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Declaration by the Candidate

Declaration by the Candidate

DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I hereby declare that the dissertation entitled “Objectification and commodification of women in the visual media: A critical study” submitted at National Law University, is the outcome of my own work carried out under the supervision of Dr. Sushila, Assistant Professor (Law), National Law University, Delhi.

I further declare that to the best of my knowledge, the dissertation does not contain any part of my work, which has been submitted for the award of any degree either in this University or in any other institution without proper citation.

Vighnesh Balaji 27/ LLM /18 Place: National Law University, Delhi Date: 23.05.19

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CERTIFICATE OF SUPERVISOR

This is to certify that the work reported in the LL.M. dissertation titled “Objectification and Commodification of Women in the

Visual Media: A Critical Study” submitted by Vighnesh Balaji at

National Law University, Delhi is a bona fide record of his original work carried out under my supervision.

Dr. Sushila Assistant Professor (Law) Place: New Delhi National Law University, Delhi Date: 23.05.19

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

First, and foremost I would like to thank my wonderful supervisor Dr. Sushila who has always believed in me and has provided me insightful suggestions and has been a constant pillar of support throughout the dissertation period. My father, for always trying to balance me, My sisters, for holding my back, my friends, to whom I owe the world, NLU-Delhi for teaching me much more than the prescribed syllabus. Last but never the least; I thank Lord Shiva with all my heart for my unconditional mother, Suseela Ravichandran who has always firmly believed that the odds have to favour me.

Vighnesh Balaji

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

% Percentage & And A.I.R All Reporter ALL Allahabad High Court AP Art. Article BLR Bengal Law Reports CAR Criminal Appeal Reporter Cr. L J. Criminal Law Journal Ed. Edition ILR Indian Law Reporter INDIA CONST. The Constitution of India, 1950 Mad. Madras Rs. Rupees SC Supreme Court SCC Supreme Court Cases Sept September v. Versus

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LIST OF CASES

 Ranjt. D. Udeshi v Union of India AIR 1965 SC 881  Samaresh Bose v Amal Mitra AIR 1986 SC 967  K.A.Abbas v Union of India (1970)2 SCC  Samaresh Bose v. Amal Mitra, AIR 1986 SC 967.  Maneka Gandhi v Union of India, AIR 1981 SC 746  Francis Coralie v Union of Territory of Delhi, AIR 1978 SC 597  Chandrakant kalyandas Kokodar vs. State of Maharastra and ors AIR (1970) 1396  Ranjit D. Udeshi vs. State of MaharastraAIR 1965 SC 881: (1965) 1 SCR 65.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE Page Number

DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE I

CERTIFICATE OF SUPERVISOR II

ACKNOWLEDGMENT III

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 1V

LIST OF CASES V

TABLE OF CONTENTS VI-VIII

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND 1

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM 1

1.3 OBJECTIVES 2

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 2

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2

1.6 LITERATURE REVIEW 3

1.7 CHAPTERIZATION 4

CHAPTER 2- OBJECTIFICATION AND COMMODIFICATION OF 5

WOMEN

2.1 WHAT IS OBJECTIFICATION? 6

2.2 COMMODIFYING AN OBJECTIFIED WOMAN 7

2.3 HOW THIS SEEPS INTO THE SELF-PERCEPTION OF WOMEN 8

2.4 HOW THE MEDIA IS FAILING WOMEN 9

2.5 IGNORED, SEXUALISED AND COMMODIFIED 10

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2.6 A DIP IN SELF-ESTEEM AND A MYRIAD OF LOWS 11

2.7 WHEN IT GETS DANGEROUS 12

CHAPTER 3- IMPACT OF FILMS ON SOCIETY 14

3.1 GOING BEYOND FASHION FADS 17

3.2 ART IMITATES LIFE, LIFE IMITATES ART 17

3.3 HOW INSTIGATES VIOLENCE 19

3.4 WHEN LYRICS CAN TRIGGER VIOLENCE 22

3.5 ITEM SONGS: NOT JUST MUSIC TO EARS 23

CHAPTER 4- HOW FILMS COMMODIFY WOMEN 26

4.1 HOW THE RAPE CULTURE GOT A GREEN SIGNAL EARLIER ON 27

CHAPTER 5- HOW ADVERTISEMENTS COMMODIFY WOMEN 30

5.1 WHEN YOU SELL THE WOMAN AND NOT THE PRODUCT 30

5.2 WHY ADS REINFORCE CLICHÉS 33

5.3 WHY SHOULD ADS UN-STEREOTYPE 34

CHAPTER 6- PROGRESSIVE FILMS 36

6.1 THE TRAILBLAZER WOMEN-CENTRIC MOVIES 36

6.2 FEMALE GAZE BREAKS THE MOULD 39

CHAPTER 7- PROGRESSIVE ADVERTISEMENTS 43

7.1 ADS THAT CLEAN UP THE GENDER CLUTTER 43

7.1.1 SHAVING OFF GENDER STEREOTYPES- GILLETTE 43

7.1.2 WHEN ADS GET THE REAL WOMEN-DOVE 44

7.1.3 BOLD IS BEAUTIFUL-MYNTRA 44

7.1.4 SHARE THE AD-ARIEL 44

7.1.5 ARRANGED MARRIAGE WITH A ‘CHANGE IS BEAUTIFUL’ TWIST- 45

BIBA

VII

7.1.6 TITAN-HER LIFE, HER CHOICES 45

7.1.7 VICKS- TOUCH OF CARE 45

7.1.8 STAYFREE- FROM SEXISM 46

FEMVERTISING 46

7.2 THE NEW ADS RIDING ON FEMINISM

CHAPTER 8- THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK 48

8.1 REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN WITH DIGNITY 48

8.2 WOMEN, OBSCENITY AND CENSORSHIP IN MOVIES 50

8.3 REGULATION OF TELEVISION CONTENT 52

8.3.1 CABLE TV AND CONTENT REGULATION 52

8.3.2 BROADCASTING AND SELF REGULATION 53

THE WAY FORWARD 55

BIBLIOGRAPHY 57-63

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CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND

The dissertation seeks to analyse the ways in which women have been depicted in the media and the corresponding effect in the Indian society. The present dissertation moves from the standpoint that the motivation of film making and advertisements should not just be profit making and greater emphasis should be placed on the responsibility owed by the media towards the society. The media has a considerable influence over the society and the manner in which women are depicted in films and advertisements plays a very important role in the way they are treated in the society. Conversely, the media also shows the stereotypical manner in which women are treated in the society and further reinforces the existing patriarchal setup. The role of the media is to not just play a single narrative of objectifying and treating women as a commodity. This depiction has in some cases been subtle and in some others it has been very explicit. The dignity of women has to be secured by the state under Article 51A(e) of the Indian Constitution which provides that the state should strive to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women. Section 292 of Indian Penal Code further provides the law prohibiting obscenity. We also have the Indecent Representation of Women Act which prohibits the publication containing indecent representation of women. The Press Council of India as well as the Advertising standards council of India also provide regulations regarding the same. But, the pertinent question we need to address is whether these laws are sufficient to address the grey area of objectifying and commodifying women in the visual media.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The present study focuses on the role of the media in influencing the society through films and advertisements. It analyses the effect of the media on the society and vice- versa. The main focus in this research has been in dealing with the objectification and

1 commodification of women in the media through stereotypical depictions. The detrimental sociological aspect of this phenomenon has been dealt with in depth. It further looks at legislations that regulate the media and whether it adheres to the same and provides an extensive research on the judgments of the Hon’ble Courts regarding laws for the same.

Under this research, an effort has been made to provide solutions for improving the current scenario by providing socio-legal reforms wherever the researcher feels there is a lacunae.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are:-

1. To understand the meaning of objectification and commodification of women. 2. To analyse the detrimental effect of the objectification and commodification of women in the media on society and vice-versa. 3. To study whether the legislations regulating the media are sufficient with regard to objectification and commodification of women. 4. To provide socio-legal reforms for addressing the objectification and commodification of women.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the detrimental effects of objectifying women? 2. How are women represented in advertisements and films? 3. How does objectification and commodification of women in films and advertisements affect their status in society? 4. What are the laws to regulate representation of women in the visual media?

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Doctrinal method of research is adopted for the purpose of this research. Extensive study of newspapers, articles, books, films, advertisements, text reviews, statutes and case laws has been done. The present work is based on the above discussed material and is a genuine contribution to the research.

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1.6 LITERATURE REVIEW

(Irigaray 1985) talks about how a woman is traditionally a use-value for man, an exchange value among men, in other words, a commodity. As such, she remains the guardian of material substance, whose price will be established, in terms of the standard of their work and of their need/desire, by “subjects”: workers, merchants, consumers. He talks about how in ancient and medieval societies woman was regarded as a possession, a gift or trophy won in a contest, a space conquered or a luxury or treasure to be displayed. The contemporary manner of commodification is only a continuation of the treatment of woman in primitive capitalism. Once women were also included in a man’s wealth. The commodification of woman is a natural outcome of women’s subordination.1

(Kataria 2007) talks about the role of women in television. She focusses on the commodification of women in both advertisements as well as films. The history of this objectification is traced and its influence on reinforcing the stereotypes of the society is seen. The author re-visions mass communication in a way that exposes multiple versions which allow us to view the status of women in the media through multiple humanistic lenses2

(Bartlett 1987) talks about the definition of power as how men have power over everything of value in society, even the power to decide what has value and what does not. Men use this power systematically to shape and define the social beings we call men and women in ways which enhance the power of men and keep women subordinate to men. How men have constructed the relationship between men and women in turn shapes and constructs society' as a whole such that each of its constitutive parts-its law, its institutions, the private relationships it fosters-is

1 Irigaray, L., & Burke, C. (1985). This sex which is not one. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press 2 Kataria, Pooja (2007). Women and Media: Changing Roles, Struggles and Impact. Regal Publications

3 organized hierarchically, by sex. The same logic is also used in the media for objectifying women.3

(Berger 1972) points out that the long-term effects of exposure to a misogynist media can encourage a perpetual system of women’s subjugation. Findings therefore have concluded that sexual stereotyping can have deep repercussions on college men, who are most likely to be influenced by the same. Cultivation theories have shown that that audience’s perception of violence is deeply influenced by the television culture. Called the ‘mean world syndrome’, this theory places a huge onus on the mass media for responsible portrayal as media isn’t a mere fodder for our entertainment. It feeds us, shapes our beliefs, reinforces and helps us learn and unlearn. Thereby, social forces, cultures and norms only disempower women if the visual culture of poses and facial expressions of women continue to be objectified. 4

1.7 CHAPTERISATION

The dissertation would be divided into the following chapters-

Chapter-1 consists of the introduction, statement of problem, objective of the study, research methodology and the literature review.

Chapter-2 comprehensively explains the term objectification and commodification of women.

Chapter-3 deals with the impact of films on society and vice-versa.

Chapter-4 deals with instances of objectification and commodification in films.

Chapter-5 deals with instances of objectification and commodification in advertisements.

Chapter-6 deals with progressive depiction of women in films.

Chapter-7 deals with progressive depiction of women in advertisements.

Chapter-8 deals with the legal framework governing this aspect and cites relevant case laws for the same.

Chapter-9 discusses the way forward by suggesting socio-legal reforms.

3 Katharine T. Bartlett, MacKinnon's Feminism: Power on Whose Terms, 75 Calif. L. Rev. 1559 (1987). 4 Berger, J., Dibb, M., & BBC Enterprises. (1972). Ways of seeing. London: BBC Enterprises.

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CHAPTER-2

OBJECTIFICATION AND COMMODIFACATION OF WOMEN

We are what we watch!

When British art critic John Berger said, “Men act and women appear”, he was referring to Eurpoean Oil paintings which according to him were solely for satiating men’s needs.1 Those works of art were produced by men and for men, women being mere subjects. The power that visuals can yield is huge and they can make or break our views of the world. If they reinforce stereotypes, so be it. Such is the power of media, whether it is films or advertisements. While Berger put the spotlight on arts, paintings in particular, what hasn’t changed much is that the objectification and commodification of women isn’t confined to paintings alone but has spilled over to the very powerful mainstream mass media. Unfortunately, years of conditioning has ended up not just colouring the views of men at large but also women themselves. What has changed at best is that portrayal of gender stereotypes has turned from explicit to subtle.

“Our Bodies, Ourselves,” a book about accepting, respecting and loving one’s body was published in the 1970s. Several decades later, the quest is still ongoing to bridge that gap between women and their sense of selves. The media takes women emancipation several notches down every time they show that women are worth only the skin show. While there has been that glint of hope with progressive, realistic films and advertisements, these are still far and few and not the norm, as the need to combat sexism still rings large. It is hard to escape the reality that’s staring at our face- the dialogues, language, visuals and most importantly perceptions around women need to change. That alone would change their dynamics vis-a-vis men and society at large. Combating the battle would mean understanding and tackling the problem from where it originates- Objectification and Commodification of women in mass media.

1 Berger, J., Dibb, M., & BBC Enterprises. (1972). Ways of seeing. London: BBC Enterprises

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2.1 What is Objectification?

Objectification is making an object of a non-object. How can a woman be made into an object, could be an obvious question. But the answer isn’t rocket science if we look around and introspect what is fed to us by films and advertisements predominantly. All across, women are portrayed to just allure men and stereotyped to fit into certain perceptions that suit archaic and patriarchal notions. The central plug being women’s primary purpose is to evoke sexual desire, and a man’s to succumb to it.

