Vigilantes, virgins, and long-suffering wives: The limitations of contemporary Indian television's reconstructions of femininity

Contemporary South Asia

Volumn 6, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 247-258

  Misra, Kalpana ^a   Roychowdhury, Debasmita ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TULSA   (United States)

^b c/o Kalpana Misra ^*

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GENDER IDENTITY; TELEVISION; WOMEN'S STATUS;

INDIA;

EID: 0031394441     PISSN: 09584935     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09584939708719819     Document Type: Article

References (42)

1. We are grateful to the Media Advocacy Group (MAG) New Delhi, for the generous use of its survey data on program content, viewing patterns and audience perceptions.
2. Chalapathi Rau, Press in India (New Delhi: Allied Publishers, 1986).
3. Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan, Real and Imagined Women: Gender, Culture and Postcolonialism (London: Routledge, 1993), p 137.
4. The term is Madhu Kishwar's; see 'Battered: marital violence on the increase', Illustrated Weekly of India, 24-30 September, 1989; Ammu Joseph and Kalpana Sharma (eds) Whose News? The Media and Women's Issues (New Delhi: Sage, 1994), p 32; Vimal Balasubrahmanyam, Mirror Image: The Media and the Women's Question (Bombay: Centre for Education and Documentation, 1988), p 8; and Rama Jha, Women and the Indian Print Media: Portrayal and Performance (Delhi: Chanakya, 1992).
5. The term is Madhu Kishwar's; see 'Battered: marital violence on the increase', Illustrated Weekly of India, 24-30 September, 1989; Ammu Joseph and Kalpana Sharma (eds) Whose News? The Media and Women's Issues (New Delhi: Sage, 1994), p 32; Vimal Balasubrahmanyam, Mirror Image: The Media and the Women's Question (Bombay: Centre for Education and Documentation, 1988), p 8; and Rama Jha, Women and the Indian Print Media: Portrayal and Performance (Delhi: Chanakya, 1992).
6. The term is Madhu Kishwar's; see 'Battered: marital violence on the increase', Illustrated Weekly of India, 24-30 September, 1989; Ammu Joseph and Kalpana Sharma (eds) Whose News? The Media and Women's Issues (New Delhi: Sage, 1994), p 32; Vimal Balasubrahmanyam, Mirror Image: The Media and the Women's Question (Bombay: Centre for Education and Documentation, 1988), p 8; and Rama Jha, Women and the Indian Print Media: Portrayal and Performance (Delhi: Chanakya, 1992).
7. The term is Madhu Kishwar's; see 'Battered: marital violence on the increase', Illustrated Weekly of India, 24-30 September, 1989; Ammu Joseph and Kalpana Sharma (eds) Whose News? The Media and Women's Issues (New Delhi: Sage, 1994), p 32; Vimal Balasubrahmanyam, Mirror Image: The Media and the Women's Question (Bombay: Centre for Education and Documentation, 1988), p 8; and Rama Jha, Women and the Indian Print Media: Portrayal and Performance (Delhi: Chanakya, 1992).
8. Madhu Kishwar and Ruth Vanita, 'Indian women, a decade of ferment', in India Briefing 1989 (Boulder: The Asia Society and Westview Press), p 144. Mary Fainsod Katzenstein points out that the combined activities of the autonomous women's organizations and the media created a public agenda around body politics: 'the media and women's groups stood in symbiotic relationship to each other ... if women's organizing caused the media to take on issues about body politics, the media's attention also stimulated women's groups to form'. See 'Getting women's issues onto the public agenda: body politics in India', Samya Shakti: A journal of Women's Studies, Vol VI, 1991-1992, p 10.
9. Madhu Kishwar and Ruth Vanita, 'Indian women, a decade of ferment', in India Briefing 1989 (Boulder: The Asia Society and Westview Press), p 144. Mary Fainsod Katzenstein points out that the combined activities of the autonomous women's organizations and the media created a public agenda around body politics: 'the media and women's groups stood in symbiotic relationship to each other ... if women's organizing caused the media to take on issues about body politics, the media's attention also stimulated women's groups to form'. See 'Getting women's issues onto the public agenda: body politics in India', Samya Shakti: A journal of Women's Studies, Vol VI, 1991-1992, p 10.
