Aastha Gupta 18010026 Week 12

Gender Policing in Mainstream Hindi Cinema: A Decade of Central Female Characters in Top-Grossing Bollywood Movies

Everyone loves watching movie but the question that arises is does it promote violence, sexism, or stalking?

This article talks about how Bollywood movies have impacted the way women are looked upon. This article also talks about how some movies show women as independent and strong figures. On the other side, it talks about movies like badlapur which is highly violent and promotes patriarchy in some sense. The other movie of such kind is Kabir Singh, which promotes toxic masculinity. It also shows that teasing and stalking are okay and that it means you like someone. It's not that it promotes stalking. Regardless of the time of discharge, all motion pictures that incorporated a CFC delineated that character following some type of prescriptive sexual orientation standards. CFCs in old just as new films were remunerated when they clung to sexual orientation standards and rebuffed when they disregarded sex standards. Examples of discipline were higher in old films than in new motion pictures; infringement of prescriptive sex standards was not identified with discipline in new motion pictures, and new motion pictures additionally needed recognizable female heroes on normal contrasted and old motion pictures. Discoveries are clarified in the setting of Hindi standard film's job in advancing considerate sexism. In a casual study of Bollywood motion pictures discharged during 2006 and 2009, the depiction of ladies was seen as progressively Western (e.g., Western garments, delineation of sexuality), adjusting less to conventional sex job desires for ladies in India (Anujan et al., 2012).

Even though the MeToo development began some conversation on the profoundly dangerous industry, it was advantageously ruined and smothered as fast. With entertainers like Kareena Kapoor saying that they aren't women's activists yet rather put stock in equity, one begins to ponder whether anybody in this industry even really comprehends what women's liberation is? The article proposes that the issue could be settled if ladies were given more portrayal behind the screens and composed the female characters, however with the pervasive obliviousness about the F word in the business, it isn't sufficient. The appropriate response lies in an intensive sexual training gave at a youthful age.

Rahul Desarda: Week 10

Forced to Choose: Beyond the Voluntary v. Forced Prostitution Dichotomy

It is disturbing to note that there is a widespread misconception regarding prostitution and sex workers: that those women who do the work of prostitution always do it voluntarily, with their consent and apart from getting paid, they also “enjoy” this work. On the other hand, there are studies which suggest that more often than not, women are forced into the work of prostitution due to their socio-economic background. The author discusses the distinction between two beliefs and argues that this contradiction does not help in ensuring rights for these workers. Further, the author claims that we should go beyond this dichotomy and the need of the hour is to change the mindset of the society and make everyone realize that this is just another job and should not be looked at with prying eyes.

To get the women who are forced into this business out of it, we have to understand the abuse and violence associated with this work. Only after recognizing this violence, we can ensure the rights for them. I believe merely banning prostitution or regulating it through a law is not a sufficient solution. What is required is a systematic assessment of various cases and devising a method that is victim-centric so that the sex workers can choose for themselves the life they wish to lead.  

Durlabh Agrawal Week 13

Gender Policing in Mainstream Media

In this post, I'll be talking about Subuhi Khan's article on how media and entertainment sources in our daily lives maintain an informal policing role of gender in our lives.

For the media possess an illusive power to influence the mind and morality of the populous, content it showcases have a formidable and undeniable effect on the mind of its viewers, to legitimize and set a trend which would be later consider normalized even in a conservative society.

Media and entertainment sources mainly Bollywood and Dailysoaps, over the past decade has set an unspoken standard to our lives, in terms of fashion, fooding, living as well as gendering; by creating certain gender stereotype through images, caricature, clippings and advertisement. Historically, through these means sexist and biased conscious has been created to ascertain people value and objective in the society. In the past, products and advertisement in the USA, can be taken as an example where women and daughter are seen in the kitchen or doing house chores while men is doing the considered to be burdensome task. 

Not so similarly, but in the same line, Indian media has kept on defining the 'ideal women' and projected it as the "upholder of moral". As argued by Subuhi Khan, Indian media has created a web on belief of an expected outcome through prescribed gender norms by them will lead them to a respectful life. This "benevolent sexist" approach of the bollywood is propagation of an unspoken yet interpretative message to uphold gender norms and moral code. 