Stereotypes are abound. Whether it’s the FMCG advertisements, which predominantly show women washing clothes, keeping the kitchen sink spic and span or seductively dressed and wooing men in perfume advertisements, or ‘item girls’ and the size zero leading ladies in Bollywood movies to begin with; where does it start and where does it even end? Let’s break it down.

We objectify a woman when she is perceived and shown as someone who is just a collection of body parts and is interchangeable with any other woman, objectified just like her. Her Mere purpose of existence is to provide gratification to men gazers.2 Objectification is treating, perceiving, understanding, or looking at a person and in this context a woman as an object. Three terms that have come to define them are- desire, control, and power over women.3 When you deny a person their personhood at the very basic, that’s objectification.

“Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only.”4

Objectification happens when you treat the person as an object (means) and not as the end (person). German philosopher Immanuel Kant explains how a person is

2 Jane Gilmore, The Images of Women Making Society More Dangerous, SMH (Mar 27 2019), https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/the-images-of-women-making-society-more-dangerous- 20180327-p4z6gl.html 3JEREMY CARRETTE, OBJECTIFICATION AND COMMODIFICATION, THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF THE STUDY OF RELIGION, JUN (2017). 4 S.Johnson, Exploitation, Objectification and Commodification, THE ACADEMIA EDU (Mar 20, 2019), https://www.academia.edu/4241764/Exploitation_Objectification_and_Commodification.

6 independent and to treat that person as an object is to deprive her of that independence as it compromises the person’s very idea of self from both inside and out.5 There are seven defining aspects of objectification-treating a person as a tool for the objectifier’s purposes, denying autonomy, indicating inertness, the treatment of a person as one who is interchangeable with objects, looking at a person as one lacking integrity, one who can be bought or sold as a commodity and as a person whose feelings can be completely dismissed, explains contemporary feminist thinker Martha Nussbaum. Feminist thinker Rae Langton adds three more factors-of being downgraded to just about body/body parts, appearance, and the inability of the person to speak up for oneself. 6

“In the kingdom of ends everything has either a price or a dignity. Whatever has a price can be replaced by something else as its equivalent, on the other hand, whatever is above all price and therefore admits of no equivalent, has a dignity.”

– Immanuel Kant7

2.2 Commodifying an objectified woman

A person is commodified when treated as an object of trade. Any product perceived as something with a transaction value and is exchangeable is a commodity. So objectification is a pre-requisite for commodification. The main problem is that you attach a price to someone (or their body).8 A direct consequence of objectification of women is commodification that is attaching a material value to something that cannot be quantified.9

Commodification is but a natural outcome of women’s subordination. American philosopher Ronald Myes Dworkin’s view further stresses that suppression of women through sexual subordination is the most dangerous oppression in the society. 10

5 Ibid 6Martha Nussbaum, Feminist Perspectives on Objectification, SEP (Mar 21, 2019), https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-objectification/. 7 MARY GREGOR, GROUNDWORK FOR THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS 42-43 (1998). 8 DAWN M. SZYMANSKI, SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN: ADVANCES TO THEORY AND RESEARCH (1995) SEP (Mar 21, 2019), https://www.apa.org/education/ce/sexual-objectification.pdf. 9 Ibid. 10Luce Irigaray, Women On The Market, The Sex Which Is Not One 8 (1985).

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The most apparent ramification of commodification is women trying to fit into society’s scale of assessment. Women have become docile subjects serving the patriarchal world and their conditioning is so deep-rooted that they are unable exercise any discretion. The focus is on the male gaze, media obliges and the audience feed on it. 11

French philosopher and feminist thinker Simone De Beauvoir’s book The Second Sex makes some valid points. “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman”.

The commodification of women starts early on. A girl who has attained puberty starts feeling alienated from her body when random men focus their eyes on her anatomy. 12 Boys on the other hand, fall prey to a stereotyped upbringing too, albeit a different kind. Beauvoir points out how it all starts with boys being encouraged to play rough games early on and girls given dolls to while away their time as passive, inert objects.

Beuavoir explains how women start living their lives internalizing the gaze of others and learning to objectify their own bodies.13The most common terms spinning around women in media are ‘thin ideal’, ‘body-ism’, and ‘body surveillance’. Prolonged exposure to such scale of assessments results in dissatisfaction among women over their body types, putting them at risk for eating disorders.14

2.3 How this seeps into the self-perception of women

Sexual objectification happens when a woman is perceived only with respect to her body parts and sexual role, and her whole being as such is ignored. When a woman is fed a sexualised image of herself, however unreal day in and day out through various mediums subtly and explicitly, she is at danger of getting her own image and perceptions coloured by these lenses. The woman’s tangible identity begins to be defined only by her body image. This results in her harbouring a lowered sense of self

11 SANDRA LEE BARTKY, FEMINITY AND DOMINATION(1990). 12 SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, THE SECOND SEX 333(1949). 13 SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, THE SECOND SEX 355 (1949). 14 MARY KOSUT, GENDER EMBODIMENT, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GENDER IN MEDIA 141 (2012).

8 which can lead to a culmination of mental health problems, explains feminist thinker Barbara Fredickson.15

Media has been blatantly reinforcing the misogynist dogma spawning decades. The government has made no massive moves except issuing stray advisories. In the year 2014, the then Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman called for the need to self-regulate and stop portrayal of women as commodities in the media. She insisted that the narratives, themes and picturization around women change, and they no longer be projected as doormats.16

2.4 How the media is failing women

There is ample evidence of neck deep prevalence of sexism in the media. A study done on commodification of women in the ad world shows how they are misrepresented across the spectrum as epitomes of flawless beauty. Advertisements ’t show a woman’s real self; instead she is broken into parts and put together as an attractive package, ending up as a mere bait in the eyes of the man. Women are commodified as exclusive end products of the male gaze, with direct links of products to their body parts. Thereby showing that a woman’s default objective is to trigger sexual desire in a man.17

Stereotypical images of women are fed to us so subtly that we don’t even realize it. “One of the brilliant accomplishments of advertisements is to get us to believe that we are not affected by it but in actuality its influence is passive and cumulative, points out American sociologist Bernard McGrane.18

Ironically, misogyny is staring right at us but we don’t notice it. Numerous studies have proven that mass media from the internet, newspapers, magazines,

15 Barbara L. Fredickson & Tomi-Ann Roberts, Towards Understanding Women’s Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks, 21 PQW, 2, 173, Jun 1 (1997). 16PTI, Stop Commodification of Women, Nirmala Tells Media, Nov.14, 2014. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/stop-commodification-of-women-nirmala-tells- media/article6625133.ece. 17Wani Ka, Journal Of Entrepreneurship And Organization Management, Commodification Of Women In Advertising: The Social Cost, Feb 03, 2016 18 Bernard McGrane, The AD and the ID: Sex, Death, and Subliminal Advertising.

9 advertisements, and movies, all depict and reinforce one common notion- that a woman’s body is sexual and vulnerable.19

2.5 Ignored, sexualised and commodified

It becomes a tale of what came first the egg or the chicken? Is the stereotypical onscreen portrayal the cause or the effect of what’s happening? It is a vicious cycle, indeed.

French philosopher Luce Irigiray explains how traditionally women’s social roles were compartmentalised into being a mother, virgin or prostitute and the basic traits of female sexuality were derived on the basis of - reproduction, nursing, modesty, seductiveness and a passive acceptance of the man’s activity. When donning any of these roles, a woman has no right to pleasure of her own20.While there has been a wave of progressive work, majority of films and advertisements continue to stay in the rut of sexism. The popular undertone of movie makers is to encourage misogyny and cash in on the patriarchal mindset. Meanwhile, advertising minds too want to earn quick bucks by putting on sale a woman’s image. Therefore, the sole aim is to milk profit even if it means paying heavy social costs by the society.

Advertising is all about creating needs, linking them to alluring ideas and compelling the audience to fulfil them. Men might buy perfumes which they link with women shown in the advertisements and women might use makeup to look like poster girls in the media world.21It won’t be incorrect to say that media is making hay while the sun shines. The more the media uses sexual undertones, the more viewers it captures. It also shapes the social context with its underlying message. For example, advertisements of perfumes and don’t just sell their products but also sell women as objects of desire. 22

19 Supra Note 13 20 Supra Note 9 21 Zhanyl Musaeva, Objectification of Women’s bodies in Media, Academia.Edu https://www.academia.edu/29163468/Objectification_of_women_s_bodies_in_the_media 22 Jon Barber, Objectification of Women in Entertainment Media, Media Coverage Analysis, MEDIA AND CHANGE (Feb. 27, 2011), https://sites.google.com/a/uw.edu/media-and- change/content/objectification-of-women-in-media.

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2.6 A dip in self-esteem and a myriad of lows

Media shows the female body as a source of power or shame, constructed as sexually attractive or dangerous, as either a prize to be honoured or protected and overall an object of sexual desire.23

From early on girls are highlighted wearing clothes and with body postures and expressions that indicate sexual overtures, a report by the American Psychological Association reiterated too. Researchers from the Wesleyan University analysed 58 different magazines and found a whopping 51.8 per cent of advertisements in them portraying women as objects of sexual desire. This mounted to being objectified 76 per cent of the time when it came to women in men’s magazines.24

Empathy takes a hit with sexual objectification, says a study led by Giogia Silani from the University of Vienna, and published in the Journal Cortex. The researchers found that people had reduced empathic feelings towards sexually objectified women as compared to non-objectified women. This study becomes more relevant considering the widespread gender-based violence in the society.25

The Objectivity theory states that media has placed the central identity of a woman to her body. This leads to self-objectification which can cause feelings of anxiety and shame. 26

Women incorporate the values of the male sexual objectifiers within themselves. American feminist Catharine MacKinnon calls this being "thingified" in the head. Women learn to treat their own bodies as objects separate from themselves and thus, become alienated from their own bodies.

― Sheila Jeffreys, Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West

Studies have shown time and again on the worst outcomes that reinforcement of false ideals of women can have. A meta-analysis of 25 studies about female embodiment that considered factors like age, pre-existing body image issues, among other such

23 Ibid. 24Ibid 25 Carlotta Cagoni, Reduced empathic responses for sexually objectified women: An Fmri investigation, Volume 99,CORTEX,SCIENCE DIRECT(Feb.2018),available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945217304045?via%3Dihub. 26 Ibid

11 factors revealed that one’s body image was notably negative after being exposed to thin media images compared to self- perception when one viewed images of the average or closer to real- life -sized or plus-sized models. This only proves that showing closer to real-life images of women onscreen can have a better impact and inculcate positive self-image for viewers.27 Commodification has resulted in an increase in cases of cosmetic surgeries, depression, and sexual dysfunction. 28

2.7 When it gets dangerous

The most dangerous outcome of commodification of women is that it normalizes violence against them. It also affects men whose perception of success is linked to power and aggression over women. Media has the power to set the norm of what’s acceptable and not. So when it does normalize unrealistic expectations of women, from women, by women, w.r.t body images, it sets an unhealthy standard for the society. This has led to extreme negative outcomes for the mental and physical health of consumers of the media. Victims of violence shy away from reaching out for help. Data with the UNICEF from 30 countries shows that only 1 percent of adolescent girls who have experienced sexual violence seek professional help. 29

The implications of regular exposure to sexually objectifying media content are huge. Sexual violence and assaults have been directly linked to environments, situations, and subcultures where sexual objectification takes place.30

“One woman gets raped every 20 minutes in India.”31

Objectification of women in the media is directly linked to violence against them. A UNICEF Report shows that approximately 15 million adolescent girls between the age of 15 and 19 have experienced forced sexual intercourse at some point in their lives. When women and girls are repeatedly hypersexualized and harmful gender stereotypes reinforced, it does trivialize the concept of violence against women and

27 Supra Note 23 28 Ishdeep Kaur Bhandari, Commodification of Women Body In Indian Media, 5 IIJR, 979-981, Sept (2018). 29Ibid. 30 Fisher Cullen & Turner, Sexual Objectification of Women: Advances Of Theory and Research, TCP Cullen & Turner, Sexual Objectification Of Women: Advances Of Theory And Research, 39tcp, 6-38, Jan (2011). 31 Spence Feingold, One Rape Every 20 Minutes in The Country, Toi March. 30, 2019, 6:50 Pm), Https://Timesofindia.Indiatimes.Com/City/Delhi/One-Rape-Every-20-Minutes-In- Country/Articleshow/22040599.Cms.

12 ends up affecting their emotional, physical, and mental health. 32 Fear of repercussions and shame deter women from voicing out their case too. While courts and legal service providers can do only so much, the onus is on the media to encourage better self-esteem among women and help them voice against any kind of injustice. 33

A quote reflective of the media practices.

“The representation of women in the society, especially through mass media has been the most delusional act ever done on the grounds of human existence.”

-Abhijit Naskar, The Bengal Tigress: A Treatise on Gender Equality

Truth is, in India we haven’t healed from the trauma of a long standing battle with gender stereotypes, deeply intrinsic in our society. No doubt, our demographic projections found that we have missed 63 million girls due to infanticide.34

The role of media in light of the above scenario becomes crucial to break the mould. While in 1990s, movies showed women as servile damsels, in 2000s it progressed to bombarding us with “item numbers”. The businesses of such movies have skyrocketed. In a country where there are more mobile phones than toilets, viewers of digital media better get to watch appropriate content for a progressive mindset.35 Studies have also warned that it is about time the media stopped using women and their bodies as a lucrative driver of revenue. 36

32 Jaimee Swift & Hannah Gould, Not an Object: On Sexualisation and Exploitation of Women and Girls, End Trafficking Campaign, UNICEF USA (Jan 31, 2009), https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/not-object-sexualization-and-exploitation-women-and-girls/30366 accessed on 25 Mar 2019. 33Ibid 34Tej Parikh, India’s Problem with Women, THE DIPLOMAT (Sept 26, 2018), https://thediplomat.com/2018/09/indias-problem-with-women/. Accessed on 25 Mar 2019. 35 Ibid 36 Supra Note 27

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CHAPTER-3 IMPACT OF FILMS ON SOCIETY

Where the reel and real blur!