10. The attitude of the press both reflects and influences public debate and the national consensus on women's issues. The constitution of India, adopted in 1949, declared equality and non-discrimination fundamental rights, and enjoined the post-colonial state to remove the social and economic disabilities that precluded women from the exercise of their citizenship rights. To this end, successive governments set up various administrative bodies to address the specific needs of women and passed relatively advanced legislation on a wide range of issues such as divorce, abortion, labour protection, rape and wife-abuse, some in fulfillment of pre-independence promises and others in response to the demands of women's groups and organizations. Madhu Kishwar and Ruth Vanita point out: It is not acceptable in India to speak on a public platform in a derogatory or disrespectful way of women, to decry women's rights, or to trivialize women's problems. There is no premium attached to proving one's 'toughness' as a politician by disregarding women.... To be seen as trying to do justice to women is one of the best ways for a government or party in India to establish progressive credentials.... This national consensus ensures ... that even varying definitions of justice do not lead to polarized differences: rightist and leftist parties in India are not easily distinguishable from one another in their agenda for women. (See Kishwar and Vanita, op cit, p 135)
11. In anticipation of the UN-declared International Women's Year in 1975, the Government of India instituted a Committee on the Status of Women to assess the impact of two-and-a-half decades of 'planned development' on Indian women, and solicit recommendations for new government action and public policies for further improvement. The committee's report, entitled Towards Equality, came as a shock to both the government and educated public opinion for pointing out that (t)he review of the disabilities and constraints on women, which stem from socio-cultural institutions, indicates that the majority of women are still very far from enjoying the rights and opportunities guaranteed to them by the Constitution.... The social laws that sought to mitigate the problems of women in their family life, have remained unknown to a large mass of women in this country, who are as ignorant of their legal rights today as they were before Independence. The central argument of the committee was that improvements in the status of women would not simply follow from governmental action but could be realized only by the mobilization of public opinion and social effort against oppressive institutions, cultural patterns, and social structures. Modem communications, it argued, could be a great force for promoting a critical consciousness on the women's question. 'Since government controls a significant section of the mass media it should set the pace'. See Towards Equality: Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India (New Delhi: Ministry of Education and Social Welfare, 1974), p 359.
12. See P.C. Joshi, B.S. Thakur and Binod C. Agrawal (eds) 'Women, children in the era of communication revolution', in Media Utilization for The Development of Women and Children (New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 1989), pp 1-12; and Rami Chabbra, 'Television programmes for women', also in Media Utilization, pp 69-77.
13. See P.C. Joshi, B.S. Thakur and Binod C. Agrawal (eds) 'Women, children in the era of communication revolution', in Media Utilization for The Development of Women and Children (New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 1989), pp 1-12; and Rami Chabbra, 'Television programmes for women', also in Media Utilization, pp 69-77.
14. Report of the Working Group on Software for Doordarshan: An Indian Personality for Television (New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1985).
15. Kishwar and Vanita, op cit, p 146.
16. See Vimal Balasubrahmanyam, Mirror Image: Media and the Women's Question (Bombay: Centre for Education and Documentation, 1988), pp 130-134. Deepa Dhanraj, 'A critical focus, in Ammu Joseph and Kalpana Sharma (eds), Whose News?: The Media and Women's Issues (New Delhi: Sage, 1994), pp 245-291; and Prabha Krishnan and Anita Dighe, Affirmation and Denial: Construction of Femininity on Indian Television (New Delhi: Sage, 1990). Doordarshan does have a code for commercial advertising which lays down specifically that no advertisement shall be permitted which projects a derogatory image of women. Women must not be portrayed in a manner that emphasizes passive, submissive qualities and encourages them to play a subordinate, secondary role in the family and society. The portrayal of men and women should not encourage mutual disrespect between the sexes. The advertiser shall ensure that the portrayal of the female form is tasteful and aesthetic and is within the well-established norms of good taste and decency.
