Susannah Alexander

IMPACT OF INDIAN MEDIA ON SEXUAL ASSAULT RATES Authors: Susannah Alexander Shruti Anantharaman Srilaxmi HP Jothi Sivaramaganesh Kamale S T Under the guidance of Dr. Mekhala Venkatesh Jain (Deemed-to-be University) Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. CHAPTER I 1.1. Abstract 1.2. Introduction 1.3. Background 1.4. Methodology 1.5. Review of Literature 2. CHAPTER II 2.1. Song Analysis 3. CHAPTER III 3.1. Movie Analysis 4. CHAPTER IV 4.1. Questionnaire Analysis 5. CHAPTER V 5.1. Pornography Analyisis 6. CHAPTER VI 6.1. Discussion 6.2. Limitations 6.3. Practical Implications 6.4. Conclusion 7. WORKS CITED 8. APPENDIX Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 3 CHAPTER I Abstract According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in 2019, nearly 88 women are raped every day. The rates of crimes committed against women have increased from 58.8% in 2018 to 62.4% in 2019. The paper attempts to map the evolving trends in Bollywood, or popular Indian media, regarding topics related to sexuality and sensuality over the years. The theory of scopophilia given by Laura Mulvey(1975) has been considered as a driving factor for sexually deviant media-motivated behaviors as well as the cause for the proliferation of offensive content today. The central question that this paper assesses is if popular Indian media and Bollywood is a causative factor to the rising sexual assault rates and deviant behavior. While multiple reasons have been questioned as the root cause for the blatant increase in the rates of crimes against women over the years, the media and environment in which the perpetrators grow are rarely brought up. While reasons such as poverty and psychological state of mind have been attributed, the environment provided by cultural influences such as movies is rarely mentioned. The number of item songs collected in the existing studies is relatively smaller and there are very few studies that produce both a lyrical and visual analysis of item songs separately. There are also very few studies that map songs across a 50-year timeline and correlate it to corresponding rates of sex crimes. The influence of pornography on sexual assault in the Indian context as well as the impact of the porn block on the rates of sex crimes in India have not yet been studied. Additionally, a study that performs a combined analysis of Bollywood cinema, songs, and pornography on the rising rates of reported sex offenses has not yet been conducted. The paper uses thematic analysis in order to scrutinize various popular item songs, movies, and media and categorize them into various themes to analyze the messages they are perpetuating. Furthermore, we correlated the changing trends in item songs to rising sexual assault cases across a timeline. Assessment of various item songs and other sexually-driven media shows that messages perpetuated in such content have a lasting impact on the behaviors of its consumers. Due to the popularity of such narratives, consumers are unable to appropriately differentiate between reality and fiction, and often impersonate such deviant behavior in real life. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 4 Introduction This research was formulated with the primary intention of understanding the links between Indian media and sexual assault rates. Every year, over 30,000 cases of rape are reported. The average increase in rape across a 19-year timeline -) is approximately 2146.9 incidences. Even though the inclining case rate corresponds with the frequent headlines about sexual brutalities committed against women, there are innumerable cases that are unreported. In cases of surviving rape victims, rather than gaining justice against their rapists, they are often shamed for having suffered in the first place. The severe social stigmatization surrounding a rape victim in India is a large reason for the number of unreported cases. The system which is supposed to make their justice easier gives them a tough time for having suffered the experience of sexual assault. There have been multiple incidents where the rape victim is shamed by her family for being raped and is often forced to marry their rapist. Furthermore, when they attempt to report the case in a police station, they are met with hostile conditions wherein the police officers doubt the validity of their claim. Rape and sexual assault are both serious threats and problems faced by women in India on a daily basis. The desensitization of this problem has led to a very blasé attitude regarding the harassment women face regularly. In a society where topics and incidents like this are normalized, we must question how an environment is created where a culture of rape and victim-blaming thrives. The main source of imagery of such kind is mainstream Bollywood movies, which feature raunchy item songs with scantily clad actresses and scenes portraying severe objectification of women. The treatment of women in such movies sets a precedent to be followed by the public in real life. They are unable to set a boundary between the movie screen and real life, and often attempt to emulate the heinous actions committed on screen. The lack of access to sex education in India, further signifies the role these content play in their understanding of sex. This is especially noticed in the Australian criminal case where an Indian security guard avoided a conviction in multiple stalking cases after he blamed his behavior on Bollywood movies where stalking is a valid form for the main character to woo the female character. Hence, it would be significant to map the nature of these movies across a timeline that marks a steady increase in sexual assault rates. The main focus of this research is to understand the possible impact that Indian media has on the Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 5 collective psyche of Indian males and a world view that tends to perpetuate the harmful stereotypes against as well as the hypersexualization of women. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 6 Background Biopsychosocial Model Complicated issues like rape and sexual assault are often attributed to one cause, whereas they are often the result of a multitude of factors that all come into play. While nature versus nurture is an argument that’s often used to justify such issues, more apt reasoning can be given to the biopsychosocial model which brings in three-fold reasons for any behavior- biological predisposition, psychological state of mind, and the social environment. In relation to maladaptive behaviors such as rape and sexual assault, such behavior can be attributed to the biological predisposition to such behaviors caused by either faulty genes or inherited biological deficits. A psychological state of mind can cause such behavior due to the learning of faulty behaviors that deviate from the normality of sexual behavior. Lastly, the factor that plays a heavy role is the social environment which refers to the prevalent attitudes which the person is surrounded by. Any behavior can be attributed to a combination of the above three factors. While various studies have tried to prove the link between media and sexual assault, it cannot be refuted that the environment and culture within which one is brought up significantly shapes the personality of the individual. History of Bollywood Bollywood is one of the largest film industries in the world, after Hollywood, with a gross box office realization of $2.1 billion as of 2016, as per the Deloitte Indywood Report. The industry produces between 1500 and 2000 films per year in over 20 languages, out of which Hindi mainstream films account for 43% of the box office revenue. Art reflects life and society, and as such, Bollywood films are a reflection of the values and views prevalent in society at the time. As Javed Akhtar, the famous screenplay writer and lyricist said, ‘The films certainly do reflect what is happening in society. But they reflect the desires, the hopes, the values, and traditions. They are not a direct reflection but the dreams of a society.’ This holds true throughout the various periods of history through which the Indian film industry has evolved. Different eras of Bollywood reflect the dreams and hopes of each generation. The Golden Era of Bollywood, between the 1940s and the 1960s, was an era of various critically acclaimed films such as Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), and Mother India (1957). Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 7 Post-independence movies centered around a down-on-his-luck protagonist, representative of the common man, who would face many troubles in his life. Eventually, his luck would improve and he would have a better life but would end up wavering from his path of righteousness due to greed. However, he would realize his mistakes and become a good person in a just manner. Movies from the 50s were characterized by newfound optimism due to the recent Independence. Meanwhile, the 60s were characterized by a heavy interest in romance and flirtatious scenes with the love interest. The Western hippie movement had its effect in Hindi movies like Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971). The 1970s films revolved around the rising worker, peasant, and student unrest. Due to changing political climate, films addressed more controversial topics like endemic corruption and the state’s inability to stem it. The era featured actors like Amitabh Bachchan in the role of an “angry young man”, a working-class anti-hero. Films like Deewar (1975) and Sholay (1975), which were released during the Emergency period, were indicative of the brewing civil unrest among the people. The movies of the late 1980s and 90s featured culture wars between an often Westernized, young couple and their tradition-bound parents. Movies like ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ (1995) and ‘Hum Aapke Hai Kaun’ (1994) highlighted the conflict of youngsters, between individualism and a duty towards the family and community. At the same time, views were moving away from Nehruvian socialism at the end of the Cold War. Alongside the romantic movies, films about the underworld were cropping up. Gangster movies like Satya (1998) and Company (2002) brought light to a decaying public sphere and the blatant infiltration of 'black money' finance and extortion into the film industry, bringing about the Mumbai Noir genre. By the late 2000s, the Bollywood classic masalas were prevalent, made especially popular by item songs like Munni Badnam in ‘Dabangg’ (2010) and Sheela ki Jawaani in Tees Maar Khan (2010). The late 2010s saw more 'controversial' movies as the target audience were largely globalized adolescents who had grown up in the age of the Internet. They sought to be liberated from traditional portrayals in masala Bollywood films. Their more liberal ideas were often frowned upon and largely not depicted. This sparked a movement of more 'liberal-oriented movies such as Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 8 ‘Veere di Wedding’ (2018) and Pink (2016). These movies ranged from light-hearted millennial movies to more serious movies about social issues like rape and acid attacks. Sex Education Sex education refers to instruction in a variety of broad topics surrounding sex and sexuality, including topics such as physical human development, sexual behavior and health, managing relationships, personal skills, and society and culture. Sex education helps promote good sexual health, which is a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality, and not merely the absence of disease. Comprehensive sex education is extremely necessary for adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19. In the Indian context, more emphasis is placed on teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS in lieu of formal sex education. The dearth of such knowledge in mainstream education leads to an incomplete understanding of bodily functions such as sex and menstruation as well as topics like sexuality and sexual touch. The need for sex education in schools is especially highlighted when statistics show that adolescents comprise 18% of India’s population. At this age, adolescents are more curious and more likely to experiment in terms of sexual activity and sexuality. Therefore, it is essential for them to have the necessary information in order for them to engage in healthy sexual behaviors. Sexual Assault in India The issues concerning sexual assaults against women are happening around the world. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) gathers statistics and data on crimes and violations. These are particularly those on sexual violence. Studies and researches have tracked down that reported crime percentages and actual crime percentages could have a negative connection, because of different issues like schooling, lawful framework, etc. Taking into account, the vast number of rape cases that are not reported in India. On average, 88 rapes take place every day in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2019. The NCRB data reveal the rate of crimes against women increased from 58.8 in 2018 to 62.4 in 2019. One of the basic reasons why crimes and criminals don't get rebuffed is because of poor police investigation and resources. Reasons like hostility of witnesses and complainants and the familial Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 9 tension on the victim additionally play a role. The NCRB also figured in many cases victims don't approach the police complaining about the sexual violence. Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. A sum of 4,05,861 instances of sexual violence against women was enrolled during 2019, showing an increase of 7.3% more than in 2018. As per the horrifying statistics of NCRB, 'Every 16 minutes, a woman is raped somewhere in India, and every four minutes, a woman experiences cruelty at the hands of her in-laws. In 2019, the country had recorded 88 rape cases every day. Of the total 32,033 reported rape cases in the year, 11% were from the Dalit community'. While sexual violations against women have been on the rise, the severe gang rape of Nirbhaya in 2012 shook the country's cognizance like no other. It provoked policymakers to make alterations to criminal law and come up with tough punishments in assault and rape cases. The crime started large protests and drove a huge number of women across India to end their silence over sexual viciousness that regularly goes unreported. Authorities came up with punishments and penalties against sex crimes, presented fast-track trials in rape cases, and made stalking a crime. In January 2018 an 8-year-old Muslim girl was tranquilized, held hostage in a temple, and sexually assaulted for seven days prior to being choked and battered to death with a stone in Kathua town in northern India. Six men, including a Hindu priest and three cops, were convicted of the crime. Three were given life sentences. While citizens came out on the streets to fight and protest the rape of a 23-year-old woman named Nirbhaya who was assaulted on a bus in New Delhi, India, a 15-year-old Dalit, or former 'untouchable' young girl was being held hostage in Dharauli town in Sultanpur area of Uttar Pradesh and was over and over assaulted by a gathering of high society culprits. While a large number of individuals accumulated on the streets to rebel against the individuals who assaulted and murdered Nirbhaya, this little Dalit young girl had nobody to try and report her case. A 16-year-old in Sonepat, Haryana attempted to end her life by setting herself ablaze in the wake of being assaulted by her uncle. An 8-year-old young girl was discovered coasting in a lake in Bihar in the wake of being assaulted and executed. Ninety percent of the rape cases in India go unreported. Of every 10 women assaulted in India, nine are reluctant to oppose their culprits or don't approach the online media said, Jasmine Bala. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 10 For every reported rape case, says ‘No Nation for Women’, dozens of others go unreported because of fear and shame. 