Role of Media in the Socio-economic Uplifting of Women

Introduction Media is both the messenger and the message, and is the single source of information that shapes our politics, national discourse and the minds of people. In the 21​st ​century, it is the largest source of knowledge throughout the world and consequently, it has a direct as well as and indirect impact on our perception of the world and the people in it. In case of women, too, therefore, it essentially influences the society’s perception as well as their perception of themselves. In the present scenario, however, the perception of women is highly tainted with the stereotypical bias, and consequently, their representation in the mainstream media is either highly sexualised or completely romanticised. Women are depicted as either extremely objectified sexual beings with unattainable beauty or are completely demurred in their depiction as docile housewives, with the scope of their dreams limited to the attainment of an ideal man. This gives the society a message that the entire value and worth of women depends solely on how they look. Thus, there is an indirect and sometimes direct implication that there is no appreciation of intellectual women and that being strong, confident and independent is not sufficient or desirable for a woman in a world where they ought to strive for unattainable beauty in order to seek approval in the eyes of men and the society. As a result, despite the struggle for women’s equality, the subject of women’s compulsive pursuit of beauty is still shrouded in silence.​1 History of Women’s Representation in India In this section, I shall briefly discuss the history of women’s representation in India from the earliest forms of media, which were books and religious scriptures, and then talk about how the representation of women changed through the history of Indian cinema and television. In India, women have always been a important subject of discussion since early Vedic times(1700-1100 BCE)​2 and much has been written about them and their character and duties in many religious ​ texts.​3​ If the ​Rig Veda is referred to, along ​ with the ​Vedic Samhitas, it is found that women have been represented as equals of men rather than as their ‘humble subordinates,’ and apart form household chores they actively took part in agricultural activities, household finances, craft, art and academic, literary as well as religious activities.​4​ In ​ Sarvankuramanika, as many as twenty women have been accredited with composition of Rig Vedic hymns and the early Upanishads ​ refer to ​Brahamayadinis or lifelong female scholars of philosophy.​5​ Besides this, women ____________________ ​ ​Woolf, Naomi, ​The Beauty Myth, HarperPerennial, (2002). 1​ Mallory, J.P., Douglas Q. Adams, ​E​ ncyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, (1997). 2​ Basham, ​ A.L., ​The Wonder That was India, Picador India, (2005). 3​ ​​ 4​ Griffith, Ralph,​ The Rigveda, Evinity Publishing Inc. (1896). Davis, Bryant, ​Ancient India: A Compiled Summary. 5​ (http://portal.bentonvillek12.org/jevans/World%20History%20Materials/Unit%202%20-%20Agricultural%20Revolution%2 0and%20River%20Valley%20Civs/ancient_india_summaries.pdf) were also a part of administration​6​ and entered fields of teaching, medicine and military.​7​ They had equal property rights, being the sole heiresses of all the property and wealth owned by their mothers and grandmothers,​8​ and the depiction of women as weak, submissive, male-dependant creatures did not start until the Epic Age (1000 -500 BCE) and the Later Vedic Age (500-150BCE)​9​, where women are suddenly reduced to the image of submissive wives and daughters, who are victims of various social evils and are treated as male property, which can be traded for, gambled and won. This depiction continues up to the later ages of Ancient India and becomes a common, sexualised one which is later copied into books, plays, stories ad even art and sculpture. In fact, one of the first few extremely sexual depictions of a woman and the female body occurs in Bilhana’s ​Caurapâñcâśikâ in 1100 CE.​ 10​ After this, the position as well as the representation of women faces a sharp decline in both the religious and the historic texts of India and despite the onset of colonial rule, Indian women remain within the four walls of their houses and are treated and represented as sexual beings whose duty was either to endure in silence or to sexually please as mistresses, courtesans and prostitutes. The turning point in the history of their representation came in the 1920s, with the introduction of cinema in India, and the pioneers in this field were Dadasaheb Phalke and Himanshu Rai, who, under the influence of the Swadeshi Movement, started making historical and mythological films with women depicted as a curious blend of western sophistication and Indian costumes.​11​ By this time, even in the contemporary literature, the Victorian principles of chastity and modesty for women had crept in and this had an extreme influence on the representation of women in popular literature and fiction. With the onset of the freedom struggle, however, the depiction of women underwent a drastic change from that of a sophisticated, intelligent but modest creature to the valorised ​ mother figure in distress, as can be seen in Mehboob Khan’s ​Aurat.