In the year 1968, actress ’s iconic style of draping her orange saree in the movie Brahmachari, became a hit in retro theme parties, weddings and functions alike. It became a huge sensation and a fashion statement among Indian women. The signature style of Mumtaz had such an indelible impression on people that the trend continues spanning generations even now. Be it Mughal-E-Azam’s Anarkali style dress or the ‘newfound’ friendship day celebrations after , Indian movies have always inspired fashion trends, ideas, shaped opinions and influenced everything under the sun . Recently, city hairstylists got plenty of requests for hairstyles.

Well, fashion and cinema have always walked off like twins. Every movie sends across a different ripple of fashion across the country. Star struck fans want to look the closest to their onscreen idol, whether it is by dressing up in wedding costumes or by hitting the gym in trendy fitness attire. The movie spectators are almost like hawks ready to pick up catchy styles from the latest movie in town.

Who can forget the hairstyle that took the country by storm. Hairstylists were busy styling the youths into Tere Naam look alikes. And what’s a baby shower without a flashback to the very popular ‘’ song from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun movie in the year 1994. Nene’s purple stone embellished backless blouse came to be the most adored saree of the decade with mass followers rushing to their tailors for copycat versions. And Salman Khan’s three piece suit in the movie was the only close contender in the list of celebrated costumes1

Another costume etched in the public memory is that of Khan draped in a blazing red saree in the catchy Chamak Challo song, a trend that caught on like

1 Hasina Khatib, The Most Iconic Sarees in Bollywood Movies through the Years, VOGUE INDIA (Feb. 21, 2019, 6:07 PM), https://www.vogue.in/content/sarees-in-bollywood-movies-worn-by-- priyanka-chopra-madhuri-dixit/.

14 wildfire. In fact, that look of her continues to be a fixation through her wax statue at Madame Tussauds, London. 2

Not to miss the famous ‘Sadhana Cut’ of the 1960s where the actress sported an Audrey Hepburn inspired trendy hairdo in the movie Love in . Saira Banu’s big bloated hairstyle with winged eyeliner from the movie Junglee was a craze too. 3

As early as 1960s and 1970s, the real and reel began to blur. Men went crazy with the Anand style of draping sweater over his shoulders. While he was inspired by his childhood idol Gregory Peck, he inspired many an Indian youth and old alike with his style. Interestingly there is enough evidence to his crazy fan following. Post his films Abhi Naa Jao Chodhkar, Jia O and Khoya Khoya Chand, girls were swooning over his stylish wardrobe. In fact his black suit became such a craze that fans started sending him letters written in blood. Such was his persona that he was even banned from wearing black suit in public because crazy women fans would jump off buildings in awe of seeing their favourite star.4

Shah Rukh Khan’s style of wrapping sweaters around his shoulders in Mohabbatein in the year 2000 was a spin off from in the 1973 movie Heera Panna. Soon after the movie, young men were seen donning the characteristic accessories - signature strip black trousers, cap worn on one side, scarves tied around the neck and bright cardigans, a style that still holds a place in the heart of his ardent followers.5

Then there were the bell-bottoms in Hare Rama Hare Krishna that took the nation by storm. Hep young women paired the bell-bottoms with oversized glasses to complete the retro look. The style hasn’t faded and if you are in your 40s now, it is likely to get you all nostalgic.

Similarly women were busy shopping for bobby print crop tops and swimsuits following ’s look in the 1973 hit movie, Bobby. Western outfits like bikini got all the attention and brouhaha offscreen too. What followed in the 1980s after Sridevi’s film Mr. India was her gossamer styled sarees, red lipsticks, leg warmers going off the shelves of

2 Ibid. 3 Priyanka V Gupta, Fashion in 1960s-The Era of Colours, FASHION LADY (Nov.22, 2017), https://www.fashionlady.in/fashion-in-1960s-the-era-of-colours/11001 accessed on 28th Mar 2019 4 Nida Mahmood, Dev Anand: Bollywood’s original style icon: Designers, India Today Online ( Dec.5, 2011), https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/dev-anand-bollywoods-style-icon-designers- 147749-2011-12-05 accessed on 28th Mar 2019 5 Ibid.

15 shops like hot vadas. The imitation of artists and their style statement was picking up like there’s no tomorrow. And Bollywood witnessed an era of fashion crazy audience.6

Not just the accessories, the activities the stars embraced caught like fire too. Salman Khan kicked off the ‘men should be fit’ trend with his near perfect abs in . snowballed the idea of women’s fitness as the feisty dancer in . With this movie, sellers of casual sportswear laughed their way to banks and it also ushered the age of brand consciousness.7 By 2000s, people got fixated about which star is wearing which designer’s costume, and those who could afford designers made sure they didn’t miss aping their onscreen idols.

And then came Ghajini. A huge number of hairstylists in cities and small towns were busy grooming Aamir Khans’ post the movie. Capturing the Ghajini craze, leading apparel brand Van Heusen launched the signature attire which Khan wore in the movie, where he played a business tycoon. 8 Whether it is ’s Cocktail attire or ’s wedding outfit, women have their own set of leads too. This is only a speck of evidence to prove the impact movies have on people’s lives. Whether it is jewellery, attire, fashion or interior décor, there is a fan base for everything. The influence of Bollywood looms so large on the psyche of Indian youth that its influence is hard to miss.

Forget films, if we go tad south it is hard to miss the euphoric emotions at the release of films of mega film stars. The connect is so entrenched for some legendary actors like Sivaji Ganeshan, Savithri, Rajinikanth, Nagarjuna, to name a few. The release of their movies is no less than a gala, with flexi banners, overwhelming erect cut outs, milk pouring ceremony (abhishekam) and just so many dedications and rituals from minor to major. When the craze for their favourite film stars is so over the top, we can only imagine what would be the impact of their films.9

6Mehak Siddiqui, Bollywood Fashion Through the Ages, CULTURE TRIP ( Oct 14, 2016), https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/bollywood-fashion-through-the-ages/. accessed on 28th Mar 2019 7 Ibid. 8 Sheeba Hasan, You can now wear ’s Ghajini Look, MASALA (Dec 14, 2008), https://ww w.masala.com/you-can-now-wear-aamir-khans-ghajini-look-9044.html. accessed on 28th Mar 2019 9 Sriram Valluri, Deep Rooted Craze for South Indian Films, INDIA FELLOW (Feb 22, 2019), https://www.indiafellow.org/blog/2019/02/deep-rooted-craze-for-south-indian-films/. accessed on 29th Mar 2019

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Undoubtedly, people ape their idols. Recently the IAF Captain Abhinandhan’s gunslinger moustache style was a rage in city salons. 10To say that movies are just for recreation would be an understatement. Films undoubtedly have an immense influence on how we live, and the society in turn has the same effect on how cinema is made. It’s an industry growing leaps and bounds every day. The power of films whether it evokes a response from an individual or at a mass level, is mammoth.

3.1 Going beyond fashion fads

Fashion fads are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the overwhelming influence of movies on society at large. Whether it is arts, , politics, health, environment, culture, war, terrorism, drugs, or any activity- any subject movies tread on has an indelible effect on the minds of people. Some of it is conscious and much of it is subconscious. The most explicit results are fashion trends. With every movie, there is an impact from small to big- there is a change in our language, culture, among other such factors. With endless genres, every movie triggers us in small and big ways and changes or reinforces our perception of the world around us.

3.2 Art Imitates Life, Life Imitates Art

Bollywood movies have been imitated in real life to break the law. People have taken from movies to commit heinous crimes. In the movie Medium, actors and Saba Qamar quit their lavish lifestyle and start their lives in a to get their child admitted in the top English Medium school. Reel did meet the real when a businessman from New Delhi was apprehended for faking his income certificate and identity card to get his son admitted in a top school in the city under the quota of economically weaker section. And no one got a hint till he tried to get his second child admitted as well. 11

The scene from starrer Special 26 got played out for real at a bank. Armed robbers posing as CBI officials stuck a Muthoot Finance branch and escaped with 40 kg of gold. Their modus operandi was eerily similar to the movie plot. 12

10 Anila Kurian, Hero Abhinandan sets moustache trend in city, DECCAN HERALD (Mar 6, 2019), https://www.deccanherald.com/metrolife/hero-abhinandan-sets-moustache-721857.html. accessed on 28th Mar 2019 11 TNN, Man fakes property to get son admitted at Delhi School, (Apr 8, 2019, 8:12 PM),https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/man-fakes-poverty-to-get-son-seat-at- delhi-school/articleshow/63662541.cms. accessed on 28th Mar 2019 12 Sakshi Khanna, ‘Special 26’ Heist- Robbers Pose as CBI officials, Loot 40 kg Gold, CNN-NEWS18 (Apr 28, 2019, 11:30 PM), https://www.news18.com/news/india/robbers-posing-as-cbi-officials-loot- 40kg-gold-in-hyderabad-1328624.html accessed on 28th Mar 2019

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There is no dearth of examples when it comes to replicating onscreen adventures. After the blockbuster movie M.B.B.S. starring , there were several incidents of similar crimes committed all across the country. The ripples of the movie were seen as late as 2017 when two men from Gurugram were held for appearing on behalf of another exam aspirant for the post of primary teacher. Another successor to the movie was when the Crime Branch busted a racket in 2012 which involved entrance examinations for the postgraduate course at AIIMS. Those apprehended were involved in scanning question papers using high- end technology, mobile phones and fed the answers to candidates using Bluetooth. 13

Yet another movie that inspired folks the wrong way was Bunty Aur Babli. In the movie, lead actors and Rani Mukherji con and loot rich people, priests, religious heads, and even end up selling Taj Mahal. A Delhi based man and woman, inspired by the movie tried the same trick for some fast bucks, and got into murder, theft, robbery, assault and snatching. 14

There was also the case of a tragic replay of the much acclaimed movie of , the 2007 release by a UP school kid. The boy from was so inspired by Oberoi’s character that he stored the movie in his mobile and watched it every day, trying to imitate his mannerisms. This boy along with a group of students kidnapped their 15-year-old classmate and called up his father and demanded a ransom of Rs. 50,000. Later they brutally murdered the victim. It was only during the investigations that Police found out the accused’s inspiration.15

The very popular Dhoom series inspired a lot of crime incidents too with a host of bank heists from Haryana to , chain snatchings in , Delhi and Ghaziabad too. Back in 2010, the Dhoom wannabe heroes targeted the Sahibabad branch of the popular Muthoot Finance Firm. The accused tried methods from Hrithik Roshan’s onscreen character who used to manage big heists in just under five minutes. Around six of them managed to pull off the mission in ten minutes and escaped with cash and jewellery worth Rs. 50 .16

While many came out of the theatres in splits after watching Khosla Ka Ghosla, there were a few who took home some serious cheat-lessons too. Inspired by ’s role in the

13 Mahender Singh Manral, Police uncover entrance scam ‘inspired by Munnabhai MBBS’, (Feb 12, 2019, 3:55 AM), https://indianexpress.com/article/india/police-uncover- entrance-scam-inspired-by-munnabhai-mbbs-4520155/. accessed on 28th Mar 2019 14 TNN, Inspired by Bollywood films, friends took to crime, THE TIMES OF INDIA (Jan 6, 2019, 1:24 PM), https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/inspired-by-bollywood-films-friends-took-to- crime/articleshow/56363804.cms. accessed on 28th Mar 2019 15 Iti Shree Misra, UP Criminals Inspired by Films and TV Shows, ENTERTAINMENT TIMES (Apr 18, 2019, 12:14 PM), https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/UP- criminals-inspired-by-films-and-TV-shows/articleshow/46967154.cms. 16 Ibid.

18 –comedy, a gang duped several people by forging documents and selling plots belonging to DDA in the year 2013 before they were nabbed by the Crime Branch. 17

They say, there is an audience for everything, so is it for even crooks. A bunch of youngsters repeatedly watched the 2008 movie Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and managed to steal around 180 cars within a year. Just that they weren’t lucky enough and eventually got caught by the Police who got to know their motivation factor. 18

Dhrishyam was one of the finest films of 2015 with its intriguing plot, keeping one on the edge of the seat with its open-ended storyline. A few in the audience did take some offscreen cues from the movie and tried replicating the plot. Earlier this year, a Bhopal based case came to the fore where it was found that the killers planted a dog’s body in a place where the police expected to find human remains. The case was finally solved, and the Dhrishyam angle also came about once the accused were nabbed. 19

Movies have a long-lasting impact on the audience. It doesn’t matter whether it is an old or new one, the message you take from them can span timelines.

