How Bollywood Has Distorted Our Ideas of Sexuality and Body Image

Highlights

Bollywood’s idea of sexuality has far-reaching consequences on India’s social fabric.

The impression of sexuality and body image as shown in Bollywood films tend to implant wrong ideas in their minds and mislead them.

Not only women but men too have become the victims of these notions of appealing body image and sexuality.

An international study finds that women in Indian movies are made to emphasize their sex appeal but are unlikely to have professions.

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Since its inception in the 1930s, Bollywood has been the go-to place for entertainment for a large fraction of the Indians.

We all love Bollywood and most of us even dream of becoming a Bollywood actor or actress. Everything in our daily lives from the way we dress, speak, behave, the style we choose to the way we think has been impacted by the cinemas.

We even see little kids dancing to the songs such as Chikni Chameli from Agneepath and Sheila Ki Jawaani from Tees Maar Khan. This shows the intensity of the impact created by Bollywood on young Indians and our society.

Do these kids know the meaning of those songs?

The lyrics of some of these songs go from bad to worse. Have you ever realized that most Bollywood songs that you rocked to so happily as a child were disgustingly sexist?

How do these kinds of songs and movies influence millions of young and old minds, across urban and rural India?

Bollywood films have a great impact on one’s perception of sexuality and body image. Bollywood films are indeed sold on women for they focus on objectifying women, but these methods adopted to portray women are not only limited to the screen but have a social impact too.

Misogyny is not a new thing in Bollywood

Cinema has far-reaching consequences on the young minds of Indians and Bollywood’s portrayal of women has been stereotypical for way too long.

For a long time, Bollywood romances have solely been an expression of male desire with women having no say. They are portrayed as eye-candy and hyper-sexualized in most of the advertising posters to attract the audience and added to the fuel are the item songs where a female in revealing and modern clothes dances amid a pack of men.

It is very common in commercial films that female characters are objectified as mere sexual objects without intellectual capability, while men are portrayed as strong, professional, and intellectual, and heroic.

The depiction of misogyny in Bollywood is hardly a new problem and is deeply rooted in the industry. Kabir Singh, for instance, though criticized for the way it portrayed an abusive relationship as a form of love was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2019.

“An international study finds that women in Indian movies are made to emphasize their sex appeal but are unlikely to have professions.”

Women are usually portrayed as sexual objects in Indian films and are mostly used for supportive and decorative roles as is evident in Kabir Singh and most Indian films.

Are Bollywood makers fully aware of glorifying and promoting misogyny in relationships?

These movies have made some people fear that it would inspire or even drive people to unacceptable behavior and may promote the dangerous idea that sexual harassment is acceptable. The success of this kind of movie which glorifies misogyny shows that there is still a long way to go to bring a change in the perception of sexuality among young Indians.

Showcase of Body Image

Movies have always been a very effective means of communication and the impression of sexuality and body image as shown in Bollywood films tend to implant wrong ideas in their minds and mislead them.

The female actor is shown beautiful and attractive with a light skin tone and a perfect body which makes the hero get attracted towards her. This portrayal of the women in Bollywood films has led many young girls to achieve the unrealistic beauty standards of the female actors going through the painful process of waxing and other beauty care with the desire to look attractive in the eyes of their partner.

Not only women but men too are the victims of these notions. Bollywood hero is objectified as a tall person with a chiseling physique and without body hair and fat. Most of the men are under hidden pressure to feel good about their bodies and attract their partners.

Most of the youth have forgotten to embrace their bodies. Not everyone’s body type is the same nor has the same skin tone all over their body. It is important to remember that it is their professional necessity that makes the actors take special care to maintain even skin tone and look beautiful to attract the audience.

While some filmmakers are trying to change the depiction of sexuality in Indian films, yet there is much to be done to have empathy and sensibility towards real women and the problems they face.

Bollywood’s idea of sexuality has far-reaching consequences on India’s social fabric. The actors need to realize that overemphasis of sexual scenes can have a huge impact on the young girls and boys and should have the courage to turn down the characters that objectify women with negative body image.

