Sexism In Bollywood: How Feminism Has Given Rise To New Stereotypes

Kartik Aaryan's Pyaar Ka Punchnama monologue itself is pretty good enough to explain this point. Back in the day, women were sacrificing souls meant to forgo their own needs to care for their family. Now, they are bloodsucking creatures whose sole job is to live off on their boyfriends' wallet. Be it in Hindi movies or Punjabi songs, this has become a recurrent theme which supposedly wants to portray a woman's power over men but ends up telling women are either a selfless Sati Savitri or materialistic evil Cersei.

Many celebrities weight loss journey is termed as fitness journey by popular tabloids. While feminism instigates body positivity, somehow being an ideal feminist has also become synonym to having a flat belly and curvy hips for women in Bollywood. What's scary is they justify their crazy diets by saying they want to remain 'healthy'- but thing is, there is no such 'perfect' or 'fit' or 'healthy' body. A person with muscular abs can catch the COVID-19 as easily as someone who is sitting binging on chocolates. While this gives a very false impression of what a human body should like and what is attractive & what is not, it also brings down the self-esteem of many.

While there are exceptions to this rule- Bollywood movies surely do like to portray women as strong individuals for being able to hit a man for no particular reason. While during events like eve-teasing, stalking that do need a good thappad the girl giggles and walks away because well, the boy is in love. We live in a society where audience glorify Kabir Singh to be the love story for the ages, where both Preeti & Kabir hitting each other is 'goals'.

I mean, what? Almost all of these interviews start with this phrase termed by the concerned celebrity- ahem- actress. Ever seen a segment "What's In This Actor's Wallet?" Instead of focusing on the inside, many of the stars' interviews revolve around their acquisitive possessions. Not only this, other segments such as Skin Care Routine, What I Eat In A Day, etc.- equally contribute in the sexist approach of interviews. In a way, this is a method of 'stanning' an actress for either being humble about her super luxury items or praising their endurance for going through such pains to maintain their body image. Again, I mean, what? ASK HER IF HER CHARACTER IS MORE THAN A ROMANTIC INTEREST FOR THE HERO, FOLKS!

Ever think why the heroines from the Khan's golden ages aren't as relevant as they were back in the day? Well, because they went on and started a family and well, moms don't make good romantic interests on-screen, do they? Now divas like Madhuri Dixit and Rekha are people whose legacy should be honoured in every other award function. While the men with whom these divas worked still are capable of roping in awards. In the name of empowering women by giving tributes and whatnot, we tend to avoid noticing why it's the same actors from the same generation praising the same actresses from the same generation like they are the outsiders, the forerunners of the industry.

While feminism has played a key role in eradicating mindless sequences like the hero Herculean guys into a pulp and the heroine falling for the hero after he saves her from some goons, pseudo-feminism is still heavily present in its circles and especially very hard to spot. Netizens should share their views on such topics openly. Comment what you think about these prevalent themes in the film industry.