3.3 How Bollywood instigates violence

What happens when we keep spinning backward, misogynist, patriarchal movies? It backfires. The result is a society that is mindlessly idolising the onscreen performance of their favourite stars. An Indian man in Australia who was accused of stalking, escaped conviction after he blamed Bollywood for his cultural conditioning. This in itself is a powerful example of the undeniable and deep-rooted influence of movies on the audience. The man in question had obsessively targeted and stalked one woman for 18 months and another for four months in 2012 and 2013. He had reportedly texted, called and approached the women after a chance meeting with them and

17 ENS, Police bust gang who sold DDA plots using fake papers, EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE( April 12, 2019, 4:20 AM), http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/police-bust-gang-who-sold-dda-plots- using-fake-papers/1168105/. 18 Ajay Kumar, Police nab crooks inspired by ‘Oye Lucky Lucky Oye’ who sold their stolen booty on shopping site OLX, DAILY MAIL UK (April 7, 2019, 10;55 PM), https://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3349847/Police-nab-crooks-sought- inspiration-Oye-Lucky-Lucky-Oye-sold-stolen-booty-online-shopping-site-OLX.html. 19 Punya Priya Mitra, Five Held for Killing MP Cong Worker, Plot Inspired from Drishyam Movie, ( Jan 13, 2019, 4:13 PM), https://www.hindustantimes.com/india- news/five-held-for-killing-mp-cong-worker-plot-inspired-from-drishyam-movie/story- ODJtWB88QYLGtWZSWuegQN.html.

19 started calling himself their boyfriend. He was unflinching in his cause as he was convinced they would eventually fall in love with him. This man was defended by his lawyer as one who was passionate about Bollywood movies and believed that relentlessly pursuing women would eventually make them relent. 20

The accused escaped conviction but this incident proves how derogatory and patriarchal portrayal of women has a direct consequence on people.

Filmy styles of crime have led down the youth too. They are learning the wrong, rather young. When a 16-year old boy who murdered a girl for his unrequited love in Meerut was asked what made him do something so heinous, the teenager said he was inspired by the movie . He stalked the girl and tried to woo her. When it failed, he took that extreme step. Another case was that of a 17-year old boy who had committed multiple murders and was inside lockup for the same. Inspired by movies, he and his accomplice put a revolver onto the incharge’s head and escaped to attend his sister’s wedding.21

Shah Rukh Khan’s was a massive commercial success back in 1993. It was an instant hit all through the country. This movie was different and changed the course of how movies would turn out to be vis-a-vis the villain. In the movie, the villain character played by Khan becomes the hero, and the hero played by Sunny Deol is almost non-existent. Khan’s obsessed with the lead heroine who is in fact in love with Deol. But Khan stalks, fantasies, and is ready to wipe out anyone who comes between them. The effect of any movie that we watch has an eternal effect on us. And the message gets deeply etched whether we acknowledge it or not. Twenty-three years later, a woman’s abduction hit the headlines in 2016 when the kidnapper said he was inspired by Darr. He had made an elaborate plan to abduct the girl and then win her love. While his friends had no inkling of his plan, he took her to a stranded location, took care of her, and tried to live a ‘heroic image’. Next day he left her at the station

20 Jonathan Pearlman, Australian Man Accused of Stalking Escapes Conviction after Blaming Bollywood, (Jan 29, 2019, 4:20 PM), https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11377511/Australian- man-accused-of-stalking-escapes-conviction-after-blaming-Bollywood.html. 21 Supra Note 16

20 but not before asking in Darr style, “Are you going after making a friend or an enemy?” It all comes a full circle. We are what we watch, clearly. 22

New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University witnessed a very shocking incident of a brutal daylight murder attempt of one of its student by another in the year 2013. It was a case of one-sided love where the girl wasn’t interested in the guy but he wouldn’t stop pursuing her. 23

The scenes of these one sided love stories are like chapters taken from movies. In contrast to earlier movies like Devdas, where the protagonist would drink to glory when he failed in love, movies like Darr and Baazigar showed the male lead making some cold blooded moves. These movies infused the thought that there is nothing wrong if the hero took up violence to possess and secure a woman. Ironically, Darr did receive numerous awards. For Khan, it was a turning point in his career, and for the rest of Indian women, it was more like a license to be stalked by anyone. 24

In the same breath, it would be a gaping hole if the most popular, stalker- friendly song of Govinda from Haseena Maan Jayegi is not mentioned. The song goes like:

“Kab thak roothegi, cheekegi, chillayegi, dil kehta hai ki ek din haseena maan jaayegi”( How long will she stay angry, yell, or scream? My heart says one day the beautiful girl will say yes.)

The bottomline being- it is completely normal to hound, trespass, invade the privacy, tease, pester, and follow a woman even if she isn’t interested. Don’t give up until she gives in, afterall it is under the garb of romance.

The wound this kind of attitude inflicts in our society is so deep that the healing is irreparable. Scores of victims of stalking, glorified by Indian movies, have lost lives whether it’s the daylight murder of IT employee Swathi at a railway station in

22 IBNLive.com, SRK’S Darr inspired ‘psychopath’ to abduct Snapdeal employee’ say Police, NEWS18 (Feb 16, 2019, 7:41AM), https://www.news18.com/news/india/stranger-than-a-bollywood- plot-how-snapdeal-employee-dipti-sarna-was-abducted-1203450.html. 23 Shubhomoy Sikar, JNU Student Axes classmate, commits suicide, THE HINDU (April 1, 2019, 12:47 PM), https://www.thehindu.com/news/citis/Delhi/jnu-student-axes-classmate-commits- suicide/article4974837.ece. 24 Irfan Ahmad, Life Imitating Bollywood; Love, murder, suicide, AL JAZEERA (April 6, 2019), https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/08/201385125944264268.html. accessed on 30th Mar 2019

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Chennai in 2016 25 or the murder by stabbing of New Delhi based aspiring air hostess Riya Gautam in 2017 by their stalkers. 26

3.4 When lyrics can trigger aggression

Movie plotlines apart, even the songs we watch ring in our ears long after we have watched. A song is a package that sends very subtle and explicit messages and its impact is entrenched with its multifaceted appeal to all our senses from the visual to sensorial. Indian movies and videos do justice to a plethora of genres of songs from folk, religious, sensual, to rap. “Films do more than introduce songs; they supply a new fabricated cultural context for those songs. Everyone who has seen a film, and seen and heard the hero and heroine sing and dance a love song, carries away not only the song, but also an entire emotional package, the filmic context in which the song was presented. When young men dance in the street during a baraat, their favourite hero is dancing in their minds. They are singing words of love to their own heroines. (1990:256).27

Films resonate our lives deeply. Infact situations of film songs have a place in the parallel situations of our lives. Film imitates life which imitates film in a continual process, resulting in an explosive synergy of songs and real life. This drives the ability of film songs to penetrate deep into Indian culture and performing arts. Infact, films and real life have a high degree of compatibility. This is very evident from the fact that devotional film songs are on repeat mode at religious functions and rituals and wedding songs are a hit in ceremonies like baraat, and so on. 28

In the same context, songs onscreen are a household phenomenon offscreen too. The common teasing songs of Hindi movies are used to heckle girls in real life, as director Anil Sharma points out. Take the song, “ladki chale jab sadkon pe aye qayamat ladkon pe” (When the girl steps out on the street, its doomsday for the boys). And

25 TNM, Ramkumar was infatuated with Swathi, upset that she didn’t respond: Cops, THE NEWS MINUTE ( June,2,2019 12:04 PM), https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/ramkumar-was- infatuated-swathi-upset-she-did-not-reciprocate-chennai-cops-45805 accessed on 30th Mar 2019 26 TWL, Aspiring Air Hostess Stabbed to Death by Stalker in Delhi, PIONEER (Jun 2, 2019). http://www.theweekendleader.com/Headlines/10321/aspiring-airhostess-stabbed-to-death-by-stalker- in-delhi.html. accessed on 30th Mar 2019 27 Anna Morcom, Beyond The Boundaries of Bollywood 164 (Rachel Dwyer & Jerry Pinto, 2011). 28 Ibid.

22 that’s exactly why there is a need to encourage appropriation, considering a film in itself is an entire fictional version of Indian society, and the need to sync it with the real world is always there.29 What is a cause of worry, is that while music can be soul stirring, heartrending, the lyrics must use the appropriate language. In contrast, the songs that have caught the attention of the nation reflect a highly patriarchal ideology. The bulk of Hindi film songs are erotic, item girl songs, like choli ke peeche kya hai (what’s behind the blouse) and raunchy folk numbers. In most songs except the devotional ones, the use of costumes, camera work, dance movements and expressions tend to focus on the sensuous aspect of the heroine which is displaced from the mainstream narrative. 30

3.5 Item songs: Not just music to ears

The major contention of Bollywood numbers is that they do end up objectifying and commodifying women, with the gyrating women and misogynist lyrics reeking of chauvinism. Take for example Honey Singh’s Love Dose, a rap sequence- Hai ghar, hai paisa,do jodi me ladki bhejo, ladki hui hamari. (I have a house, money and car and the father need not worry about his daughter’s well-being). A line sung by a lover/prospective groom for the father in law. This is a defining statement of the state of things for women in the country. For a father in law, only the financial status of the groom matters. Honey Singh has churned out some very popular gems of patriarchy and there is a large fan base for the same too. A few lines from his song Brown Rang which was in the list of popular playlists.

You are at a party A man approaches you, checking you out from top to bottom. He suddenly compliments your skin tone. Scared and uncomfortable, you try to walk away. “How many kisses are you going to run from? Come be my whore.” He yells.

29 Ibid. 30 Ibid.

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This song obviously became a trigger for drawing the spotlight on misogynist lyrics of popular Bollywood and pop songs. And thereby started the campaign of No Music to My Ears on social media by Love Matters India, a multimedia project company to draw attention to all songs that promote sexism.31If you do switch over from the audio apps and radios, the visual media isn’t exactly a breather from the intrinsic sexism. Item numbers have been quite an ongoing battle for a while now. While a solo woman dancing isn’t exactly an issue but one that is surrounded by hordes of men gawking and lusting at her, is definitely one step backward. And then the lyrics matter too. How a woman is shown, the aesthetics bit of it, the camera angle, everything defines an .

“Typically an item number refers to an upbeat, sexual dance performance, which has little to do with the subject of the movie. The women they portray are usually popular Bollywood actresses, with their flashy performance, while the male lead attempts to pursue the woman. A flagship of Bollywood movies now, the provocative dance number is a sure shot way to boost box office sales.”32

They directly result in women being treated as sex objects and mere means to the visual pleasure of men. No doubt, Bollywood movies keep playing the trailers of item numbers before and during the release of their movies to go up the viewership charts. Bollywood film industry clearly uses women by objectifying them for their own monetary profits and marketability. 33 The problem with item songs is that they show that a woman is worth only her appearance and she is meant to be an object of sexual desire for men. It is exactly this kind of outdated thought process that is the deep rooted cause for the innumerable cases of sexual harassment, rape, and all other kinds of violence on women.

The average rate of reported rape cases in India is about 6.3 per 100, 000 of the population. India’s average rate isn’t very high compared to the rest of the world, the main factor being underreporting. According to a report by Livemint, about 99 per

31Antara, Not Music To Your Ears?Well, Then Just Let Bollywood Know, She Can Do It (Apr20, 2019), Https://Shecandoit.Blog/2017/04/20/Not-Music-To-Your-Ears-Well-Then-Just-Let-Bollywood-Know/. 32 Ananya Sreekanth, The Ill Named Item Number, Berkeley Political Review( Feb 12, 2019), Https://Bpr.Berkeley.Edu/2016/10/30/The-Ill-Named-Item-Number/. 33 Ams Sexual Assault Support Centre ( Apr 20, 2015), Https://Amssasc.Ca/A-Feminist-Critique-On- Item-Numbers-In-Bollywood-Films/

24 cent cases of sexual violence go unreported. And if these statistics are accurate, India could easily be among the nations with the highest level of crimes against women. 34. We urgently need to do something about films that objectify women since we already are sinking in patriarchal anarchy.

The need of the hour is to portray a progressive, constructive image of women and their issues. It has been proven that sexual objectification of women can evoke only unhealthy social and physical instincts among viewers and can end up instigating incidents of rape and sexual violence against women. 35

British filmmaker Leslee Udwin, made a documentary ‘India’s Daughter’ recounting the brutal rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in Delhi in 2012, that sparked protests and kick-started a national conversation on women’s rights and safety. Her interview with Mukesh Singh, the main accused in the rape case is a shocking eye-opener on the condition of women in the country. His indifferent and confident demeanour and justification of what happened that night was that a decent girl won’t roam around at nine o’ clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. Her death wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t fought back.”36

With respect to the above intrinsic mindset, a huge social, commercial, emotional and cultural powerhouse like Bollywood does have a massive responsibility to uproot the deep-seated misogyny and work towards a progressive Indian society. And a Chikni Chameli or Munni Badnaam Hui will only breed more of the likes of Mukesh Singh.

34 Sujan Bandyopadhyay, A Closer Look At Statistics Of Sexual Violence In India, The Wire(May 8, 2018), Https://Thewire.In/Society/A-Closer-Look-At-Statistics-On-Sexual-Violence-In-India. 35 Shumaila Ahmed & Juliana Abdul Wahab, Entertainment To Exploitation: A Psycho-Analysis Of Sexual Objectification Of Women In Films/Cinema, 2 Ijmas 15, 15 -18 (2016). 36 Andrea Den Hoed, Silencing India’s Daughter, The New Yorker (Mar 6, 2015), Https://Www.Newyorker.Com/News/News-Desk/Sons-And-Daughters.

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CHAPTER -4

HOW FILMS COMMODIFY WOMEN

Bollywood status report reeks of misogyny

Badlapur, a box office hit from the year 2015 had a gripping storyline and a wonderful cast to engage the audience. The basic premise of the movie was Varun Dhawan avenging the murder of his wife and child who got killed by robbers in a bank heist gone wrong. The ill-fated event turns Dhawan into a man who makes it his life goal (15 years) to seek revenge on the two men.

