Have you ever wondered how feminism works? I’m sure living in the 21st century has urged you to Google it at least once. Most people like to picture feminism as the process for the rise of women and the fall of men. But that’s not what it really is, right? Feminism is more about equality. It’s about being oblivious to the concept of patriarchy to the extent that it stops being a part of our colloquial dialogue.
But changing society’s perception of women is most certainly not an easy task. Years of thought about men being superior need to be reconsidered. Our notions of concepts ranging from sex and consent to jobs and rights need modifications. When one thinks of effective mediums to facilitate change, mass media seems like a convenient and powerful tool. This raises the question of whether it is currently advocating the correct message, which I doubt.
The depiction of women in Bollywood is demeaning to such an extent that it seems like the writers have learnt the ideas of equality through a game of Chinese whispers. For example, looked at from a feminist perspective, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is a little too misogynistic to digest. This classic film that made every girl dream of finding her own Raj who would ‘win’ her over and take her away, to live happily ever after, is actually a brewery of patriarchal ideals. Thus, here is a small scene from the movie which has been rewritten to be more feminist. It may be a little less dramatic, but might seem more acceptable compared to the original.
Give it a read and decide for yourself!
Simran saw Raj’s bottle of whiskey lying unattended. She was feeling extremely cold and recalled that he had told her that consuming alcohol produces heat in the body. She decided to help herself to the bottle and get drunk, ultimately losing all self-control. She danced and sang, with Raj making sure that she didn’t get into any trouble. The next morning, Simran woke up with no recollection of what had happened the previous night. She didn’t understand why she was wearing Raj’s shirt, was in bed, while her own clothes and shoes were carelessly strewn around the room. Her immediate assumption was that she had slept with Raj. Suddenly, Raj entered the room with breakfast and saw that Simran had woken up.
In a flirtatious tone, he said, “Wow! You’re breathtaking. You look even better than how you did last night.”
Simran was confused as she had no memory of what had happened the previous night. Thus, a sense of discomfort and a feeling of betrayal clouded her.
“Last night? What…? I…I don’t remember anything about last night. The last thing I recall is that you went to sleep and I was sitting near the fireplace because I was cold.”
Raj slyly began fabricating events to scare Simran and to have the last laugh.
“Oh Simran! You have no idea what all happened last night. We got drunk on my whiskey and…”
“And? Tell me, Raj! Don’t scare me, please! Just tell me!”
Raj opened his shirt and showed Simran the love bites on his neck. He had drawn them using her lipstick. Believing Raj, and thinking that the marks on his neck were real, Simran froze. She didn’t know how to respond and was feeling a wave of emotions, thus unable to express each of them. She began shivering and the shock of what she’d got to know blurred her speech.
“Are…are you…are you sure, Raj?” Simran said, stuttering.
“Yes, Simran. Why would I lie to you?”
Simran was speechless. She took a few seconds to pull herself together. But, she realised that her primary concern wasn’t the fact that she had had sex with Raj. The feeling that overpowered all her other emotions was that of being wronged. She felt that Raj had taken advantage of her. As she did not remember anything from the previous night, she wasn’t sure that she had consented to their encounter. She felt violated and burst into tears.
Upon seeing her crying, Raj began laughing.
“Oh God! Don’t cry Simran. I wasn’t being serious. It was all a plan! I made the entire story up. Nothing, absolutely nothing happened between us. You had had too much too drink, so I got you back to the hotel and put you to bed. Please, stop crying! For Heaven’s sake, trust me! ”
But Simran could not stop crying.
Finally, Raj took her face firmly in his hands and said, “Enough! Calm down, and hear me out. I know you might think of me as a womanizer who doesn’t respect women. But I assure you, that’s not true. Being born and brought up in London hasn’t changed the fact that I respect Indian traditions, customs, and moral values. I understand the importance and honor attached to an unmarried woman’s chastity in an Indian society and I would never do anything to violate that. I don’t have a mother or a sister, but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect women. I understand your pain and fear, but you have nothing to be afraid of, because nothing wrong happened between us.”
Perplexed by how Raj interpreted her anxiousness and worry, Simran felt the need to correct him.
She removed his hands from her face and said, “You’ve got me wrong, Raj. I was not worried at the prospect of having had sex with you. I was worried because whatever might’ve happened was in a drunken state. I wasn’t conscious and in control and that made me feel violated. My consent in all this seemed missing.”
She went on, as Raj listened intently, “In this time and age, I don’t believe in the idea of a woman’s honour being synonymous with her chastity and nor should you nor anyone else around us believe that. It is our choice that matters. It is my choice that matters. Nothing would’ve been morally wrong in us having sex, unless both of us were agreeing to it.”
So, what do you think? Is it Feminist equal enough?
Editor by Rangoli Gupta
All images are curated by Sanjna Mishra