Where are the real working women in Indian television soaps?

Transcription

1 Where are the real working women in Indian television soaps? By Nalanda Tambe and Nidhi Shendurnikar Tere The advent of globalization and technological advancements raised the bar of television as a mass medium, especially after India opened up its economy in The entry of foreign players in the Indian media landscape provided viewers with a plethora of choices in terms of media content. However, television s role as an agent for social and political change was a lost cause. Television became obsessed with the concept of infotainment a combination of information and entertainment attuned to profits, revenues and ratings. The projection of hackneyed and unoriginal female roles presented a glaring distinction between the reel and the real woman. Headway in technology and modes of production unfortunately did not harmonize with bold and original sketches of Indian women especially in the context of daily soaps which continue to capture the imagination of women irrespective of age, caste, language, profession, culture. Though television soaps debate societal issues like marriage, divorce, crime against women, patriarchy, family system; the working Indian woman is conspicuous by her absence.

2 Smriti Irani as Tulsi Pic asianwindow Trending with the popularity of Ekta Kapoor s Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki and Kyuki Saans bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi ( ), women characters were domesticized, seeped into cultural and family values and possessed roles and responsibilities within a limited domain. These portrayals influenced target audiences to such an extent that female leads in soaps were recognized by the characters they played. The most prominent being the recognition of Smriti Irani as Tulsi and Sakshi Tanwar as Parvati. However, female portrayals during this period were completely unreal with leading ladies as Sanskari daughters-in-law whose jobs were to hunt for an eligible match, marry, cook, take care of family/children/in-laws, keep the family united & sheltered from evils of all kinds and be ready to sacrifice themselves under all circumstances. Female characters were devoid of any natural sense of ambition, desire and selfrespect. There is still a huge gap in terms of a realistic portrayal of working women in these serials.

3 Earlier, Hindi soaps such as Tara, Hasratein, Saans, Shanti and Aurat projected women in different roles of wife, mother and homemaker. They also dealt with issues of working women, divorce, extra-marital relation-ships, sexual harassment, rape, abortion and women fighting for their rights. Highlighting this contrast, Dr. Niti Chopra, Dean Faculty of Journalism and Communication, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat says, Most of the commercial serials and soaps on television in India today portray women in unrealistic, garish, and unworthy roles, with majority of them characterised within unimaginative storylines projecting stereotypical, Indian family settings. In contrast, even though the women shown in similar kinds of shows on television in the late eighties and nineties, (on Doordarshan, and a few years later on other channels), did have their share of suffering and pain owing to cultural subservience and gender discrimination, there was definitely an intrinsic dignity and naturalness in that struggle. The domestication of Indian women in popular TV soaps continues to dominate the small screen even as Ekta Kapoor s formula for popularity and success of television soaps has been emulated by many others in the TV industry. That the Indian woman no longer inhabits only the private, but is very much a part of the professional, corporate/business world, service sector; is a reality abysmally neglected and to an extent even distorted in the current crop of soaps on popular channels like Sony TV, Star Plus, Zee TV and Colors. It is rare to find scripts that show women in both personal and professional roles. Says Prof. Shagufa Kapadia, Director Women s Studies Research Centre, M.S. University of Baroda, The portrayals are an insult to women who are homemakers as their significant contribution to the household is completely disregarded or

4 rather, regarded only with reference to their inclination to gain the favour of their in-laws. I strongly wish there would be more television shows that depict normal contemporary Indian women who are foregoing ahead to meet the challenges involved in breaking traditional cultural barriers and asserting their independent identity. The Maheshwari family in Ye Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Pic Vivid Magazine Our society for one remains deeply influenced by the negative depictions of working women. For instance, in Yeh Hain Mohabbatein (Star Plus), the female protagonist sacrifices her life to be a mother to the daughter of a neighbour who is also a divorcee. In her role as a super-mom, she finds acceptance by her husband only because she helps him gain back the custody of his daughter from his ex-wife. In Sasural Simar Ka aired on Colors,two sisters Simar (Deepika Samson) and Roli (Avika Gor) get married in the same family. Before marriage, Simar desires to achieve her dream of becoming a dancer.