17. See Vimal Balasubrahmanyam, Mirror Image: Media and the Women's Question (Bombay: Centre for Education and Documentation, 1988), pp 130-134. Deepa Dhanraj, 'A critical focus, in Ammu Joseph and Kalpana Sharma (eds), Whose News?: The Media and Women's Issues (New Delhi: Sage, 1994), pp 245-291; and Prabha Krishnan and Anita Dighe, Affirmation and Denial: Construction of Femininity on Indian Television (New Delhi: Sage, 1990). Doordarshan does have a code for commercial advertising which lays down specifically that no advertisement shall be permitted which projects a derogatory image of women. Women must not be portrayed in a manner that emphasizes passive, submissive qualities and encourages them to play a subordinate, secondary role in the family and society. The portrayal of men and women should not encourage mutual disrespect between the sexes. The advertiser shall ensure that the portrayal of the female form is tasteful and aesthetic and is within the well-established norms of good taste and decency.
18. See Vimal Balasubrahmanyam, Mirror Image: Media and the Women's Question (Bombay: Centre for Education and Documentation, 1988), pp 130-134. Deepa Dhanraj, 'A critical focus, in Ammu Joseph and Kalpana Sharma (eds), Whose News?: The Media and Women's Issues (New Delhi: Sage, 1994), pp 245-291; and Prabha Krishnan and Anita Dighe, Affirmation and Denial: Construction of Femininity on Indian Television (New Delhi: Sage, 1990). Doordarshan does have a code for commercial advertising which lays down specifically that no advertisement shall be permitted which projects a derogatory image of women. Women must not be portrayed in a manner that emphasizes passive, submissive qualities and encourages them to play a subordinate, secondary role in the family and society. The portrayal of men and women should not encourage mutual disrespect between the sexes. The advertiser shall ensure that the portrayal of the female form is tasteful and aesthetic and is within the well-established norms of good taste and decency.
19. Sunder Rajan, op cit, p 136.
20. Shohini Ghose and Uma Chakravarti emphasize the factors that compel Doordarshan to remain within a certain framework of compatibility: 'The scrutiny that it is subjected to (for example, almost all magazines and newspapers devote columns for TV reviews and questions are raised in Parliament) along with the size and diversity of its audience render blatant partisanship somewhat difficult'. See 'Hidden agendas in the alternate media: religion and gender', Samya Shakti: A Journal of Womens' Studies, Vol VI, 1991-1992, pp 81-97.
21. In September 1990, the Indian Parliament passed a bill granting autonomy for Radio and Television. The 'Prasar Bharati Bill' provided for public control by an independent statutory corporation (as distinct from government) to ensure a high degree of credibility and the impartial flow of information to the viewer.
22. The categories of 'working women' as depicted on television range from hoteliers, fashion designers, rising young corporate entrepreneurs, consultants and public relations officers to lawyers, doctors, teachers, police officers, judges and secretaries.
23. In the serial Viraasat, the character Sheetal is treated disparagingly as a 'personal secretary' who attempts to elevate her position by 'hooking the boss'. In Dastaan, a husband is shown flirting with his secretary as he talks to his wife over the phone. In Tara, newly-wed Tara's husband Digvijay teases her by pretending that he has been having an affair with his secretary, Naureen.
24. Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan notes that television advertising redefines the most frequent sites of women's oppression in trivialized terms as the sites of remaking female identity; 'thus the woman who attracts stares from a male crowd on a street, bus, or in any other public place - a harrowing experience of everyday sexist harassment for women - is imaged as the ideal of the attractive and sexually desirable woman'. See Sunder Rajan, op cit, p 132.
25. Bharat Bhushan's observations on Vijay Tendulkar's Swayamsiddha are equally applicable to the newer plays and serials. See 'Working women, suspicious men', The Times of India, Sunday Review, 8 March, 1987.
26. The structure of such episodes is uniformly perceived by target audiences as inappropriate for family viewing and hence contradict the very purpose of transmission.
27. Violence is common to the majority of prime-time and afternoon soaps and serials across Indian television channels. It is used in the name of fiction and drama and presumably to hold and sustain audience interest. Rape and physical assault, along with political goons and mafia, form either the cornerstone of the plot or are used as twists in the storyline. The dialogues of most serials and soaps also reflect the influence of popular cinema on scriptwriters and producers.
