In India , it’s said that women can have a job , not a career. But however dismal our workforce representation stats might be they can’t beat how misrepresented career oriented women are in popular cinema. In my Theme Reveal post I shared the finding of a recent study called Gender Bias Without Borders [ an investigation of female characters across 11 countries in popular films] . Amongst many other findings [objectification, under representation, lesser screen time etc] it clearly showed the men were twice more likely to have an occupation in a popular film than a woman. We were in the bottom two of the 11 counties studied that portrayed working women.
Further , across all the countries (including India) that were examined, females were underrepresented in the film workforce compared to their actual percentages globally [ 15% of women in Indian movies are likely to have a job viz 25% of women in real world actually contributing to workforce].
Sounds gloomy? Well , at least not for you or me if as a writer if we wish to see a central female protagonist that’s one of our kinds. But ever wonder if the stereotypes that men belong to boardrooms or operation theaters or political offices while women take care of home are getting reemphasized through movies? For a working woman like me , the chances of climbing up to the senior leadership level in my current organization is actually higher than coming across a female lead in a similar role.
Further , occupational stereotyping is something we may have observed , but the study precisely documents. Women are more like to be a nurse or a teacher than hold a vital STEM job [ Science Technology Engineering Math ] or be a sporting athlete or a law reinforcement person Vs their male actors in the movies.
While these gaps are glaring, my focus so far has been and shall continue to remain during this 26 part series on highlighting the positives. The percentage of women who are representing our gender and its potential might be small but it exists and in the recent past , strong female leads and supporting characters have emerged as the change makers .
Shivani [ Mardaani ] a cop who interesting has a family life , chases bad guys and thankfully doesn’t need a man to rescue her in the climax when she gets stuck . Raina [ Ladies Vs Ricky Behl ] a high performing business professional who chases the con man who dupes her to get even. Romila [ Lakshya ] is so career oriented , she breaks up with her boyfriend [ the hero] when she realized he had run off from military academy training. She further calls off the engagement with her fiancé when he doesn’t approve of her decision of taking up a journalism assignment in a war affected zone. Sona [Luck by Chance] is a struggling actress who has her ethics better placed than the hero and Shruti [ Band Baaja Baraat ] sets up a wedding planning business with the hero of the movie as her side kick!
In all these movies the men were shown as weaker , more emotional , less accomplished , less ethical or less ambitious . The women called the shots , kicked the goons and truly excelled at what they did. They also showed women as everyday , grounded , balanced women – with perfectly normal family lives .
It’s stories like these that young girls want to see on-screen instead of constantly seeing female leads as arm candies , waiting to get rescued by their knight in shining armour . The misplaced notion of how ‘Women cant have it all’ – a career and a life beyond in its cinematic representation needs to meet the reality off screen . After all aren’t the very actresses who portray these roles or write these movies are accomplished and don’t have one-dimensional existence?
Women in real life are working mothers , working daughters , working wives and working people . They have the choice to be workaholics or earn more than their partners or choose to not get into a relationship at all. The choices exist for us , how we wish to earn our daily meal and not just cook it and finally the movies are depicting that change too.
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I am collaborating with Jaibala Rao who is blogging about Iconic movies of our generation here . Click here to Join me in my #AtoZChallenge journey this April as I explore Women representation in contemporary movies. If you are participating in AtoZ too , do leave your link and I’d try my best to drop by .
I watched Mardani, and quite enjoyed the movie. Though the theater had very few young girls on that day at least. Felt sad to see that. But hopefully, those who have seen it pass on the value to other young girls and they get inspired too.
Vinay Leo R. recently posted…#AtoZChallenge 2017 – C for The Cold Blooded Murderer
Argh, these statistics make me mad!
You know, Romila in Lakshya deserved a lot more screentime. The guy was a total loser in the first half, even then in the end he steals the show. In the end, it’s still his movie; she deserved better.
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Very well written. I agree with every thought here except that men dont need to be shown weaker to prove a woman better. They can both have their share of limelight irrespective of the genders. Unfortunately, though, the limelight also seems to be partial sometimes. I am reminded of 2 beautiful movies here which portrayed women very beautifully- Zubeidaa and Mammo.
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The gaps are thinning no doubt with film makers doing different films and keeping the heroines on front. But then again you have some actresses who i don’t think are capable of handling success and ends up saying a lot of rubbish about co-workers, other actresses, film makers etc.
Tina Basu recently posted…Celebrate Life – Step 3 to a Meaningful Life – A to Z Challenge 2017
Theses statistics shock me!! Even in times like this, when women are career oriented and independent, showing them weak is not acceptable.
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Such a great post. I think if our movies just continued the uptick in depicting women as they are – with their flaws, scars and virtues, as moms, as colleagues, as friends- we would be sorted. We already have such great talent.
Great post…a lot of people look up to Bollywood and seek role models there so it would be nice for young girls to have something more to aspire to.
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Spot on!!!! It couldn’t be emphasised in a more better way!!!
I think I’ve only seen Lakshya, and I really liked how focused Preity Zinta’s character was on her career. Although, in the end, I agree with Sreesha that Hritik hogged the limelight…that perhaps could have been different. But then maybe it wouldn’t be Bollywood?
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In Barfi, Ileana was shown as a teacher for dumb and deaf students. Priyanka Chopra in Mary Kom can’t be counted, right? Because it’s a biography? That’s the max I can think of for actresses in today’s category!
Again, running off topic, but in this show Criminal Minds, there are female FBI agents, and a female technical analyst, and they all are super awesome at their jobs! I love the way they show them to be feminine and kickass at the same time, and how they use that femininity to their own advantage and solve cases!
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A few movies are changing this… or rather a few actresses are changing this… I can think of Anushka in NH10 – a movie she produced where she was one half of a regular working couple. But the same Anushka goes on to do an ADHM where she lives off God Knows what and the other female lead pursues a career of poetry only because her alimony allows her to do it…
oh we were talking about positives… right? Queen then… where a girl who would have ended up a dutiful housewife decides to take her hobby to the next level and aims at being a chef… message in the movie that no matter what conditioning you have had as a child, you can have a career is much needed…
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I was astounded to see more women working in Thailand, everywhere. There were hardly few men – be it a supermarket, food joints, as street vendors, massages, tour operators – there were 10 women to every one man, I guess. My number could be wrong, but P and I were very happy to see how proud these women were, earning for themselves and being the breadwinner of their families. This change should happen in our country!
I had watched all the movies you’ve listed here and my favorite is Romila in Lakshya. It is heartwarming to know that the much-needed change is happening in Indian cinema.
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