'Rape is the only crime in India for which the victim is blamed and everyone – right from the family, friends, to the police – views the victim with doubt, Dubey writes. Scopophilia Scopophilia refers to the sexual pleasure derived from looking. The concept was originally proposed by Sigmund Freud in his ‘Three Essays on Sexuality’. In it, he proposed that the scopic drive is an element of sexuality that exists independent of the erotogenic zones. It exists as a form of sexual objectification wherein people are considered to be objects and are subjected to a sexually curious gaze. Freud likened it to the curiosity of a child to view others’ privacy (genitals). Children’s voyeuristic curiosity stems from a need to understand primal or genital differences between people. In fixated adults, the sense of sexual satisfaction can only come from a controlled sense of objectification. This creates the phenomena of ‘Peeping Toms’, wherein sexuality is based on treating people as objects, with or without their knowledge. Freud points the etiology of this drive from the foundations of phallocentrism, rooted in a castrated female. This lack justifies a power imbalance that paves way for dominant narratives to be determined and imposed by the patriarchal maker of meaning. Laura Mulvey uses scopophilia through the feminist film theory of ‘male gaze’ in her 1975 essay ‘Visual Please and Narrative Cinema’. Mulvey hypothesizes that the male gaze involves sexual politics of the method of viewing and is a sexualized way of looking that empowers men to treat women as sexual objects only. Due to the male gaze, the woman has the sole responsibility of being an object of heterosexual male desire. Her needs, feelings, and thoughts are considered to be of lesser importance compared to her status as a male’s sexual object. She is expected to cast aside her sexual desires in favor of the man’s desires. Mulvey argues that mainstream Hollywood films are a response to male scopophilia, wherein sexual drives are sated due to their viewership of women solely as sexual objects. Visual media is filmed in such a way that the designations of ‘object-to-be-looked-at’ and ‘bearer-of-the-sexual-gaze’ cannot be subverted. Filming techniques force the ordinary viewer to secondarily view the narrative from the gaze of a heterosexual man. Environmental conditions of Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 11 the auditorium are key determinants of the psychological channelizations of the audience. Theatrical light emitted from the screen counteracting the darkness of the auditorium instills a sense of voyeuristic separation in the audience, allowing them to uncover repressed exhibitionistic fantasies on the oblivious characters in the movie in an isolated and withdrawn manner. The male gaze can be recognized through the role a woman plays in the film. Rather than characters and people unto themselves, female characters are often a representation of what the male protagonist wants. She poses as nothing but the motivation for the protagonist’s actions and drives the plot indirectly by influencing the significant decisions made solely by the man. While there are many counterclaims that men too are objectified in various films, there is no power imbalance designed to make men sexual objects. The male gaze aims to support the patriarchal status quo, to undermine the existence of women as anything more than sexual objects. Women-centric films are, instead, more subversive of existing systems. They portray the experiences that are often underrepresented. The film censorship boards tend to perceive female-centric sexual experiences as more graphic thereby reinforcing an imbalance of power in both sexes through narratives. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 12 Methodology The methodology of the research project varied based on the type of data collected. The intention behind the methodology was to observe the influence of the social learning theory and scopophilia on the prevalent attitudes of people and the rising sexual assault rates. The research project utilized both quantitative and qualitative data, which were sourced through both firsthand and secondary sources. The project studies popular Bollywood movies and songs, pornography, and a questionnaire was circulated to understand whether they are indicative of having a vast influence on the viewer’s attitudes and behavior. We analyzed 25 songs, 15 movies, and we have 40 respondents for the questionnaire. The songs and movies were analyzed qualitatively, through thematic analysis, and quantitatively, through viewership rates, and then correlated with the timeline of sexual assault rates over a 50 year period. Bollywood songs were sampled from YouTube based on 12 main themes. ● Outright objectification and exotification ● Negative views about women ● Devaluing consent ● Discrimination based on body ● Age gap ● Unhealthy codependency ● No contribution to the plot ● Sexualization ● Promotion of alcohol and drug abuse ● Associating aggression with masculinity ● Women coercing men ● Marginalization of female pleasure These themes were further divided into several sub-themes based on the content viewed, wherever applicable. Since there was sufficient awareness about the time and manpower constraints, care was taken to ensure that too many songs from the same themes were chosen. After the thematic analysis, the songs’ viewership rates- views, likes, and dislikes on YouTube were charted, in order to assess the popularity of the songs. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 13 Similarly, Indian movies were divided into several categories pertaining to the perpetuation of harassment and sexual assault. ● Sexually explicit ● Negative stereotypes against women ● Violent revenge-motivated plots ● Toxic masculinity ● Inappropriate response to sexual assault ● Unhealthy ways of expressing romance Based on the movies that fit into the above themes, they were further categorized into several sub-themes wherever required. After the thematic analysis, the popularity and success of the movies were assessed based on the box office collections. A survey with both objective and subjective questions was circulated using the survey tool, Survey Tandem. The questions aimed to understand the respondents’ viewership of popular Indian media, their views regarding the portrayal of women on popular media, and sex education. The questionnaire was divided into quantitative and qualitative responses based on the nature of the questions. Close-ended questions with options were analyzed quantitatively by calculating the percentage response for each option. Open-ended questions with subjective and descriptive answers were: 1) The responses were thoroughly read through multiple times 2) Repetitive and Reoccuring themes were mapped 3) The number of responses that fit into each theme was tallied 4) Percentage response for each theme was calculated 5) Any additional descriptions that did not fit into a theme but provided insight into the project’s objectives were included in the discussion section. The quantitative and qualitative parts of the questionnaire were analyzed separately. The quantitative data was graphed, in order to show the distribution in population opinions. The qualitatively was analyzed thematically, in order to understand the trends or patterns that the various answers followed. 1) The data for pornographic content was collected to attain the following: Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 14 2) The most popular categories of Indian pornography on popular websites 3) Results generated when aggressive/titles related to sexual assault were typed on the websites 4) The viewership of the Indian pornographic content after the porn block in 2018 5) The accessibility to pornographic content that perpetuated sexual assault and aggression after the porn block. The above data was collected in two phases. The first phase assessed popular themes under the category 'Indian porn' as accessed through a VPN, along with viewership statistics and level of aggression. The second phase assessed popular themes in porn that was available after the porn ban. Titles revolving around themes like 'forced sex' and other aggressive themes were assessed to determine their popularity. Phase 1: A VPN was downloaded to mask the IP and set the location outside India. By doing so, globally accessible popular pornographic websites could be visited. Four popular websites were chosen, the category 'Indian porn' was searched and the most popular themes were recorded. Out of the predominant themes, the most viewed pornographic videos were assessed to determine the nature of pornography, presence of consent, and level of aggression. Subjective analysis by the researchers was done to assess the above. Phase 2: The team then removed the VPN, setting the IP to India. This was done to examine the content that was still accessible after the porn block, which users can easily view without installing the VPN software. Titles related to sexual assault such as 'forced sex' and 'rape' were typed on google and the results generated were recorded. The number of views and percentage of likes for each Indian sexually aggressive and coercive content was recorded to establish the popularity of the video. The results were correlated to the rising rape statistical trends to establish the existence of a possible relationship. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 15 Review of Literature Review of Literature in Relation to Movies The influence of visual media on human behavior, attitudes, and beliefs have been studied in diverse contexts with different forms and categories of media. Rachel A Howell’s study on the effect of 'Age of Stupid' (a movie about climate change) showed prominent effects on attitudes and behavioral motivations to reverse climate change. Subjects exposed to sexually degrading and violent content against women underwent dynamic desensitization directly proportional to the time of exposure. This desensitization occurred purely in the empathetic and sympathetic attitudes of subjects to rape victims and had unaltered the perception of objectification, acceptance of rape, coercion, inequal sex roles, or evaluation of the components of a realistic rape trial. The inference from these studies should be that the impact of visual media on a being’s attitudes are selective more than individualistic and the interaction of context in producing differential results is a valuable assessment (Linz and Donerstein, year). Behaviors that may instigate aggression such as alcoholism had a high rate of media imitability by individuals aged 18-25, males exceeding females in the likelihood to imitate such behaviors (R. Kooderman et al, year). Estimating the occurrence of substance use and related behaviors in Bollywood songs can provide insight into the possibility of a combined impact of objectification and intoxication. Laura Mulvey’s theory of scopophilia (pleasure derived from looking at individuals in an objectifying, controlling, and voyeuristic manner) is applicable to explain the theatrical shifts and dynamic adjusting of capturing cinema to satisfy the repressed desires, projecting egos and voyeuristic tendencies of the autonomous viewer. Scopophilia as a drive originates from Freud’s theory, where the gazed objectification roots from individual instincts directed by the subjective constitution of their egos. The dominance and control that is subsequently nourished by the destabilization of the subject as anthropomorphic can undertake excessive extremes by utilizing voyeurism to obsessively derive sexual satisfaction and objectified arousal. Psychological foundations of sexual assault: In order to holistically incorporate genetic predispositions and environmental factors contributing to sexually deviant behavior, the application of the Bio-Psycho-social model is appropriate. George Engel (1977) formed the model to explain underlying conditions using Biological, Psychological, and Social parameters. Out of the parameters the most prominent and well-fitting theories in the context of this research paper has been listed below: Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 16 The social sphere (Feminist theory): The theory proposed that structures enforcing subjugation through the exclusion of women from socio-politically reformative processes, strengthened the power gap, male domination, and the resulting misinterpreted justification to enact upon the disproportionate power sequence. The social learning theory: is primarily derived from the hypothesis of Bandura about observational learning through imitation (salient models being one’s family and immediate surroundings, peers, culture, and traditions, and mass media). The identification, familiarization, desensitization, and justification with and of rape and aggression crystallized as viewers were consistently exposed to content that consisted of the same. Intermingling and merging of violence and rape viewed in the same context, drawing the perceptive boundaries of the two as independent or separate closer, further encourages imitative rapist tendencies (Bandura, 1973, 1978, Nelson 1982, Huessman and Malamuth, 1986). The ramifications of a misleading and associative perception as the one above are the possible circulation of rape myths, invalidating the need for consent and systematic desensitization towards violence against women. A biological approach: The biological evolutionary theories mark a distinct difference in the reproductive roles of males and females due to which the energy and period spent for a specific activity may vary between the two genders. The gestational period that females are dominantly devoted to is compensated in time and energy by their male counterparts through copulation with multiple sex partners. In doing so, they balance and equalize the amount of contribution the two sexes make towards the process of reproduction (Daly and Wilson, 1983, Quinsey, 1984). Sex education in India: The accessibility of sex education is restricted by ideologies that are tradition-bound. 88% of males and 58% of female college students from Mumbai claim to receive a lack of sex education from their families. The statistics not only show an overall vacuum of awareness, but also a variation of this accessibility between males and females. These students reported resorting to magazines, books, and pornography due to its relative availability in the current scenario (Shajahan Ismail, Ashika Shajahan, 2015). Males who were also exposed to the internet without parental surveillance were observed to be associated strongly with sexual contact and content that were sexually characteristic was positively correlated with sexual contact. The cultivation effect theory only reinforces this finding by positively linking viewing of mass media and attitude extremity and accessibility. Nari Raksha Samiti, in their report, supported providing sex and drug education as a means of battling rape culture. The current Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 17 national program (adolescent FLE) on sex education, according to a review submitted by the Tarshi Foundation is incomplete, limiting, and concepts around body image and reproductivity were poorly communicated. There is a need to further establish a possible relationship between gender selectivity, qualitative and quantitative deficiency of awareness around sex and reproductive health. Passage of Bollywood portrayals and rape statistics in India: The underlying narratives of Bollywood cinema have seldom remained static and the plotlines reflected the prevalent dominant narratives within the Indian society. From its inception projecting moralistic content to the emergence of romantic and flirtatious interactions in the 60s and the overthrowing of corruption in the 80s with the changing political climate, filmmakers began to realize the existence of a demanding male gaze. Hence, the late 2000s marked the birth of relatively explicit item songs, a period that additionally marked the adaptation of the film-making art in tune with the collective voyeuristic needs. Subsequently, the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) reported a 3.6% increase in yearly rape rates in the late 2010s with an average incidence rate of 88 rapes per day. 2019 enrolled a total case count of 4,05,861 and 2012 recorded one of the most brutally severe gang rapes that accelerated the need for legal amendments in criminal law. The sex crimes indiscriminately extend to children, the beginning of 2018, reporting the tranquilization, captivation, and molestation of an 8-year-old girl. Along with the release of degrading and offensive item numbers that perpetuate questionable messages, the late 2000s saw a synchronized rise in both the aggressiveness and statistics in crimes committed against women. Review of Literature in Relation to Pornography The personality of an individual is a crystallization of their genetic predispositions by their environment. While the nature vs nurture debate are two terminals, many agree that the two factors play a significant and interdependent role in determining one’s actions (Krueger, R. F., & Johnson, W. (2008).). Conflicting and inconclusive results of a range of studies conducted to establish a link between rape and pornography are explained by the contextual limitations of their research methodologies. Further, the existence of multiple pornographic categories that are significantly different from one another makes it essential for one to be specific, rather than making accusations at a broad encompassing of media. