Skip to main content

Impact of Bollywood? 90% young women say male violence is an accepted social norm, one has to live with it

 
In a stark revelation, about 90% of the female respondents in the age group 18-30 years, interviewed in an Oxfam India report to ascertain the impact of Bollywood films on youth, admitted to either being recipients of intimate partner violence (IPV) if they were married, or spoke of IPV as an accepted social norm, if they were not.
The report, which is based on focus group discussions (FGDs) in rural and urban areas of five states -- Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha -- notes that "only two women said that their spouses had never hit them", adding, "Most reported forms of partner violence include slaps, pushing, rebukes and mental cruelty."
"There is a very high incidence of extra marital affairs by men in all locations", the report states, adding, "Most women felt that it was acceptable to be hit once in a while. 'Wohi sawarenge, wohi dulharenge…toh wohi na marenge…' (he is the one who loves us, takes care of us…so what if he hits us once in a while…) was a common sentiment".
The report is titled "The Irresistible & Oppressive Gaze: Indian Cinema and Violence against Women and Girls", and is based on inputs from activists Lopa Ghosh, Nisha Agrawal, Ranu Kayastha Bhogal, Julie Thekkudan, Diya Dutta, Mary Thomas, Rajini Menon and Himanshi Matta.
Apart from interviews during FGDs, the report carries individual reactions, more than half of whom were females, mainly to elicit the impact of films on youth. "When asked about the qualities of an ideal man, 95% said that he should be above all loving and caring, be able to earn consistently for his family (90%), have a good personality (86%) and spend time with their wives (70%)", the report says.
Even while "only about 60% talked about physical attractiveness and masculinity", when probed on the notion of manliness, the report says, most cited instances of Salman Khan in "Sultan" because he repents and grieves for the loss of his child and loves his wife loyally; Akshay Kumar in "Airlift" for his patriotic fervor; Ajay Devgn in "Drishyam" for his ability as a common man to defend his family; Aamir Khan in "Dangal" and Shahrukh Khan in "Chak De" for their motivational roles; and actors such as Ranveer Singh and Siddharth Malhotra for their masculine attractions.
The report says, "It is not surprising that in 48% of the films, men perform a nationalistic function, serve the country, society or community in some form. In 17% of the films, women perform a similar function."
However, during a discussion of a sequence from "Dabangg" (2010), in which Salman Khan tells Sonakshi Sinha that she should "accept his offer of money when offered lovingly as it is well within his right to ‘slap’ her into accepting his bidding", the report says, "70% of the female respondents were of the opinion that this was a romantic conversation hence the hint of violence is excusable."
The report notes how with their folksy diction and rural proverbs, item songs are widely used tools for sexual harassment. "95% of young girls reported that boys and men played those songs on their mobile phones or sang them out loud when they walked to school or went somewhere to run an errand."
The study concludes that Indian cinema has "considerable influence on patriarchal attitudes and sexist behaviour across all aspects of life and society. Films are the primary, and to an extent, the only cultural good consumed by the communities that were part of this research."
According to the report, "The objectified image of a woman on screen deeply influences young girls and women. They find themselves caught between tradition and aspirations. Fear of assault is connected to the way in which girls dress up. Women on screen frame the notions held by young men and boys about how a woman should be."
"More dangerously", the report says, "Notions of consent as mandatory has been completely liquidated by mainstream films. Acquiring a romantic partner is considered to be a real goal. Exposure to explicit content encourages irresponsible sexual behaviours."

Comments

TRENDING

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.  As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.