Objectifying Women with Her Consent: Acharya Prashant on Women Empowerment
Questioner: All the forms of multimedia, the film industry and advertisements, have presented images of both sexes that are very often unrealistic and debatable. The very quality of femininity has been portrayed in the film industry, ironically, as victimizing them, merely pretty faces, and sidekicks. Why do you think women are exploited by the film industry and advertisements? And in spite of the visible female objectification, why do women let it happen to them, and what is the role of multimedia in gender bias?
Acharya Prashant: We are talking about it as if it is a great mystery. There is a woman who agrees to be in the commercial advertisement for a men's safety razor. And there she is, half-nude and dancing and inviting men to buy that safety razor. Don't you know how that happens? Don't you know the dynamics involved? She is being paid some money, that's it. And that's all that Prakriti cares for food. You take care of my food, and I'll do whatever you want me to do.
We are saying that the media, including mainstream movies and commercial advertisements,right? We are saying, they insult women or that they degrade women. My approach always is, can anything happen to you without your consent? Is it really being done forcibly? No, it is not being done forcibly. If something is being done forcibly, why not fight it? What's the worst that can happen to you? You lose certain privileges. Extreme, you will lose your life. How is life in bondages worth living anyway? Please, tell me.
You look at a woman playing a very abominable role in a movie, let's say a Hindi movie. somebody coerce her? Was she made to dance at gunpoint? Somebody was holding a gun to her? No. It's an offer that she accepted, and that offer, the tendency to accept that offer, comes from mother nature. Don't you see how animals behave? Show them a little food, and they'll come after you. Is that not the case in the jungle, please? As long as we continue to be animals, we will continue to be susceptible to greed and fear and insecurity, and such things.
