Women empowerment and feminism are some issues that have since good old days been very successful in arousing a good degree of interest among people, especially in a country with a patriarchal setup. No wonder we see fashion magazines, celebrities, Page 3 want to-be celebs and all those who are not even remotely interested in doing anything for such issues at ground level, create and market their campaigns around such sensational themes. A recent point in case is the #My Choice video starring Deepika Padukone released jointly by Homi Adajania and Vogue India. It has garnered great deal of attention in a short span of time and now everyone, who has even the slightest measure of presence on any of the social media platforms, seems to hold some opinion about it and why not everyone have their choice to express their views. So even I would like to avail this choice of penning down my thoughts on the video here.
The campaign makes me wonder as to why a glossy magazine is suddenly interested in reminding Indian women about their “freedom of making choices”. How can it make women feel empowered when most of the ideas it wants to convey are highly erroneous and off-putting? In the name of empowering women and liberating caged mindsets, the video actually comes across as superficial, male bashing piece that does more harm than good to the cause of spreading consciousness about the right of women to make their own choices in the greater public domains, including social, economic and political spheres. It seems funny, ironic and also a little lame when a magazine which is mostly popular only in urban circles and endorses only a certain class of people, talks of “women empowerment”. What about women in towns and villages - do they not have the right to have their set of choices? Or is that the magazine thinks that women empowerment is a prerogative of elite sections of women.
What irks me the most about this video is the misconceptions about women empowerment that it tries to reinforce in the name of celebration of womanhood. When did adultery become a tool of empowerment? Does making choices in a marriage by women alone really the idea of feminism? Is it not that the choice of both husband and wife crucial to making marriage successful? If a woman has the choice to do what she pleases- even have sex outside of marriage and come home when she pleases, as Ms Padukone puts it, then it is expected that even a man’s choice of indulging in infidelity shall not be questioned. He too has the right to do what he pleases and his choices too call for equal measure of respect. Feminism is not about defying the socially acceptable norms but it is about breaking even and about equal opportunities and treatments being meted out to both the sexes.
Since when did feminism emerge as an idea that completely pulls down the men, claiming that it is liberation of women when she can do whatever she wishes without actually extending an equal right to men? If empowerment meant always doing what one feels is right then the world by now would have become a lawless jungle. There is a distinct line between choice and freedom. Absolute choice can have absolute repercussions. If it is absolute choice that we cry for then we should also be ready to face anarchism.
Choosing a messenger like Deepika Padukone to convey notions that Vogue India feels can empower women also makes the video fluffy with no real substance. There is nothing wrong in using celebrities to spread out the messages on women empowerment as famous people can often make people take notice. But branding feminism in a slick glamorous way, just like Vogue cover models, only defeats the greater purpose of emancipating women. How can the audience expected to take a Bollywood actress, like Ms Padukone, seriously in her women empowering video when she herself has made choices in the past that projects women as a sex object. Who can forget her sexy dance moves in Lovely song or Dum Maro dum. How can we go by the fancy but absurd dialogues she parrots about women empowerment in the video when she herself promotes the “cliched opinions” about women through her endorsements for slimming eatables and fairness creams?
Sorry Homi, Vogue and Deepika but definitely showing a celebrity hooking her bra strap while mumbling some stupid lines about girl power ( blah..blah…) will not do any good to the cause of uplifting women in India. There is more to feminism than just showing fleeting images of women celebs with tousled hair and appealing collarbones speaking of their personal choices rather than serious issues that women have to confront daily.
Each one of us have a choice but just exercising our choice is not enough.With choice also comes responsibilities and we can be socially acceptable only as long as we keep in mind that our choices are not in conflict with the greater interest of the society.
