This document provides an overview of feminist criticism and the portrayal of women in Indian English literature and Bollywood films. It discusses early feminist works by authors like Mary Wollstonecraft and Margaret Fuller. It then summarizes the contributions of several pioneering Indian women writers. The document also examines how Bollywood has historically portrayed women in restrictive roles but is making progress in the modern era toward more multidimensional female characters, though gender inequality issues remain.

1. Batch 2021-2023
Code 20409 Paper no.204
Contemporary Western Theory and Film
Studies
Department of English
Vachchhalata Joshi
Vachchhalatajoshi.14@gmial.com
Roll no.20
Topic: Feminist Criticism

2. Quick Insight of
Today’s Presentation
Feminist Criticism
Indian English Literature
Freedom From Violence
How Bollywood Portrays Woman

3. Rise of
FEMINISM
Its Distinctive and Concerted approach to Literature.
It Took two Centuries of Struggle for recognition of
women’s role and achievements.
Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of
Women.
Margaret fuller’s Woman in 19th Century.
One of most important precursor of Feminist Criticism
“Virginia Woolf.”
Her Fiction “A Room of ones own.”

4. Here is little insight into
Indian Women Writers and
their contribution to the
literature
1) Pandita Ramabai Saraswati
(1858-1922)
2) Krupa Sattinandan (1862-
1894)
3) Cornelia Sorabji( 1866-
1954)
4) Sarojini Naidu(1879-1949)
5) Rokeya Hossain(1880-
1932)

5. •WHO AM I – AND WHOM DO
I WANT TO BE?
•

6. Freedom From Violence

7. What Society expects from a women?
Imagine meeting a stranger for the first time that’s enough for you to get married to
him? Like we should spend a lifetime with a person after a ten-minute meeting?
Getting married to a stranger is okay
but dating is not?
What if he is an alcoholic? What if he won’t treat me right? What if he is utterly
misogynistic? While nothing is under your control even when it’s such a big decision in
your life, seems scary, right? This is the marriage scenario that most women in India
face just for the sake of their parent’s happiness and reputation in the so-called society.
Our society considers dating a bigger crime than women being forced into unwanted
marriages, so why can’t we let women decide for themselves

8. Female leads in Bollywood
In its almost 70-decade-long history, Bollywood has seen
the female lead take on many forms, from the sacrificing
mother, and whimpering damsel in distress, to a woman in
charge of her own destiny.
The beginning of the ‘Golden Era' of cinema is considered
to be a more idealistic portrayal of society.
One standout movie of the era, Mother India (1957),
captures the essence of the identity of female characters of
this period—the idea of women being celebrated as the
nation's pillar of strength—a thought that's perfectly
represented in the iconic movie poster that shows Nargis
lugging a heavy wooden plow.

9. 70s and 80s women in Bollywood
The uncertainty of the times was perhaps manifested through the way women were
portrayed onscreen, celebrating her as a more traditional mother figure. Two movies
that perfectly exemplify this theory are Jai Santoshi Maa (1975), and Hema Malini-
starrer Seeta Aur Geeta (1972).
In both the movies, the ‘good' female character was shown as a timid, oppressed
woman who suffered the mental, and often physical, torture from her family
members without a word. Their silence in the face of that much pain was heralded as
a virtue that all women must have.

10. 90s Bollywood and Women
The female lead became a one-
dimensional character whose entire
existence in the narrative of the
story was to be at the mercy of the
bad guy first, and then her
brother/boyfriend/husband, who will
valiantly come and save her. This is
not to say that there weren't films
that defied the norm, for
instance, Sridevi in Sadma (1983)
and Chandni (1989).

11. 20s Bollywood leading
women

12. Gender inequality issue in
Bollywood
There's an inclusion of subjects that have previously been unexplored
by mainstream cinema, like female sexuality in Margarita, With A
Straw, and Lipstick Under My Burkha, for instance.
All this is not to say that today is the Golden Era for women in
cinema. This decade has seen the propagation of an unrealistic body
standard, especially for women. It was no longer acceptable to just be
a woman existing in a movie's universe. The character should have a
physique that would look good in a bikini, no matter her profession.
One look at the many action blockbusters from recent years will rid
you of any notion that we have finally eliminated the gender
inequality issue in Bollywood. Interchangeable female leads in
inconsequential roles seem to be a theme in a majority of hit movies.

13. Works Cited
Abrams, M.H., and Geoffrey Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Cengage
Learning, 2015.
Hasan, Tazeen, et al. Voice and Agency: Empowering Women and Girls for Shared
Prosperity. World Bank Publications, 2014.
Lalita, Ke, and Susie J. Tharu, editors. Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the early
twentieth century. Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1991.
Mubarak, Salva. "How leading roles for women in Bollywood have evolved over the
years." Vogue, 15 Mar. 2019.
Sharma, Anshika. “Getting married to a stranger is okay but dating is not?”
SheThePeople, 5 October 2022,