Amrita Korwar PGP 1 Div A Roll No 18009 Potential Independence to Internalising the Exterior Woman through portrayal in Popular

Media Changing Construct of the Urban Indian

The construction of the female gender in the social context has undergone a transformation in popular media. As we examine films and advertisements over the last two decades, there are some glaring differences in the portrayal of women. This is reflective of the trends followed in the perception of women in society at the time and their subsequent manifestation in the role that a woman was prescribed to play. The construct of the female gender has been altered over time and finds subscribers by the masses at large, regardless of the gender they assume. Thus, while examining the communication, I wish to obey the structure that sheds some light on the portrayal of women through the 90s, its implications, the transition process obeyed and the more recent depictions along with their subtle connotations and stark consequences. The portrayal of the quintessential homely, nurturing woman displaying her commitment to the family took centre-stage in films and advertisements through early 90s. Being informed about the Indian culture, having faith in a higher power, displaying dedication to religion by following rituals, praying, singing bhajans were strongly reminiscent of the conventional role that a woman was expected to assume. Additionally, a saree clad actor with a bindi who is in tune with the needs of her family, whether it is about waking up early for making breakfast for the family or paying attention to the family s health and by virtue thereof, the oil used in cooking which was looked at as the sole responsibility of the woman. The Sundrop Oil The Healthy Oil for Healthy People advertisement from the early 90s places no responsibility of the child s health on the father which is evident from a man s absence. Furthermore, a woman was present in an advertisement only when she was required to play the homemaker which included house hold duties of cooking, cleaning the house, cleaning clothes and health products. Eg: Deepika ji for Nirma advertisement which acknowledges that the woman is the key decision maker while buying low involvement products for household use. The only exception to this image was when the product to be advertised had women as the end consumer. For example, hair oils and cosmetics which resorted to portraying a somewhat modern woman image conveyed through the clothes used on the models which chiefly consisted of parallel pants, suits, long skirts, etc. Eg: All Vicco turmeric ads where the model balanced her attire between completely traditional sarees, semi-modern salwar-kameezes and the then modern long pants and skirts. When we turn out attention to films, one of the biggest box office hits Maine Pyaar Kiya represents the mindset of the society towards women and is symbolically portrayed by Bhagyashree in the form of the quintessential woman of the time. The cooking and cleaning aide to the lead actor s mother, the preferred attire in the form of sarees and suits, the adoption of gentle mannerisms in behaviour, the ritualistic and culturally adherent attitude displayed and the sacrificing own s interest for those of her father s as the obedient daughter image were merged together in the stereotypical role expected to be played by every woman.

Amrita Korwar PGP 1 Div A Roll No 18009 Overt sexuality was the characteristic of the negative lead s portrayal, considered a vice for the leading lady to adopt at any point. Modern dresses, bare shoulders, smoking cigarettes, subscribing to the club culture, drinking alcohol and speaking in English were the typical characterisations of women in a negative role or of the leading lady gone astray. These picturisations, however, were not enough to construct the image with a negative connotation but were more of an accessory to the characters to define them visually. Because these displays of immoral behaviour did not completely validate the negative image of the vamp or the errant leading lady, the shades of cruelty or wrong doings had to be made apparent with their selfishness, lack of consideration for other people, arrogance and such other behavioural attributes. They could not be mistaken for the chaste, virginal, innocent, all forgoing leading lady. The politics of a patriarchal society manifested itself in day-to-day affairs of domestic life. A woman using her husband s name to address him was virtually absent in the generation upto a few decades ago. The very crux of a man s identity was denied to his wife as she was expected to don the role of a dutiful wife. This role delineated the amount of power vested in her by virtue of the role she assumed. The woman was expected to be subservient to, dependent on and obedient towards not just her husband but also towards his family in the joint family context of the society at that time. The emphasis on physical appearance based on body type and grooming was relatively underplayed though the exteriorization of image portrayal remained strong. Thus, the construct emerging at this point in time laid a large emphasis on the role of a nurturer, a homemaker, a dependent entity whose financial welfare was the responsibility of the man of the house father, husband, brother or son, at particular stages in life. These characterisations were inspired from the society as it was and further leveraged the roles expected from a woman. Education for women was not perceived as the enabler for potential independence for the woman. Finding a job and starting a career was not in the reckoning as the conventional role of the woman still resided within the confines of domestic responsibilities. As women s education gained momentum, it started off with an end objective merely to find a better match, thus keeping the traditional role of a woman unaffected in spite of attainment of knowledge. Better education for the woman directly translated to a better educated match from a wealthier family, a reduction in dowry and a better future in totality. Gradually, the phenomenon of working women who started to make forays in different industries caught on to the media world. This was the segment of society, however narrow at the time, which carried purchasing power to an extent and was involved in decision making. This segment was looked up to with an aspirational value by the women who wished to work and secure financial independence. The sense of freedom that this segment represented was symbolic of the opportunity forgone by the homemakers who were not allowed to have jobs and dream of a career due to the restrictions laid down by the family. The potential independence realised by women at this point extended to boosting their self worth on account of their education, awareness, exposure and potential earning capacity. The attainment of this knowledge of opportunity that their potential allowed led a huge segment of women to affix this practically unearned but potentially earned income to their contribution to their household income in the form of their physical effort and emotional dedication.

