'Representation of Women in Bollywood songs'
Content
☆ Abstract
☆ Introduction
☆ What is Mass Media and Communication ?
☆ Film as a tool of communication
☆ Cinesexuality in Bollywood and social life
~ Item Songs
☆ Gender stereotypes and Bollywood song
☆ Bollywood back then
☆ Need to be call out
☆ Conclusion
☆ Work citation and resources
Abstract
》Purpose
Mass media and communication plays a vital role in shaping our culture as well as our mind. As a part of Mass Media And Communication Cinema shaping the minds of people, especially people coming from the middle class. This paper/assignment not only focuses on representation of women in item songs of Bollywood movies, but it focuses on other songs also which never come to our notice or observation. We objected to 'Item Songs' and representation of women but we never noticed that other songs are also presenting gender stereotypes.
》Design/Methodology
This paper/assignment is based on various arguments which are based on various research papers, articles and websites. It is also based on some of the Interviews, movie's songs and various news pages and channels. It started with some basic Introduction, argument, main points, illustrations of songs and then reached a conclusion.
》Research limitations
This paper/assignment has its own limitations, because there are numbers of songs in Bollywood movies as a result we can not analyze all, as well as all are not the same, some of the songs are also good in lyrics.
》Research Objectives
¤ How Bollywood reinforces gender stereotypes through songs and dance?
¤ How cinesexuality affects society?
Introduction
ass media through media technologies reaches a large Mass/audience via mass communication. It reaches through various outlets. There are many gadgets like radio, television, film, electronic media, journalism, print media, news channels. Film/cinema is an interesting tool to reach a larger number of people. But as we know Indian society is a patriarchal society where men are more equal than women as George Orwell stated :
"All are equal but some are more equal "
Similarly in India Men are given more priority and respect than women. And this thing we can find in movies and songs also. It looks like there is equality but when we peep deeply then we come to know the loopholes of the culture. The representation of women in Bollywood songs seems like gender stereotypes, it seems women are servants of the men. Here in this paper you will find how some of the Bollywood songs are representing women as a sexual object as well as just an object or a property for a man. Bollywood has showcased women as weak, and dependent on men. It has a negative effect on people, it should be called out.
What is Mass Media and Communication
'Communication means the transmission and reception of signs, of words or sounds or Image'
Charles A. Siepmann
Rightly said about communication, here the another question is what is mass media and communication? As mentioned above Mass media uses media technologies to reach the mass or audiences. Whenever we hear the words Mass Media and Communication the first thing that comes to our mind is Journalism, but MMAC includes other media to communicate with people like Television, Radio, Cinema, News etc.
M.C. Quails stated that
"The Mass Media refer to the organized means of communicating openly, at a distance and to many in a short of space of time"
It means Mass Media should also resist power. Nowadays we can see the fame of Web series also.
Film as a tool of communication
Films/Cinema are the part of communication with people. It is a tool of Mass Media to communicate with a larger number of people. The aim of the film is not only to Entertain people but to educate people, to make people aware. Films have an effect on people's minds. There are a number of people who blindly follow movies and actors or actresses. In addition, films are also to inform people about a particular event, history or a life story. As a result people came to know what has happened in the past.
Cinesexuality in Bollywood and Social life
Bollywood represents women as weak and dependent on men. Bollywood Heros are always stereotypes of Super heroes, there are many films where we can see how a hero does work like roadside romeo though the heroine must have to fall in love with him. In movies women are just sexual objects. It is like they are selling their body. Larger numbers of people have a desire to see the female body, it has a bad impact on society. Even larger number of females are also desiring to have a body/figure like actresses. There are very few movies where men are being sexual objèct for womne, but what Bollywood is serving is ridiculous. Especially the item song and other songs also.
"Not only scripts, but Item songs, dances and the languages used has an adverse effect on the audience"
Here are some of the examples of how movies are using women's bodies for cinesexuality.
Item Songs
Item songs have been a tradition of Bollywood movies. Film productions are using item songs to promote their films. But these Item songs are representing women as a sexual object. Visual effects as well as language also plays a vital role on people's mindset. The way lyrics are written it clearly shows women as downtrodden to men. Here are the lyrics of some of the item songs.