28. According to Ipshita Chanda, the adjectives new/liberated/modern are taken to be 'metonymous - saying one is to imply all the others by the logic of this sign system that groups itself around the figure of woman'. See 'Birthing terrible beauties: feminisms and "Women's Magazines" ', Economic and Political Weekly, 26 October 1991, pp 67-70.
29. For a detailed analysis of these characters see Dhanraj, op cit, pp 277-290; and Iqbal Masood, 'The Sherni, the superintendent, and the other woman', Manushi, No 47, July-August 1988, pp 43-44.
30. For a detailed analysis of these characters see Dhanraj, op cit, pp 277-290; and Iqbal Masood, 'The Sherni, the superintendent, and the other woman', Manushi, No 47, July-August 1988, pp 43-44.
31. For an excellent discussion of the image of the new Indian woman in commercial advertising see Sunder Rajan; op cit, pp 130-133.
32. Partha Chatterjee, 'The nationalist resolution of the women's question', in Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid (eds), Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1989), p 239.
33. Ibid, p 243.
34. Sangari and Vaid, op cit, p 12. Partha Chatterjee argues that the spirituality of women and their adulation as goddess and mother also facilitates their public role by erasing their sexuality in the world outside the home. See 'Nationalist Resolution', ibid, p 249.
35. Sangari and Vaid, op cit, p 12. Partha Chatterjee argues that the spirituality of women and their adulation as goddess and mother also facilitates their public role by erasing their sexuality in the world outside the home. See 'Nationalist Resolution', ibid, p 249.
36. In the case of minority women, there does continue to be a conflict between the formal equality enshrined in the Constitution and the implementation of religious personal law. The uniform civil code promoted by Nehru's Government in the early 1950s was opposed by Muslim community leaders who challenged the secular Indian state's authority to legislate on matters related to religious law. Consequently, Muslim and certain other minority women continue to be governed by the personal laws of their community in matters related to marriage, divorce, inheritance, etc. For a more detailed discussion see the collection of articles in Zoya Hasan (ed), Forging Identities: Gender, Communities and the State (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1994). See also Kalpana Misva, 'Indian feminism and the postcolonial state; Misva, Women and Politics, Vol 17, No 4, 1997.
37. In the case of minority women, there does continue to be a conflict between the formal equality enshrined in the Constitution and the implementation of religious personal law. The uniform civil code promoted by Nehru's Government in the early 1950s was opposed by Muslim community leaders who challenged the secular Indian state's authority to legislate on matters related to religious law. Consequently, Muslim and certain other minority women continue to be governed by the personal laws of their community in matters related to marriage, divorce, inheritance, etc. For a more detailed discussion see the collection of articles in Zoya Hasan (ed), Forging Identities: Gender, Communities and the State (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1994). See also Kalpana Misva, 'Indian feminism and the postcolonial state; Misva, Women and Politics, Vol 17, No 4, 1997.
38. In the case of minority women, there does continue to be a conflict between the formal equality enshrined in the Constitution and the implementation of religious personal law. The uniform civil code promoted by Nehru's Government in the early 1950s was opposed by Muslim community leaders who challenged the secular Indian state's authority to legislate on matters related to religious law. Consequently, Muslim and certain other minority women continue to be governed by the personal laws of their community in matters related to marriage, divorce, inheritance, etc. For a more detailed discussion see the collection of articles in Zoya Hasan (ed), Forging Identities: Gender, Communities and the State (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1994). See also Kalpana Misva, 'Indian feminism and the postcolonial state; Misva, Women and Politics, Vol 17, No 4, 1997.
39. Chanda, op cit, p 67.
40. Jacqueline Rose, 'The state of the subject (II): the institution of feminism', Critical Quarterly, Vol 29, No 4, Winter 1987, p 12.
41. Communalism in the Indian context refers to the politicization of religious identity. The term communal politics has a negative connotation and has come to be identified with religious bigotry, exclusionism and irrationality.
42. Sangari and Vaid, op cit, p 17.