The crux lies in how he avenges these men by assaulting their wives. The women in the movie though each of them is loyal to their folks, end up being at the receiving end of the wrath of men- by getting fooled, assaulted, raped or murdered.

Badlapur is on the other end of the spectrum regarding violence against women. Aggression against women in movies is something that the Indian audience enjoy watching along with their tubs of popcorn. Indian movie goers find moderate sexual violence depicted in movies as fun, enjoyable and just another normal expression of romance, a study reveals. While severe form of sexual violence is considered criminal, moderate is treated as a romantic move.1 Looks like violence if moderate is not an eyesore and only high degree violence onscreen is unwelcome. Sad state of affairs, indeed.

Another study of over 4000 Bollywood movies done in 2017 concluded that there is a deep rooted gender bias in storylines.2

Bollywood is a powerhouse of emotions, culture and art; the biggest film industry in the world, beating Hollywood hands down with twice as much revenue and a global fan base. But Bollywood portrays women as painfully one-dimensional, inferior and

1 Srividya Ramasubramanian & Mary Beth Oliver, Portrayal of Sexual Violence in Popular Hindi Films, 48 SEX ROLES 327-336 (2003) 2 Sahil Rizwan, 10 Eye-Opening Revelations About Sexism in Bollywood From a Study of Over 4000 Films, BUZZ FEED (Oct.25, 2017, 2:32 PM), https://www.buzzfeed.com/sahilrizwan/trope- tripe?utm_term=.lnrYe6ZKJ4#.un5EvLl8KO. accessed on 30th Mar 2019

26 sexual. On the other hand, men are shown all macho and dominating. Bollywood thereby perpetuates harassment and rape culture. 3

The 1999 movie Biwi No.1 was one of those movies which placed women in a highly objectifying role by showing that if husbands cheat, the wives have the onus to get them back on track, bidding goodbyes to their own self -respect and righteousness.

Sexuality for women in Bollywood isn’t about sex but about bowing down to the expectations of the men. Chastity is a make or break factor for prospective brides in India. Infact, many Indians do harbour a negative say about urban women who exercise their freedom in dressing up and other aspects of their life. But hypocrisy does die a natural death as the same men who drool over the lead female in an item song might harbour disrespect for her too.4

The fact that Indians push the topic of sex under the carpet shuts down the option of an open minded conversation around it, as a society. And that’s where Bollywood makers cash in-on a very basic need, sex thereby sells.5

4.1 How the rape culture got a green signal earlier on

One of the popular scenes from the Hindi blockbuster starring Aamir Khan had the audience in splits. Khan changes the word in the speech of another student, from ‘chamatkar’ (miracle) to ‘balatkar’ (rape). The student whose mother tongue isn’t Hindi doesn’t grasp the meaning and goes ahead with the speech with a dubious meaning. The students listening to the speech are on a laughter riot. And the so called joke did become a hilarious nerve point in the movie. Examples of rape jokes galore. A line from the Vivek Oberoi movie Grand Masti, ‘balatkar se yaad aaya, meri biwi kahan hai?’ (Mention of rape reminds me, where is my wife?). Munir the character from says, “Main kuch bhi karne ke liye tayar hoon...rape bhi, agar item achi hai toh.” (I am ready to do anything, even rape if the item is good).

3 Nikita Redkar, 3 Ways Bollywood Sets Up a Sexuality Paradox for South Asian Women, MAGAZINE (Apr16, 2016), https://everydayfeminism.com/2016/04/bollywood-sexuality-paradox/. accessed on 30th Mar 2019 4 Ibid 5 Ibid

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Rape jokes are not funny but Bollywood is yet to come to terms with the fact. The typical scenes of rape almost feel like a cliché now, unfortunately. Films from the early 1970s played the same narrative of the villain assaulting the hero’s sister followed by the hero’s vengeance. The biggest insult on a family would be the rape of a female member and the protective figure head of the family would be a male.6

“Earlier every film had a rape scene as that was there for titillation. In today’s films, the item number is the equivalent of the rape scene.”

-, Director of Talaash and Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.

The provocative songs and the cheesy dialogues only end up encouraging stalking. In the 1980s, when Karisma Kapoor sang, “sexy sexy sexy mujhe log bolenge,” the way women were perceived by others and their own selves did change a bit.7

“Films unintentionally give respectability to the term eve-teasing. It makes the act seem innocent when it is not. They show the hero singing and following the woman to woo her even when she says no and that gives credibility and sanction to the act of eve-teasing; showing that this is part of love.”

-, Poet and lyricist

From tandoori murgi, halwa, angur ki daughter to zandu balm, women have been compared to the most absurd metaphors and similis in Bollywood. Early on, a woman has been shown as someone who can be acquired. The 1975 movie had Dharmender trying to win over by grabbing her hand from behind, saying ‘when a beautiful girl is furious at you, she becomes even more beautiful’.Ofcourse the harassment works out and they do get together.

Bollywood has indeed globalized with some amazing leaps in technology, film making, locations, special effects, influx of foreign languages and other important

6 Shai Venkatraman, Bollywood’s Women: Caught between idol and item? THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE (Apr.21, 2013), https://tribune.com.pk/story/536686/bollywoods-women-caught-between-idol-and- item/. accessed on 2nd Mar 2019. 7 Ibid

28 milestones. But the content has hardly changed. India ranks very high in world cinema in sexualisation of women, a 2014 study by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender Media reveals. About 35 per cent of women in Bollywood are featured with minimal clothing. What also partly explains that Indian films are male gaze oriented is that male writers outnumber female writers, with female writers comprising 12.1 per cent of the workforce. This is a skewed average as the global average is nearly 20 per cent. 8

“Movies inspite of all the growth, are still stuck in a state of arrested development when it comes to power dynamics in gender relationships. Female characters are represented as one dimensional characters- daughter, wife, daughter-in-law, courtesan, lover, or widow. These roles have no traits, no substance in terms of character and temperament; they only exist in relation to the male character onscreen,”9

With more men behind the , direction, camera and other key roles in filmmaking, one of the way out is to view films with a female gaze, as opposed to a male one.

“If only directors and story writers could think of films from women’s point of view, it might break the vicious cycle of male monopoly in the Indian cinema. It would take time but gradually the audience would be able to accept and appreciate different storylines and the directors too would be able to conceive new stories, leading to progressive concepts and portrayal of women.”10

8Donna Mathew, India’s Rape Culture:An Analysis of Women’s Portrayal in Bollywood Films, ACA.EDU(2015) https://www.academia.edu/36915346/India_s_Rape_Culture_An_Analysis_of_Women_s_Portrayal_in _Bollywood_Films. accessed on 2nd Mar 2019. 9 Ibid 10Sowmya Nandakumar, The Stereotypical Portrayal of Women In Indian Cinema, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON (May 2011), https://uh-ir.tdl.org/handle/10657/217 accessed on 2nd Mar 2019.

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CHAPTER 5

HOW ADVERTISEMENTS COMMODIFY WOMEN

5.1 When you sell the woman and not the product

Not very long ago, cricketer Hardik Pandya got into news for his sexist comment on women in the popular show, following which Gillette a multinational personal care brand promptly took him off from being their brand ambassador. Pandya was the brand ambassador for about 8 brands like Star India, Gulf Oil, Star Sports, Sin Denim, among others. While Gillette company took a sane decision and shrugged off the association with their brand ambassador, the landscape of advertising in India needs some serious introspection.

Switch on the TV, newspapers, or the ubiquitous online advertisements of soaps, juices, perfumes, ready-to-eat food packs, television- the most explicit terms that might come to your head are-fair skin tone, flat belly, long legs and lustrous silky hair, perfect curves and skimpy clothes that highlight all these. The products could be as distinct as given above, but the most striking features have to be that of the women. Unfortunately, advertising is still wrapped in gender clichés.

Chocolates and cosmetics, you name it and women are donning the most objectifying advertisements ever. In an assessment done on sexualisation of women in chocolate advertisements, three major brands of chocolate ads were taken and one of them was Cadbury flake bar. In this, the viewer intrudes a young woman eating a Cadbury chocolate flake bar in her bathtub, and presumably having an orgasm. The other two advertisements were no different. Ads like these only portray women as obsessive and sex-crazy objects.1

“There is a clear link in advertising between women and sex. They perpetuate western sexist and racist ideologies under a veneer of pleasurable consumption. Representation of women in chocolate advertisements is one of being irrationally

1The Sexualization of Women in Chocolate Advertisements, CHOCOLATE CLASS (Apr 8, 2016), https://chocolateclass.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/the-sexualization-of-women-in-chocolate-ads- completely-absurd-when-subverted/ accessed on 5 April 2019.

30 overwhelmed and rendered slaves to chocolates. By process of association they would be seduced.”2

This can’t be any closer to truth. Take for example the Lux chocolate soap ad. Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan advertises the Lux Chocolate Seduction, a bath soap. While a soap’s utilitarian benefits would be to give a clean and healthy skin, the advertisers here take a leap and train their guns instead, on sexual objectification. Clearly, the camera angle and aesthetics are meant to arouse sexual desirability. Additionally, phrases such ‘skindulgence’ and chocolate seduction are testimony to the above cause too. To top that all, we see a rather provocative image of Kareena, covered in just chocolate. This advertisement is proof enough that advertisers sell women and not products, with their predominant focus not on their products but on the women.

Advertisements only reinforce the stereotyped version of a woman by extolling virtues of beauty on a rigid scale and end up misusing women as ‘goods for sale’. It’s clichéd to see women cooking delectable meals, cleaning and obsessing over blots on clothes, nurturing the kids, fussing over their food, and embracing other traditional roles. A step further, they are shown as supermoms who can manage everything from the household to office. The real woman is never shown. Advertisements indeed have a myopic view of women.3

There is no dearth of advertisements that show women as sex-addicts. The deodorant ad of Addiction shows Neil Nitin Mukesh flanked by seductively dressed women who are implied to be around him allured by the scent of his spray. So much so that the very famous global chicken restaurant chain, Nando’s went to the extent of publishing a downright sexist advertisement in a daily newspaper. The ad went ahead to say- “We don’t mind if you touch our buns, or breasts, or even thighs. Whatever you are into, enjoying any Nando’s meal with your hands is always recommended.” When social media called out the insensitive advert which equated women to pieces of meat, the chain had to issue an apology. 4

2EMMA ROBERTSON, Chocolate, Women and Empire-A Social and Cultural History (2013). 3 Wani KA, Commodification of Women in Advertising:The Social Cost, 5 JEOM 167 (2016). 4 ENS, Nando’s Cheeky Print Ad Stirs Up Trouble:Ends in Public Apology, THE INDIAN EXPRESS ( Mar 27, 2016,6 PM)https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/nandos-cheeky-print- ad-stirs-up-trouble-ends-in-public-apology/. accessed on 5 April 2019.

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Print media is no different. Matrimonial advertisements are the best reflection of how the society has progressed, or not. We still can find scores of ads that want a fair skinned, slim and convent educated girl in the matrimonial columns of our dailies.

Even as women employees face sexual harassment at their workplace in India, a billboard ad by Jack and Jones featuring hit a new low. The ad shows Ranveer Singh winking in a slick shirt and jeans and carrying a female co-worker slung on him with ease. The woman is wearing a short skirt. The caption says, “Don’t hold back. Take your work home.” And there is also a happy lift boy peeping in. After much uproar over the ad, the Danish company pulled down the advertisement overnight.5

Even an advertisement for juice is shown with a sexual overtone. Actor Katrina Kaif’s ‘Aamsutra: Pure Mango pleasure’ is an apt example. The ad has sensual and alluring close-up shots of Katrina’s lips and other body parts. The camera zooms in further to show Katrina provocatively licking her lips. The condom advertisements too seem to convey not much about condoms as a means for protection or family planning but more about seductive women. 6

One of the major defaulters when it comes to objectification of women in advertising are the ones for men deodorants. With the male deodorant market in India being 1000 crores of the total 1400 crores, it has a large base of audience with the ratio of male to female deodorant market being 70:30. The market has grown manifolds in the last decade but the theme has only marginally changed. Since the 2000s, these ads have always shown women to be mindlessly and sexually attracted to the men who use these deodorants. The main concept being-if you use a particular deodorant, you get to sexually conquer a woman.7 Sex sells, the old age myth is what advertisers still live by.

5Saumya Tewari, Jack and Jones Pulls Off Sexist Ad Featuring Ranveer Singh, LIVE (Nov 23, 2016) https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/LQiTmz6bhokvDzPFZHJoQK/Jack-and-Jones-India-apologizes- pulls-off-sexist-ad-featuri.html. accessed on 5 April 2019. 6 Rochelle Ann Lepcha, Sexual Objectification of Women in Indian TV Ads of Men’s Deodorants from 2000 to 2018, 3 IJISSH 89, 91 (2018). 7 Ibid

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The Axe advertisements have always been overtly sexual with women literally falling over men using the deodorants. The ads were not just downright mindless but highly derogatory too.

From 1975, when the Hindustan Unilever launched its fairness cream to today’s Dove’s real beauty campaign, the fairness cream ads have undergone a transformation in their own rights. The Fair and Lovely cream ad changed its theme from finding the perfect dream man to landing the perfect job. But the bottomline being, fair is indeed lovely. This reflects a society that is obsessed with fairness and where the supreme aim of parents is to get their daughters married. The fairer they are, the brighter their chance of landing an able groom.