Amrita Korwar PGP 1 Div A Roll No 18009 The attention slowly shifted to these aspirants who would possibly strive to attain some of the products that the modern woman was shown using in order to live her life in parts and feel that slice of freedom represented therein. Lakme Ultracolour s She s got the look advertisement with Aishwarya Rai in the clothes and make up used in contemporary times is also a testimony to this phenomenon of a different target audience, the emergent working woman. This time coincided with movies that started to portray the woman dressed trendily but who was still essentially Indian at heart. Between these two phases were movies such as Beta and Laadla. A typical family drama with an obedient son, his faithful, respectful wife and a disrespectful younger son with an equally insolent wife marked the thriving mentality and perception towards the modernising woman. The hair do, the type of make-up used, the clothes worn by the younger daughter in-law perfectly complemented the typical image of her arrogant, impudent, high-andmighty, selfish character. Of course, the younger daughter in-law imminently had to undergo the reformation to fulfil the happy family dream of the leading actor, the transformation is made complete in a quick move - by changing her attire into a saree procedure, complete with touching elders feet. Symbolic behavioural attributes testifying restoration of Indianness made complete. Madhuri Dixit on the other hand played the reformist. Her character displayed strength and depth, a tolerant woman striving for change, a cultured woman who did not adhere to obedience without questioning the purpose and a radical person who was driving the change. It was an extremely precariously positioned key role which struck the balance right between a woman of substance and the idealistic, morally sound character with virtues in the right place . It was only because Aroona Irani s character was portrayed as the negative lead role that allowed the way for the leading lady to divert from the stereotypical demure, submissive woman to the dynamic one who sets straight the former. Laadla was symbolic in many ways too in defining the changing role of a woman from singledom to marriage. The character of Sridevi as an ambitious, arrogant but profit-making successful business woman who can well take care of herself financially and otherwise faces a trial at the hands of society in changing times. To accentuate the neglect of the family and to bring to attention the aberration in behaviour from the expected nurturing homemaker, Sridevi s character has been interspersed with an overbearing, dominating attribute, typically associated with masculinity in a patriarchal society. Her refusal to sober down into marital role, turn submissive and docile is the last thread necessary to establish the need for reformation in the mind of the audience. And reformed she is in the end, in the symbolic saree of course, packing lunch for her blue collared worker husband, after handing over the reins to the unmarried Raveena Tandon who represented the ideal woman all along. Thus, the movie asserts the difference in the roles expected and permissible between the unmarried and the married woman. The unmarried can carry on pursuing her ambitious goals but the moment she is married, he is expected to live within the confines of her husband s earning capacity and not dent the male ego. This transitionary phase further progressed with two additional features in due course. The first one is the increase in western outfits permissible for the leading lady and second, an additional emphasis on sexuality. The bring-home-to-your-mother bride had made a transition from the traditionally clad

