants against whom she is applying makeup all sorts of stories about her. And after all, this when her name goes to the party bosses, they do not select her name because they fear losing that seat”

The above quote of late Sushma Swaraj gives a glimpse of reality that how women have to face so many problems and criticisms while entering politics.

Since pre-independence to till now it has been seen that women are always marginalized in the mainstream of politics and in decision making as well as in getting an important position in the political organization and also in our society. But it has been seen that men and women also played an equal role for the development of the nation, they have worked shoulder to shoulder in pre-independent as well as in post-independent India.

Indian constitution is one of the strongest law that provides equal opportunity to both men and women in socio-economic and political aspects. But our societal norms, customs and patriarchal set up treated them as subordinate to men. Their financial dependency upon men also keeps them away from political activities or affiliations. United Nation’s 2008 survey shows that India marked the lowest number of women’s participation in parliament i.e. 9.1%. Even a country like UAE marked better than India in the perspective of women’s participation in parliament i.e. 22.5%. It was seen that the 15th Lok Sabha election has recorded 59 women as a member of parliament highest since independence. India ranked 148 out of the 193 nations with 11.48 percent women in the lower house and 11 percent in the upper house.

Government Initiatives and Constitutional Provisions

The Women’s Reservation Bill which allows 33% of reservation for women in the elected bodies but the bill is still reserved in the Lok Sabha after it was passed from the Rajya Sabha. As it has been already stated that the constitution provides equal opportunity to all citizens of India, the constitution also called the state to take measure to neutralize the socio-economic, political, educational and political disadvantages faced by women.

• Article 14 – It guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of law within the territory of India.
• Article 39(b) – has provision for equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
• Article 325 and 326 – They guarantee political equality equal right to participation in political activity and right to vote respectively.

Success Stories of Indian Women in Politics

There are many stories of success of Indian women in ancient, medieval as well as in the modern period. It is believed that administration and politics both are the arenas of men. However, in India, we have seen that many women have played and are still playing an important role in both the above-mentioned areas. Late Indira Gandhi has served the nation as the first PM of India and her daughter in law Mrs Sonia Gandhi is the present president of Indian National Congress and was the former chairperson of UPA. The first Indian to serve as the President of the United Nations General Assembly was a woman, Vijay Lakshmi Pandit. States like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir have had women as a chief minister in past. The highest decision making of CPI(M) i.e. Polit Bureau has two women representative out of its thirteen members body.

If we compare between two foremost national parties INC and BJP in respect of giving the nomination to female candidates, it shows that INC nominates more female candidates than BJP. It was in 2009 co-incidentally when both the parties gave the nomination to an equal number of female candidates i.e. 43.

Obstacles to Women Participation in Politics and the Role of Media in Changing the Societal Mindset

One of the main obstacles is the societal obstacle. It is mainly believed that the main work of a female is to do household chores and child care and keep herself within the boundary of the house. Managing the outside world is the work of a male. It is also believed that women have a lack of ability in case of giving leadership.

Due to the advancement of news media, print media and social media are playing an important role in changing the mindset of society. Women participating in mainstream politics not just of political awareness but also the role of media in breaking the stereotyped image of women. Undoubtedly media has played a vital role in creating awareness among women and in empowering them up to some extent. Media helps women in identifying and adopting the ways of self-actualization. Women are also becoming active in the journalism profession previously they were seen rarely in journalism. It is also criticized to sensationalize the issues and use women as a commodity for seeking the attention of viewers. Women’s image is seen as submissive to men. Women’s issues rarely got space in the leading stories of front pages.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, we can come to the conclusion that in spite of facing obstacles women in India is coming in the forefront and started demanding their own rights in various fields and many political and apolitical women organizations are acting as their agent in upholding their demands. One of the key thing that acts as an obstacle for women’s political participation in India is the lack of education. Women will come to know about their rights and privileges when they will get the proper education. With the objective of gender empowerment Government of India in 2014 formed a commission named National Mission of Empowerment of Women, but this project was not up to the mark.

