​Searching for Her Space

Social conditioning leads individuals to assimilate several social constructs that reflect beliefs, faiths, customs, and rituals that are often discriminatory. This imposes subtle and blatant restrictions on women. Deviations are met with intolerance, and the invisible “eye” of society is invoked to silence the so-called transgressions of these “deviant” women, especially in intimate relationships. The enjoyment of structural entitlement predominantly rests with men, and women’s contributions are often portrayed as duties (relegated to the realm of the invisible, while those of men are always monetised and made visible through valuation).

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, Thappad (The Slap) is an acclaimed 2020 Hindi film, which portrays various shades of subtle violence against women. The plot revolves around the lives of a happily married couple, Vikram and Amrita. Vikram is an extremely ambitious corporate worker, and the rhythm of Amrita’s life revolves around him, from waking him up to handing him his office files and wallet, from taking care of his diabetic mother to running the household, all with a smile. Amrita’s efforts as enabling factors in Vikram’s success bring our attention to the debate on paid versus unpaid work. The lack of economic valuation of household and care work has treated women, irrespective of economic and social status, as inferior to their earning male counterparts. In the “arranged” marriage proposed by Amrita’s family (of a lower economic status than Vikram’s)—referred to and emphasised by Vikram in turbulent times—Amrita makes the “choice” of accepting and embracing the role of homemaker with pleasure, considering her contribution as equally important to that of Vikram’s. That Vikram neither shares these views nor values her contribution is reflected throughout the movie, highlighting the casual sexism and lack of substantiation of unpaid labour by women in the household.