Representation of women in Media

A few decades back we could count women in Media on our fingertips. The number has been increasing over the time and has helped a lot of women to come forward and represent many other women in our society. T.V, Radio, Video games, Social media, Newspapers, or magazines, be it any platform we can spot women with the same ease as we spot men in every field.

 But there are some questions I would like to raise.

• Do women play the same types of roles in Cinema and advertisements?
• What is the nature of these roles?
• Does the portrayal of women in most of the commercials overlap?
• Is it equally difficult for the minority group women to find work in acting industry?

I will try to answer some similar questions in this article.

No doubt the number of women in each sector has increased, but in media the representation of women has been mostly linked to stereotypes. They are given specific roles based on these notions

• A woman’s place is at home
• Women do not make important decisions
• Women are dependent on men
• Women are perceived as sexual objects

Media has reinforced over time that women are of submissive and subordinate nature. If I focus on advertisements the domestic things like a broom, pressure cooker, soaps, toilet cleaners, etc. are promoted by women. What women seek in all these commercials is the approval of men. The plot follows the same pattern. Generally, the men in the commercial would not be satisfied or happy at first. The reason could be his shirt is not exactly white; the utensils are not properly cleaned and even because his wife is not fair. So the woman in the commercial would do everything to make him happy. After buying the product the husband would start loving her more and be happy with the way work has been done. There is never a room for woman’s approval. She must do everything to make everyone around her happy. 

The idea is that the real woman is the one who handles everything well despite her problems. She must do all the household chores, look after children and if she works then she still needs to cope up with the demands and household work.

In a Surf Excel detergent advertisement, a small boy messes up his clothes. Immediately his mother is told that your load has been increased and you will have to work hard to clean the shirt. She accepts the load happily and here comes the promotion of detergent that it makes the work of a woman easy.

Commercials glorify that these are the chores only a woman is supposed to perform. In 2016, 73% of purchases were made with women consultancy but in most of the commercials, women are shown making low purchases while men are shown buying valuable products like cars, houses, and jewelry. 

Men commercials on the other hand are career-oriented. Even the pan masala advertisements show that if you want to be successful then you must, like a man buy our pan masala. According to WHO reports, in 2019, 25.9% of adults (out of which 32.9% male and 18.4% females) use smokeless tobacco. If a prominent fraction of our society which consumes pan masala consists of women, why do these products target only men? 

One idea that is provoked in most of the male-centric commercials is that if you buy our product you will be surrounded by women. Women are hyper-sexualized, portrayed in lack of clothing, and subordinate to men. In most of the deodorant advertisements, it is shown that after using the product, girls fall from the rooftop or chase the man around. Women are looked upon as tools in men’s world. Reinforcing that women are mere objects dehumanizes them and helps in justification of violence against them.

Beauty commercials like fair and lovely, eyeliners, innerwear are now a mode to tell women that they are physically imperfect enough to spend an enormous amount of time, money, and energy to look like the models they come across. Otherwise, how will they find a perfect partner? 

In a 2014 fair and lovely commercial, a woman is denied of her job because of her dark color, as soon as she uses fair and lovely cream and turns into a fair woman she is immediately taken. Yes, screw talent, all you need is beautiful and fair skin.

Katrina Kaif in a 2011 Veet advertisement wins the approval of her director to shoot because she uses hair removal cream. The list goes on for such commercials. The need for perfection continues so the consumption never stops. This does not only make a woman question her self-esteem but her health and emotional well-being may be negatively affected.

Many people say that they do not watch commercials because they do not have the time. It doesn’t matter because commercials are everywhere, on roads, metro seats, stations, and even on the radio of your motorcar. Only 8% of messages are received by the conscious mind, the rest is received by the unconscious mind. So even if people are not watching these commercials with their conscious mind, they are still affected by them. Other than commercials, movies play a big role in the way people perceive things, act in their life, and take up certain actions. 

Despite several female-oriented movies offering bold roles to actresses and several prominent female filmmakers creating offbeat artistic cinema, our times have rarely got rid of stereotypes. Women are still portrayed as a secondary character in most of the movies. They are represented as men would like to see them young, submissive, beautiful, and efficient housekeepers.

In the case of the 60’s and 70’s cinema, there was a thick line between the heroine and the vamps. An ideal traditional woman was the one who would get up early in the morning, go to the temple, do household chores, and adore her husband be it any situation. The vamps on the other hand used to be cabaret dancers, a girl more open about her sexuality and more independent.

In Sholay (1975) Helen Anne Richardson dances for the team of Gabbar(vilen) in song Mehbooba Mehbooba. She is considered unethical and not ideal. Hema Malini on the other hand dances for her lover and doesn’t stop on the pieces of broken glass. She is looked upon as an absolute symbol of a good woman. Women are continuously pushed to sacrifice themselves. In the same movie, Jaya Bhaduri a widow is shown silent indicating how a widow should behave. 

