Chapter I
Introduction
India is a country where we worship women as goddesses. Sita, Sati, Savitri, Draupadi, Durga, Radha, Menaka are some of the goddesses in Hindu mythology and most of them represent the true picture of patriarchy where the idea of women is a combination of sacrifice, care and purity (“India: Where We Discriminate Against Women but Worship Goddesses”). One need not look no further than Indian mythology to understand about the societal structure, norms or what is known as the fabric of Indian society where there are women like Sita, Ahalya, Madhavi and Draupadi, who were reluctant to protest the odds happening to them and always listened to what they were told. Though women are worshipped and said to be treated as goddesses in India, where women like Laxmi Bhai who was the queen of Jhansi was proudly valorised (Divine Goddesses And Real Women – Sayfty, 2021), why is it that there still a lot of heinous crimes and intolerable kind of violence against women? With every other shocking rape case in India, people say, “women are to be respected; they are close to goddess But, in the same country, women are assaulted in a most brutal and violent ways which includes sexual violence too.
The objective of this research work is to discuss about brutal violence against women in India with the portrayal of the deep-rooted patriarchal mind set as the primary cause for committing them by focusing on assaults and violence
against women like Rape, Acid attacks, Child marriage (which has been rising in number in India), through Delhi crime (web series), Chhapaak (Bollywood movie), Main Buch Bhi Kar Sakthi Hu, an issue based short film. To be more precise, through the selected works, a description will be given on how patriarchal notions works out in men and enables them to commit those crimes.
From womb to tomb, women in India are undergoing different kinds of violence (LOCATING PATRIARCHY IN VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA: SOCIAL, LEGAL AND ALTERNATIVE RESPONSES). Various
forms of Gender based violence have become something very silly that is accepted by conservative patterns of socio cultural norms which is exhibited in a misogynistic patriarchy and in spite of the modern trends of equality between the relationship of men and women , women and children are brutalised in the most inhuman way in India .United nations has recognised violence against women as gender based violence which results in psychological ,physical and sexual harm to women ( UN 1993)
The gruesome gang rape and disembowelment of a 23 year old Physiotherapy student in south Delhi on 16th December 2012 will be discussed firstly in this paper through the Emmy award winning TV series named Delhi crime which is based on this real life incident .I will be taking a detail look in to Delhi crime to show how patriarchal notions of men about women is upheld in our society ,how the traditional views about women in the society, mainly among men, still continues to be one of the reasons for such heinous acts
against women. possible explanation of the crime circumstance will be given by focusing upon some theories and criminals which includes their background, living condition and social status who were accused and later found guilty.
Secondly in this paper, a description on acid attack will be given, painful weapon of patriarchy, a painful scar of patriarchy, a scar that is not just physical but penetrates deeply inside the mind of all victimised women. To explain more about the condition of those women, who becomes the victim of such a kind of a heinous crime, upon whom the pain of patriarchal brutality cannot be explained in words, Chhapaak a Bollywood will be taken to explain more about what kind of typical notions that men have on women in India regarding their love and sexual advances, through different incidents that are discussed in a detailed manner inside the story of the movie.
And finally about child marriage, which is another form of an age-old curse to many girls around the world will be discussed. Research have found out that, one in three of world’s child brides lives in India (Ending Child Marriage) So , it is pretty much evident that number of child marriage has been increasing in India and patriarchal biases are still prevalent in our country (“One In Every Three Child Brides Lives In India: UN Report – World News , First post”) .A lot of reasons are put forth which includes the girl child being a “burden” (Education Of A Girl Child Is A Burden (Against) Debate). In reference to this horrific injustice and crime, I have chosen a problem based short film named Mein Kuch Bhi Kar Sakthi Hu.
The above-mentioned four major violence against women will be explained in detailed manner by mentioning patriarchy as the major tool or the root cause for it and by making use of some other possible reasons for the occurrence of those crimes based on the chosen works, each chapter will be divided into five different chapters including the introduction part. Chapter 1: Introduction, Chapter 2: Delhi crime, the web series. Chapter 3 Chhapaak: The Scar and Pain and Chapter 4:
Mein Kuch Bhi Bar Sakthi hu.