Society has changed quite a bit but ads fail to acknowledge that by showing the same old 90s stuff. A Kelloggs All Bran ad shows a wife irked by her hubby’s inability to find his socks. Then she eats Kellogs All Bran and lo and behold, she becomes the utmost patient housewife. This highly stereotypical advertisement fell for the clichéd working, highly stressed husband coming home to his wife, who is equally worked up. Plus, it just reiterates the gendered role of the wife finding everything for the man. This when, most of the urban households today have both the partners working.

Not to forget the ads by insurance companies which are always about the man of the house anxious to save money for the family, ensure kid’s education, mint money for travel plans, care for his elderly parents, wife, and other such responsibilities. This is such a far stretched portrayal as yet again women are taking leaps, turning around businesses, and creating ripples in their professional lives and society. But advertisements continue to portray them as dependent housewives or women who don’t take financial calls for their family. This patriarchy even spills over to advertisements of Cars, where the brand ambassadors are still mostly men.

5.2 Why ads reinforce clichés

There have been many reforms in the gender realm with feminist initiatives and #Metoo movements but we are still caught up with archaic gender notions. The scope and power of effective advertising is massive. Unfortunately, while advertisements have become more slick and tongue-in-cheek, the content and the way they show

33 women is yet to change. With the onset of internet and online advertisements, it is a harder battle to win the viewer’s attention.

Successful advertising is powerful, effective and can mould our likes, preferences and shape our perspectives. That’s why it becomes crucial to have progressive advertisements in sync with the real women. Advertisers show an unrealistic image of a woman’s body so that when a young woman watches the ad, and realizes that her outward image doesn’t match what’s shown in the ad, she would end up buying the product to fulfil the need. The advertiser’s goal is thereby achieved. 8

“Commercials manipulate people’s strongest desires and greatest fears to convince them to buy the preferred products. The side effects are more than just being manipulated as customers. Advertisements uphold stereotypes about gender, race and class. Gender stereotyping leads to feelings of inadequacy especially among teen girls. People are wanted for one thing, to buy the product or the service. Everything that makes us human is reduced to that of a consumer.”9

5.3 Why should ads un-stereotype

Contemporary ads tell us that we consume not the products, but its sign. What it stands for is more important than what it is. Therefore, when women are commodified regularly in advertising images, then it does send a larger social message that women can be treated so. Women’s bodies and men’s bodies are packaged to sell everything. The cumulative effects of such misogynist advertising are that society normalises the degradation of women. Devaluing women is extremely unhealthy. 10

Whether in advertising’s portrayal of men (versus women) or in real life, the man is almost always in control. He is powerful, not passive. He is not likely to be raped, harassed, or abused. Regular degradation of women and portrayal of sexualized violence in media does provide a backdrop for rationalizing gender violence within our society. 11

8 G.Hayko, Effects of Advertising on Society: A Literary Review, 8HOHONU79, 80 (2010). 9 Ibid 10 Shana Meganck, Sex and Violence in Advertising: How commodifying and Sexualising Women Leads to Gender Violence, VCU, http://people.vcu.edu/~megancksl/assets/Text/Sex%20and%20Violence%20in%20Advertising.pdf. accessed on 15 April 2019 11 Ibid

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The World Federation of Advertisers of which India too is a member released a guide for progressive gender portrayals in advertising at the Cannes Lions Festival, 2017. The guide insists on the need for advertising industry to be in tune with the times and it should be a compelling social and policy based initiative and not just a feel good move. Advertisements have the power to influence culture and society in a positive light and they must do so. The Alliance of advertisers worldwide therefore have decided to come together from 60 countries in 6 continents to talk about progressive advertisements. 12

Advertising needs to do a lot of catching up to promote gender equality. About 85 per cent of women say films and advertising need to catch up with the real world, says a study by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and J.Walter Thompson. It was based on an analysis of more than 2,000 English language films from the Cannes Lions Archive from 2006-07. It also found there was no evidence of change between 2006 and 2017.13

To the rescue of gender dynamics is Unilever’s initiative Unstereotype, which is all about progressive portrayal of gender. The move has called for doing away with sexist ads with figures revealing that only 2 per cent of ads show women as intelligent and 40 per cent of women watching advertisements didn’t even identify with the women in ads. So goes a new wave of ads that vouch not to show swooning women in advertisements. This new wave of advertising by a few brands called Femvertising- is all about women emancipation and men redefining masculinity and crushing gender stereotypes heads on. 14

12 The Case for Unstereotyping Ads, A Guide to Progressive Gender Portrayals in Advertising, World Federation of Advertisers (2017)https://www.wfanet.org/app/uploads/2018/06/WFA-Guide-to- Progressive-Gender-Portrayals-in-Advertising.pdf. accessed on 15 April 2019 13 Ibid 14 Ratna Bhushan, No More Sexy, Swooning Women in Ads, (JUN 27, 2016), https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/no-more-sexy-swooning-women- in-ads/articleshow/52930805.cms?from=mdr. accessed on 20 April 2019

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CHAPTER 6

PROGRESSIVE FILMS

6.1 The trailblazer women-centric movies

The truth is the world is changing and women are taking the lead like never before. This has reflected in a flurry of progressive, bold, break the shackles mode kind of female centric movies that have taken women emancipation several notches up. Though these are just a few tides in the Indian ocean of movies, they are ushering a new wave of perspective -that not all heroes wear capes and not all of them have to be men. Women are the new daredevils who don’t just make chai or are engulfed by worries over their husband’s needs. They have bigger causes and pursuits. Whether it’s the bold in the much acclaimed Dirty Picture, or the character of Amrita Puri in Kai Po Che, these leading ladies don’t shy away from chasing their desires. Progressive movies though had their trailblazers creating ripples eons ago too.

Mother India that came out in 1957 was a harbinger of change with its powerful message. plays a headstrong, ethical mother who raises her kids with great difficulty, is worshipped by villagers as a goddess, and in the end kills her own son for his immoral, wayward ways. Though too did reinforce some gender stereotypes it was indeed ahead of its time. In the movie, Nargis shattered the misogynist perspective that women are fragile and cannot be able decision makers. ’s Pakeeza in 1972 achieved a cult status as it took a good peak into the inside lives of sex workers. At a time when widows used to lead miserable lives because of social boycott, , a movie in 1982 brought to fore their plight. The movie starring and Kolhapure focused on the sensitive topic of widow remarriage in a conservative India. The 1982 movie Arth starring Smitha Patil and was a breath of fresh air. When the female protagonist finds that her husband is infidel, she uses that opportunity to find new avenues in her life, instead of weeping over it. It was a movie that took us on a journey of a woman’s realization of self-worth.

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The classic 1987 movie where plays the role of a strong and bold villager who battles the advances of a local tax collector was a big leap for that era. A strong message that comes across the film is that women are no weaklings.

Kya Kehna in the year 2000 showed a bold , going ahead with her pre- marital pregnancy against the wishes of her family and a highly judgemental society. The film sent a strong message that love, respect and support should be there for the choices women make for themselves.

Lajja, a 2001 movie with character names of Maithili, Janki, Ramdulaari and Vaidehi, all versions of Sita is all about powerful women who fight all the ills of the society valiantly. The movie is a satire on the honour that is attached to women in the Indian society, their plight and endless restrictions put on them. Chandni Bar, a 2001 movie showed the female lead played by surviving all the hardships thrown at her by the ruthless city of dreams, Mumbai.

The 2009 movie Dev D was unapologetically feminist. In contrast to the weeping damsels in distress in the original Devdas, this movie was a spin off that welcomed the new era bold women. While Paro's role played by Mahie Gill is unconditional in her love and doesn't shy away from taking the mattress to the field anticipating a sexual encounter with her boyfriend, that of Chanda played by Kalki Koelchin is refreshing to watch as well. Chanda's role was inspired from the DPS MMS scandal case. She was a victim of slut shaming for no mistake of hers, while the guy involved hardly faced any consequence. Though Chanda does have a misgiving in life on that, she moves on in life. She is strong and her personality is layered and as real as it can get. She seeks solace in sex work and finds true friendship among the sex workers too. An independent woman, she pursues her education part time too. She helps Dev find himself even as she has a firm hold on her life. Both Chanda and Paro shrug off the female centric stereotypes in this movie.

The decade of the movie was Sridevi’s in 2012. An under confident, homemaker steps out of her house and takes life changing decisions. A loving mother and wife, she invests unconditional love and emotional labour in her family and yet she is taken for granted. She is always put down by her family members because she is economically dependent on her husband. She learns English, and in that process

37 overcomes her fears, inhibitions and comes out as a confident woman, still grounded but one who is aware of her self-worth by the end of the movie.

The 2013 movie Gulaab Gang showed the power of pink with a gang of women from a small village fighting injustice heads on. Nothing shall stand in the way of a bunch of united women, was the film’s take home message.

The 2014 Mardani set the box office on fire as the flagship of feminism. Rani Mukherji gave a powerful performance as Shivani Shivaji Roy, a tough cop with the Mumbai Crime Branch. In the movie, she is the solo powerhouse performer taking down an entire empire of child trafficking business.

Bareilly ki Barfi in 2017 showed Kriti Sanon playing the role of the bold Bitti who turns the table on patriarchy in Benaras. The movie shows a free-spirited Bitti working at the state electricity board. She lives life her way and breaks the typical marriage stereotypes with her dad raising Bitti like a son, even letting her smoke occasionally.

The 2018 Badhai Ho showed an emotionally strong bringing the spotlight on sex in older couples and old age pregnancy. The movie got out facets of a highly prejudiced society against an ageing couple and how they brave it all.

Manmariziyan, a 2018 movie was refreshing as it didn’t tread the typical route of ‘those who lust face punishment’. Infact, the film makes no apologies for what a woman chooses.

Kangana Ranaut became the youth icon with her movie Queen in 2014. When her fiancé calls off their marriage right before the D-Day, an emotional Kangana decides to go on a solo honeymoon trip to Paris and Amsterdam. The expedition transforms her from a naive small town girl to a free spirited, adventurous woman who doesn’t bow down to her ex-lover even after things change and the movie ends on her being happily single. What makes the movie special is that the narrative is completely woman driven and goes above the conventional style of storytelling. It also celebrates

38 a much underestimated and untold version, the female bonding. Queen is a story told by a woman, and it shows in the movie.

The 2014 movie too showed Alia as a woman who chooses life with an honest lower class man over freedom from abuse. The 2000 movie starring Tabu showed that female desires are no different from that of male.

Anushka Sharma’s role in the 2015 movie NH10 was bold and honest, to say the least. The movie shows two sides of the coin that is India: one side that is all equal, and modern. The other side is smeared by misogyny and patriarchy. The heroine gets back to the avengers with a vengeance like never before, showing that a woman’s wrath can hit where it hurts.

Alia Bhatt’s in 2016 was a film that acknowledged female desire and took one step forward to normalise it. The movie shows Bhatt as a person unable to stay in healthy relationships due to childhood issues but with help, she comes to accept and deal with her problems.

The 2017 movie was an uninhibited initiative where four feisty women discover their own desires. The movie got into trouble with the Censor Board refusing certification because it was a women centric movie and their fantasy about life. Clearly, a case of patriarchal institutions and patriarchal rules.1

The spy thriller in 2018 saw give a power packed performance as a badass undercover RAW agent whose father gets her married into a Pakistani family so that she can uncover valuable information for the nation. The story is gritty, intense and packs a strong emotional punch. Alia just drives the movie from start to finish.

The 2018 movie Stree offered some life lessons on gender sensitivity by exposing men to the troubles and threats in the lives of women.

6.2 Female gaze breaks the mould.

Looks like, all these years we have been exposed only to the male gaze. It is so inherent that we hardly notice it. Male gaze is a concept coined by British film

1 Sanjukta Sharma, The Woman of Censor’s Dream, LIVEMINT (Jul. 14, 2018, 9:32 AM), https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/vkLTCcvHWzXnJv2PoxtJ7K/The-woman-of-a-censors-dream.html

39 theorist Laura Mulvey in the year 1975 to explain the sexual objectification of women onscreen in the Western media. By far it applies very much to the Indian media too. Male gaze is viewing women in the media from the eyes of the heterosexual man, thereby rendering women as passive objects of male desire. The presence of men in the industry is ubiquitous and well, movies appeal to their needs too. Even the most progressive movies made by men can still fall under the male gaze category. 2

“In cinema, the male gaze looks while the female body is looked at; the gaze can come from the audience, from a male character within the film, or from the camera itself.”3

In a movie landscape where majority of the movies are directed by males, the male gaze is difficult to escape. It becomes such an intrinsic factor that even women start looking at other women through the male gaze, which becomes a huge influential factor in their style, looks, among other such definitive things.

“If a man directed Raazi, Alia Bhatt’s character in the movie would have been reduced to a caricature. Forget the sensitivity, Iqbal (Vicky's character) would never allow Sehmat (Alia Bhatt) to leave the house. He'd grab her, yank her, throw her on the floor."

- Meghna , Director, Raazi4

It is in this context, that it is crucial that the audience be introduced to other forms of gaze too. This will help empower women, lead to constructive criticism, and help in the making of better movies.5 Some of the progressive Bollywood movies may show women to be sexually liberating but they still largely cater to the male gaze as the

2 Rachael Sampson, Film Theory 101- Laura Mulvey: The Male Gaze Theory, FILM INQUIRY (Oct 27, 2015), http://www.filminquiry.com/film-theory-basics-laura-mulvey-male-gaze-theory/. 3 Tori Telfer, How Do We Define The Male Gaze In 2018?, VULTURE (Aug.2, 2018), https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/how-do-we-define-the-female-gaze-in-2018.html. 4 Ankur Pathak, If a Man Directed Raazi, Alia Bhatt’s Character Would Have Been Reduced to a Caricature, HUFFINGTON POST (May.21, 2018, 7;20 PM), https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2018/05/21/if-a-man-directed-raazi-alia-bhatts-character-would-have- been-reduced-to-a-caricature-says-meghna-gulzar_a_23439612/ accessed on 15 April 2019. 5 N.Tamilselvi, The Panaroma of Female Gaze in India Cinema- A Case Study of Parched, 3 RRJ 90, 93 (2018).