It’s time for all of us to take the responsibility to inculcate realistic cultural values among the young minds so that at least the next generation would know the reality and show respect towards others as well as themselves.

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End of the day after my routine chores – finished office work, made dinner, cleaned up, checked up on my in-laws, done discussing the day with my husband – I sat down on the couch to quickly catch a glimpse of my favourite TV series. The phone rang and it was my mother on the line. The day had been so hectic, that I didn’t even have the energy to talk to her, even though it had been a few days. Nevertheless, after we exchanged pleasantries, she just asked me why I seemed so stressed and I blurted out – “I just wish I wasn’t married”. The moment the words came out of my mouth, I regretted it, not because I felt guilty about what I said, but for the fear of being judged. I thought of all the things that I could now say to cover up what I had said. But all the excuses went futile, when I heard the voice from the other side saying – “I have thought about that myself on several occasions too”.

By now you may have created a picture of me in your mind of this very unhappy woman struggling with family and work stuck in a loveless marriage. But that’s not true. I have a wonderful, loving husband and a very supportive (most of the time) extended family. But yet, sometimes I still wish I was not married.

Those days when I was dating my future husband-to-be were so carefree. We were both working professionals earning quite decently. There was no pressure of saving up. We used to just live it up for a few days after we received our paychecks – be it on expensive dinners, gifts or shopping. Even though we always ended up short of money by the end of the month, we did not have to explain to anyone why instant noodles were a good dinner option. But that’s no longer possible. Nutritious dinner for the family is of course my responsibility and so is planning and saving for the future.

Our plans and trips used to be so impromptu then. I remember we even went for a hiking trip on a day’s notice. And today, even going for a dinner or a movie has to be planned well in advance. I wonder what has changed. It’s the same him and it’s the same me. But has marriage just added this sense of responsibility of having to plan anything and everything.

Even back then, we used to plan and mark our calendars at the start of the year to highlight the festivals. The reason then used to be to club those holidays with weekends and take off to somewhere – sometime to explore new places or sometimes to just have a relaxing holiday away from the routine. We still look at the dates of the festivals, but now the reason is to plan for the rituals associated with it or to plan for family celebrations, and not to forget to buy another set of traditional attire that I will wear only once, but will take up space in my cupboard forever. All these festivals which really didn’t matter a little while back have become so important.

I was a very out-going person in the pre-marriage days. I used to hang out a lot with my friends, including male friends – to whom I swore to never let go of, to remain connected all the time, for whom I will never change. When I started to date things did change a little, but still not to the extent of disappointing my friends. My partner was even cool with our annual getaways and in fact encouraged it. And then marriage happened. I don’t know why, but there is now this inherent pressure to now go everywhere with your husband. The society now expected us to make friends with more settled couples, whether we were having fun was secondary. And hate to admit it, but I really do have few very male friends now and I miss them – they were my buddies with whom I could chill for long hours.

The list of things that have changed are endless – ranging from details like monthly grocery, investment and savings plan, my dressing style, making sure all your relatives are happy with you, remembering to call all family members on their birthdays and anniversaries, cleaning up so that house is presentable any time some relative comes in without notice, holiday planning to make sure the visits of both set of parents don’t clash and the list goes on… Our priorities have suddenly changed. It’s now just not about us, but so much more about others.

Marriage is a big and long commitment and it does change you, whether you admit that or not. You can imagine marriage as a dating or a live-in relationship with loads and loads of additional baggage. “Are you ready for this change?” – is something that you should give a good thought to before taking the plunge. Given a chance, will I undo my decision to get married? Probably not. I love the love, support and care I get from my husband and the sense of security I feel is unmatched. But do I miss those times when we spoke for hours together, did crazy things together without the fear of being judged, when love seemed to be the only food we needed when binge-watching shows (hunger did not even cross our minds). Yes, I do. And those are the days, when I wish that I wasn’t married.

Image Source: Tu Dosis Diaria