Chapter II
Delhi Crime, the Web Series
Different sights of bustling Delhi city are shown in the opening episode. Along with that, Vartika’s monologue is heard at the background saying, “once something happened in Delhi so that for a moment the eyes of the entire world turned to Delhi. It was the crime that took the city to the verge” (Delhi Crime). The time shown is 10:38 pm at night. The scene opens with the two victims lying on the side of the road in a naked state. The Delhi police arrives while the people cover the naked body of the victims with a white cloth and carried them into police vehicle. They were asked by the policemen about what really happened to them. Akash replies that, “we got on bus, there were six guys on it, they took everything, stripped us naked and threw us on to the road and beat us badly” after a short description about the attack, the scene changes into when Vartika gets furious seeing the condition of police officers at checkpoints and assigns the newly joined IPS trainee Neeti Singh to look after the vehicles crossing the checkpoints and she was asked to inform if anything was found suspicious. Different sights of Delhi city are shown within which the focus changes into a couple coming out of a mall by having a casual chat. After getting out of the mall, they enquired to different vehicles parked outside to know whether it would take them to Dwarka. One of the auto drivers says that he would take them to Murnika, from where they could get a bus to Dwarka. In between, the scene changes to
Varthika’s home where her daughter is seen being so adamant about going to Toronto. Vartika has a talk with her and asked her, “why do you want to go so badly, still you haven’t seen the good part of the city” (Delhi Crime). The reply that Chandni gives is reflective of the atmosphere of Delhi, the capital city of India. Chandni says that, she hates the city, she cannot walk down the street without getting harassed and cannot even take a metro without men staring at her. As Chandni has got three weeks to respond to her mail, Vartika asks her to give her sometime so that she could help herself in convincing her child in understanding the “good part of the city” But, ironically something so cruel has already happened to a couple that night who were shown at the beginning of the episode. Those incidents, which Chandni has experienced herself, are all pointing towards the vulgar part of one of the major cities of India, its non-other than Delhi.
As the investigation of the attack progresses, all the suspects, Jai Singh Vikas, Brijesh, Alok, Sonu and Amar are also nabbed from different locations of the city and other neighbouring states with evidence. All of them were accused of several other cases. being into all the struggles associated with the crime, understanding the pain of the victim and realising the harsh realities of the city, Vartika is not sure anymore herself about the promise that she made herself to her daughter Chandni the series ends with some hopes of positivity as all the accused in the case are found guilty and sentenced to death except the juvenile. Deepika, the victim of brutality surrendered to death after fighting bravely for her life.
The vulgarity of the mind and the wrong notions of people in a patriarchal society where, myth downplay the prevalence and severity of sexual assault and acceptance of all of them could be clearly seen through these outrageous kinds of comments which jai Singh gave out at the time of interrogation with DCP south Vartika Chaturvedi at Delhi police station. Several studies conducted about the rape myth acceptance, attitude towards women, benevolent sexism have found out that the myths about sexual assaults (rape myths) are more likely to be accepted in cultures that endorse more traditional gender roles and attitudes towards women (Attitudes Toward Women, Rape Myths, And Rape Perceptions) On a study conducted on Indians and British adults showed that the two-culture differed from their gender role traditionalism where India had more traditional culture, rape myth acceptance, negative beliefs and stigma towards rape to a great extent than the British. A British study conducted by (Davies, 2012 ) found that the male participants had higher rape myth acceptance , much more stereotypical gender views and higher level of hostile sexism than female participants in her study .In the case of gender difference that has been found in India, much responsibilities are always been assigned to victims by male participants than by female participants (Kanekars and Kolsawalla,1977). These gender differences may stem from the different functions rape myth acceptance fulfils for each gender. Men typically use rape myths to justify male sexual violence (Rape Myth Acceptance in College Students: A Literature Review). Here Jai Singh, who made the outrageous comments during the encounter, and all other accused belongs to the lower section of the society and comes from a slum like area far from the Delhi city. They are the native of neighbouring state which is about 200 miles away from South Delhi and does the job of a driver whereas others do similar kinds of jobs like cleaners, bus conductors etc. These people were not educated enough or exposed enough to understand about the kind of freedom which was given to a girl in a major city like Delhi as compared to that of a girl from a village background. Several studies had found out that men who comes from that kind of village background tends to have more traditional concept about women so according to these people, the role of a woman in her life is only as a daughter, an obedient wife, whose job is only to look after her children and the household duties and nothing beyond that (Women Empowerment In Urban India: A Study Of Working Women Professionals In Delhi). But the tremendous changes in socio- economic and psycho -cultural aspects of human living has influenced the role of women and now the role and responsibilities of women has now attained a new definition and perspective (Women Empowerment In Urban India: A Study Of Working Women Professionals In Delhi). But for men like Jai Singh, it is not acceptable to see a woman getting out of those patriarchal shackles and be independent or to stay on one’s own feet. For them, a woman hanging out with a male or wearing any kind of modern dress according to one’s own liking is also not acceptable as they believe it would all tarnish the ‘honour’or the culture (India’s Daughter” Documentary Director Flees India) .And more over Jai Singh, who is the main accused ,is a 35 year old widower so there are possibilities of