Side by side governmental help is for the uprising of women empowerment. As discussed earlier there are my constitutional provisions which provide equality between men and women. Recently in Kerala, the Sabarimala case is an example of governmental help that provided to the women. For many decades women were not allowed to enter into the Sabarimala temple but the LDF government protested against this and provide the equal right to women as like men to enter into the temple.

Media has to some extent plays an important for women empowerment and truly highlighting their status in society. Establishment of women panchayat and 33% reservation of women into the local bodies is acting as an encouragement to women for taking part in politics and in the decision making process.                  

Reference

Alam Shah, January 2015, International journal of advanced in management and social sciences, Volume 4, no.1, page 78.

Nisha M.Ameen, Vezhaventhan. D,2018, International journal of pure and applied mathematics, volume 120 no. 5, page no. 4726.

Nisha M Ameen, Vezhaventhan.D 2018, International journal of pure and applied mathematics, volume 120 no. 5, page no.4728.

Kumar Amit, Dhamiya Somesh, Dhamiya Arun, December 2016, SIBM Pune research journal, volume XII, Page no. 6,

Alam Shah, January 2015, International journal of advanced research in management and social sciences, Volume 4 no.1, Page no. 81-82.

Nisha M.Ameen, Vezhaventhan.D, 2018, International journal of pure and applied mathematics, volume 120 no.5, page no. 4721.

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WAVES OF FEMINISM

The modern wave of Feminism called the Fourth wave which began around 2008, has its roots in the First, Second and the more recent Third Wave of Feminism.          

• First wave Feminism arose in the 19^th century with the aim of bringing about equality as well as ensuring women’s suffrage in the countries of United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada, but however was not limited to only these four countries. In the Indian context. The first wave was set in the backdrop of the 19^th-20^th century, beginning with an attempt to eradicate evils like Sati, child marriage, and introducing ideas of increased literacy among women, allowing widow re-marriage, bringing changes in property laws, etc.
• The Second Wave of Feminism (post-1920) on the other hand, argued for women’s rights to abortion, birth control, and overall control over their own bodies, opposing the patriarchal family’s sexism and sexual control over their bodies. Therefore, it had a more radical element to it, in contrast to the first wave. In India, the second wave retained its radical nature, as women became more engaged in the public scene, and participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement as a part of the Nationalist struggle. Emphasis was placed on women’s education, their livelihood and also led to the founding of many new organisations for the upliftment of women, as a whole.  
• The third wave of feminism emerged in response to the failure of the second wave. It was to challenge the second wave’s idea of ideal feminism which highlighted the struggles of only white upper-middle-class woman. They decided to shift the aim of the movement to ensure that every woman despite its colour and family background is respected and given equal rights. It was not only related to sex and gender but caste and colour too. The concept of lesbianism also came into the forefront during this wave. Earlier lesbians felt sidelined by both women and gay liberation but eventually, it became a part of the mainstream women’s movement. This wave also demanded the right to contraception and birth control. Feminists also fought for social acceptance of female sexual freedom. They demanded sexual equality for the freedom of women. Thus it became a very important wave in shaping the concept of modern feminism.
• The fourth wave is a very recent development within the movement which began in 2008. It is connected with technology. It focuses on issues like sexual abuse, rape, violence against women, body shaming, homo and Tran’s phobia, equal wages, sex work acceptance and most importantly male feminism. It is an ongoing wave that aims at ensuring equality and removing patriarchy and misogyny from the world.

