You know the biggest problem caused in any society, be it Indian or western, is the reckless nature of the woman-folk there. If a woman knows her limits(not in the negative sense), as in to upkeep her self-respect and dignity, half the problems faced today would be solved. She is the life-giver, the mother, if she does not know what her true role is, she actually destructs the generation and the coming generations too. Today, in most of the movies, bollywood, most actress are semi-clad, in most ads which market men's products like shaving cream or razor etc a woman has to be shown as some sort of "attracted to clean-shaven men or those who use Axe perfume" kind of role! Its ridiculous, there was a time in India, where character actors like Shabana Azmi, played great roles in movies, wearing saris, and projecting roles where the woman was the lead character in the movie. And today, actresses like Mallika Sherawat and likes feel that their flesh is their worth and the audiences need nothing more than that. For a simple instance, directors like Mahesh Bhatt who used to take the most standard movies in the 70s, 80s and even early 90s like Arth, Saaransh etc etc.. have now reduced to the level of taking A-rated movies displaying a lot of intimate scenes and no much story line. Why? Thats what the public wants now, may not be the entire crowd. But a large section. I am not saying "wear only saris on screen" but there are western outfits that are decent, as if the westerners only have a bikini or mini skirt to show off about their wardrobe!! And we the free Indian women-folk have come up with this "Women's liberation" motto, come on... its not worth it!! Liberation from what, men?? I understand that even today in India, not just the rural areas, even urban areas there are households were women are subjugated by the men of the house, THIS has to be tackled and not rights women ask for walking out free every night to a pub! I know I sound like a very conservative person, but I am not against the freedom to choose what a woman wants, her portrayal as a "sex-symbol" is what causes all the damage to a society. Unfortunately, that's what is happening to modern India. These are the values of the past that we lack now. Not that there weren't such actors and audience in the past. It was relatively less. We do not have to prove ourselves as a modern nation by such means, by showing we are a nation where living-in relationships is socially accepted and hanging out in pubs and discos is what the Indian youth like the most. We can show ourselves as a modern Indian generation by so many other ways. We, as a symbol for uprooting practices like child-labour, dowry system etc. We as a symbol of educated Indian youth who can spread their wings in all fields, be in engineering, medicine, law, journalism, theatre, media, entertainment industry, etc etc. With the kind of rich culture our country is known to have, we can do a lot of things to serve as a model nation for the whole world. Instead of being proud of our potential we seek to imitate the westerners. A sad reality of the present.
PS : These are just my views about the issues presented above and not intended to hurt anyone's life-style. And, NO... I am not against the women-folk in the world, in fact, I'd say I am proud to be born a girl and would want to be one even the next birth(if there is one)..
I am also going to show you a very optimistic response by a close friend, I truly appreciate the positivity involved in his message:
I would say this. You have taken the example of Indian movies that are coming now. The kind of people portrayed by the actors are those that belong to a very small section of the society – the affluent. Many of the things being shown in cinema today are actually happening among the affluent. Right. The movies are made keeping in view of the crowd who want to know what it is like being rich. The movies show what the people want to see. There would not be many today who would watch some movie made in the rural Indian environment. MONEY is the word, for which these people make movies. MONEY is the reason these people act in movies. Who has given this importance to MONEY? We the people of independent India (and the world :)). It is a problem with the society that has led to indecency being shown in TV and movies today. I would not blame Indian women. Priorities have changed (money being of utmost importance) for the worse. And for money women/ men do anything. Again, this deterioration has happened only in a miniscule section of the society. The majority still have instilled values in them, which will not fade with time. This will pass over to the next generation and this would continue. Another thing, women have suffered a lot over the last few centuries everywhere in the world. We can not blame something on the women (in general) for mistakes a few of them commit. What would you say of the men who have used women in very many (the movie ad examples you have taken) ways to make money themselves.
Woman's liberation – I agree this is not the liberation we are seeking. I am sure only the insane would flaunt the stuff depicted in Hindi movies (and the ones that maybe happening in reality) as signs of women empowerment. The sane world still measures development on a completely different basis. And sadly India does not do well at all in problems involving women. No one is equating going to pubs etc etc to woman liberation/ empowerment. So we need not worry about that issue. More worrisome are the real human (importantly women) index issues, in which India has done even poorly than some of the Sub – Sahara African countries. Think of this. Our society today is proud of people like Sunita Williams (though she is an American and only has India roots in her parents), Lata Mangeshkar, Chitra, Bharkha Dutt, Arundhati Roy, Nooyi, Majumdar, Medha Patkar etc etc and not someone like some item number girl in the movies. There is still hope. Everything is not lost.
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