psychological reasons such as emotional distress or abnormalities which might instigate such a crime and this could be related with what Richard von kraft E bong has written in “psychopathiasexualis” (1886) .He stated that rapist suffered from some mental weaknesses that allowed lustful urges to escape from their control. He described it as a simple matter of hydraulics. If the pressure were too high, a horrifying crime would burst out (“Why Men Rape”). This can also be related with Sigmund Freud’s “Three essays on theory of sexuality” as he makes a point that people who are behaviourally abnormal are always sexually abnormal in his experience but many people who are with normal behaviour are sexually abnormal also (“Three Essays on The Theory of Sexuality”). Nicolas Groth, for the conclusion of this work, “Men who rape” (1979) studied several hundreds of rapists at the prison and concluded that the motive behind it is sadism, anger or desire for power (“Until We Treat Rapists as Ordinary Criminals, We Won’T Stop Them – Sandra Newman | Aeon Essays”). In “India’s daughter”, a documentary film directed by Leslee udwin which got aired on March 8th Contains an interview clip with the main accused named Mukesh Singh who is portrayed as Jai Singh in Delhi Crime. The incendiary comments which were a part of the documentary commented by him outraged people all around India. His comment in the interview can be related to Freudians in the mid 20thcentury as they found that it was plausible for the victims to instigate rape as they speculated that all women secretly longed for such an experience and the victim could become the real perpetrator (“Until We Treat Rapists as Ordinary Criminals, We Won’t Stop Them
– Sandra Newman | Aeon Essays”). “A decent girl will not roam around at 9 o clock at night and a girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. A boy and a girl are not equal. Housework and housekeeping are for girls and not roaming around and discos and bars wearing wrong clothes and doing wrong activities. And about 20 percent or girls are good”. Through these comments made by Jai Singh, victim blaming theory and patriarchal notions are clearly visible. He criticises the victim for fighting back when she was being attacked. He said, “when being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape.” the notion that, whatever maybe the situation through which she undergoes, just because of being born as a woman, she is expected to tolerate everything, and she should not respond or react against a male, is the concept about so-called good woman according to his perspective and this is clearly visible here through his comments (“She Should Just Be Silent”: The Real Roots of India’s Rape Culture”). A.P Singh, the advocate who made every effort to save the convicts of this case questioned the character of the victim while talking to the media and said that “one should also ask her mother as to why was she out so late and with whom?” (“The Times of India”). In the interview for India’s daughter, A.P Singh has said “If my daughter or sister engaged in pre -marital activities and disgraced herself and allowed herself to lose face and character I would most certainly put petrol on her and set her alight.” Through this statement it is very clear and easy to analyse how our society still understands women and their freedom (“AP Singh, Lawyer Whose Defence of Nirbhaya Rapists Began With ‘Would Have Burnt My Daughter If…'”).
Erick Erickson’s theory gives us an understanding about the accused juvenile in the gang rape case. Erick Erikson was a psychologist who had developed one of the most influential theories of different stages of life (“Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development Explained”). Much like Freud he too believed in personality development in a series of stages but unlike Freud’s theory of psychosexual stages, however, Erikson’s theory described the impact of social experience across the whole lifespan. Erikson was interested in how social interaction and relationships played a role in the development and growth of human beings. Each stage represents a person with some conflicts which is termed as crises, which must be dealt before moving into next stage of life (“Erik
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development – The Psychology Notes Headquarters”). The sixth accused Sonu who is 17 years old comes under the fifth stage of identity Vs role confusion which last from 12 to 18 years. Teens at this stage attains sexual freedom but at the same time they are confused about their identity (“Sexual Attraction and Orientation (For Teens) – Nemours Kids health”) and they often ask questions like who am I? who I can be to themselves. they also experience sexual feelings, and they are not much aware about how to deal with them in a right manner. From childhood to adulthood, they may feel confused or insecure about themselves and how they fit into society and they might experiment with different roles and behaviour to fit themselves into the society
