Dear Vogue,
We are thrilled that you’re trying to do your part for empowering women, but if there’s one thing I have learnt, it’s that there’s nothing glamorous, nothing fancy, nothing glittery about women’s empowerment in India. The reality of our situation is far from what you are making it to be and your portrayal of women’s empowerment somehow only seems to be aimed at those women that are already empowered. It is shallow and superficial.
I don’t think you realise that empowerment is needed at the grassroots level and as much as I wish that empowering those who need it most was as easy as getting an A-list Bollywood actress to fling about her hair and chant about her body, you’ve only further confused our society. Don’t get me wrong, your video was beautifully shot, maybe a little over-edited (but that’s alright!) and all in all, it was great and very empowering (for a developed country) but do you honestly believe that it empowered anyone? Motivational, at best but empowering? I think not.
Look around you, there’s only despair. Do you think your video was relatable to the woman that’s beaten up by her husband on a daily basis? Do you think it empowered that illiterate woman who is repeatedly forced to abort her baby girl? Do you think that a rape victim could find solace in Deepika’s words? But most importantly, do you think your video successfully empowered the every-day Indian girl that suffers in silence?
Deepika preaching about “her choice” is applaud worthy, but you know what the sad reality is? That it is only people like Deepika that have that ‘choice’. When one chooses to run an enormous campaign (like yours), it normally has an aim, a vision, a message it wants to get across. Sadly, your campaign seems to be lacking that depth. When you first came up with this campaign I was dreading it, but I was also intrigued. I wanted to see what you would do with the great power that you held(in the ‘fashion’ industry) and when you launched your first video, I was stunned! It was brilliant, it had a message and it won the hearts of many.
People could relate to it, ordinary every-day Indians could find themselves learning from your video. It did so well that I saw it everywhere. It broke the Internet in its own way and every time my TV show would pause for a break, there it was again and I never found myself getting tired of it. You can’t get bored of something so powerful. You really did out-do yourself and no one saw it coming to be honest but your recent video? We saw it coming; we saw it coming when you first launched your campaign. It was the one thing we all dreaded.
Such videos would flourish and bloom in nations where women were already flowers. We are not that nation yet; we are not ready for this fashionable take on feminism because at the moment feminism is struggling to even survive in India, let alone bloom. My sincere plea to you would be to tone it down, step away from what you know best and if you claim to want to actually empower women then do that. Do your research, pick up ordinary women and ordinary stories of empowerment and highlight them. Use those stories, surprise us, shock us and drop your artistic approach to empowerment because it’s not empowering anyone. Create a work that speaks to people, work that women can actually relate to. Drop your star-studded campaign team and pick up everyday symbols of strength and make them your stars.
This country has worked very hard to reach where it is, where women’s empowerment is concerned. We have seen pain, misery and obstacles, but we have also seen hope. Pick up on that hope, let it inspire you and I’m sure we will witness greatness from you. Not just generic greatness, but the type of greatness that with the watch of video changes a woman forever.
Thank you for your efforts, more power to you.