Amal Sheheen Week 13

Gender Policing in Mainstream Hindi Cinema:  A Decade of Central Female Characters in Top-Grossing Bollywood Movies 

Bollywood films enjoy a global audience. Bollywood’s globalization has arguably affected the portrayal of Indian women in Bollywood films and has given media and the advertisement industry the power to influence the minds of its targeted audience. They can establish and normalize traits by mere portrayal, from associating colours and certain fragrances to a particular gender to the type of role that gender supposedly needs to perform in the society. This creation of gender stereotypes can be traced back to the printed images, caricatures, advertising propaganda, and even written content of the 1950s in the United States of America. 

Critical assessments of women in film have suggested that narrative structure in many films depends on the passive role of women and the active role of men. This stereotyping is heavily concentrated on defining and redefining who exactly the “ideal woman” is.  Bollywood, has become just another source to reinforces these stereotypes. This is argued by the Subuhi Khan in her paper and after thorough data analysis, have come to the conclusion that, “Women in Bollywood films experienced better life outcomes when they complied with prescriptive gender norms.” The message that Bollywood is sending to its audience is that modern Indian women should not be punished for occupying white-collar jobs or enjoying freedom as long as they continue to uphold traditional Indian gender norms. Hindi cinema is evolving in its depiction of female gender norms, but only in terms of eliminating hostile sexism. Benevolent sexism still remains a component of mainstream Hindi movies.

Paras Gupta, Week 14

The article aims “No Safe Refuge” at reflecting upon the culture of asylum for LBGT asylum seeker when Stonewall and UKLGIG conducted in 22 depth interviews with the asylum seekers. The key finding of the interviews were LGBT asylum seekers face discrimination and harassment in detention centers and those who come openly about their sexuality were the most oppressed ones. There was oppression by the staff member as well and open threats were being given by the staff and threats for violence were being given to the asylum seekers. Whenever crimes were reported to officer for the violence there was the response on behalf of the officer that there is nothing that can be done for the misery to be solved. Mostly interviewees tried to commit suicide because detention has serious ill-effects on
the mental health of LGBT claimants and the challenging and unsafe detention environment causes constant stress and severe anxiety. Trans people are deprived of health care by the staff appropriated to them which leads to not emotional distress but harms the physical and mental well-being of the asylum seeker. 

People respond that the origin country as the ones who kills them as in those countries where same-sex relationships are criminalized or where discrimination against LGBT people
is widespread, lesbian, gay, bi and trans people are often excluded by society and may face prosecution, discrimination or harassment. Even when individuals are not prosecuted, the state fails to protect them when exposed to violence by their own communities, and may even support such treatment. Harassment and violence are a common experience for many lesbian, gay, bi and trans people. They are many asylum seekers are detained in Britain and sometimes government lose the tracks of detainees in the detention camps. 

There should be a ban on the detention camps and an alternative to detention has to be found. Legal service should be avail to every detainee and there should be no solitary conferment of a detainee. The emphasis should be made on how to administrate the support from the staff of these camps to ensure that the detainees are not deprived of their basic needs. It is the high time that the government should make laws and take further steps in favor of the LGBT community.

Paras Gupta, Week 13

Sacchi Bhatia in the article “What is Norms” talks about the disturbed culture of the representation of heteronormative relationship in Bollywood. At first, he picked the movie “Fire” which was released in 1996 when BJP was gaining power among the masses and the main agenda of the party was to promote Hindutva. The movie talked about the sexual desire of a lesbians and the character which were promoted as lesbians were named as Radha and Sita which led to the heavy backlash by BJP. After that there were hardly any attempt by movies to portray stories in which heteronormative relationship is involved. In India, Cinema plays an important role in forming and maintaining “cultural identities and representation” and there the movies portray gender discrimination and how there is mockery of heteronormative relationship.