which Erikson believes to very important in forming or shaping one’s own identity. At this stage, parents, other family members and the social group that one is into contribute a lot in shaping oneself and those who get proper encouragement from them tend to come out with a stronger sense of self but those affected negatively are more likely to be remained in insecurities and confusions. Considering the economic status and the profile of the juvenile, the crisis of sexuality and identity is not resolved at this case which are expected to be resolved at this stage. So, this could be a reason that might have pushed him into such a merciless act. Strain theory of criminology which got developed into psychological theory of crime by Robert Agnew (1992) states that certain strain or stressors increase the likelihood of the crime and would lead people into certain negative emotions like anger and frustration (Us and Theory). These emotions result in creating pressure for corrective action and crime is a possible response. This theory suggests that when individuals are not able to achieve their desire through proper means they choose criminal methods to achieve them. All the six accused in case comes from lower strata of society and does jobs like bus cleaners, bus drivers, fruit vendor etc. so it was very much normal to get average income that would not help them to fulfil their dreams of a leisure life. This could be a reason which encouraged them to do crimes like robbery to make money in unethical ways. Rational choice theory is another theory with which the behaviour of the criminals involved in this crime could be explained. This theory has got its origin in economics but has been applied widely in other disciplines as
well (Lindauer,2009). The theory is concerned with how a person is motivated to do something and how constraints effects behaviour (Gul, 2019). Rational choice theory considers man as a reasoning actor who weighs means and costs benefits and makes a rational choice (“Criminology: Rational Choice Theory Explained”). Beccaria applied this theory to the field of criminology (hayward,2007) to suggest that the criminals weigh the potential risks. Working from the classical school of criminology and theoretical frameworks, Jeremy Bentham discuss the concept of calculus of pleasure. According to this, people would weigh the possible pleasure that they could gain from committing the crime against the possible pain from punishment and will be acting based on that. Individuals evaluate their actions in accordance with each available to produce advantage, pleasure or anything that satisfies them. Rational choice provides a very small perspective on about why individual decide to commit specific crime (“Chapter 3: Rational Choice and Routine Activities Theory”). In most situations, people choose to do so because it might be a fun and satisfaction for them. In the series , all the accused might have assessed the potential risk involved in the crime and they might have found lower risk for committing such a heinous crime for fun pleasure and satisfactions there were only a single man to guard a women from six other men .And apart from that , all accused men might also have thought that they could walk around easily as most of the rape cases go unreported in the country and the social stigma attached to rape would prevent them from complaining (“Getting Raped: The
Stigma Of Being A Rape Victim | Healthy place”). Social disorganisation theory of Clifford Shaw and HenryD. McKay was developed in in 1942. Theory states that a person’s physical environment could be a reason for the behavioural choice that a person makes (“Criminology: Social Disorganization Theory Explained”). It argues that “crime and deviance reflect conditions that disrupt the integrity of local communities and weakens the regulatory power of social norms” (Baron and Straus, 1987). Shaw and Mackay noted that highest crime rates have at least three common problems like poverty, physical dilapidation and higher level of ethnic and cultural mixing, Migration, separation from family, marital issues can be some of the reasons of crime (Blau and Blau, 1982). Now looking at the background of all the accused, it shows that all of them were not natives of Delhi city and had come to Delhi for earning money for livelihood. The main accused was a widower and all the other accused except one was living away from their wives because of their job purposes.
Genre:Crime, Drama,Political procedural
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Created by:Richie Mehta
Chapter III
Chhapaak: The Scar and the Pain
The opening scene of the movie shows the rage filled protest that goes in Delhi following the brutal rape of a medical student on 16thDecember. The protesters with rage and determination are seen singing. ‘From my heart to your heart, raging through me and you, no matter who ignites it, this fire must go on!” In between the protest, an old man comes with a passport size photo of his daughter towards a media reporter. The face of his daughter is disfigured due to acid attack and the old man wanted them to help him, but the reporters turned their hands down. The scene changes to a beauty parlour where Malti, the acid attack survivor, the lead character is seen happily threading eyebrows of a customer and having a conversation with her. But she eventually gives up that job as the owner of the parlour says “people expect beauty at beauty parlour “. Though Malti attends other interviews, she fails to get job because of her disfigured face which shows us the attitude of public towards an acid victim. As Malti is desperately in need of a job to look after her ailing family, Alka the reporter who is shown at the beginning of the movie, asks her to contact Anmol Dwivedi who works for acid attack survivors and supports the victims in all possible ways with the ‘Chhaaya’ organisation. Anmol gives her confidence despite of her looks and makes her realise that she has reached at the right place. Chhaaya “foundation members including Malti along with Alka goes