They also followed a pattern that the girl would come from a very poor family gaining sympathy from viewers. Heroines were portrayed in a sensual way only when the scene was from the point of view of the male protagonist but not in pubs and bars. The men on the other hand used to be present in pubs, bars, or any place to please themselves the way they like. Women were not shown as full human beings with their desires, interests, troubles, and endeavors. 

 The character of a woman was always from the point of view of male protagnist. In Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), Sashi Kapoor looks at Zeenat Aman who is sensually cleaning the temple. We see Zeenat from the point of view of Hero therefore it is not irrelevant for the viewers and is also justified. Gratifications of male needs were important but again female desires and needs were not even spoken of. 

The era of the ’80s and 90’s displayed family films. Women’s roles were of beautiful and traditional wife, caring bhabi, and loving mother. The good girl was the one picked by the hero. He would usually choose someone traditional over a modern girl. Being modern in the era of ’80s and ’90s didn’t mean being educated and fighting for your rights instead it meant wearing short clothes, acting dumb and speaking English with an accent. Fighting for the world, solving mysteries, and to end evil in the society was the work of a hero while the actress was there for the mere love interest of the male protagonist. 

In superhit movies like Hum aapke hai koun (1994), Dil wale dulhaniya le jaayege(1995) actresses Madhuri Dixit, Renuka Shahane, Reema Lagoo and Kajol, Himani Shivpuri have conservative roles. Their roles are limited to the four walls of the house. The important decisions in these movies are made by the male members. The death of Renuka Shahane has been used to put the male protagonist through emotional trauma promoting the story further. Even today, women are not usually the protagonist of their own stories.

If an actress is shown the protagonist of her own story, her sole purpose would be to make others happy, put their sadness aside with the use of her humor. Her other purpose in the movie would be to save the male protagonist. 

In Khoobsurat (1980) Bhanurekha Ganeshan (Rekha) plays a role of a cheerful girl but her purpose is to liven up the whole house of her sister’s in-laws along with her sister’s strict mother-in-law. She is notorious but when it comes to physical close-up with her lover, she again goes back to being the expected shy one. The movie ends up with the dialogue “ Sabko aaisi bahu betiya mile”.

Doesn’t matter if the movies are male-centric or female-centric, stereotypes pull people in certain boxes and don’t allow them to identify themselves. The 90’s also dissolved the line between the vamp and heroine. The female would dress according to her will but goes back to being sanskari and good housewife performing duties once she gets married. Women were supposed to hold Indian traditions but also male fantasies.

In Khalnayak(1993) Madhuri Dixit went undercover as a prostitute to clear the reputation of her police boyfriend. Her main role in the movie is to save the hero. That’s where the desires of women end in the ’80s and 90’s movies. 

The rape scenes were performed in the movies to move the story ahead for the male protagonist. The hero would showcase his abilities by saving the woman. Usually, the hero would save the girl before she gets raped because her virginity should be intact. The actress’s pain and emotional well being are rarely addressed.

Why can not the male’s character greatness be demonstrated in something else? This is because men see themselves as the savior of society especially women. (In these movies women act as disposals)

The submissive, caring, and sacrificing mother has been a part of the ’80s and ’90s. She would sacrifice every bit of happiness for her boy and family needs. Mothers in movies were ready with dialogues like “ aapne hatho se khana bnaya”, “beta ghar jaldi aana” while the sisters were to sit at home and help her mother in chores. Working mothers and sisters were not common. Rakheen Gulzar in Karan Arjun (1995) is the best example of a mother longing for the rebirth of her dead sons. 

Cinema act as a getaway for people and women generally end up being stereotyped. The film industry was and even today is male dominating due to which women’s side of stories, desires, fantasies are no perceived. 

Although over time, women-centric stories have paved more and more way into the Hindi Cinema. They either end up not being the blockbusters or produces rage in society. It showcases the interest of the audience that they are interested in the movies only if women are portrayed in certain ways. Movies which clash with the dominance of men, are generally taken down by the public or do not earn much.

One such example is Fire (1995), it is a story of 2 women Rekha and Radha, who forms a close and intimate relationship because their husband chooses celibacy or mistresses over their wives. Directed by Deepa Mehta, this movie raged furry among the viewers, the Shiv Sena party targeted the movie. It was declared pornographic and immoral.

This is the truth of Indian society that it is not ready to accept a woman stepping out of societal norms. It is not ready to accept a woman living the way she desires. 

Female fantasies do not find a voice in Indian cinema. This is because men feel greatly threatened, what if the same traits come to a woman?