40 main storyline continues to serve men.6 Only those movies that accept women and their needs as legitimate subjects can be tagged as female gaze centric initiatives

There are a few movies which have done justice to the female gaze per se. A scene in the 2007 movie Saawariya showed the male protagonist standing by the window wrapped in a towel. The scene that followed required him to strip. While the movie bombed at box office, Ranbir Kapoor did gain quite a fan base. This wasn’t a scene where he was objectified but sexualised. Unlike objectification, sexualisation doesn’t treat a person as a sex toy. The point of this kind of cinematic aesthetics meaning, women have sexual desires just like men do but Bollywood hardly recognizes this fact.

John Abraham did a sensational strip tease in the 2008 movie Dostana, which became more popular than the homophobic movie itself. 7 Bollywood too is becoming sensitive in providing and consuming the concept of female gaze. The 2014 movie Happy New Year had Shah Rukh Khan’s character Charlie standing bare chested and sweaty in the opening scene, with the camera zooming in on his abs.

The 2019 movie Gully Boy has Ranveer Singh at the centre stage. But the women in the movie are uninhibited in their expressions of sexual desires, expectations, and ambitions. The character played by doesn’t hold back from expressing her physical attraction for Gully Boy. She is impulsive and open about what she desires. The feisty role of Safeena played by Alia too doesn’t shy away from kissing her boyfriend and takes the lead in expressions as and when she pleases. And the character played by Gully boy’s mother too doesn’t mind retorting to her husband about her own physical needs when he brings home a younger wife. The film directed by has shown a real picture of women’s desires and perspectives.8 Indeed the female gaze is becoming the new norm with the levelling of skewed ratio of men vs. women in the Indian film industry.

6 Shruti Janardhan, Dear Bollywood, When Will You Cater to the Female Gaze? , FII (Nov.7, 2017), https://feminisminindia.com/2017/11/07/bollywood-female-gaze/ accessed on 15 April 2019. 7 Shruti Janardhan, Dear Bollywood, When Will You Cater to the Female Gaze? , FII (Nov.7, 2017), https://feminisminindia.com/2017/11/07/bollywood-female-gaze/ accessed on 5 April 2019. 8 Archita Kashyap, Gully Boy and the Female Gaze:Zoya Akhtar Leads the Way with Unapologetic Depiction of Women’s Desire, FIRST POST(Feb 16, 2019, 12:37 PM), https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/gully-boy-and-the-female-gaze-zoya-akhtar-leads-the-way- with-unapologetic-depiction-of-womens-sexual-desire-6098211.html. accessed on 20 April 2019.

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“The female gaze is important because it is the only way we can challenge the traditional ways through which we view women on the big screen, sometimes even subconsciously. We are so used to seeing women’s bodies in a commercialised and objectified way in most mainstream media. The intimacy and beauty of showing a human body, particularly a woman’s is evident in her work as she consciously stays away from a fetished and voyeuristic way of filmmaking.”

- Shreya Dube, Cinematographer 9

9 Shreya Dube’s Powerful Work Is Paving The Way For Female Cinematographers In India, HOMEGROWN (Dec.26, 2018), https://homegrown.co.in/article/803336/shreya-dubes-powerful-work- is-paving-the-way-for-female-cinematographers-in-india. accessed on 20 April 2019.

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CHAPTER-7

PROGRESSIVE ADVERTISEMENTS

7.1 Ads that Clean Up the Gender Clutter

The 80s and 90s kids may remember the earliest Nirma detergent ads with the very familiar jingle, , Jaya, Sushma…Sabki Pasand Nirma. The three happy women who ensured that their husband’s shirts were as white and shiny as marble tiles. For a very long time, advertisements of washing detergents, cooking oil, basmati rice and everything domestic except the finances were all targeted at the dutiful homemaker. The insurance and the home loans ads would talk to the men directly. Things have changed quite a bit from then to now with a new crop of advertisements that acknowledge the real women who would rather break the anarchy of men than succumb to it.

A new breed of advertisers has their reality check done. They have started capturing the popular mindset, reflecting on the mainstream cult and tapping on glass ceilings. They have accepted that their millennial women audience have an equal or more significant say on what to buy or not than the men. That apart, customer is supreme as always, irrespective of the gender. And what more, advertisements are not just breaking taboos, they are shooting off some serious, progressive narratives. Well, even the brand Nirma ads have progressed from their precedents. The new ad features two women who help pull a car out of the ditch even as helpless men are just looking around. They get dirty too. And that is exactly the point the ad wants to make-that women are physically resilient and they don’t mind getting dirty.

Let’s look at some breaking the mould.

7.1.1 Shaving off gender stereotypes- Gillette

Earlier in the year, Gillette’s tagline- ‘Is this the best a man can get,’ was released which was more like a response to sexual harassment, bullying, violence against women and #MeToo movement. It challenged the gender status quo such as ‘boys will be boys’.

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A recent ad by Gillette hit the right note by squishing some clichés. The ad talks of two sisters who work as barbers in a small village Banwari Tola in . The girls have broken the glass ceiling by choosing jobs that aren’t associated with women. “How does it matter which gender holds the razor,’ the ad states and rightly so. Interestingly the ad is based on real women, the protagonists themselves who took the job after their father.

7.1.2 When ads talk to the real women-Dove

Dove’s ‘real woman’, ‘real beauty’ ad campaign was a thumbs down to all the hackneyed ads proclaiming fair and lovely, blemish free, skin type for women. It had an instant appeal as it welcomed women irrespective of skin colour, age, clothing, and ethnicity across India, in its ‘let’s break the rules of beauty’ campaign. The brand Hindustan Unilever took a high jump when it decided against enhancing images of the models in Dove ads.

7.1.3 Bold is Beautiful-Myntra

Myntra’s ‘Bold and Beautiful’ ad campaign for the ethnic wear brand Anouk put out three kinds of progressive ads conceptualizing women; being single, being a single parent and being a homosexual couple. The ad on homosexuality titled, The Visit shows a homosexual couple. One of the partner is all set to introduce the other to her parents. The scene is very typical of that ‘parents meet the lover for the first time’ moment, except that the buzzword here is homosexuality, a concept largely untouched in India.

7.1.4 Share the Load-Ariel

Ariel shrugged off from loading women with the laundry this time and took the road less travelled. In an intelligent ad on gender sensitization, it makes a father realize the importance of involvement of both partners in housework, not just for each other but for their kids to learn and imbibe. Sitting at a dining table, an old father sees his daughter struggle and multitask through her domestic chores, washing clothes, supervising kids, making dinner and in between catering to the needs of her husband who is simply watching TV and unaware of the wife’s laborious tasks. It is the father’s moment of awareness; he realizes that he never helped his wife by sharing the

44 load. Then comes the father’s letter for his daughter where he acknowledges that he is directly responsible for her state of affairs. She had internalized what she had grown up seeing. He didn’t provide the right lead. The last scene shows the father loading the washing machine, much to his wife’s surprise and the tagline, “Share the load, because why should laundry be a mother’s job?’

7.1.5 Arranged marriage with a ‘change is beautiful’ twist-BIBA

The ethnic apparel brand BIBA broke the conventional, ubiquitous arranged marriage setup with its Change is Beautiful ad campaign. Biba’s change maker ad depicts the usual scenario of arranged marriages till the point the father of the girls puts the spotlight on the prospective groom by asking him, “what can you cook.” Instead of getting instigated, the guy asks for an interim 10 days for a cooking crash course. The turn of events in the ad was refreshing and progressive in the same breath.

7.1.6 Titan-Her Life, Her Choices

The watch brand comes with an ad that values changing times and women. A far cry from mother centric ads that talk about motherhood as one loaded with domestic chores, Titan’s ads have shown women embrace motherhood as a choice and not sacrifice. And a step ahead is also showing self –assured single women. Nimrat Kaur, in the ad runs into her ex-boyfriend at an airport lounge. They discuss their parting, the reasons, one of them being he wanted Nimrat to leave her job, which she had opposed. As she fingers her Raga watch on her wrist, she realizes how time hasn’t changed him. The ad pays tribute to the new woman, her choices and her realization of self-worth. And how her relationship with her own self is supreme and self- assuring.

7.1.7 Vicks- Touch of Care

This one shows a transgender person who has a daily battle in educating her adopted daughter. This heart-warming ad hit the right chord as it showed transgender persons in a progressive manner.

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7.1.8 Stayfree- From Sexism

The Stayfree sanitary napkin ad campaign focuses on the new generation women who are independent and self-led. Their ad shows a woman who is keen on joining Army even as her parents object.

7.2 Femvertising: The new ads riding on feminism

Femvertising, simply put is women empowerment through advertising. Whether its Dove’s ‘Let’s Break the Rules of Beauty’ or Myntra’s ‘Bold is Beautiful,’ or Gillette’s ad where two young women pick up shaving as profession, they are all biting the new bullet; femvertising. The new tide of ads are pro-women, respect their choices and make them feel valued and emancipated. Coming from a place where it was all about women being treated as sexual objects, to putting the spotlight on ‘women power’, advertising is now training its guns on acknowledging women as individuals in their own rights. The advertising industry is riding the new bandwagon in all its fervour.

A woman is equal and empowered and can live her life with respect to her own needs, thoughts, and perspectives. She doesn’t need sanctions from others. Achievement and self-worth are defining factors of women’s empowerment- This is the new language of ads. It encourages them to achieve and value their own self above everything through ads like the captivating Reebok ad which says ‘Bruises are good’ and Tanishq’s ad that sends out a strong emotional punch, ‘For the Woman You Always Wanted to Be.’ The Hero Pleasure Scooty ad asks women to be free birds with their, “Why Should Boys Have All The Fun”.1

Looks like Femvertising is helping brands not just sell their products but also the idea of women power. Studies have shown that femvertising is effective and persuasive for the audience. Marketers have now become aware of the increasing influential power of women buyers and acknowledge the same through their advertisements. 2

1 Hamsini Shivakumar, The Advertising That Women Want, THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE, Mar.8, 2018, https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/the-advertising-that-women-want/article22985128.ece. accessed on 10 May 2019. 2 Yashodhan Karulkar, Femvertising and Its Impact on the Buying Behaviour of the Consumers in India, NMIMS, https://sbm.nmims.edu/docs/working-paper-ma2-2018-final.pdf. accessed on 10 May 2019.

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We all know that ads have a farther reach than even their products and services. They have an important role of explicitly and subconsciously sending messages and shaping values and perceptions. An international study by SheKnows Media on the effectiveness of femvertising was released recently and it reflected the fact that women have huge purchasing power and influence. And the positive message that femvertising sends across is impactful. About 52 per cent of the women surveyed had said they bought a product because they liked how the ad portrayed women, and 71 per cent of them surveyed said that they would rather trust brands that show women responsibly and positively. 3

“Ads can sell products while also selling good ideas and good values and socially empowering women and girls.”

- SheKnows Media4

3 Kelly Wallace, Femvertising, Ads Targeting Women Do Plenty For Brands, CNN, Jul 21, 2015, https://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/21/living/femvertising-ads-women-girls-success-feat/index.html. accessed on 15 May 2019. 4 Ibid.

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CHAPTER 8 OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN IN INDIA: LEGAL FRAMEWORK GOVERNING VISUAL MEDIA The Indian Constitution not only grants equality to women, it also empowers the state to adopt measures of positive discrimination towards women. For example, Article 51A(e)5 of the Constitution specifically provides that the state should strive to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women. To this purpose, India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments aimed at securing equal rights and protection for women. For example, the ratification of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993 by India paved way for Vishakha Guidelines to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplace when there were none. Thus, given the popularity of visual media in contemporary society, one can legitimately presume that there must be laws governing its functioning; particularly as it has a greater responsibility in upholding the dignity of women by its wider reach and influence. Though there is a general broad framework preventing the indecent representation of women, there persists a legal vacuum regarding the objectification of women in visual media as a source of entertainment for its consumers. This chapter outlines the legal framework currently dealing with the representation of women in broadcasting media.

8.1 Representation of Women with Dignity

The term ‘life’ has been extensively interpreted in our constitutional literature and has a very wide scope and meaning. It does not connote mere animal existence or continued drudgery through life. It includes right to livelihood, better standard of living and most importantly a life with dignity.6 The right to live with human dignity under Article 21 of Indian Constitution draws its breath from the Directive Principles of State Policy. “It is more than just physical survival and is not confined to protection of any faculty or limb through which life is enjoyed.”7 This right is available to all

5 (e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women. 6 Maneka Gandhi v Union of India, AIR 1981 SC 746 7 Francis Coralie v Union of Territory of Delhi, AIR 1978 SC 597

48 human beings living in India and consequently to women. They have the right to dignified representation in mass media.