to the house of a victim, whose father was seen at the beginning of the movie. Her story further reveals that this brutal crime was done by her tuition mate as she rejected her love proposal. While hearing the hear touching story of the victim, Malti’s mind is transferred to few years back, exactly the day on which she was attacked by acid when she was nineteen years. When police officers enquired about Malti to her father, one of the officers asked to him whether she was going to her school with Rajesh. Another officer asked if she was in a girl’s school and why is her mobile filled with messages sent by. Through their talking, it was clear that in an indirect way they were trying to question her character and portray her as the perpetrator for incident. Unexpectedly and shockingly, Basheer khan, who used to come at malt’s home, who kept a close connection with them like a family friend, is caught with evidence for attacking Malti. After a period of pain and exhaustion in life, Malti decides to face her future with courage and power as she learns sewing and cloth designing for herself instead of being idle and hopeless about future. But in court, Basheer khan got bail for two times irrespective of committing such a grievous crime. Chhaaya foundation members are seen rushing to the hospital to attend two sisters who have come long way from Patna to Delhi to get treatment for acid attack. Both the sisters were denied basic treatment at their local hospital in Patna as they belong to lower section of society and the attack was caused by four men who did not want these girls to study. In front of the sessions bench who were hearing Malti’s petition on acid ban, Malti’s lawyers makes this comment by which she could convince the bench more strongly. Her comment goes like this, “studying the background of victims reveals that most of the attacks were on girls who wanted to study or make a career. And whenever a girl tried to have a better social status, she was punished for it” (chhapaak) This comment was totally relatable in Malti’s case as rejected Bashir khan and wanted to make her parents proud by winning in a reality show. The movie ends with another horrific acid attack which took place on 2013 upon a newly bride inside a parlour where she was getting ready and taking selfies and some records on yearly acid attacks are heard in the background.
In a country like India where patriarchal societies are prevailing, the acid attack perpetrators are mostly men and boys who does so because of the wrong perceived notions that women are some objects on which they have some ownership and control (Firkus). All the characters who were the victims of acid attack in the movie Chhapaak are poor victims of patriarchal brutality. Movie has made it clear that the perpetrators intention is to disfigure them rather than killing them (“Acid – Wikipedia”). according to patriarchal reasoning, women’s only asset in her life is her appearance and so by destroying her appearance, would hold back her from getting ahead of life with marriage, jobs and education and other opportunities (“Acid Attacks Are on The Rise and Toxic Masculinity Is the Cause”). The unconscious internalisation of the wrong perceptions that women are always and should be lower to men in every aspect and they are a ‘property’ of men, has led to the destruction of her life when it comes to respecting their right to have a personal freedom and choice (Rai). Chhapaak had made broad headlines as it brought the stark reality in front of the people that most of the acid attack occurrence are a result of rejection faced by men (News, and News). There are several claims that 6 out of 10 cases on acid attacks had occurred as a result of women rejecting romantic advances made by a man who is known to her as a relative or like a close family friend and mostly younger women are prone to be victims of such attacks age ranging from ten to nineteen (Rai).
Malti, the lead character in Chhapaak is a young, happy-go-lucky and vibrant girl though she is from a poor background in Delhi. But that never became a barrier to her future or for her aspirations. She had big dreams about her future in singing career and wanted to make her parents proud by winning first place in ‘Indian idol ‘an Indian Television reality show. So, after getting basic education she decides to dedicate much of her time to concentrate on her aim. Basheer khan, a thirty-year-old tailor who works at the neighbourhood of Malti, wanted to marry her. But as he finds out that Malti is in love with another boy and rejects all his love proposal messages which showed his desire to marry her, jealousy erupted out of him to destroy her physically and mentally by taking up the weapon of patriarchy which left her with scar and trauma forever (Shapland). We can represent him as a member of typical patriarchal society as he might have believed that ruining her face would ruin her entire life. Because for such a men , the only asset a women or a girl possess in her life is her beauty and scarring them would hold her back from all fortunes of life as Malti wanted to establish a career in music (“When Acid Attacks Become A Weapon Of Patriarchy | Letters”)
.Though Basheer khan’s motive behind the attack was rejection and unrequited love , by analysing deeply about the issue, what it really points out are of course about the larger problem of masculinity and patriarchy that are firmly and deeply attached to our social culture where a man gets a feeling about the need to ‘react’ when to get rejected or denied on whatever they expect they want from women (galimberti) .The inability to handle or cop up with results of the situation and the need for punishing someone as vengeance point towards the big fat patriarchal ego .And India’s social standards tolerate and perpetuate the patriarchal values and the sense of male privilege (“Taking The Aggression Out Of Masculinity”).