Tu cheez badi hai mast mast - Mohra
Bol zara tu jane mahbubi mujhme aisi kya hai khubi - (x2)
Tu ek resham ki dor dor too ek resham ki dor dor
Teri chal pe aashiq mor mor
Teri zulf ghani teri zulf ghani chitachor chor
Ghanghor ghata mad mast mast
Tu chiz badi hai mast mast tu chiz badi hai mast - (x2)
In this song the girl is portrayed as 'चीज' a thing. And the thing is very beautiful. It clearly shows how a woman is a product of beauty and sexual satisfaction for men. This song objectifies women. It in its true sense calls women an object that men must possess. This is the song that many cat-callers use today. Calling women a ‘cheez’ is demeaning and sends a negative image of the girl.
'Sheela ki Javani'
My name is sheela
Sheela ki javani
I'm so sexy for you mai tere hath na aani
Sheila Ki Jawani” is a Bollywood item number which is a catchy, upbeat song that has nothing to do with the plot of the movie, but serves as an entertainment piece in the movie “Tees Maar Khan”. The lead is surrounded by hundreds of men and her body is on display for their entertainment. The song is shoot in a way to attract male gaze, a feminist theory in which the world is depicted from the masculine and heterosexual prospective.
Pinky
Mumbai ki na Dilli walon ki
Pinky to hai paise walo ki
The lyrics of the song from the disastrous 'Zanjeer' went something like "Paisa phek tamasha dekh, nachegi Pinky fultoo late".
Laila main laila
Laila main laila
Aisi hu laila
Har koi chahe mujhse milna akela
Character dheela hai
'Kudiyo ka nasha pyare nasha sabse nashila hai
Jise dekho yaha wo husn ki barish me gila hai..'
Munni Badnaam hui
Munni badnaam hui darling tere liye
Munni ke gal sharabi, hoth sharabi, nain gulabi re
Munni badnam hui darling tere liye
These every item songs clearly show the one thing that is selling women 's body and beauty.
Bollywood back then
Oddly when I see the Bollywood movies of the fifties and sixties I see something different. Less misrepresentation of women. True, I haven’t seen too many old movies, but I can never forget that incident in Mughal-e-Azam (1960). When Madhubala falls in love with the Prince (played by Dilip Kumar) she is terrified of the King who is also the father of her lover. She cows down and compromises. When the Prince hears of this he is furious, and loses respect for her. Can’t she even stand up to his father? And so what if he is the King? Doesn’t she even have that much courage? He tells her that she is not worthy of his love, and that is what prompts Madhubala to sing that now famous song - Pyar kiya to Darna Kya in front of the King. She immediately wins back her Prince’s love. During those times, we valued courage! And even women had to have it.
Need To Call Out
With sexual harassment becoming a mainstay in India, songs like these prove to be provocateurs. These songs build a mind-set, similar to what item songs also do. Guys are likely to try songs and scenes from movies in their real life. This is not healthy, therefore we need to hold the songs and the whole film industry accountable.
Conclusion
This brings us to the question we were confronted with in the first place. Reel vs. real! When it comes to the screens, female actors often sign up for roles that are very derogatory to women, without really giving much thought to the possible consequences. But today, we are gradually realising the potential effects of such reel portrayal on society. Over the years, all that we have seen in movies has had both a positive as well as a negative impact upon us. Well, what is over is over and cannot be undone. Since we have realised that movies have such a massive impact on our society, we might as well ensure that women are given the respect they deserve, in the reel, so that the same might, in turn, get translated into real life.
Work citation
BRARA, RITA, " The item number: cinesexuality in Bollywood and social life." Economic political weekly, vol. 45, no 23, 2010, pp 67 - 74 JSTOR,
Gupta, Shubhra. "Bollywood's Troubled Relationship with Women." BBC News, 31 Jan. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42743558.
Pereira, Ansel. "100 Best Bollywood Item Songs." Spinditty, 29 Mar. 2019, spinditty.com/playlists/100-Best-Bollywood-Item-Songs.
Shah, Kavya. "How Bollywood Films Reinforce Gender Stereotypes Through Songs." SheThePeople TV, 18 Apr. 2019, www.shethepeople.tv/blog/how-bollywood-reinforces-gender-stereotypes-through-songs-and-dances/.
Writer, Nita. "Portrayal of Women in Bollywood Then, Now and in the Past." A Wide Angle View of India, 21 Jan. 2009,
www.wordpress.com/2007/04/25/portrayal-of-women-in-bollywood-then-now-and-in-the-past/
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