Amrita Korwar PGP 1 Div A Roll No 18009 young lady to the more modern seeming, jeans sporting, short skirt donning made-up diva with oozing sex appeal. Because what mattered was what s on the inside . The emphasis on strength and substance had not yet vanished and depth in character was still sought. Perhaps sought a little more explicitly to cover up for the divergence from traditional external representation, i.e. from sarees and salwar kameezes. In the cult hit Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, when Rani Mukherjee emerges in trendy short skirts and alluringly made up face, the visual characterisation tends towards the, until then, negative roles. Thus, her character has to explicitly assert her Indian woman construct and thus her rendition of Om Jai Jagadish Hare as a part of her ragging process in the movie. The sign of the changing times lay in the fact that the lead actor went ahead and married the girl in the short skirt, symbolising that the sexual exteriorization entices and that there s nothing wrong with that but needs to be complemented with culture and traditional perspective for a serious alliance. At every point in the transitionary phase, the portrayal of the woman in popular media coexisted with the changing construct of the woman and feminine behaviour. Real life influenced reel and the latter further altered existing constructs. The audience accepted the reel life portrayal and adapted their thought further to develop additional attributes that contributed to the female gender construct. The woman at this point had to start paying attention to reducing her weight to fit into the short skirts, regardless of how healthy or unhealthy it would be to do so or what method she would adopt to shed the extra pounds. An increase in self consciousness began with the departure of voluptuous, fully clothed leading ladies and an emphasis on physical exteriorization was on the rise. This period, however, it is necessary to mention, laid an almost-equal emphasis on sexual appeal and strength in character. Over time, this balance started to tip in favour of increased portrayal of female physicality and sexuality in both movies and advertisements alike. In the ad world, signing on female models for products that may be completely unrelated to women increased. Cars and gadgets aimed at attracting the male audience had skimpily clad women advertising the products playing to the male fantasies, physical attributes that were never considered a matter of embarrassment were suddenly escalated to create a sense of shame. Fair skin was increasingly confused with beauty discarding healthy skin as a reflection of healthy body; an unattainable figure of underweight models strutting outfits that supposedly looked clumsy and undesirable on average bodies gained ground; cracked heels that were the norm until advertisements started to use them as drains of self confidence began to look like a sign of neglect the way many other hitherto normal attributes began to seem. Dandruff was positioned as a factor leading to stigmatisation in place of a regular infection and acne was placed in the ranks of mocked realities. Fair and Lovely not only manufactured the relationship between fairness and finding a suitable, desirable match but has sustained it over the years to drive a successful business in a socially irresponsible manner. The fixation for white skin has increased manyfold over the years and the matrimonial columns in the newspapers testify the demand for Fair, beautiful bride sought by men of all shades. The norm has extended to a generalisation of grooms sought defining the requirement as successful (read: wealthy), well educated groom who will be married to the Fair and beautiful girl.

Amrita Korwar PGP 1 Div A Roll No 18009 Movies began to lay emphasis on superficiality simultaneously with the lines between the representations of item girls, mainstream actresses, leading ladies blurring rapidly. The way leading ladies would steer clear of roles that demanded partial nudity for fear of being marginalised once upon a time had paved way for actors to choose roles that were interchangeable from one movie to the next. An overbearingly increased emphasis was being laid on fashion, style and an all round well groomed representation of the leading lady who always served the purpose of symbolically representing the ideal . Karthik Calling Karthik has today s typical smart western clothed, beautifully toned, cigarette smoking Deepika Padukone with an ex boyfriend in the film before she meets our leading man. However, her representation does nothing to harm her image in the mind of the audience who now recognises her character as a real, normal woman. And the urban women strive to be the real, normal of this definition and not disappoint. Another term that arose as a by-product of emphasis on fashion and style was the behenji concept defined by Urban Dictionary as A respectful term for a sister. Also used in a derogatory manner to denote unfashionable, uncool, housewifey sort. Usually dressed in a Punjabi 'suit' (a salwar kameez) speaking almost always in Punjabi or Hindi. (Platypus, 2009) The additional burden to look alluring has captivated the minds of the urban women who aspire lustily for unrealistic goals. Although the working woman is now an acceptable and perhaps, a respected figure in society, the cages of domestic confines have now been replaced by internalised cages of self esteem. The urban woman has achieved her freedom and financial independence that allows her to drive her decisions, make well informed decisions, indulge in extravagances that she was hitherto dependent on a man for. Whether it was buying jewellery she aspired to own and wear or pay for a spa treatment to pamper herself, spending on herself with her own hard earned money is a new joy, a new herald of times to come. But in spite of achieving the freedom women craved for, the new constructs manufactures by the media have made their way into society and have managed to change the perceptions and expectations from women all over again. Now subscribing to this new construct, the women put themselves under their own scrutinising eye to find conformity with the now existing construct of the ideal woman. The svelte, well dressed, well spoken, well behaved, fair skinned, flat bellied, high cheek-boned woman with no acne, no body hair, no wrinkles. The standards that the media has set for the ideal are extremely product and services driven that make their profit from the decreasing self esteem and increasing insecurity. From being the medium that once provided a sense of comfort in one s shoes by casting actors who looked just a tad above average in order to create a sense of belonging, by scripting stories with relatable circumstances for the common man, providing education and entertainment, movies have transformed into larger than life sagas that evoke a sense of insecurity in the audience at large. The media embarked upon creating need gaps amongst consumers by lowering their self esteem and promising to restore it at a price, with a premium.

Amrita Korwar PGP 1 Div A Roll No 18009