Laura A., of Border Thinking on Migration, Trafficking and Commercial Sex, has an interesting post about this film (found here) that explores portrayals of sex workers in some Indian films:
See Laura’s post for some commentary.
Comments
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mags
How are these examples any different than how sex workers are portrayed in any other film? I just don’t see it.
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Su
mags – I think it’s interesting that the Bollywood portrayal ISN’T that much different from the Hollywood portrayal. Is that a reflection of Bollywood following Hollywood, or a deeper reflection of how prostitutes are viewed by Indian filmmakers/Indian society? What is it about sex work that leads to the dehumanization and simultaneous glamorization of the workers in works of fiction?
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Eneya
I can’t understand one thing.
Why the women take the so called shame, that they are sex workers?I mean… once before I had a discussion in which we tried to find the differences between prostitutuion and any other work.
1. You work because you need money. – correct for both sides.
2. You sell something you have. – the differences is that once you are selling your body, once – your mindwork.And so on…
The questions is… for how long this sexual stigmatisation of women sexuality will continue?
One of the greeatest insults to a woman is “whore”. Which in fact means… sex with multiple partners.
Trading sex for goods.
But… isn’t in that case every woman a “whore”, especialy the hosewives, who trade their housework for the money of the husband?I really do no understand that.
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Eneya
(I’m sorry for the multiple post, I pressed enter by accident)
Why sex is a insult for women but not for men?
Why men do not hold more responssible for visiting brothels or buying sex?I mean not the call girls are searching for men, but the opposite.
Every year lots of women are selled against their will.
They are the victims but in fact they are blamed and stigmatised from out society for even being victims??
This is a common reaction about women… if they are mugged, abused, raped…
Women are the constant responssible for everybody’s elces action, mistakes and behaviour.Their gratest desire is supposed to be haing children and a husband.
Or else… they are bitches or/and whores.
But… let’s look on the definition of a bith.It is a woman who acts like strong, not weak.
And it is unwomenly to be strong.
You can be strong only if you are manulapative (i’m not sure that this word is correct, i’m sorry) and passive. If she is straight with power and actions… she is no woman… and that’s an insult.Bla-bla-bla… and so on.
The strangest thing… women operating with their sexlife and choosing to use it – is a bad thing. Why? -
Titanis walleri
I don’t remember who originally said this, but it seems vaguely relevant in the light of a couple of the posts above me.
It finally dawned on me that the moniker “whore” contains the idea that the woman has no loyalty, as indeed an actual whore has no loyalty, since she’s all about the money. (and I’m not slamming that, to be clear. A lady’s got to put bacon in her skillet somehow.) That’s why she’s a whore when she refuses to sleep with him — he perceives her as being disloyal.
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Echo
Hmm….as someone who has actually watched many of the Bollywood movies that the documaker has taken the clips off of, I find it more interesting how they used only the negative stereotypes shown in Bollywood movies, not the positive:
1) For instance, many of the questions Eneya asked above are also asked in many Bollywood movies — ie. the responsibility (and lack thereof) for men, the stigmatization of these women in society, etc. etc.
2) Many Bollywood movies have the characters face a “change of heart” complete with fairy-tale endings (a la Pretty Women, although some of these movies came decades before PW did). The above film didn’t show that at all.
3) Bollywood movies that feature prostitution as a main theme, or at least a prostitute/call girl as a main character usually examine society’s hypocritical attitudes towards the sex trade, although admittedly, some do a more shallow analysis than others.
The fact that the above film chose to focus only on one aspect and not the other says more about the maker of the documentary than it does above Bollywood movies in general.
If you’re actually interested in the depiction of prostitution and prostitution in Bollywood movies, watch Pakeezah (1972), Umrao Jaan (1981), Adalat (1958), Lajja (2001), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), Vaastav (1999), Chandi Bar (2001), Devdas (2002), Chameli (2003), Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2007), Baaghi (1990), Traffic Signal (2007), etc. etc. etc. (Like any list of movies, some deal more with the subject than others).
Bottom Line: Don’t take one person’s POV as fact without checking it out for yourself
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Anonymous
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