INTERSECTIONAL FEMINISM

One of the most important by-products of the Feminism movement, especially the third and fourth waves, was the emergence of the Intersectional Feminist Theory, which was propounded by a Civil Rights activist called Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw about 30 years ago. According to her, “Different things make different women vulnerable,” which basically sums up the core ideology of the Intersectional Feminists. If anything is for certain in this world, it’s the persistent presence of diversity as different factors like race, caste, class, disability, immigration, belonging to the LGBTQ community, identifying as indigenous people, etc. has an impact on the lives people live.                                                                                                                                                 

The aim of this theory is to bring about an end to the exclusive nature of the Feminism movement of the past and make it inclusive for women of all races, castes, classes, economic standing, etc. For a long period of time in the history of Feminism, the movement mainly focused on middle-class white women and therefore failed to look at the problems of the other sections of women, who were in almost all cases, in a far worse state. This “white feminism” that generalized the entire feminist movement on the basis of the experiences of white women, is however sadly, not just a thing of the past. While intersectional Feminist theory has continued to highlight its problematic aspects over the ages, “white Feminism” can be seen in play (either covertly or overtly) in fields of entertainment, music, sports, and in general workplaces. But women from all over the world gave not failed to speak up over such issues, one such example being when Nicki Minaj, a 37-year-old Black woman rapper and singer, spoke about how almost always, those videos which were nominated in award shows, showed white and slender-bodied women. 

The theory of Intersectional Feminism becomes even more significant in the context of India, as it remains the most diverse nation in the world, and therefore brings into light a number of other factors that collectively result in oppression. One such important factor is Caste, which has been a crucial aspect of Indian society since the very beginning. Evidence suggests that Indian feminism for the longest time mainly focused on Upper caste women. History gives insight as to how education was a privilege only for Brahmin women, and how the education imparted was mainly on how a woman should become a good daughter, wife and mother. Even today, education remains a privilege for those living in poverty, especially the female children in those households, as most often it is the boys who are sent to school. Statistics suggest that about 32.5% of women drop out of schools at the secondary level. 

PSEUDO-FEMINISM

Being a feminist is something to be proud of, but being a pseudo-feminist is a whole different thing. Anyone who calls themselves a feminist knows the difference between feminism and pseudo feminism. Feminism is all about genders having equal rights and opportunities. It aims at achieving equality and equity despite a person’s gender, race, caste and colour. It believes that a woman deserves respect like any other human being. But pseudo feminism accosts that women deserve more respect than any other person. They don’t aim for equality but they want a world ruled by women, and while they seem to want an end to misogyny, whether knowingly or unknowingly, engage in misandry or male-hating. In a world, where feminism is still seen as a detrimental movement, pseudo feminism gives people the upper hand to legitimise the flaws of the whole movement. It somewhere tarnishes and wrecks the idea of the actual feminist movement. A lot of people don’t even know that they are pseudo feminists and they keep claiming themselves as feminists, without even understanding the consequences of their actions. This leads to people misunderstanding the concept of feminism and thus not supporting it. Hence the terms feminism and pseudo feminism are most of the times used interchangeably. Despite the fact that these are two different concepts, people often mistakenly consider it the same. People should have enough knowledge so as they can differentiate between the two and comprehend both the concepts. They should not withdraw their support from the idea of feminism which aims at achieving equality, by perplexing it with pseudo feminism.

CONCLUSION

Feminism is all about ensuring that equality prevails in society regardless of a person’s gender, caste, colour, and sex. It emerged in the late 19th century and is an ongoing movement, which occurred in 4 waves.                                                           

An important aspect of Feminist theory is keeping in mind, privileges that each woman has that another might not. For instance, a white middle-class woman is privileged in ways more than a black middle-class woman. Likewise, a cis-gendered white woman is more privileged than a white woman belonging to the LGBTQ community. Therefore, it’s crucial to recognise, as women, involved in the Feminist movement, our privileges and work effectively so that women who are not as privileged can acquire similar opportunities.                                                              

The concept of Pseudo feminism differs from that of feminism and so both the terms should not be used interchangeably. People should realise the importance of feminists’ movement and understand the struggles and lack of privileges that women hold in their lives. Various feminist movement and principles have evolved over the years, representing different aims and viewpoints. Some theories are criticized while others are actively supported. Despite this, the basic idea of feminism of achieving equality is widely supported and has emerged as a very important movement in the history of many countries.

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