Open Letter to Deepika and Her Bollywood Supporters

From the TI archives — an opinion piece by Rachana Nair, originally published September 2014, on a real controversy: Deepika Padukone's public Twitter rebuke of the Times of India for publishing cleavage photographs of her. Opinions are the author's.

If you weren't living under a rock, you read about Deepika Padukone's recent outburst on Twitter. She accused TOI of publishing photos of her cleavage and showing utter lack of respect for women, declaring that TOI does not know the first thing about women's empowerment. TOI's reply is best left out of this discussion — it simply confirmed their crassness, and they deserve every brickbat thrown their way. There is no debate on whether TOI was wrong; it has consistently stepped out of line by objectifying actresses and invading their personal space.

But when Deepika accused TOI of hurting women's empowerment, it rang a hollow, hypocritical bell.

TOI is not the only media guilty of presenting women as objects to be leered at. When Bollywood jumped on the bandwagon to congratulate Deepika on her courage, the hypocrisy was staggering. Bollywood — Deepika's own fraternity — is famously and profitably one of the worst perpetrators of the disrespect and disempowerment of women, on screen and off.

Media influences and is influenced by society's populist views — movies, television, tabloids, newspapers alike. Bollywood cannot pick and choose when to be indignant about the sexualization of women. When gratuitous "item" numbers show women in salacious clothing gyrating to suggestive lyrics, adding nothing to the story, does that serve women's empowerment? When a woman character willingly performs as a sex object for the consumption of male eyes, is that respecting real women?

Bollywood makes it seem like the item girl wants the attention, relishes the catcalls. Meanwhile the real dancers in bars, who risk their safety night after night for wages, would rather be in safe day jobs. The screen hides that reality behind a fantasy of women who love being leered at.

Consider the numbers: roughly 700 films a year in the Indian industry, and how few women-centric ones? The Lunchbox made its mark without pandering; Mary Kom showed a woman athlete's real plight. But they stand in disheartening isolation amid action heroes with arm candy. Does a woman in a Bollywood film exist only as sidekick, skin show, and tripe characters?

To be clear: Deepika is unarguably right that playing a character on screen never gives anyone permission to disrespect her in real life. That is non-debatable. But she is at the top of her game — she exercises choice in the roles she takes, the wardrobe she wears, the camera angles she approves. With choice comes the decision: sexually charge the character, or walk away and face the consequences.

And let's not confuse women's empowerment with the right to choose what you wear. Empowerment is about safety in society, access to healthcare and education, reproductive rights, financial independence, equitable pay, the freedom to choose non-sexualized work, freedom from harassment at work and home, and respect in every sphere — virtual or real.

This is not to say Deepika was wrong that TOI used her picture without consent. This is to say that consenting to be a sex object on screen does not empower women either. Until Bollywood makes the conscious decision to remove the superfluous, unnecessary sexual representation of women from its films, its indignation will ring hollow. If you wish to raise the women's empowerment card against TOI — live it in every sphere, professional and personal.

— Rachana Nair