INDECENT REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

Decency varies from place to place, person to person. With society progressing and the lifestyle of people changing, the meaning of decency kept changing and the degree of morality and decency also took a new turn. Manu Smriti directs that the most elevated regard and respect must be expanded and full protection ought to be given to women all through their life. Women have been outlined in the most virtuous and aesthetic way from one viewpoint and on the other, they have additionally been survivors of lewd, indecent, and vulgar depiction. This contrast is hard to balance in a society where women are treated as ‘commodities or goods’ to promote sales. In the traditional society exposure of women through advertising, painting, publications, or otherwise was not accepted but today it has become a fashion. In ongoing time media has risen as a significant exploiter of women as they are compromising with dignity and decency of women in order to achieve their profitable targets and create a brand image.

The 21st century is known as the age of information and scientific development where the whole scenario of the status of women in society has drastically changed yet women are used as objects and portrayed unethically. In the present era, women, instead of being portrayed as sex objects or glam dolls should be projected in a proactive and empowered manner, which can have maximum impact on society and bring about an attitudinal/ behavioral change among people towards women. Even after enacting various laws to secure equal rights of women and curb obscenity such as Sections 292, 293 and 294 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 there is the continued practice of derogatory representation of women in advertisements, writing, publication etc. which shows the ineffectiveness of such laws. Such disgraceful portrayal of women leads to worsening social fabric in the form of even greater crime and abuse against women. To curb the growing incidences and tendency of depicting women in an obscene and derogatory manner that view women as sexual objects or commodities for man’s pleasure, it is of utmost importance to call for a debate on the need for effective laws against such acts and also proper implementation of existing legal provisions. Instead of glorifying women for their sexual orientation, they should be projected in a proactive and empowered manner, which can have the maximum impact on society and bring about attitudinal and behavioural change among people towards women.

“What is demanded is not a charity nor grace nor legal aid to the weaker sex. The claim is the woman’s right to be oneself, not a doll to please, nor an inmate of the workhouse. She has the human right to be a woman. The personality of one’s sister cannot be wrapped to suit the masculine ethos nor shaped to confer pseudo-freedom keeping subordination as an unwritten code of the suppressed tribe”

WOMEN HAVE THE INHERENT RIGHT TO DIGNITY

The word ‘dignity’ comes from the Latin word ‘dignitas’, which means ‘status’. In Roman literature, it indicates that honour and respect should be given to those who are deserving of it. It is also linked to one’s social status, reputation, and unique rights, but dignity is a virtue that cannot be compared to anything else in terms of its worth. Human beings are special and different. According to German philosopher Kant, because they have an innate worth termed ‘dignity’, which is what distinguishes them from the rest and makes them valuable, non-quantifiable and distinct from animals.

Dignity is both a constitutional right and a state granted privilege. The judicial and legal systems are inextricably linked to dignity and dignity cannot be preserved without legal support. As a result, it is critical that regulations be imposed and constructed with the help of the legal system in such a way that dignity is preserved. Law and dignity must coexist and cannot be separated from one another. All states have a responsibility to respect and safeguard all citizens and their dignity. However, the meaning and definition of dignity evolve with the passage of time, and it is important to revisit concepts as they arise. Conflicts arise in the implementation of the term dignity and numerous constitutional rights due to the lack of a clear definition of the term.

Women’s dignity is most often compromised in advertisements, books, magazines, pamphlets, films, drawings etc. when regulations are not strictly enforced and when society is ruled by patriarchy. Human dignity is a natural, inherent and intrinsic part of life. It is a basic requirement for every human being to live a meaningful existence and for women in particular, it is a much more sensitive topic because they are subjected to not only physical but also emotional pressure. Thus, it is essential to remember that dignity is a universal idea that doesn’t discriminate between male and females. Women should be considered as ends rather than means to an advertiser’s economic end and they should be free to live and choose their own lives.

MEANING OF INDECENT REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

Women’s objectification, also known as sexual objectification, is the practise of viewing and treating a person as an object, or the cultural construction of women’s bodies. Objectification is a prerogative term that refers to a method of saying, thinking, and doing that the speaker finds ethically or socially wrong, usually but not always in the context of sexuality. To be clear, the term objectification refers to the act of treating or viewing a person as an object and when sexuality is involved, it is referred to as sexual objectification. In simple words, sexual objectification entails women being subordinated to men’s sexual desires. They need to become eroticized. Both men and women alike consider that women subordinated sexually are perceived as what is erotic about them.

The issue arises when every civilised society protests and adamantly insists on conceiving the individual as a moral actor, as a human subject distinct from the world of objects, yet our society simultaneously tends to commodify or objectify. The society is advancing by leaps and bounds to display obscenity through unfair and nasty representation of women by a variety of techniques, which encourages unlawful corruption and immorality in society. Objectification must be combated with a stricter mindset in order to protect women’s bodily, social, and mental well-being. Many philosophers and reformers have been pricked by the portrayal of women as objects and the manner in which they are dehumanised. Objectification, according to Bartky and Bordo, begins with a woman’s appearance. Others, such as Evangelia Papadki, Catherine C. Mackinnon, and Andrea Dworkin, discuss patriarchy and its inherent purpose of treating women as a commodity. Dressing has been linked to the negativity of women’s objectification and dress experts such as Lennon have emphasised this negative relationship. Margaret Jane Radin states quite clearly in this regard that mankind is both, pretty decent proof against commodification (objectification) and pretty well commodified (objectified).