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 18 Research studies conducted around pornography and violence towards women majorly highlighted that violent pornography and rape tendencies had no strong link and that the former did not encourage the latter(Malamuth and Ceniti, 1986, Linz et all, 1987). Studies did although conclude that there was a positive correlation between viewing violent pornography and aggression in general (Malamuth and Ceniti (1986)). The same was found for research assessing pornography and recidivism. Kingston et al concluded that sexual assault recidivism rates were not impacted by exposure to pornography but there existed a weak association between the commitment of offenses and pornography use. The exposure to pornography and commitment of offenses can be tracked to establish an association. While some studies conducted in the US proved that sex offenders viewed relatively lesser pornographic material than non-offenders (Cook et al, 1971), the Sahaspur and Dehradun boarding school rape cases contradict the results. This further establishes the need to question the relevance of the Indian context in possibly generating differential results around the associative role of pornography in sexual assault rates, the dominant factors causing the Indian context to produce such results, and the need to explore the categories of porn widely available in India that triggers negative and aggressive attitudes towards women. The decision by the government to block porn websites that were previously widely accessible was motivated by similar cases. Hence, the effectiveness of this decision must be closely observed by tracking sexual assault rates to determine if governmental restrictors such as this one, are imposed for better or for worse. Research Gap There have been studies done previously on the impact of media on sexual assault. There have been limited studies that have correlated item song themes and inclining rape rates across a fifty-year timeline. The study found it significant to assess the role played by the marked content dynamicity in impacting rising documented cases annually. Research studies previously conducted have given higher visibility to social and psychological factors and the current paper aims to ascertain the degree of coexistence of cultural parameters with the former in contributing to rising cases of sexual assault. Although these parameters have been previously studied in the Indian context, there have been very few studies providing a combined analysis of cinema, songs, and pornography. The researchers found it to produce more reliable results since Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 19 realistically individuals are exposed to a combination of media. Hence, the impact of three different types of popular media seemed more appropriate than isolating a single form or type of media/content. The decision to reduce access to pornography access by the government was a pivotal decision made by the government, especially since the intentions behind doing so were grounded in the rising cases of sex offenses. Yet, there has been no study that assesses the influence of pornography on sexual assault in the Indian context or the impact of the porn block on the declining rates of sex crimes. The researchers felt it essential to fill the contextual gap in research of the above parameters specific to India. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 20 CHAPTER II Analysis of Songs Song Views (on YouTube) Likes Dislikes Bhor Bhaye Panghat pe 65.3 lakhs 24K 2.7K Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil 3.09 crore 94K 12K Ek Do Teen 11.92 crore 3.29 lakhs 49K Jumma Chumma 3.775 crore 1.72 lakhs 17K Choli Ke Peeche 18.95 crore 6.03 lakhs 87K Jaadu Teri Nazar 4.44 crore 2.06 lakhs 12K Tu Cheez Badi Hai 1.19 crore 78K 7.7K Apun Bola 12.63 crore 74K 3.7K Mehbooba 3.19 lakhs 922 130 Sheila Ki Jawaani 17.82 crore 6.28 lakhs 44K Tinku Jiya 12.63 crore 4.26 lakhs 42K Lak 28 Kudi Da 49.93 lakhs 40K 2.2K Ooh La La 6.18 crore 2.28 lakhs 21K Aa Ante Amalapuram 2.9 crore 85K 6.9K Fevicol Se 21.44 crore 6.22 lakhs 65K Agal Bagal Hai 2.34 crore 84K 5.9K Mein Khayal Aata Hai Mast Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 21 Gandi Baat 7.7 crore 1.89 lakhs 24K Madamiyan 11.89 crore 3.75 lakhs 32K Tareefan 30.73 crore 13 lakhs 1.73 lakhs Makhna 31.14 crore 37 lakhs 3.06 lakhs Ek Chumma 13.23 crore 6.55 lakhs 87K Chamma Chamma 26.6 crore 12 lakhs 1.28 lakhs There are three instances of recorded decline in the years-),-),-). The research team found it imperative to mark the common themes across these specific timelines to assess a possible lack of correlation between the themes and their influence on sexual assault. The following themes were marked after repeatedly listening to songs and reading the lyrics. The bolded headings are the main themes while the numbered sub-topics and sub-themes. Outright objectification, exotification, and commodification 1) Animalistic consumption: the explicit display of cravings for a woman in an animalistic and aggressive manner(licking and wiping lips, lyrical indications of being preyed upon) 2) Belittling of women’s roles: Reducing the significance of the women’s contribution to the narrative 3) Possessiveness and entitlement: Enforcing male ownership and right over females 4) Visual fixation: Displaying manners of gaining pleasure from staring at the woman(scopophilia) 5) Portrayal of dominance: Imposition of male power and superiority by highlighting a difference in position between the two genders Negative views about women 1) Derogatory terms: Terms that humiliate and devalue the woman 2) Using stereotypes to describe women Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 22 3) Traditional gender roles: Such as domestication and compliance that were glorified traditionally Devaluing consent 1) Normalizing coercion: Not portraying sexually abusive and offensive mannerisms problematically 2) Eve teasing 3) Stalking Body image discrimination: Adhering to popular cultural stereotypes of an ideal body image Age gap: Older men were mostly paired with younger women Unhealthy codependency: Glorification of the extreme overreliance of the two genders on each other No contribution to the plot: Complete absence of women’s role in driving the narrative forward Sexualization 1) Scopophilic camera angles: Shifting camera angles to deliberately highlight women’s body for the male gaze 2) Girls from item songs being different from the main actress 3) Revealing clothes 4) Provocative dancing: Dancing in a manner that is sexual and inviting to stimulate the man Promotion of alcohol and drug abuse Presentation of aggression as a positive attribute of masculinity Women coercing men: Mannerisms of sexual abuse and force on men by the women characters Marginalization of female pleasure: Lower visibility and higher censorship given to scenes involving females being the dominant and sole experiencer of pleasure. The common themes across the three time periods were: ‘body discrimination’, ‘provocative dancing’, ‘using stereotypes to describe women’, and ‘scopophilic camera angles’. The most common theme in the songs analyzed is ‘Animalistic consumption’ at 60.8%, followed by 'Visual Fixation' (47.82%), 'Belittling of woman’s roles' (43.47%), 'Scopophilic camera angles' (43.47%), 'Revealing clothes' (43.47%), Sexual dancing (43.47%) and Marginalization of female pleasure(43.47%). The above analysis showcases that the most commonly prevalent theme 'Animalistic Consumption' is of an aggressive and violent nature towards females and its repetitive display in songs can further such attitudes in the viewers. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 23 Animalistic consumption as a recurrent theme increasingly got more common from the year- in the songs studied. There is also a subsequent rise in rape cases across the same timeline. Although a definite link cannot be made, the data showed that the aggressive themes were increasingly consistent parallelly with a rise in sexual violence against women. A similar trend was seen with the second most common theme. Both the dominant themes were seen in the ’90s and the 2000s and the only instance the songs were present subsequently alongside a rape incident decline was in the year 2019, where a case drop of 1326 incidences were recorded. Even though the consistency of the dominant themes marked alongside the steady case incline may be purely coincidental, the above data highlights the lack of effort or initiative taken by filmmakers to censor content even after being fully aware of the rising caseload. Additionally, the above themes have been present multiple times in the year 2012(Animalistic consumption being present the most number of times in 2012), when the brutal gang rape of Nirbahaya shook the entirety of the nation. The concentration of the song themes in this particular year was seen prior to the occurrence of the gang rape and the possibility of a link in the form of subtle consumer-centric influence cannot be rejected. Actresses who appeared solely for the item song were identified with numbers( Item girl 1 and 2) when a google search for the movie cast was done. Upon searching the names of the girls present in the item song, a list of pornography and explicitly sexualized sites appeared on the first search results page. This not only indicates the hypersexualization of the actresses whose sole role in the movie is the item number, but also the stripping of their identity reducing them merely to “item girls”. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 24 CHAPTER III Analysis of Movies MOVIE YEAR Box Office Collections (Rs.) Benaam Badshah 1991 2 crores DDLJ 1995 122 crores Raja ki Aayegi Baraat 1997 9 crores BOOM 2003 6 crores Dabangg 2010 219 crores Ragini MMS 2011 9 crore Cocktail 2012 125 crores Main Tera Hero 2014 78 crores Badlapur 2015 81 crores Sultan 2016 623 crores Housefull 3 2016 195 crores Ki and Ka 2016 103 crores Ajji 2017 8.5 lakhs Sanju 2018 586 crore Kabir Singh 2019 379 crore Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 25 The above-mentioned movies were scrutinized for their treatment of women, and then thematically analyzed and arranged according to their prevalent themes. The bolded headings are the main themes while the numbered sub-topics and sub-themes. Sexually explicit Negative stereotypes against women 1) Traditional gender roles 2) Objectification: referring to the female characters as commodities, and reducing their function as a person 3) Visual fixation- the only value of a woman is her looks 4) Perpetuating that only a certain type of women are “marriage material Violent revenge-motivated plots: The entire movie is based around a man seeking revenge for a lost woman in his life while perpetuating a lot of violence Toxic masculinity: 1) Male ego- over-emphasis on the importance of man's ego 2) Normalizing undue aggression 3) Romanticizing womanizing tendencies 4) Entitled attitude- men's sense of entitlement over women and their actions Inappropriate response to rape or sexual assault 1) Woman is expected to marry the rapist 2) Woman is ostracized- she is shamed or rejected from society as a result of her being raped. Unhealthy ways of expressing romance 1) Stalking/harassment/eve-teasing- normalizing aggressive behaviors as a sign of romance or a way of wooing a woman 2) Perpetuating violence against women- violence against women is depicted graphically 3) Hypersexualization- Portraying women as only over-sexualized beings The three highest-grossing movies, out of those sampled, were Sultan in (Rs. 656 Cr box office collections), Sanju in (Rs. 586 Cr box office collections), and Kabir Singh in (Rs. 379 Cr box office collections). The most common themes among the above movies include “objectification”, Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 26 ‘romanticizing womanizing tendencies’, ‘male ego’, and ‘normalizing undue aggression’. The popularization of such narratives in mainstream media is a root cause of the poor treatment of women in real life. With the application of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, it can be surmised that the prevalence of such narratives in the media has the power to shape people’s social behavior. This is largely due to the common person’s inability to critically evaluate the content presented to them, and their blind acceptance. The most prevalent themes that were observed in the sampled movies are ‘objectification’which occurred in 86.7% of the movies analyzed, ‘male ego’, and “traditional gender roles”which were found in 66.7% of the movies analyzed. Dissemination of these misogynist themes and narratives brings about an attitude of bigotry, which encourages the unidimensional treatment of women in real life. In particular, the theme “male ego”, which was given to signify the aggression shown by men upon slights against their egos, was a very prevalent theme among the sampled movies. The sampled movies had an average box office collection of Rs. 144 crores and 33% of the movies sampled earned more than the average box office collections. The success of these movies which feature derogatory themes showcases the positive assimilation of these themes which encourage the subhuman treatment of women. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 27 CHAPTER IV Analysis of Questionnaire Quantitative Question Analysis The questionnaire was distributed amongst 50 respondents, out of which we received 40 valid responses. 87.5 % of the respondents belonged to the age group 20-25. 7.5% of the responses fell in the age group of 25-30, while 2.5% each were below 20 and above 40. 60% of the responses were from women, while 40% were from men. 60% of the respondents were graduates, and 20% each had completed high school and postgraduate. When asked how often they watch Bollywood movies, 17.5% of the respondents responded ‘very frequently’, 45% answered ‘sometimes’, 27.5% of the answers were ‘sometimes’, while 10% had never watched Bollywood movies. In response to the question ‘How often do you come across content where women are sexualized?’, 67.5% of the respondents said ‘very often’, 27.5% answered ‘sometimes’, 2.5% of the respondents responded ‘never’. None of the respondents chose the option ‘rarely’, while 1 person declined to answer the question. When asked how closely do they think objectification and sexualization are related, 62.5% of the respondents said ‘very related’, 30% responded ‘related to some extent’, 5% were unsure, and 2.5% said they were ‘not related at all’. When asked who would be the main viewers of sexualized media about women, 27.5% of the respondents chose ‘all’ or everyone of all genders and ages. 32.5% chose ‘men’, 27.5% chose ‘adults of all genders’. 2.5% of the respondents each answered ‘men of all ages and some women’ and the transgender community, while 7.5% of the respondents were unsure. In response to the question ‘How do you think the portrayal of women in contemporary media affects sexual assault?’, 7.5% of the respondents thought there is ‘no change in sexual assault rates’, 52.5% of the respondents thought there is a ‘somewhat increase in sexual assault rates’, 40% responded with ‘a vast increase in sexual assault rates’, and none of the respondents chose the options ‘somewhat decrease in sexual assault rates’ and ‘vast decrease in sexual assault rates’. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 28 When asked ‘Do you think men are objectified/sexualized?’, 85% of the respondents answered ‘Yes’, while 15% answered ‘no’. In response to the question, ‘How much do you think the sexualization of women has changed over the years?’, 20% of the respondents chose the option ‘it has changed a lot’, 40% chose ‘it has changed a fair amount’, 15% were ‘unsure’, 22.5% of the respondents said ‘it hasn’t really changed’, and 2.5% said there was ‘no change’. When asked whether they were sexually active, 55.3% of the respondents answered positively, saying they had been sexually active, while 44.7% had not been sexually active, and 5% of the respondents declined to answer the question. Qualitative Question Analysis Respondents were asked to define their understanding of objectification and sexualization. Their answers can be categorized into several broad themes. 1) Devaluing personality, emotions, and qualities of the individual 2) Treating and viewing people as objects for sexual pleasure 3) Insensitivity to gender roles 4) Causes harm to the individual 5) Dressing sensuously 6) Treating and viewing people as objects 7) Treating and viewing women as objects 8) Ethicality of sexualization is determined by consent: 9) Unsure The largest portion (32.5%) of the respondents’ definitions were categorized as ‘treating and viewing people as objects for sexual pleasure’, while 30% were categorized as ‘devaluing personality, emotions, and qualities of the individual’. 22.5% specified that sexualization/objectification could be defined as treating and viewing people as objects, as compared to only women (7.5%). Other definitions included ‘insensitivity to gender roles’ (5%), ‘causes harm to individual’ (7.5%), ‘dressing sensuously’ (7.5%), ‘the ethicality of sexualization is determined by consent’ (5%). 15% of the respondents declined to answer the question. The two most common definitions above have similar intentions in describing the degradation of value as an outcome. The worded difference in both popular definitions is an emphasis on Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 29 altering the perception of people for sexual stimulation (32.5%) and the removal of significant characteristics of a person without the mention of a sexual drive (30%). 15% of the respondents declined to answer the question. Respondents were asked to select all types of content that they thought would qualify as sexual, and they could choose multiple options. The majority of the respondents (80%) believed that hardcore pornography would appropriately qualify as sexual content. 