Preity Keeps it Girly
Posted on 10 March 2008 by Halima Khatun
Saturday 8th March saw the world celebrate International Woman’s Day, a date earmarked to embrace our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends. In Delhi, many Bollywood stars congregated for the occasion. But whilst celebrating the female triumph over adversity, actress Preity Zinta somewhat unwittingly conformed to type.
Despite playing many strong female characters herself, Preity stated, ‘I don’t think it’s very womanly to be so tough that you start competing with men and start behaving like men’. Preity also stated that she’s not really a ‘bra burning kind of chick’.
The actress also stated that she would not like to be a man. Fair comment, but in a country where men are seen as the breadwinners, and women are considered burdens, it seems that actresses in Bollywood may also be afraid of stepping out of line, in fear of being seen as masculine.
Bollywood – a Man’s World?
Like many industries, Bollywood’s gender balance has always tipped in favour of the man. Men in general have a much higher market value, and it took the enigmatic Madhuri Dixit to match Shah Rukh Khan’s fee. Since Madhuri, no other actress has managed to challenge King Khan. Also, while the majority of actors are married, for an actress to tie the knot is effectively career-suicide. That’s perhaps why the likes of Madhuri, Ash and Raveena Tandon didn’t wed until they were into their thirties. It’s an unspoken truth that a married Bollywood actress could not be considered for the role of a single girl, whilst married actors in their forties and beyond such as Akshay Kumar and even Anil Kapoor can portray happy-go-lucky bachelors until they retire.
The difficulties of being a Woman
Preity acknowledged the difficulties of being a Bollywood actress herself – having to balance a career with family life, which is a balance for all women, the world over. It took women centuries to be given the basic rights we take for granted. From the suffragettes to the Spice Girls, women have strived to challenge the stereotypes set by their predecessors. However, judging by Preity’s comments, it might be a few more generations before the women of Bollywood can truly compete with men, without risking being labelled unfeminine.
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Tags : preity zinta
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April 14th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I disagree with this article. Preity has played strong female characters, yet those characters have always maintained their femininity, and her statements do not contradict the characters that she has played on screen as you suggested by writing “despite playing..”. Based on your article, you seem to have the viewpoint that one has to be almost tomboyish to compete with men, and it seems that you feel that women need to compete with men in the first place!! All Preity said was that she doesn’t think it’s womanly to be really tough and to start behaving like men. How does that “conform to a type” or prove that she’s afraid of stepping out of line? Being a feminist does not mean that you want to compete directly with men or be seen as a tough “bra burning” chick. In fact, I am proud of most Bollywood actresses for being true feminists. Take Celina Jaitley for example, she’s a woman who often portrays “sexy” characters on screen, and to be completely honest, most women would not view her to be a good role model. She was recently harassed by cricketers, and a female that considered herself subordinate to men would have kept quiet and took the abuse. She truly made women around the world proud by speaking out about the hurtful and derogatory comments. We, as women, should be proud of being bestowed with womanly traits, and we should not view those as being inferior to men, rather, just different from men. Women in Bollywood are constantly defying stereotypes, and just because they are retaining their femininity and are proud of it, does not mean that they are “afraid of stepping out of line”. For you to make such a baseless comment about the women of Bollywood is out of line, especially considering that you are using Preity Zinta as an example, the only woman who had the nerve to testify against gang members. Next time make your editorial comments about someone else.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I completely disagree with Sharin, I think this article is excellent and well written. This author is outstanding!
April 14th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Sorry, I meant agree with Sharin, this article has many flaws and the author seems to be rambling on about typical stereotypes without justifying anything in detail.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Great post Sharin, and agreed.
the article needed more depth i felt
April 17th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Again, whole heartedly agree with Sharin. Its a shame only a couple of paragraphs were dedicated to outline such an important issue, that needs to be understood and relayed to the many who stand ignorant about the role of asian women in society on the whole.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:20 am
I also agree with Sharin, I do not think that a female needs to change herself to compete with men. Women have been competing with men for years and are doing a great job by being ourselves and using our brains instead of our ?£$%^. I think Ash is one of the few women who is competing against the likes of King Khan, she isn’t just Bollywood, but Hollywood too, a model not just for clothes or as Miss India but is the face of many designer brands…. I think this article should have been proof read before adding to the site as per previous comments it’s not very good.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:26 pm
i wonder if thy wud do a film where the whole action concentrates on the woman saving a man?
where she has a machine gun & kills lots of people 2 complete her mission?
i doubt bollywood have the balls 2 do such a film……..