In Hindi Cinema queer communities are considered as “hyper visible” and this can be elaborated because of the representations of homosexuality in Bollywood fail to demarcate the lines which separate between- lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, questioning, inter-gender, and asexual identities.

The article further focuses on the complexity in the manner of gay and lesbian and which can be explained this reason, firstly that gender is constantly reinforced due to the performance of conventional sex roles. Secondly, same sex relationships contest the entire “matrix of heterosexuality” which includes not just “two bodies of the opposite sex” but a set of desires tied together through “rituals and socio-spatial practices and thirdly, the divides between heterosexuality and homosexuality are formed due to the established personal/national and traditional/modern constraints, which confounds sexual representations even further

Though this paper Sacchi Bhatia analysis certain common features were noticed of cinematic representations which showed implications of a compulsory heterosexuality: 1) Hindi movies were committed to a nationalist project and depicted patriarchal values as a superior practice, 2) social institutions especially family and marriage were a constant regulating factor, 3) lines between different sexual identities were converging and misleading, and 4) prevalence of discourses of race, class and ethnicity routinely strengthened the position of heterosexuality.

Namrata Goswami- Week 11

The Abducted Woman in the House. 

In this article, light has been drawn onto the question on how safe or how secure women are, in India. In the Indian society, Rape has been associated with the way women conduct themselves, standardizing conducts a measuring scale on how immune a woman is against rape. The author of the article validates her point associating the marital status of a woman to her immunity against rape- meaning to establish ta fact that a married woman in India associates herself with dignity and wears modest clothes, thus making her immune to the crime. The core mentality of Indian society needs to be questioned when they indulge in victim blaming. They have more often than not remained blind to the wrongful acts exercised upon women by men. Infact, numerous studies have shown us how wrongful sexual abused have been exercised again people of the LGBTQ+ community, thus not promoting 'Equality' under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. Thus, thinking from this perspective, India as a society has a long way to go.

Rahul Desarda: Week 13

Open Letter to CJI

The letter under discussion was written by eminent law professors to highlight the gross miscarriage of justice by the Supreme Court of India in Tukaram v. State of Maharashtra (1979) to the then Chief Justice of India. In this case, the Supreme Court overturned the High Court’s decision which found several discrepancies in the trial court’s decision. Mathura, a 16-year-old girl was not only called in the police station to record her statement in a kidnapping case but was made to stay even after her acquaintances left. Later, one constable Ganpat raped her while head constable Tukaram fondled her private parts. However, the Supreme Court ignored all the circumstantial evidence to imply that Mathura and Ganpat had consensual sexual intercourse since there was no evidence indicating stiff resistance met my Mathura and the fact that the medical report showed that Mathura had sexual intercourse quite a few times before the incident was sufficient to taint her character. These eminent jurists, through the open letter, brought to light several issues concerning women and their security. They also pointed out that in violation of the provision of Code of Criminal Procedure, Mathura was made to stay in the police station at the “dead hour of the night”. Further, they express their concern over the prejudice against premarital sex and the dominant notion that blames the victim (the female in this case) than the perpetrator (the male in this case).

Arshan Bakshi, Week 13

With contemporary movements like feminism heavily impacting the discourse around things like misogyny, queer presence, sex and gender etc., it becomes very important to address the issue of what is to be seen in the mainstream media that we watch- and Bollywood doesn't exactly give off 'woke' vibes when you see a good looking actress dancing in an item number without the song contributing anything to the movie except for the occasional stare or two by the average Indian man. The culture in Bollywood reflects our 'culture', which is dated, archaic and in unhealthy need of some education. This culture contributes to the forming of gender stereotypes, misogynistic behaviour and objectification of women. To make matters worse, anything can be justified in this country in the name of tradition and custom, it doesn't matter how illogical, irrational or stupid it may be. Subuhi Khan argues in this piece and also compares the actual outcome of all that filth the woman has to suffer in the movie with that of a real life scenario and comes to the invariable conclusion that it ends up being much better for the woman in the movie than in real lives. There is a need to ditch these pre-existing systems of oppression against women and educate people on how to get better and equip them with the tools to think objectively and change to grow.