Women in several patriarchal societies are tolerating double oppression from men. First one would be for being born a girl and the second misery would be for being born in into the lower section of the society (“To End Women’s Oppression In India We Must Fight For Socialism!”). the patriarchal structures have thoroughly ensured that women access to resources, education and jobs have remained heavily unequal (“Economic Empowerment of Rural Women in India: An Exclusive Approach”). In the movie the two sisters from Patna who came to Delhi for acid attack treatment belonged to lower caste and the suffocating patriarchal shadows were hanged over their lives in the form of few upper-class men. Though the girls belonged to lower section, this never weakened them or chained their dreams of better future and were learning software engineering. Caste in most devastating form has led patriarchy to deepen its roots of oppression
(“In India, Caste-Based Oppression and Patriarchy Go Hand in Hand | Youth Ki
Awaaz”)
Genre-Biography, Drama
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Directed by-Meghna Gulzar
Chapter IV
Mein Kuch Bhi Kar Sakthi Hu.
The story starts when two families, one after the other comes to see Meeti, a girl about twelve or thirteen years for their sons. They scold Meeti for not knowing how to cook chapatis and curry at this age. Meeti pranks them with some tricks to somehow escape from the trap of marriage but all her efforts become useless as her father informs her that her marriage is fixed, and she will get married tonight. Despite of all efforts, Meeti gets married to an elderly person but after a few hours Meeti’s husband dies in an accident. Not only the society, but her own parents rejected her. They accused her of being a cursed girl for killing her own husband with her own fate. But Meeti kept her dreams and strength intact as she believed that her fate killed nobody, and it was her father who forced her to marry despite of her unwillingness even though she wanted to study and go ahead in her future. when her father asked her, “what would you become by studying? will you become the prime minister?” she says, “yes! I will become the prime minister”. Meeti is then taken care by a woman doctor, who takes Meeti along with her to her home to raise her just like her own sister, but her father says that “we are living in Pratappur and not in Mumbai like city and the mindset of people living here are different and above all the girl is a widow and belongs to lower section of the society.” but the women replies to it with her father’s own teaching that whether the caste is low or high it does not make a man or a woman less important or big or small. But still her mother tries to counter it by saying that philosophy is just limited to books and god has created a thing called society. But the woman reminds her mother by saying that society is not something that is made by god and it is made by us human beings. She convinces her family members by telling them that if she had not taken a decision to bring her home, condition of Meeti would have become much worse as her family members had labelled her ominous and threw her out of her home. she convinces her father to accept Meeti just like his own daughter and nurture Meeti the way he has nurtured her and help her in her education so that when she grows up nobody could put her down in the name of her caste. Finally, Meeti’s guardian angle’s father is convinced to accept her like his own daughter and to raise her with education and love. And finally, with the support of family, she attains much strength and will withstand anything in her life.
While the term patriarchy often refers to male domination generally, another interpretation sees it literally as “rule by father” (“Patriarchy – Wikipedia”). Some people believe that patriarchy does not simply refers to male power over women but the power dependent on age as well as gender as such by older men over women, children and younger men (“Patriarchy – Wikipedia”). This could be implied in this problem based short film as Meeti’s life, her decisions and her whole future is in the hands of her father, the only male member of her family.
Here we can say that the women status is affected by relations in the family, class status, and the ideology of the social group to which they belong to and this is inherited through historical institutions and culture. literally the “power of the father “is understood variously as ‘a symbolic male principle’ governing gender relations, an institutional structure of male dominance and an ideology based on the power of men (Development, Patriarchy, And Politics: Indian Women in The Political Process, 1947-1992). Meeti was considered as a burden to her family in some way or the other (“Girl Child Being Seen as A Burden in India: UN Report”). And her father wanted to get relieved from this burden by conducting her marriage as soon as possible by finding out a suitable boy for her so that he need not be further bothered about Meeti in any aspect, especially her expenses for education because he is a typical example of patriarchal narrow mindedness as he never believed in the value of education for a girl child or how important is education for a girl child for her independence in this society where boys are always considered to be the bread winners of the family (“3 Discriminatory Ways That Won’t Let A Girl Study The Way She Likes”). Girls after getting married will leave their natal home in India and therefore, as per patriarchal vision it implies that, there is not a point in educating her as there will not be any return to the family. this is reflected in the common saying in India,” Educating daughters are like planting seeds in a neighbour’s field “. Dyson and Moore (1983, p.44), in their study of kinship patterns in India suggest that, because girls are out-marriers, parents can expect little help from their daughters after marriage. but making investment in a girl child’s education is only a matter of leaking out to another.
The patriarchal kinship in India dictates that the family honour depends on the priority of descent which is ensured by curtailing her activities outside her home and marrying them off at a very young age (kishor,1993, p248). Here Meeti’s father too believes that his daughter is not meant to go outside, gain access to education as she will not be allowed make a living of her own with education, because according to his notions, her duty is to get married and serve her husband and her husband’s family (“Indialiving”). This is pretty much evident in his sayings ” What are you going to do after getting education? will you become the prime minister of India?” and parents with such notions finds benefits in investing in boys’ education only (“Importance of Girl Child Education in India”).
