Beyond the Gender Binary in Bollywood

The problem with discussions of feminism in Bollywood is that they tend to argue that Bollywood is or isn’t feminist. My aim in this piece is therefore contentious: I’m going to suggest that Bollywood is neither feminist nor patriarchal but both.

Gangubai Kathiawadi | Bhansali Production

Feminism in Gangubai

Intersectional feminism in the Indian context

Indian familial structures

The dangers of applying a narrow frame of reference

Footnotes

  1. It is worth clarifying what I mean by Bollywood here, since the term is heavily contested and increasingly called into question. The definition I apply here is popular Hindi cinema produced by the Mumbai film industry (or Bombay, hence the B for Bollywood), ‘popular’ meaning significantly watched. Gangubai has featured in the top 10 most-watched movies list in 25 countries since its release on Netflix (and the top non-English film), Badhaai Do also making it to the global top 10 most viewed titles in March.
  2. I want to make clear here that I’m not suggesting that the challenges men face are equivalent to those of women in India. Rather, I want to pose that considerations of gender dynamics must take into account how other forms of hierarchy also shape the everyday lives of Indians.
  3. Feminism is not simply about the cause of womxn. I argue that LGBTQ+ storylines advance the feminist cause because they disrupt the gender binary and normativity that heterosexuality prevails upon.
  4. We see a similar support for the daughter in the film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga where the protagonist’s brother’s vehement homophobia is contrasted with the father’s defence of his daughter’s sexuality. The father-daughter dynamic is a common trope of films varying from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Yaadein to Dangal.
  5. Again, I want to stress here that the father doesn’t deserve reverence for accepting his daughter — indeed such behaviour should be normalised not valourised. But I make this point to reveal the fluidity of gender relations and how often it is the father rather than the mother who bears the most affection for the lead female in Bollywood films (while also holding the decision making power).

--

--

PhD candidate in Race, Podcasting and Social Media. Associate lecturer in sociology. Irritating know-it-all.

Get the Medium app

A button that says 'Download on the App Store', and if clicked it will lead you to the iOS App store
A button that says 'Get it on, Google Play', and if clicked it will lead you to the Google Play store
Nae Do

PhD candidate in Race, Podcasting and Social Media. Associate lecturer in sociology. Irritating know-it-all.