Namrata Goswami- Week 12

DOES BOLLYWOOD HAVE A WOMEN PROBLEM? 

The average Bollywood movie, be it on any theme or any genre involves the printing of posters with explicit focus on women in a way that will attract the objectification of women. In the same way, mostof the movies also involve the inclusion of certain ‘item songs’ that is in sharp contrast to the themeof the movie- an unnecessary addition. In the Indian society, where talking about ‘sex’ explicitly has not been normalized yet, songs and movies of this nature stemming from bollywood only induce the idea of misogyny more and more in the same. Besides, from a normative point of view, this is extremely incorrect as it only induces violence and brutality againt women. 

Bollywood, selfishly committed to its financial profits, making money out of portraying women in a derogatory light- has an adverse consequence in terms of its impact on society. What serves as the short-lived appeasement of society has long term problems because the viewers of these movies consciously or subconsciously pics up such portrayals or view points and normalizes misogyny leading to the prevalence of patriarchy and continuing sexual harassment against women.  

While it is true that the people behind big screens hold a lot of power in manipulating the pychology of its viewers, it is also extremely important to spread awareness among general public on how wrong this is to eventually obliterate the wrongful objectification of the female gender. 

Manasvi Singh week 13

(1979) 4 SCC (Jour) 17 An Open Letter to the Chief Justice of India

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NRCB), an average of 91 rapes are recorded every day. This number is and should be unavoidable. The Law exists because society exists, if the societal conditions are not considered, then the argument becomes false. In the case of Tukaram V State of Maharashtra (1979), the circumstances were ignored and therefore the court could not do Justice and hence the Open Letter. Circumstances included what the HC mentioned 1) Mathura being a part of an FIR 2) She was called at dead night 3) The accused were POLICE OFFICERS 4) Traces of semen 5) One 14 -16 year old girl against 2 well-built men (as their position requires well-built physique). My question here is, do circumstances not put people in different positions against each other? The Bench held against the victim as her resistance and injuries were not enough. The answer to this was in the circumstances but again those were not enough. The question again is what is an ideal way of resistance? Is resistance a way of mind or action? I highly find this argument circumstantial- Someone’s advantage can be another’s disadvantage, and therefore Mathura (Supra) was at a disadvantage in 5 different ways. If Section 375 is entirely argued based on ignorance of what is passive submission, therefore court is at fault. There have been many instances in the past and today where the courts have in fact relied on the meaning and intent behind the law and not on ‘Law is what it is’. For me, it becomes more a matter of convenience and morality when the law is interpreted this way. The argument in favor of Mathura (human rights) are well explained in the Open Letter that I completely agree with. But the Judicial hypocrisy is another hidden argument that I tried to point out. Passive submission is and was the key to the questions put forth in the court, Mathura had no choice other than submission before the two well- built men, in the executive, late at night, where she was a part of an FIR. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that there was passive submission if traces of semen were found. Another aspect where the courts exceed their limits is where they create stories to show a woman’s incompetence at court while digging out the competence of the male ‘officers’. Therefore, if there is a biased mind towards siding with one gender for its competence then I see justice a long way to go.

Sriyanshi Bhatt, Week 13

Women in Media- Gender Policing in Mainstream Hindi Cinema: A Decade of Central Female Characters in Top-Grossing Bollywood Movies

 The sheer power of media and the advertisement industry to influence the minds of its targeted audience is formidable. They can establish and normalize traits out of thin air, from associating colours and certain fragrances to a particular gender to the type of role that gender “needs” to perform in the society. Creating gender stereotypes through printed images, caricatures, advertising propaganda, and even written content can be traced back to the severely biased, sexist ads of the 1950s in the United States of America. 

This stereotyping is heavily concentrated on defining and redefining what the “ideal woman” is. Throughout the centuries, this illusion of the definition is moulded and forced down these pipelines like sources of domestic water; essential and integral for the general society to function. Bollywood, has become just another source to reinforces these stereotypes. This is argued by the Subuhi Khan in her paper and after thorough data analysis, have come to the conclusion that, “Women in Bollywood films experienced better life outcomes when they complied with prescriptive gender norms.” Even though the author recognises the “globalisation” of these women as career oriented, beyond the devout wife prototype, the adherence to the narrow block of feminine ideals is strongly present, and would not be a matter of contestation if other representations were also present. But sadly, this isn’t the case. 