In case of almost all Indian widows in a patriarchal society, ‘normal human being’s life’ is not something that is even to be dreamt off and they become a victim of social stigma. Due to patriarchy, women are regarded as a secondary object and this gender hierarchy is examined in the family as well as in the society (Anji & Velumani, 2013), (“THE HINDU WIDOWS’ REMARRIAGE ACT
(1856) | The Lawyers & Jurists”). Conditioned from childhood to accept a totally man centred existence, there is an old saying in Hindi “Pati ho to ghar ho, pati nahin to ghar nahin”. which means that, for a woman her home is where her husband is, and women become a non-essential person to her family as well as the society when her husband dies. Be it in case of a women or in case of a small girl, the tortures are the same for everyone and she becomes like a debris and jetsam of
Indian society who are washed away to the shores of ashrams in the hope of dying
there and attaining moksha (salvation) else, she will have to remain like a trash in her home like somebody without any voice, who is destined to hear all sorts of hurtful and penetrating words from the side family and relatives. To be more precise, they are a subject to patriarchal customs, religious laws and widespread discrimination in inheritance of rights and their remarriage (Kapoor). Even if she is an under aged girl, remarriage is less common and are prohibited or restricted by local communities and cultural norms. Widows are often considered and perceived as “unlucky ” or “ill omen” to her husband and his family. This is usually based on some superstitious belief that her fate has killed him and as a result, they are subjected to various kinds of discrimination and even ostracism. Meeti lost her husband at the day of her marriage in a road accident, and she became a widow before reaching womanhood. Her father, who totally believes in superstition and myths about marriage blames Meeti for her husband’s death just after their marriage. This is much clearly visible in her father’s saying “We never thought you would prove to be cursed. It’s your fate that killed him”. A tender girl, who is to fly around happily like a colourful butterfly, wearing colourful dress is now under the shadow and trap of those white sari which is a symbol of a window in India. Meeti’s bangles too are bashed as per the Hindu ritual (Kapoor). When Meeti finally manages to breakout the shackles of society with courage and support of her doctor, whom she considers like her own sister, the miseries of her life do not completely come to an end. Meeti is to face dejection again as she belongs to lower caste section in the society. This humiliating and suffocating
patriarchal shadow are bound tightly in the life of Meeti in the form of caste throughout her life. In all the sections and caste, women are the victims of its cruelty, repressive and controlling effects and among all that, those belonging to backward caste are the one who are supposed to suffer its humiliations and burden the most than in any other caste (“Gender and Caste Discrimination: Apartheid In ‘New’ India By Graham Peebles”). They experience multiple level of discriminations and sufferings throughout their life. Caste refers to a traditional Hindu model of social stratification which defines people in India by descent and occupation (“Gender and Caste Discrimination in India”). Meeti’s family made their living through working in rice fields and her ancestors too made their living with the help of the rice field. So, for generations, they are doing similar kinds of works to make their living. All these reasons stand as an obstruction between
Meeti and her acceptance in her society. But still with all power and courage, Meeti manages to get break all the shackle of patriarchy with help of some broadminded people who have realised the value of a girl child’s life and how important is education for her in this male dominated society to stand with a raised head forever.
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Chapter V
Conclusion
India is a country with a history of gender inequality which has been spanning over hundreds and hundreds of years. It is a country where the customs as well as the cultural practises have still got a strong influence over the social as well as the personal life of the people and when compared to men, women suffer a lot more and it becomes difficult for them to come out of the so-called constructed boundary to empower themselves. when talking about the family structure that is existing in India, it holds a strong patriarchal character in its majority of the states. Both the girl and the boy get their identity from their family and once the girl is married off, she solely belongs like a property of her husband and to her husband’s family, whereas a male in the family is always recognised as the member of his own family. In many families her right to own the ancestral properties are dismissed.
