Images of Women in Indian Films
The following piece is extracted from Images of the Woman
in Indian Films. (Hindi and Gujarati) — a survey conducted by a small group of feminists in Ahmedabad, India. The group contact address is c/o Ela R. Bhatt, The Woman's Group, 5 Professors' Colony, St. Savier's High School Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380009, India.
The main objective of the study was to explore to what extent the status and roles depicted in the films correspond to those in the traditional Indian society, and how far the nontraditional liberal, democratic, egalitarian values are reflected in the roles played by female characters. Data was collected from 12 hindi and 6 gujarati films shown in Ahmedabad, India, in November 1976. The roles and personalities portrayed by 18 main and 28 subsidiary female characters, were examined
The following points were presented by the group as their main findings and conclusions.
- The tendency of the Gujarati film-makers is to use distorted historical and mythological themes. The Hindi films present North Indian culture.
- Most of the women characters are shown as youthful, which puts a wrong emphasis on youth and beauty as if no middleaged or old, plain or ordinary looking women
existed in society. Physical attractiveness is given undue importance..
Unmarried women characters or youthful married women characters outnumber widowed characters. Middle-aged married women and widows are usually found useful in
the background. They symbolise traditional ideas like 'khandan' (family), and concern for the daughter's marriage — (the earlier the better). They are shown to be generally tearful, helpless, humiliated and also demanding towards their sons
- The proportion of literate women is praiseworthy but her literacy is measured only by her capacity to read letters. Higher education in cases of women characters is deplorable. Gujarati films do not show anybody with higher education.
Of twelve "employed" women characters shown, nine were employed in stereotyped feminine occupations. Education and employment have no relationship. Even the
housewives are not shown as intelligently managing their households. Gujarati film-makers do not show any woman who is gainfully employed.
- There is a tendency to show the behaviour of women to be slightly outside the norm. She does not speak out because as a woman she has to be 'Khamosh' (silent), she
keeps dissolving into tears, she is shown as sentimental, superstitious and incapable of rational action. Whatever her predicament, she is invariably dressed colourfully,
fashionably, or seductively, in a variety of dresses. And she almost always behaves according to the film-makers' idea of a 'good' and 'virtuous' woman, at least in the last
scene.
Even when the women characters are dressed in the Indian sari, they are turned into sexy dolls with low-necklines, falling and revealing saris etc.
Social parties, dancing dens and so on also provide opportunity for bizarre dresses. Even middle-aged and old women characters are dressed seductively. Most otherwise
ascetic looking women are degraded in some scenes by similar figure revealing dresses.
No matter what the outward appearance, each of the women characters mouths the highest of moral ideas. When she is suddenly made to turn 'moral', she is required to cover her head with the end of her sari, in the traditional manner.
A few women characters are shown to be morally repulsive.
- The ftlms show women to be over-reactive to situations. They become hysterical, sentimental, over-joyed or oversad very easily. They are shown as sentimental creatures.
Like her body, the woman's emotions are also capitalised by film-makers.
They are shown to make few rational decisions. They either decide emotionally or according to traditional expectations. Very few women are shown to face crisis
situations. Some do so only because they are confident about their emotional decisions. Others succumb to the crisis, faint or are bed-ridden, and some retire into religion.
- Most women are submissive to male counterparts. Mothers and sisters appear to dominate, but not over their husbands or paramours. The dominating type becomes 'acceptable' only if she is submissive in this context. There are a few exceptional cases, like women with higher education, and women belonging to some social groups, like the under world outlaws, dacoits etc., who are shown as equal to their male counterparts.
- Scenes of beating, rape, sexy depiction, cruelty to women are very frequent. Women are also shown as overprotected or living in seclusion, or living as kept women.
Women are portrayed as utterly dumb, having no intelligent understanding of situations they are in. They hardly ever speak out and are always made silent suffering victims. Women are portrayed as mere appendages to men. - There are hardly any films built around a female character. Even where the film-maker puts a woman in the centre of the story, she does not always remain there. It becomes 'his' story. Even when it remains 'her story' it does not refrain from exploiting the beauty of the woman character.
- The only goal unmarried women are supposed to have in life is marriage. Beauty and money help in settling the marriage. No other aspect of a woman's personality gets
emphasized.
- The beauty of the woman is overemphasized almost as if it was her reason for being. Her beauty is used as a bait to attract the hero and the villain in the story as well as the audience in the cinema halls. Exposure of the woman's body at its utmost is commonly done.
- Like a woman's body and emotions, her timidness is also used to create a sensation in films. A bewildered woman, being kidnapped or standing in a corner panting is frequently made into an attractive scene for hungry eyes.
- Male characters do not always show responsible behaviour towards women. While women always have to be morally upright, for a man a promise of marriage amounts to nothing, if there is another duty to be fulfilled.
- The film-makers also have some positive depictions of woman's image. Most women are shown as literate: some are shown as self-confident, a few are gainfully employed; a very few participate in the socio-political life of the society, and show bravery and leadership qualities.
It can be stated that the emphasis on woman's beauty, her emotionality and her timidness comes from the film-makers' desire to sell these things well.
The traditional Indian ideals are reflected in her submissiveness, in the insistence on her marriage and in her confinement to her home. The irrationality found in her and the employments shown also refer back to social prejudices against women.
The film maker's image of women is grafted upon the image of women traditionally accepted by society, and this ultimately creates a hideous portrait. Unfortunately the questionable portrayal has been accepted by a vast number of filmgoers. In our opinion, that is just the problem. The frequency and proliferation of such portrayals is bound to harm both women and society, and in fact has already started to do so. To our minds the cumulative effect of all this is to limit the role of women in society and distort her image.