Sriyanshi Bhatt, Week 14

Gendered Law- An Open Letter to the Chief Justice of India 

The Mathura case has truly been the starting point for understanding the court’s sentiment towards rape cases for the Indian legal education system. Its dependence on character assassination, double standards, and creation of the caricature of a “loose” woman, has brought in light the legal consensus to the patriarchal social structure. As the open letter to the Chief Justice of India states, “Ganpat’s sexual habits give him the benefit of doubt of having ‘raped’ Mathura; her sexual habits make the Court disbelieve the story of the rape altogether!” The power dynamics at play become more prominent when the legal apparatus meant to protect its foul play takes the side of the powerful. 

The fact remains that the sexualised nature of a rape trials (leading to degradation of a women’s character more often than becoming a recourse for her) is still apparent. After the Nirbhaya Rape Case and the formulation of Vishaka Guidelines, nothing much has still changed. The argument of submission resulting to consent still persists. The fear of being harassed by policemen in custody still exists. Zero FIRS are still not filed. Women are asked by police constables to file the complaint after they are raped even after disclosing a cognizable case. All of these instances, just make the rules drafted by men to be meant for the “protection” and “upliftment” of women, delivered by the same men, work just in favour for those men. When illustrious female lawyers (Indira Jaisingh), in 2019 need to write letters to the CJI to police their sexism towards her when she is arguing a case, the nature of the deep-seeded misogny within the justice system cannot be overlooked.  

Rukman Banka, Week 13

The Phobic and The Erotic: Politics of Sexualities in Contemporary India

The author argues about the complicated and a questioning situation of contemporary concept of sexuality in Indian culture currently. She argues a wide range of writings to critique and inquire into the nitty-gritties of the problem. Among other things, it critically examines the various modes through which colonial discourse and the post-colonial nation-state shaped the construction of sexuality in India. The struggles against right-wing protesters and the debate around Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalizes “unnatural sex”, the laws governing censorship and ‘obscenity’ contextualizes the theory of the author. The struggle against the imposition of normative and ‘clean’ sexual environment is a part of the larger struggle against the dystopia of a Hindu nationalist state that regards the expression of desire by women and sexual subalterns as “Westernization” and “against the Indian Culture”. This work by Nivedita Menon invites us to participate in a process of questioning that includes our carefully constructed “self-good” and accept the “unnatural”.

Rukman Banka, Week 12

Gender Policing in Mainstream Hindi Cinema

Bollywood has played a huge role in perpetuating the concept of “No means Yes” in the context women and has always shown that consistently pushing a woman always leads to the beginning of “romance”. The author has described how films have rather been a means to oppress females on a larger screen and to prove this, 100 commercial Indian Films have been analyzed to study the positive as well as negative consequences of gender perspective shown in the movies. The CFC (Central Female Character) has been used to examine the movies which turned out to be completely absent in 11 out of 100 films. The author also discusses about “benevolent sexism” towards the traditional women played in the movies which has been turning hostile instead leading to a wide trend of sexism. Not only gender but also caste bias has been the foundation of many plots in the Indian Cinemas.

Rukman Banka, Week 11

The Abducted Woman in the House

The author draws a line between the "rape culture" perpetrated by the Patriarchal nature of the Indian Society and is legitimized by both "immunity" and "impunity" and is not just a matter of lack of security and safety for women. The writer supports her claim by saying how the Indian Penal Code established that a married woman can never be raped, let alone other sexual violence. Various feminist discourses have come up such as the recommendations made by the Justice Verma Committee, which started to recognize numerous offences against the vulnerable community of women and the LGBT+ community. Yet, despite these progressive attempts, because of the patriarchal prejudice that lingers at the back of society at large, India as a country always has taken more steps backward than it has taken forward. 