In patriarchal India, the role or the position of a women is always reduced into a good wife, good daughter and good mothers. Wifehood and motherhood are the most accepted roles in patriarchal societies. And this is the reason behind which in many Indian families’ women are still not allowed to take up a profession which they wish to take up, that usually includes higher education and trainings. Many families believes that this may divert their concentrations from carrying out their household duties. This is not just the perception from the side of men towards women of their own families, but a general perception towards all
women, be it from urban areas or rural areas. The patriarchal mindset is inculcated in peoples mind for a very long time and unfortunately, it is persisting. This results in the belief that one gender is superior to the other and this is one of the main reasons for increase of venom into our society. It is extremely disheartening and disappointing that in a place where goddesses like Durga and Kali, the embodiment of power and valour are worshipped, women of such spiritual place are the victims of crime. she has power within herself but in many situations her voice is suppressed in one way or the other by brute patriarchal forces and her plight goes unheard. The concept of violence is in existence for long time and now it has become much more prevalent, and it is increasing day by day. Headlines of daily newspaper regularly disburse news about the latest brutal incidents upon women. violence against them encompasses in many forms. From the early time itself the condition of women has always been a matter of concern and a lot of theories were formed all with a common objective of curbing violence against women. The early condition of women in India during the Vedic period was a golden age of women in India as they lived a life of freedom and equality. They were empowered and thus participated in every aspects of their lives. But however, the condition became progressively worse from post Vedic period with the emergence of male dominated society and the threat to the security of women got increased. To talk about the present condition of women in India, the country is registered with thousands of varieties of inhuman crime against women.
As the objective of this research paper is about the discussion of three major violence against women in India (rape, acid attack and child marriage) among many with the portrayal of deep -rooted patriarchal notions or mindset as the primary cause of such violence, three works including a web series, Bollywood movie and an issue based short film (Delhi crime, Chhapaak, Mein Kuch Bhi Kar Sakthi Hu) are used to explain the objective. The works are divided into different chapters. In chapter 2, chapter 3 and in chapter 4, separate analysis are done based on each of the above-mentioned violence faced by women through the selected works. From each of the works, dialogues and situations are used to clearly show how deep-rooted patriarchal notions are still prevalent in our society, how it is causing heartless and barbarous violence upon women in our country and how do they become poor victims of such circumstances.
Chapter 2 Delhi Crime, The Web Series, discussed the heinous crime which took place at south Delhi on the night of 16th December 2012, in fact one of the most terrifying crime that the world has ever witnessed or heard, a crime that has ached every women’s heart in India and around world, a crime so deeply rooted in patriarchal notions. through “Delhi Crime”, a detailed and exact look is given into the crime which took place on South Delhi. Though the series is more into a glorification of the hectic investigation done by the Delhi police, the series had shown the real face of the crime through the long interrogation session with the prime accused Jai Singh, the character who portrayed one of the real accused. the vulgarity of the crime as well as the patriarchal notions that men has deep inside
them about women becomes clearly visible through the character of Jai Singh in
Delhi crime. when the accused said ” people had right to teach them a lesson “,
,”women should have to put up with it and her life had no value “, against Deepika, (Delhi crime), though they were just a part of plot , when we delve deep and think about such situations , the full issue starts with a society where a girl not as welcomed as a boy from birth ,sweets distributed at a birth of a boy and not of a girl child , a boy child nourished but not a girl child , a girl’s movement and her freedoms choices are curtailed , a woman considered as a domestic slave in her husband’s home. so, if a girl or a woman is accorded with no value, if they are considered worth less than a boy, then this stands out as a reason that there will be men who believes they can do what they like with a girl or with a woman.
In chapter 3 the focus is on the different life stories of different women within the movie to explain the brutal face of the crime that I have focused and about what kind of false notion about women are making men to commit such horrendous crime against them. through the story of Malti, who is the lead character of the movie, and then through the life stories of several other ambitious women, Chhapaak unfolds the dark reality of patriarchal notions that haunts the lives of women through the portrayed character of Basheer khan. through the story of two young girls from Bihar, who were cruelly attacked by a group of young men, it opens the real face of society and attitude onwards women who belongs to lower section of society but who aspire to achieve their dreams and stand in their own feet. Chapter 4: Mein Kuch Bhi Kar Sakthi Hu, took up the
problems faced by girl child in a country like India, especially in rural areas. the short film shows us how a girl about at the age of twelve or about thirteen had to suffer much more than that of any other ordinary girl at the same age who lives in a city. this problem based short film shows us how the patriarchal notions of young Meeti’s father makes himself cut the young wings of his own daughter who wanted to fly high towards all her dreams and aspiration.
In the time of Covid 19 pandemic, one would normally think that in such a situation when the entire country is under lockdown and streets are comparatively emptier, Rape, a particular gender-based violence against women would have shown signs of eradication. Unfortunately, the answer is NO. Every new morning brings up fresh reports of them which includes news about child marriage and several other violence against women in our country. The hopelessness of this situations makes several women around the country to ask this question at least inside their mind: If women are not safe from these kinds of violence even amidst a life-threatening pandemic, will they ever be?