​12 ​Now, the woman becomes a creature of extreme endurance and moral strength, suffering under the tyranny of a villian, who suppressed her either sexually, physically or economically and who needed to be salvaged by a man. This representation was a ____________________ 6​ ​ Women in early Vedic Age were an essential part of ​sabha and samiti​, the two bodies which were, in part, responsible for the governance of a tribe or a settlement of people. The sabha was "a group of common people" like " house of commons" ​ while the samiti was the "group of learned people" like "house of lords". *see Sharma, R.S., ​Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1991. Davis, ​Ancient India. 7​ 8​ Women were entitled to all property bestowed upon their mothers which included money, jewellery and land. This was called​ Stridhan and is still entitled to women according to the Hindu Law. 9​ Malory and Douglas, ​Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. 10​ Basham,​ The Wonder, ​Appendix XI: Prosidy. Datta Sangeeta, “Globalistaion and Representation of Women in Indian Cinema,” Social Scientist, Vol. 28 (2000)71-82. 11​ Ibid. 12​ direct metaphor for Independence, where the woman was a metaphor for India, the villian depicted the colonial regime and the hero and saviour were the freedom fighters, and thus the nationalist discourse constituted the female body as a privileged signifier ad various struggles are waged over the meaning and ownership of that body. 13 ​ With the rise of women’s movement in India, however, the representation of women underwent yet another drastic change and a number of women filmmakers, brought women from the margins to the centre of the films, giving a sensitive portrayal of women protagonists, in search of social and sexual identities in specific socio-historical contexts.​14​ The same portrayal is copied into the television serials of this era and shows with strong female protagonists, searching for an identity in the male dominated world, becomes a central theme of many popular television shows like ​Shanti, Astitva, Tara, Rajni and Sailaab, where ordinary women are depicted with extraordinary dreams and ambitions, questioning the social, political and moral norms of the day. This period, which lasted from mid 1980s to mid 1990s saw a surprisingly different depiction of women, in which they were neither husband hunters or sexually provocative objects but ordinary human beings who had ordinary thoughts and a perfectly normal, non-romanticised notion of life and the world. Parallel to this, however, was a contrasting view of women in the mainstream media: a patriarchal version of the female sexuality, with explicitly sexual gestures in songs and dance sequences in movies, where the women were once again overtly objectified as things of beauty. Themes of falling in love with an attractive looking woman, stalking her until she consents, and the “taming of an independent, modern girl” by force or by depicting her ultimate downfall through rape, aggression or some other sort of victimisation that eventually brings her to her senses, became a common pattern in movies. Also, representations of women as the femme fatale, the prostitute or bar dancer with a heart of gold, and the extremely sensuous and seductive vamp started and has stayed in the Indian media even today. Current Representation of Women in Mainstream Media In the current scenario, the depiction of women has become more stereotypical and biased than ever before. In fact, it can be said with certainty, that the representation of women is quite incorrect in the current times and rather derogatory. In addition to their representation as sexual objects, there are two fixed moulds which define women in media today: the rural women and the urban women. On one hand, the women have essentially had more stage in media as main protagonists since 2010, however, on the other hand certain themes are repeated over and over again with respect to these female protagonists. In serials and movies with female protagonists from the rural areas, there is an increased tendency to wards showing that uneducated and under priveleged girls with limited socio-economic means prove to be better housewives and better women in general than educated ____________________ 13​ Datta Sangeeta, “Globalistaion and Representation of Women.” 14​ ​Ibid. girls; and that their ultimate salvation lies in marrying the right man, who will alleviate their social status and in certain cases, even educate them.(Characters of Anandi and Ganga in ​Balika Vadhu.) Educated and urbanised girls are necessarily represented as antagonists in these stories and are shown to be undomestic, arrogant and conceited.( For example the characters of Gauri and Sanchi in ​Balika Vadhu, Aarti and Payal in ​Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.) Also, it is usually conveyed more than once in these serials that educated girls will be “unable to adapt to the joint family system and the norms of the family” thereby directly giving the message that the more educated the girl, the less suitable she is for household responsibilities. If at all any urban, independent girl is shown in a positive light in such soap operas, they are shown as clumsy and awkward, and have to be “tamed and domesticated.” (Serials like ​Sanskaar: Dharohar Apno Ki) The second representation is even worse. Here, the protagonist is urban and educated but is highly romantic and focuses entirely on finding a romantic partner, irrespective of her background or