Indira Singh, Week 13

Open letter to CJI

Summary

This letter discusses the Tukaram v. State of Maharashtra (1979) case. It briefly explains the facts of the case and the decisions of the High Court and Supreme Court. This letter is a appeal to have the case reheard, by a larger bench or full court. It says that the Supreme Court’s extraordinary decision was a sacrifice of human rights of women under the law and the constitution. And it questions the decision as there was no cogent analysis regarding as to why the factors which weighed with the High Court was not sufficient to justify conviction of rape.
 It also discusses the scope of ‘consent’  in the constitution. As Supreme Court should have only focused on the third component of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which applies when rape is committed with the woman’s consent, when “her consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or hurt”. But the second component of Section 375 is when rape occurs without her consent. There is a clear difference in law, and common sense, between ‘submission’ and ‘consent’. Consent involves submission; but the converse is not necessarily true. Nor is absence of resistance necessarily indicative of consent. the issue before the Court was simply whether the act was committed with her consent, under fear of death or hurt. From the facts of the case, all that is established is submission, and not consent. The Court has given no consideration whatsoever to the socio-economic status, the lack of knowledge of legal rights, the age of the victim, lack of access to legal services, and the fear complex which haunts the poor and the exploited in Indian police stations. But a case like this with its cold-blooded legalism snuffs out all aspirations for the protection of human rights of millions of Mathura’s in the Indian countryside. But what matters is a search for liberation from the colonial and male-dominated notions of what may constitute the element of consent, and the burden of proof, for rape which affect many Mathura’s on the Indian countryside.

Indira Singh, week 12

GENDER POLICING IN MAINSTREAM HINDI CINEMA

This reading analyzes the gender roles played by CFCs (Central Female Characters) in various Hindi movies released in 2003-04 to 2013-14. Irrespective of the year in which these films were released, all movies that included a CFC depicted that character following some form of prescriptive gender norms. 

CFCs in old as well as new movies were rewarded when they adhered to gender norms and punished when they violated gender norms. Instances of punishment were higher in old movies than in new movies; violation of prescriptive gender norms was not related to punishment in new movies, and new movies also lacked identifiable female protagonists on average compared with old movies.

 In recent years, several causes have been advanced to explain the increasing violence against women in India, including political apathy, socioeconomic upheaval, societal attitudes, and media effects. Violent crime against women in India has changed in recent decades. The number of reported crimes has increased markedly; according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau of India (2013), there was a 91% increase in reported incidents of crime against women from 2003 to 2013, including kidnapping; rape; domestic violence; sexual intimidation in the form of gazing, groping, verbal abuse, or whistling directed at women in public spaces (Paul, 2011); and cyber crimes. During the same period, policy changes including harsher penalties for violence against women have been implemented.

Bollywood’s globalization has arguably affected the portrayal of Indian women in Bollywood films. globalization has led to the emergence of alternate modes of Indian femininity, as expressed in popular Hindi films that depart from the portrayal of Indian women as upholders of moral code. In an informal survey of Bollywood movies released during 2006 and 2009, the portrayal of women was found to be increasingly Western (e.g., Western clothes, depiction of sexuality), conforming less to traditional gender-role expectations for women in India. women characters in Bollywood films are portrayed as increasingly independent and strong. This reflects, in part, the impact of globalization on Indian society. 

Forces of globalization have created a steady demand for labor, encouraging Indian women to enter the job market. In contemporary Indian society, women have more access to education. Both these trends are reflected in contemporary Bollywood films through central female characters (CFCs) that are educated and career oriented Globalization also opened up the Indian market to Western attire, which is reflected in the dresses Bollywood heroines wear. The degree to which these depictions have become commonplace, and the consequences that accrue to characters thus depicted, are the focus of this article.

Durlabh Agrawal Week12

Does Bollywood Have A Women Problem?

In this blog post I'll be reviewing the Al-Jazeera article by Shafik Mandhai and Vibhav Gautam.