5 However, she is made to give up on her wishes owing to pressure from family. Both sisters then end up as sacrificing housewives. These storylines portray an endless competition among housewives and working women. Eventually, a housewife is shown to be superior and capable and a working woman to be a home-breaker who neglects her family for her professional ambitions. The dichotomy between a housewife and a working woman is reinforced to prove that a woman is incapable of handling responsibilities on both fronts. Be it Priya (Sakshi Tanwar) in Bade Acche Lagte Hai or Sandhya (Deepika Singh) in Diya aur Baati Hum or Archana (Ankita Lokhande) in Pavitra Rishta, women characters are uni-dimensional with no personality or choice of their own. The reel woman has a uniform character with no shades of grey. Either she is docile, perfect, putting up with a philandering husband while going to bed in flashy sarees/make-up or she is a woman wearing western clothes and having loose morals (Kaur, 2008). So while the housewife is decent and gullible, the working woman is an anti-thesis she is a vamp dressed in corporate style suits, ultra-modern, hungry for power and perfect in the art of seduction. The working woman is the epitome of modern values while the housewife embodies Indian values here modernization and westernization are equivalent to moral degradation. Kanan Dhru Founder and Managing Director at Research Foundation for Governance in India, Ahmedabad opines that, It is shocking how in a majority of these soaps working women are portrayed in negative light how they are ambitious and independent, which is a curse for the family and for the society. There is hardly any popular daily soap where one can find characters that one can relate to women who share the ambition, drive, strength or vulnerabilities but still preserving the spark of womanhood. As a working woman, I feel irritated and offended by these portrayals. It is surprising how there is a large audience for such programmes.

6 Pic Feminiya What do these flawed portrayals signify for the Indian society faced with a severe crisis in light of gruesome incidences of assault and violence against women (the recent Badaun tragedy and other incidents of rape)? It would be disastrous for TV as a mass medium to ignore its social responsibility and demean Indian women through its stories and portrayals. This does not mean that TV has to stop entertaining and start sermonizing, but then it certainly has to acknowledge its role in nurturing a society that feels responsible towards its female population. What prevents stake-holders in Indian television from offering a more progressive treatment of female characters, innovative and fresh concepts and substantive content is probably a fear of hurting the sensibilities of audiences as well as commercial motives. Producers want to play it safe when it comes to the portrayal of women, in that case the category of working women is the most under/misrepresented. Najuk Trivedi, Senior PR Consultant believes that, As a woman of today I have many important things to focus on like my work, my family and many positive aspects of life contrary to what is shown in the daily soaps where women are the reason for all the misdeeds and wrong

7 things. These soaps also negatively influence and increase impractical expectations about women. TV being a very influential medium, the makers of these daily soaps should understand their responsibility and channelize their energies on making more responsible programs focusing on the positive aspects of womanhood. There is no doubt that these TV soaps are passing on the wrong message about working women by categorizing them in black and white either as scheming and bullying or as ideal bahus. Concepts, storylines, and characters would need a complete revival and revamp if some of the major concerns faced by real Indian working women are to be addressed in mainstream television. Till then we wonder what keeps women hooked and glued to these daily doses of sheer distortion, spin and typecasting! Nalanda Tambe is a recent post-graduate in Communication Studies from The Faculty of Journalism & Communication, M.S. University of Baroda. With Human Resource Management as her Bachelor s subject specialization, she is deeply engaged with research and advocacy issues related to media and gender. She is currently working as a freelancer for Women Planet. Nidhi Shendurnikar Tere is a Doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Political Science, M.S. University of Baroda. She is registered under the Senior Research Fellowship of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and is working on India- Pakistan Conflict Mediation and Role of the English Press and New Media for her doctoral thesis. Out Of The Box is The Alternative s space for entertainment and pop culture reviews, reflections and satires.