In the ’70s and ’80s, the vamps were cabaret dancers. Helen Richardson, Aruna Irani, Padma Khanna were some prominent names at that time. In the 2000s this trend changed to item numbers like ‘Munni badnam hui’ and ‘Sheela ki jawani’ objectifying women more than ever. While the workplace of women changed from homes to offices, still the career-oriented woman goes back to falling in love with the hero. She would start mending her ways and priorities. She does everything to get the love of the hero.

One such example is Cocktail (2012) where Deepika Padukon acts as a free-minded girl; she is modern, working, and open about her sexuality and party a lot. She falls in love with Saif Ali Khan. Saif despite being in a relationship with Deepika eventually falls in love with Diana Penty who is more conservative and traditional. In the end, to win back Saif, Deepika comes back in suit salwar. This shows how for men modern women are shown more of a temporary phase and eventually the love interest is a traditional woman.

The violent ways are romanticized and glorified in Indian Cinema. Women later perceive these ideas in real life as desirable and romantic. In a Telugu movie Yevadu 2 (2014) where actor Ramcharan blackmails Kajal Aggarwal to have kisses and hugs, although the girl is visibly uncomfortable. In Tumsa Nahi Dekha (2004) Imraan Hashmi kisses a girl and forces himself on her. What about consent? It is not romantic to kiss someone without their consent. In the latest movie Ismart Shankar(2019) the main lead Shankar follows Chandni to her home. She refuses and is completely not happy. He still follows her and ends up in her bedroom. She calls Police and tells them how she is on the verge of being raped. Later, when the police arrive she says she has changed her mind and “ Ladka pasand aa gaya hai”

Problems are going on in our society like that of abducting, harassments, rape. These movies suggest saying NO is playful and you need to force a girl for her to say yes, which she also wants to say but is not saying. 

There is an age gap between the male and female lead in movies and this is simply increasing. Though the male actors grow older, the ages of the female lead remain the same. Her work is considered good only if she is young. The kind of message media is settling for is that ‘If you are not young and beautiful, you don’t have any sexuality’. The female starts to end up their careers in the ’30s and wither away to come again in the roles of mothers, elder sisters, and aunt. One such example is Dear Zindagi (2016) where the age gap between the lead roles that is Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhat is of 27 years. The cast hunts generally for a young actress. Middle-aged women are also used to seeing their age group portrayed in unrealistic ways leading to eating disorders and negative body image among this group.

 The Bollywood industry is not only men dominated but also involves the angle of casteism. Most of the directors, screen writers, producers, actors, and actresses belong to the privileged classes. Although in the era from 60’s to 80’s the experiment continued with the plot of the movies which had primary focus on casteism issues. The trend has decreasing in the recent industry.’ Bajarangi Bhaijaan’, Guddu tyagi in ‘Luka chuppi’,  Bauua Singh in ‘zero’ indicates how uncommon it is to have a hero portrayed as a person from a minor community.  This shows that representation SCs, STs and other minor communties is not much celebrated in Hindi cinema.

The Hindu published a report on Hindu cinema and Dalit representation. According to this report between 2013 to 2015 three hundred films were made but only 5 of them had Dalit heroes or heroines in them. This is also rare that the role is generally played by an artist from minor community.

 Women represented in the movies are mostly given the role of a hard working laborer, exploited physically and mentally by upper caste males. These women are represented as untouchables and sex objects for upper caste egoistic males and their miseries are not looked upon in the movies in detail. The hero or the male protagonist would then after looking at their pain would solve the problem of unjust society.

There are dalit filmmakers like PA Ranith, Nagraj Manjula but rarely any female dalit filmmaker in the Hindi cinema industry. Many movies like Achyut Kanya(1936), Bandit Queen(1994), Sujata (1951) have covered the issues of what it is like to be a women from minority communities but again the trend has decreasing so far in the recent times.

Niharika Singh an Indian Film actress and former Miss India in an interview said “It was only after I started working in films did I realize the most of the jobs in Hindi cinema are reserved for film dynasts or savarnag. In the same interview she said I wrote addressing #metoo movement in 2018, the silence of my peers in film fraternity reinforces how feeble the support is for dalit women. The constant struggles of many others like Niharika Singh proposes that there is lot more to change in the Hindi cinema and the problems have deep roots.

The image, status, and roles of Dalit and other minority women as a social issue are still reflected in the Indian cinema. 

Media has the power to bring out the problems, break the stereotypes. Values and actions which are not acceptable anywhere by women should be brought down. The media need to highlight positive masculinity. 

I want to ask you, do media consider the realities of women’s life? Do media reflect a woman’s way of thinking, the way she feels, and expresses herself?