A typical Bollywood movie is a compilation of a action scenes, music, dance, some more action and self-appreciating or narcissistic monologues, but in the same movie there are "item song" which hardly has anything to do with the plot of the movie except to appease male audience. For a society with conservative trend towards women and sexuality, these item songs normalizes the idea of misogyny and sexual harassment against women. 

In the words of Swati Tandon "Our media and our entertainment industry is totally dependent on society for content and society gets affected by the media, so it's very codependent on each other" is true in a larger context. Though the article stresses on the 2015 film Badlapur, films that objectify and desensitize the idea of sexual harassment towards opposite sex or gender is given a lens of common perception by making their viewers acknowledge toxic masculinity and patriarchal norms as common.

The author also notes the confusion it creates with eve-teasing and romance and build false sense into the mind of their viewers. A recent disclosure on one Bollywood actor Salman Khan surfaced to light where he was asked to "smooch" one of his co-actress for a film poster without her consent, which he refused. This revitalizes the director and their supporting staffs idea of taking the association of women for granted and demoralizing the section of society for the appeasement of one society.

Content creators of the big screen holds an precedential influence on the mind of its viewers but creating films dilutes what is acceptable for views that would psychologically affect the society is an undue entitlement.

Shivjeet Week 12

I will be reviewing Al-Jazeera's piece on Women and their representation on the big screen in Bollywood.

The piece touches upon how many people have now begun to view the representation of women in Bollywood as one dimensional and stereotypical.

Most women in movies have very little screentime, and most of it is relegated to 'item numbers', a sexualised song and dance segment that reduces the character of a women to merely an object of desire. This is inflated as most portrayals would also go to show that the woman calls out to the man, as if she requires his presence and leads to what many would believe to be as the 'woman leading the man on', and the 'woman asking for it'.

One needn't speak about the perpetuation of rape culture in bollywood, as it is now a common understanding that the depiction of females, should they be given more screen time, in these movies revolves around the woman 'playing hard to get'. This creates a sense of entitlement within men who now believe that they must stalk, harass, and catcall women in real life as this is the way to a woman's heart. 

Rahul Desarda Week 12

Does Bollywood have a women problem?

Objectification of women has long been a prevalent practice of Bollywood. It is pertinent to note that over time many Bollywood actresses have accused that Bollywood directors chose them for their movies not become of their acting abilities but because of their specific bodily features. This is very disturbing since it is not only against basic principles of ethics and morality but also illegal as it is in violation of Article 14, i.e., right to equality. To point out a few fairly recent examples, the article discusses the issues concerning the Bollywood film Badlapur which was considered by many as a misogynistic portrayal of women through films. This has a lot of adverse effects on the society as a section of men are encouraged by such behaviour and at the same time normalizes the brutality committed against women.

It is time we realize that Bollywood has a responsibility towards its viewers and society as a whole. The discrimination committed against the actresses working in Bollywood and the bad depiction of women and their subsequent objection must stop immediately as it is purely for commercial gains and vested interests of a few men in the Bollywood. This must begin with educating the public opinion about the Bollywood’s insidiousness against women so that we as a society can collectively protest against it.

Paras Gupta, Week 12

"Does Bollywood Have  Problem With Women"

Shafik Mandhai and Vibhav Gautam talks about the concerns in mainstreams Bollywood in this Al-Jazeera “Does Bollywood Have A Problem With Women”. The article starts with the problematic scene of the Badlapur in the when protagonist goes to inquire a prostitute and while inquiring he sexually assaults the prostitute. This scene has glorified the culture of rape and shows how many rights do prostitutes have I the country. This movie was passed by the censor board in spite of this scene. Another movie which was discussed was Kal Ho Na Ho in which Saif Ali Khan is being harassed by women in some cliché Bollywood song to provide entertainment for the viewers. This spotlights on another hazardous idea incited by Bollywood - that men's consent may be thought little of since who wouldn't want to bob in at the chief possibility of intercourse? The difficulty other than is that most of the masters playing these characters routinely anticipate the clothing of social activism for introduction, further debilitating the lines between what's fitting behavior, etc since the group barely detaches performers from their characters.

