It won’t
be shocking, when you come across women with barely any clothes on them,
dancing about in a music video. What was considered to be disgraceful once upon
a time has become a part of the popular culture. It doesn’t strike people as
odd when they see scantily clad ladies on screen. Not just the clothes, but
when in a movie, the hero whistles and comments on the heroines looks, she
blushes and may not even think twice before being friends with him. But what
they don’t comprehend is that, this is not real. And hence, they think it is ok
for them to actually do this on the streets. They do not realize that what they
are doing, although, what the majority thinks to be harmless, is sheer
molestation. Who is to blame? Saying that the media is to blame, is just taking
a short cut. That doesn’t mean, what the media showcases is justified. But what
it does definitely adds fuel to the fire, and has a deep impact on people, and
should be stopped at least for the sake of those out there, who become victims
to such activities. And by saying ‘such activities’ I do not only mean eve
teasing. It includes everything. Literally.
According
to the Indian Media, there only two sets of women out there: One’s who are bold
- which are classified by wearing western outfits, being bitchy and ambitious
(read: not interested in taking care of the family), and the other half being
meek – the ones who dress in Indian attires (complete ‘pallu’ over the head),
having no opinion of their own or no say in things, and their only motive to be
alive is to cook and take care of their husband and children and in-laws and
chachas and chachis and bua’s and god knows who else, but definitely everybody
except themselves. Only this woman can be a true Indian woman. And what
characteristic should she have to be a true Indian woman? Being selfless. And
therefore a woman, who thinks about what is good for her, is automatically
selfish. What the media lacks is a balance. And especially when it comes to a country like
ours, a country where the mindset of most of the people is not compatible with where
the world is going today, almost all that the media is doing today is leading us
downwards. According to an article I came across on ‘The Hoot’, states that,
Media paints women in White and Black. There is no ‘in between’. In a
particular Hindi soap opera, a woman working in some huge corporate office, has
been shown to lure one married man into falling in love with her. It leads to him
leaving his wife, who’s a ‘homemaker’ and hence a very demure and a sensitive
woman. On the other hand, the woman who works is seen to be dressed in formal
skirts and is very ambitious. People start depicting these images and use them
to narrow down everything around them. A housewife can never be bold; if you
are ambitious, you tend to become selfish and almost cruel; if you want to look
modest you have to dress in an Indian attire; if you are a good wife and mother
then you have to sit at home and keep cooking and cleaning; and so on and so
forth. What gets translated as culture is not always correct, you know? Another
example for this can be of the movie ‘Corporate’. Bipasha is portrayed
negatively because she sleeps with men, to get her job done, and hence she is a
characterless woman. What people don’t understand is that, the men are sleeping
with her too, o why are the men not characterless?!
Some
people might say that the media doesn’t lie. But does it even show us the
complete truth? Almost all the daily soaps show such women, only the stories
are different. The men go out to work, the women work at home. But if you go to
see, which household do you see where such a scenario exists? If you want to
keep up with the increasing prices, both the husband and the wife need to work.
The women simply cannot afford to sit at home. But then again, this is limited
to metros or other major cities. What about the viewers who reside in smaller
areas of the country? At this rate their mindset will never change.
Not just
the daily soaps, but every other movie these days, has to have an item song.
The situation is such that, even women nowadays do not understand when it is actually
insulting to their character, because these things have become so common, they don’t
bother. The lyrics are almost all the time downright lewd, and I don’t think I should
even get started on the choreography. We can actually file cases against these
songs under ‘Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act,1986’. Songs by
Rapper Honey Singh, are absolutely offensive to women. He goes down to say that
he is not asking people to go rape women. But what he doesn’t realize is that
his songs encourage them to do so.
There
are innumerable other examples, of medias’ portrayal of women, is plain
disgraceful. The media is expected to draw lines. The media might be trying to
changes this, but not hard enough. May be if we stop accepting this, it will
have an impact on the media, but isn’t the media supposed to have an impact on
the masses? Ironically it is having an impact, but not a very positive one.