age. Her dreams, sometimes, despite the best of opportunities, happens to be getting married and raising a family. (Serials like ​Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlaata Hai, Doli Armaano Ki, Beintehaa, Utaran.) Though these themes are perfectly normal, nevertheless, these serials entirely focus on the air-headed hopeless romantic notions of a girl, and again, her world is shown to be limited to the home and hearth of her husband. In those few serials, where the girl is shown to be ambitious, it is re-emphasised again and again that her ambitions will neither be respected by her family nor supported by her in-laws and ultimately, her happiness lies in playing a second fiddle to the hopes, dreams and aspirations of her husband. (Serials like ​Diya Aur Baati Hum, Beend Banunga Ghodi Chadhuga), Certain serials on television start with highlighting problems against in women with the motive of spreading social awareness, however, sometimes they end up over-dramatising the issues and serve as a source for facilitating torture and propounding ideas to trouble women than sensitising the general public. (​Serials like Na Aana Iss Des Laado, Bani: Ishq da Kalma, Pratigya). Also, clothing is yet another propaganda used against women in media. Women shown to be wearing western clothing and heavy makeup and sleeveless dresses are generally shown to be the antagonists. Traditional clothing on the other hand is an indicator of backwardness but is sometimes, a self-contradictory representation of simplicity. In movies supposedly made to cater youngsters and teenagers clothing is used to overtly sexualise the female body and objectify them as things instead of representing them as humans. A message is, thus, repeatedly conveyed in the mainstream media and the beauty myth that surrounds the image and body of a woman is the only thing that matters about them. A woman’s intellectual or social role as an equal citizen is seldom portrayed and the notion of remaining shallow, ignorant thing of beauty and a damsel in distress, is popularised and implanted in the brains of young girls from their early childhood. Being bubbly to the height of silliness (as can be seen in the character of Geet in Imtiaz Ali’s​ Jab We Met) and spineless but docile (as seen in the character of Meera in ​Cocktail) is shown approval and so is remaining hopelessly romantic and sappy (character of Simran in I Hate Luv Stories and Shanaya in ​Student of the Year). The very few strong, ambitious characters (like Shruti Kakkar from ​Band Baaja Baarat) too meet their downfall the moment they fall in love. Also, men are given the message that there are two kind of girls, the ones they “have fun with” and the ones “they can present to their families” and usually independent, strong-willed and open-minded girls come in the first category. A very few movies and serials actually represent women as practical, thinking human beings. Conclusion There is a clear misrepresentation of women in media and images of ideal domestic daughters, wives and mothers along with being perfect specimens of beauty is so deeply rooted in the minds of the Indian women, that being pretty, attractive and socially pleasant to patriarchy has become more important for women than being productive citizens. Women consume almost the same amount of goods and services as men, sometimes even more, however, their role in production is never highlighted and seldom supported by media. In fact even in case of women politicians and leaders, the media finds it more convenient to comment on their looks, than to highlight their achievements and accomplishments. By constantly highlighting that the importance of a woman is limited to her domestic duties and her external beauty, the media is diverting the attention as well as the capability of women from being multitasking human beings, as they were in the Ancient past of India, and is limiting their scope and limiting the perception of their own worth in their eyes. Media is an important social tool of awareness as well as education. Through media, the attitude of the Indian society towards women can change if they are represented properly. Rather than limiting their depiction to homemakers and glamorous dolls, media should create ideal role models for women who possess inner strength of character and independent, free thinking minds. If the women are treated as equals in these representations, the society’s perception will change towards women and they will be encouraged, educated and supported to bring about socio-economic development because ultimately, we become what we see. References 1. 2. Basham, A.L., ​The Wonder That was India, Picador India, (2005). Datta Sangeeta, “Globalistaion and Representation of Women in Indian Cinema,” Social Scientist, Vol. 28 (2000)71-82. 3. Davis, Bryant, ​Ancient India: A Compiled Summary. ​ (​http://portal.bentonvillek12.org/jevans/World%20History%20Materials/Unit%202%20-%20Agricultural%20Revo lution%20and%20River%20Valley%20Civs/ancient_india_summaries.pdf​) 4. ​ 5. Mallory, J.P., Douglas Q. Adams, ​Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Griffith, Ralph,​ The Rigveda, Evinity Publishing Inc. (1896). (1997). 6. 7. 8. Sharma, R.S., ​Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers,( 1991). Woolf, Naomi, ​The Beauty Myth, HarperPerennial, (2002). Wollstonecraft, Mary​, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Penguin Classics (2004).