The article further discusses the repercussions of depicting such jobs on the general public everywhere, for this affirms sex standards and expands sexual orientation job desires from ladies, while additionally dissecting the disgracing and analysis female characters on screen face in the event that they are appeared to veer off from this away from of how an Indian lady ought to be.

Music is considered as to stress reliever but in Bollywood the movies are supported by the music tracks which have lyrics representing misogyny culture and patriarchy. 

It is a high time that there be a change in this norms of misogyny and patriarchy in Bollywood and for that people must be aware of what is happening and to recognize the wrong. The industry should be made accountable of the wrongs and rectify the wrong by bringing a change the manner in which Bollywood functions. 

Mansi Upadhyay, Week 12

Does Bollywood have a women problem?

- Our media and our entertainment industry is totally dependent on society for content and society gets affected by the media, so it's very codependent on each other.

Yes, it most definitely does. The article talks about how the movie Badlapur is problematic. It was written in 2018 since then many more misogynistic, patriarchal films have been released, the epitome of which is Kabir Singh. There have been numerous articles on how deeply problematic Kabir Singh is as it promotes harassment, physical violence, and toxic masculinity, one doesn’t need to comment further on this movie.

It is worth noting that after the film was released, it gained a lot of adulation and acceptance among the general public. Some teenagers, influenced by this movie, even tried to kill their girlfriends for cheating or leaving them. There is no doubt that whatever people see on screens influence their daily behavior.

Another outcome of these movies is how young adults and even older people have a distorted sense of what love is. They get inspired by ‘classics’ like DDLJ and think to win over people they love; they have to continually harass and stalk and eve tease a woman to fall in love with them eventually. What’s even more problematic is that men think no is a maybe. The concept of consent seems indecipherable to them because, after all, if the beautiful actress on the screen said no and secretly wanted the hero, then why wouldn’t this average girl?

Eve teasing is seen as a sign of appreciating a woman’s beauty instead of what it actually is. It doesn't just enforce problematic behavior in men but also young girls who are told that this is what love entails and looks like, the bad boy is shown to be what a woman should desire and how she’s supposed to fix him. She’s repeatedly taught that this behavior is normal and toxic relationships are what she should look forward to. As the article points out, “They have confused romance with eve-teasing, which is extremely dangerous because that's what young kids are growing up seeing.”

Even though the MeToo movement started some discussion on the deeply problematic industry, it was conveniently thwarted and stifled as quickly. With actresses like Kareena Kapoor opining that  they aren’t feminists but rather believe in equality, one starts to wonder whether anyone in this industry even truly understands what feminism is? The article suggests that the problem could be solved if women were given more representation behind the screens and wrote the female characters, but with the prevalent ignorance about the F word in the industry, it isn’t enough. The answer lies in a thorough sexual education provided at a young age.  

Akshara Singh, Week-12.

Al-Jazeera’s “Does Bollywood have a Women Problem?” throws light on the fact that how more often than not, Bollywood stereotypes women and reduces their identity to just their physical appearance. Her text engages with conventionalized representation of women in the entertainment industry and why it has become extremely important, now more than ever, to break these customary ideas of how a woman is supposed to look like. There are many ways in which the films we see affect the way we think. It’s been observed that whatever we see on the television, we try to emulate it. Women watch certain movies or television series and think that to be sexually desirable, they have to be a certain size and look a certain way. They crumble under the narrow conceptions of womanhood that have been set by the society. Bollywood should take some form of responsibility and offer a more constructive approach to the idea of beauty. It is very important that the audience is offered different set of role models so that there is representation and diversity. Constantly watching egalitarian or stereotyped female characters will in some way negatively affect the viewers, confining their thought process to a certain degree. Things like sexual violence, rape, assault and molestation should be talked about in a much more thorough and responsible manner rather than making jokes about it or taking it lightly. A lot of times I’ve come across certain “item songs” that have extremely derogatory lyrics and are trending on the internet. This shows that somewhere, something is very wrong and needs to be corrected immediately. And the first step could be creating a better, more respectful content for the society to watch and indulge in.