To prohibit indecent representation of women, through advertisements, publications, writing, paintings, figures, pamphlets etc. the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 was legislated by the Parliament. Under this law the telecast of programs, which offend the decency and morality and derogate women are prohibited and punishable.8 It states that no person shall publish or cause to publish or cause to be published or arrange to take part in the publication or exhibition of any advertisement, which contains indecent representation of women in any form. ‘In the act, advertisement’ includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper or other document and also includes any visible representation made by means of any light, sound, smoke or gas.9 The National Commission of Women has suggested including electronic and other forms of media into the definition. It also suggests the derogatory representation of a woman or her body to include the inclination to introduce woman as a sexual object, a sexual product for man's pleasure, or the propensity to extol lady's subjection to man as a credit to womanhood and anything that would deprave, corrupt and injure public morality and morals.10 What lacks mention is the stand to determine such derogation. What amounts to objectification has not been defined. Due to the lack of clarity in the protection norms, the patriarchal gendered roles and depictions are allowed to perpetuate. In that sense, the law is inadequate and would need reform.

8 S 4 of Indecent representation of Women Act 1986 states that, it shall grant to the person applying for a certificate in respect of the film a "U" certificate or, as the case may be, a "UA" certificate; or (b) the film is not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition, but is suitable for public exhibition restricted to adults or, as the case may be, is suitable for public exhibition restricted to members of any profession or any class of persons, it shall grant to the person applying for a certificate in respect of the film an "A" certificate or, as the case may be, an "S" certificate; and cause the film to be so marked in the prescribed manner: PROVIDED that the applicant for the certificate, any distributor or exhibitor or any other person to whom the rights in the film have passed shall not be liable for punishment under any law relating to obscenity in respect of any matter contained in the film for which certificate has been granted under clause (a) or clause (b).] (2) A certificate granted or an order refusing to grant a certificate in respect of any film shall be published in the Gazette of India. (3) Subject to the other provisions contained in this Act, a certificate granted by the Board under this section shall be valid throughout India for a period of ten years. 9 S 3, Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 10 Deepak Ranjan Sahoo, Indecent Representation of Women: Role of Media and Law, Odisha review (2015), http://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/2015/Jan/engpdf/36-42.pdf

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8.2 Women, Obscenity and Censorship in Movies

What is obscene is often related to the moral values in the society. As visual media often influences society, obscenity in arts and cinematograph films have been heavily debated in Indian Constitutional jurisprudence. Usually, the concept of obscenity varies from one country to another as every country has its own standard of morality.11 The Indian law of obscenity is modeled on the English concept of obscenity. The test of obscenity was laid down by the Supreme Court in Ranjit D. Udeshi vs. State of Maharastra12, which says that obscenity must not be judged by a word, here a passage there. The work as a whole must be looked into and seen as to how it impacts the society, reader. In the words of the court,

“Where obscenity and art are mixed, art must be so preponderate as to throw the obscenity into a shadow or the obscenity so trivial and insignificant that it can have no effect and may be overlooked. It is necessary that a balance should be maintained between ‘freedom of speech and expression’ and ‘public decency and morality’ but when the latter is substantially transgressed the former must give way.”

Under Section 29213 of IPC the sale of obscene materials is prevented. The Cinematograph Act, 1952 provides that a film can be granted a certificate for viewing

11 Chandrakant kalyandas Kokodar vs. State of Maharastra and ors AIR (1970) 1396, (1970) SCR (2)80

12 AIR 1965 SC 881: (1965) 1 SCR 65.

13 292. Sale, etc., of obscene books, etc. [( 1 ) For the purposes of subsection (2), a book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation, figure or any other object, shall be deemed to be obscene if it is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect, or (where it comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items, is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt person, who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or. embodied in it]. [(2)] Whoever- (a) sells, lets to hire, distributes, publicly exhibits or in any manner puts into circulation, or for purposes of sale, hire, distribution, public exhibition or circulation, makes, produces or has in his possession any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, representation or figure or any other obscene object whatsoever, or (b) imports, exports or conveys any obscene object for any of the purposes aforesaid, or knowing or having reason to believe that such object will be sold, let to hire, distributed or publicly exhibited or in any manner put into circulation, o (c) takes part in or receives profits from any business in the course of which he knows or has reason to believe that any such obscene objects are for any of the purposes aforesaid, made, produced, purchased, kept, imported, exported, conveyed, publicly exhibited or in any manner put into circulation, or

50 based on its content but should not transgress the boundaries of decency or morality as given under reasonable restrictions in Article 19(2). Drawing from these, the SC has discussed at length the question as to what is vulgar, obscene and improper in broadcasting media particularly in the depiction of women. In this regard Justice Hidayatullah said that, “The test for judging a work should be that of an ordinary man of common sense & prudence & not an out of the ordinary or hypersensitive man.”14 The Court, relying on the Khosla Committee Report, 196815 and precedents from the Indian, American and British case laws, said that pre-censorship was valid (in the context) and an exception to the right to freedom of speech and expression had been provided under Article 19(2). The expressions like seduction, immoral traffic in women, soliciting, prostitution etc. indelicate sexual situation and scenes suggestive of immorality, traffic and use of drugs are presumed to be within the understanding of the average man and more so of persons who are likely to be the panel for purposes of censorship. However, the censors need to take into account the value of art while making their decision. The artistic appeal or presentation of an episode robs it of its vulgarity and harm and also what may be socially good and useful and what may not.16 What the visual media legal framework suffers is the vagueness of decency or societal morality. In absence of clear definitions of objectification, the threshold to include such depictions as offences is very high. This is violative of the rights of women, including their dignity and unacceptable in the constitutional framework of India.

(d) advertises or makes known by any means whatsoever that any person is engaged or is ready to engage in any act which is an offence under this section, or that any such obscene object can be procured from or through any person, or (e) offers or attempts to do any act which is an offence under this section, shall be punished [on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, and with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, and, in the event of a second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, and also with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees].

14 K. A. Abbas v Union of India, AIR 1971 SC 481; The Bench consisted of M. Hidyatullah, J. M. Shelat, G. K. Mitter, C. A. Vaidyalingam, A.N. Ray, JJ.

15 Report of the Enquiry Committee on Film Censorship 1968-1969 instituted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to enquire into the working of the existing procedures for certification of cinematograph films for public exhibition in India.

16 Samaresh Bose v. Amal Mitra, AIR 1986 SC 967.

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8.3 Regulation of Television Content

It is estimated that in India at an average two new channels are launched everyday and a new show is launched every third day.17 A single monolithic system of regulation cannot possibly regulate such a diverse system. Regulation therefore ranges from self- regulation to statutory regulation. A brief overview of the existing legal framework governing the television media is essential before attention is turned to contents of regulation. There are distinct systems of regulation for broadcast media, print media, and social media. This section shall limit itself to regulation of broadcasting media.

8.3.1 Cable TV and Content Regulation

At present, the law relevant to broadcast media is the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act 1995. The Act brought into power the Program Code and the Advertising Code, collectively mentioned in the Cable Television (Rules), 1994, which restrict the transmission of any program or commercial not consistent with the code. The program code, for example, restricts airing any content that may not be reasonable for open review or which might be generally disallowed under the Cinematograph Act, 1952. This code also prevents the airing of content that may be in contravention of prevalent public policy such as obscenity, communal disharmony, etc. The Advertising code, then again, forbids promoting of those contents that infringe public morality and decency and any other content that can create social disharmony, etc. Interestingly, rule 7(2)(vi) prevents the portrayal of women in traditional gendered roles and acknowledges the objectification of women in advertisements, forbidding it.18 It is the only rule to do. Similar to the 1995 Act, the Consumers Complaint Redressal (Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems)

17Pratiksha Ravi, Regulation of Television Content in India (June 20 2018) https://blog.ipleaders.in/television-content-regulation/ accessed on 23.5.2019

18 R.7 (2)(vi) No advertisement shall be permitted which, “in its depiction of women violates Constitutional guarantee to all citizens. In particular, no advertisement shall be permitted which portrays a derogatory image of women. Women must not be portrayed in a manner that emphasizes passive, submissive qualities and encourages them to play a subordinate, secondary role in family and society. The Cable operator shall ensure that the portrayal of the female form, in programmes carried in his cable service is tasteful and aesthetic and is with well established norms of good taste and decency.”

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Regulations, 2012 gives the Central Government power to prohibit content and provides for penalties.19

There is no regulatory authority set up under the Act. Instead, the broadcasting sector is directed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which controls occasionally on issues, for example, streamlining of the appropriation of TV slots to stage administrators. Furthermore, the Electronic Media Monitoring Center built up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting screens the substance of all TV channels up linking and down linking in India to check the infringement of the Program and Advertisement Code.

8.3.2 Broadcasting and Self Regulation

To ensure the independence of media, the State has also acknowledged certain self- regulating provisions. Self-regulation of content in the broadcast media is led through a two-level instrument of self-regulation by individual broadcasters and industry level administrative bodies. Content is partitioned into news and non-news areas. For the non-news segment, the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) inside the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) that regulates channels other than the news channels. The BCCC is an autonomous board containing a thirteen member body comprising of a Chairperson being a retired Judge of the Supreme Court or High Court and 12 different individuals including telecasters and famous non-broadcast individuals.

The self-administrative body for news and current affairs channels is the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) which has set up the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) to arbitrate objections in connection to broadcast content on news channels. The NBA comprises just of associations that are members who submit

19 20. Power to prohibit operation of cable television network in public interest. (1) Where the Central Government thinks it necessary or expedient so to do in public interest, it may prohibit the operation of any cable television network in such areas as it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf. (2) Where the Central Government thinks it necessary or expedient so to do in the interest of the— (i) sovereignty or integrity of India; or (ii) security of India; or (iii) friendly relations of India with any foreign State; or (iv) public order, decency or morality, it may, by order, regulate or prohibit the transmission or re-transmission of any channel or programme. (3) Where the Central Government considers that any programme of any channel is not in conformity with the prescribed programme code referred to in section 5 or the prescribed advertisement code referred to in section 6, it may by order, regulate or prohibit the transmission or re-transmission of such programme].

53 themselves to regulation by the NBA. It has set up a Code of Ethics to direct TV content. The NBSA is empowered to caution, rebuke, reproach, express dissatisfaction and fine any broadcaster disregarding the Code. Recently, Retd. Justice Sikri has been appointed the Chairperson of NBSA whose vast experience in Judiciary and impeccable record is expected to strengthen self-regulation and NBSA.20

8.4 Advertisements and Indecent Representation

With expanding TV viewership continuously, the Advertisement revenue has turned into a worthwhile alternative for every channel. Nonetheless, the content of these promotions must be checked. There is no statutory arrangement or body to manage the advertisement content in India. Consequently, a self-overseeing body called the Advertising standards council of India (ASCI) has been shaped to manage the promotion content in India. It has a broad objective to ensure that advertisements are not offensive to generally accepted standards of public decency.

In all the aforementioned provisions, there is a general mention of acceptable standards of public decency and morality. The visual medial is replete with examples of advertisements promoting patriarchal mindset in today’s day and age. Despite the awareness and the push for womens’ emancipation, if such content persists, then it is safe to presume that there exists a vacuum in law that is unable to curb such objectification. Thus, though there is some framework for general protection of women and more robust legal framework is needed to ensure better representation of women that goes beyond the criteria of decency and morality.

20 Justice A. K. Sikri Appointed As Chairperson of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), LiveLaw News Network, (14.05.2019) accessed at https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/justice- a-k-sikri-appointed-as-chairperson-of-nbsa-145057

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THE WAY FORWARD

The most important aspect that the present dissertation wants to point out is that films should include a diverse content and not just a single mainstream narrative of stereotyped content that objectifies and commodifies women. The film landscape is dominated by women playing roles that are steeped in patriarchy. Though, we have laws for obscenity which have been dealt with in the dissertation, the phenomenon of objectification and commodification is much more deep-rooted.

Our film and advertising industries are dominated by a mindset that reeks of a highly patriarchal system. In some cases it is very explicit while in others it is very implicit. It is understood that our Constitution under Article 19 provides for freedom of speech and expression which can only be curtailed in this case under public morality and therefore, creative freedom is given to films. The same is similarly provided under the cinematograph act. We have also seen that this phenomenon escapes the misrepresentation of women act. But under the garb of this protection we have caused great damage to the dignity of women by prescribing norms for them to adhere to which has reinforced the stereotype that women cater to the male gaze. This goes against one of the very fundamental duties of our constitution which is protecting the dignity of a woman.

To improve upon this existing societal structure, we need to make more progressive films which are women centric. This cannot be enforced upon the film industry but the state can provide incentives in the form of tax free status for films which promote such values as it is the duty of the state to promote values that uphold the dignity of women.

Clearly, one of the reasons for ‘movies made for men, by men’ syndrome is the skewed ratio of men to women directors, and various other key roles like cameraperson, screenwriter, and others. Therefore, the inclusion of more women directors will help develop a broader, liberal outlook in the filmmaking arena. If we encourage the development of more women in the wide spectrum of roles required for films from the start to the finish, we do stand a fair opportunity of having narratives that do justice to the cause of women. We can take cues from countries like Sweden which have successfully managed to promote feminism as a value of the state. India

55 can also actively promote a policy of mainstreaming gender perspective as a value through films and advertisements or at the very least incentivise films that promote such values.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY SOURCES

THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA 1950

STATUTES

 The Indian Penal Code 1860  The Indecent Reprsentation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986  The Cinematograph Act, 1952  The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995

RULES AND REGULATIONS

 The Cable Television (Rules) 1994  Consumer Complaints Redressal (Digital Addressable Cable TV System) Regulations, 2012 REPORTS

 Khosla Committee Report, 1968

INTERNATIONAL CONVETIONS

 Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 1993

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