77.5% of the respondents (the second-largest majority) believed that item songs would qualify as sexual content. The above data indicates that a majority of the respondents believe item songs are more sexual than softcore pornography (67.5%), sex scenes in contemporary Bollywood movies (57.5%), and sex scenes in old Bollywood movies (55%). The viewers hence believed that item numbers consisted of content that was more sexually explicit than softcore pornography. The difference between people believing that hardcore pornography is sexually explicit and item songs are sexually explicit was 2.5%. The indication of item songs and hardcore pornography by the majority of the viewers as more sexually explicit than other forms of content poses the question of the need to change censorship ratings for movies that consist of item numbers. The answers to the question ‘How do you feel about the portrayal of women in media?’ can be categorized into four major themes. 1. It is degrading and immoral. 2. It is progressive and liberating. 3. Conversations around it overshadow the sexualization of men. 4. It depends on the viewer’s perspective and character portrayal. Data indicates that a majority (85%) felt that the portrayal of women in media is “degrading and immoral” while the least number of people (2.5%) felt that conversations around women overshadow the sexualization of men. Most viewers hence agreed that media, in general, degrade women in a morally questionable manner and the exposure of this portrayal to viewers around the world must be assessed for its impact. When asked ‘A large chunk of Bollywood films cast a different female to appear in the item song. Do you think the heroine itself should be cast in the item song? Why do you think so?’ The majority of the respondents (52.5%) believe that the person cast for the item song “does not matter”. More people believed the heroine should not be cast (15%) than the number of people who felt that the heroine should be cast (7.5%). The lack of attention given to the main casting of Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 30 an item songs due to its problematic content shows the degree of offense and the increasing visibility of the identification of its frequency by its viewers. Most people who believed that the casted individual did not matter, believed so since item songs are problematic in nature and that was the issue to primarily address. Those who believed the heroine should not be cast justified it as a necessity to keep the heroine’s image protected. The association signifies an inverse relationship between reputation and item numbers. This is further supported when the team performed a google search of the item song cast. Girls that were not heroines of the movie were simply described numerically as item girl 1 and 2. A google search of their names revealed a number of pornographic and adult sites. This indicates the hypersexualization and dehumanization of women who are cast purely for the item songs. The emphasis to “protect” only the heroine’s image suggests a difference of perception between the reputability of the heroine and an additionally casted item girl. Viewers adding relative significance to “preserve” the image of the heroine may stem from their higher popularity or from their preference to make her comply with the patriarchal standards that define an “ideal” woman. 5% of the respondents declined to answer the question. The majority of the respondents believe that Bollywood has had no impact on their attitudes about sex (55%), while 20% of the respondents believed Bollywood has helped normalize their perception of sex. 10% of the respondents view sex as “taboo”, 5% were unsure, and 5% believe that it portrays inaccurate assumptions of sex. 2.5% of the respondents declined to answer the question. The responses display the formation of individual’s attitudes around sex occurs from sources other than sexual Bollywood content. Individuals indicate there is a surface-level effect of exposing themselves to sexual content in Bollywood films over a more lasting attitudinal change through repeated viewing. 57.5% of the respondents, when asked, answered that they had been affected by their gender’s representation in media, while 20% were not. A majority of respondents believed the reason it impacted them was due to the imposition of beauty standards. Others believed the imposition of stereotypically gendered roles (10%), media enabling the improvement of awareness around incorrect representation (10%) and increasing sexual harassment (10%) were also results of media’s impact on individual genders. The strength of media portrayals through their impact on viewers is indicated through the above responses. The respondents also displayed how this Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 31 influence was centered around visual appeal and glorification of narrow and generalized notions of beauty. 12.5% of the respondents declined to answer the question. Most respondents (77.5%) believed sex-oriented content could affect children. Most of these respondents (45%) believed the children get unhealthily influenced by incorrect portrayals of sex. 17.5% of the respondents believed that the media being one of the few sources, due to the lack of reliable sex education, could impact children’s exposure to sex-oriented content. 7.5% of the respondents also believed that sex-oriented content would not affect children, and normalization and exposure would help inculcate healthy attitudes towards sex. The influence of content around sex was negatively attributed by most respondents. This showcases the majority’s opinion around the media’s faulty portrayals of sex that is easily internalized by children. The effect is proliferated with a lack of reliable sources such as sex education to counter this impact. 10% of the respondents declined to answer the question. A majority of the respondents (67.5%) believed that everyday content did not portray a realistic view of regular women. They (30%) majorly believed so since the media sets unrealistic standards for women. The highest number of responses not only opinionated the gap between films and reality but emphasized the problematic creation of “ideal” standards specifically to women. The highest number of respondents (53.9%) believed that the most commonly portrayed consequence of rape victims in Bollywood movies is that she’s ‘rejected from society’. 15.4% of the respondents believed Bollywood movies portray her to be heavily sexualized after the occurrence of rape. Since movies are popularly believed to be a reflection of society, the ostracization of females as a common consequence of rape as indicated by the respondents showcases the realistic societal rejection and perception of females who have experienced sexual harassment. 7.5% of the respondents declined to answer the question. The question ‘Choose the sources from which you gained significant knowledge about sex.’ allowed for multiple options to be selected by one respondent. Hence, a single individual may have selected more than one source that provided him with awareness around sex. A majority of respondents (67.5%) indicated that they gained significant knowledge about sex through conversation with peers. The least number of respondents (2.5%) indicated that school sex education provided them with significant knowledge about sex. Other relatively reliable sources such as medical books were also utilized, by the least number of respondents (2.5%) This Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 32 highlights both the gap in reliability in circulating key information about sex and a lack of sex education in India with the majority depending upon peer knowledge over factual sexual information in educating themselves about sex. 2.5% of the respondents declined to answer the question. A majority of respondents (50%) felt that the sources had a slight impact on their life. 35% of the respondents believed that the sources exerted a strong impact on their life. More than half the respondents hence indicated that their choice of source (which was mostly derived from peer conversations as indicated previously) has influenced their life although they do not believe the influence exerted was substantial enough to be described as ‘strong’. 2.5% of the respondents declined to answer the question. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 33 CHAPTER V Analysis of Pornography: The focus of the analysis was the enforcement of the porn ban by the government in October 2018 as a response to the rising cases of sexual assault. The move was especially motivated by the gang rap of a girl in Dehradun immediately after the accused’s exposure to pornographic films. The sexual assault incidence rate per annum from the NCRB website was correlated with the time the porn ban was enforced and a subsequent decline in the year 2019 was recorded. The following analysis was conducted to provide further insight into the possible role of the ban in the above decline by measuring its productivity in terms of accessibility and popular themes. Phase 1 The category “Indian” was selected in four globally popular pornographic websites. The results page of the four websites did display variable results but drew common themes that are listed below: ● Muslim girl ● Young boy-older woman ● “Bhabhi” ● Indian teen girl/underaged pleasure ● Husband-wife ● Innocent girl ● Boss-secretary/Teacher-student ● Owner-Maid All of the titles listed above have at least one female subject present in the title. Four titles out of the eight have a woman as the dominant focus and subject of the video. This indicates that the Indian pornography searched is made to be catered mainly to the male audience with the primary subject in the title being a female. Five of these categories( Young boy-older woman, Indian teen girl, Innocent girl, Boss-secretary, teacher-student, and owner-maid) indicate power relations/power play as a dominant theme in sex. The indication may be assessed as seeking pleasure from a hierarchal perception of the two characters involved and the filmmaker’s Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 34 awareness of the existence of a desire to engage in unequal sex. The inequalities though are not gender-specific and the categories only display the existence of a power imbalance rather than a gendered power imbalance to drive the plot of the pornographic narrative. Next, we attempted to search for themes that were most popular within the “Indian” category. This was done with the assumption that a majority of the viewers of the “Indian” category would be Indians. The popularity of the themes was divided based on two criteria; The most searched and the most viewed. The former generated results based on the most frequently typed theme in the search bar and the latter pertains to the most frequently viewed video. Most searched pornography under the “Indian” porn category: The four most searched porn categories have been listed below. These are sub categorically popular songs under the main “Indian” porn category. 1) Amateur Indian Porn 2) Indian teen 3) College girlfriend 4) Indian girl showering* scopophilia The themes above were assessed on the following aspects ● Subject of focus ● Scopophilia ● Consent ● Aggression The subject of focus for 3 out of the 4 themes were women, indicating that the videos were primarily made to cater to the male sex drive. The theme of scopophilia was explicitly seen in the fourth theme(Indian girl showering) where deliberate shifts in camera angling focused on a single female subject were done to drive a voyeuristic pleasure. The lack of consent was present in the third theme(college girlfriend), although it was not mentioned in the title. The video consisted of evident scenes of coercion, restraint, and forced penetration. The presence of aggression was seen in one(the third) theme. This could imply two possible explanations: Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 35 1) Since the title and descriptive tags of the third theme did not indicate any presence of rape or force, the audience may not have deliberately searched for the video in search for aggression or coercion. 2) The video was ranked the most searched, and subsequent popularity of 3,50,945 views, a 100% like rate and comments that mainly communicated the desire to “sleep with the heroine”. The popularity and rate of likes of the video may have given the video sufficient visibility in the community to be known as coercive content and the search for aggressive and sexually assaultive content may have been deliberate. Irrespective of the above explanations, the sexually assaultive content was liked by all the audiences who watched it and the comments confirmed the normalization of and pleasure sought from offensive and dangerous actions driven by media against women. Most viewed pornography under the “Indian” porn category: The four most viewed categories for each website have been listed below. The presence of three criteria; Penetration, consent, and aggression in each video has been included to analyze the level of explicitness and sexual exploitation preferred by a dominantly Indian audience. Title Penetration(Yes/No) Consent Aggression Sunny No Yes Absent No Yes (although the Absent Leone(2012) Teen prostitute hidden camera consent to be filmed is questionable) Tamil sex Yes No Present Sunny Leone Yes Yes Absent The themes of the most viewed videos from four popularly viewed sites show marked distinctions from one another. The level of explicitness determined by the presence or absence of penetration is high in two videos(1 and 2) displaying the act of penetration and two videos (3 and Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 36 4) were “softcore” pornography with a low level of explicit sex. The preference of explicit sexual intercourse hence is evenly distributed between the four sites studied which could possibly indicate that the majority does not require penetration to be a necessity in voyeurism. 1 out of the 4 videos(3) showed a lack of consent, with rape being a dominant theme in the video. The mention of rape was not present in the title or the video tags. The most searched and the most viewed from the same site(3 in table n and table n) had a lack of consent and elements of sexual assault present in them. Although the lack of a tag brings no awareness to the viewer about the presence of sexual harassment in the content, the viewed popularity recorded for the video indicates a collective drive to derive voyeurism from the sexual harassment present in the video. The shareability of a video also positively impacts views and the possibility of circulating the video being fully aware of its offensive content cannot be rejected. The popularity of aggressive and non-consensual sexual activity is relatively lower than consensual and non-aggressive sex in the sites studied but the mere presence of rape as a popularly searched and viewed video on a single platform calls for the need to assess its impact. All of the websites generated Nil results when the words “raped” and “forced” were typed. Only website (3) generated 66,708 results when the words “Indian BDSM” were typed indicating the presence of aggressive content without coercion. Fisher and Grenier(1994) concluded from their study exposing males to violent pornography that was enjoyed by the female and repelled by the female that both had negligible effects on sexual assault. The presence of violent content that generates plenteous results in 1 out of 4 sites and the rising sexual assault rates in India, may suggest contextual difference that potentially generates variable outcomes. Phase 2 The porn block was enforced on 27th October 2018. There have been few studies that track the impact of the porn block on sexual assault rates. This research study attempts to do so by tracing a link between the sexual assault case rate(derived from the NCRB website) per year after the block was enforced and the presence of sexually aggressive and assaultive content after the block was enforced. To study the latter, the words “rape” and “forced videos were typed with an Indian IP address and the following results were generated: Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 37 Forced videos: generated four links on the search bar. All the videos selected for the study had evident elements of rape and sexual assault and were subjectively rated as aggressive content by the research group. The number of views per video has been included below: ● Video 1: 953008 views(99% likes): page redirected to xhamster, which previously generated no results for forced or rape. ● Video 2:- views(90% likes ● Video 3:- views ● Video 4:- views Videos with the title “rape” ● Video 1: 103003 views(100% like) ● Video 2: Views not mentioned (79% like) ● Video 3: 833670 views ● Video 4: 149397 views(63% like) ● Video 5: 198696 views(64% like) Although we cannot assume the number of views above is entirely from an Indian audience, the average view rate of all the videos are-, which is approximately 0.4% of the Indian population(World bank census, 2018). A more pressing issue to discuss is the availability of forced pornography on the first page of Google even after the porn block was enforced to mitigate the effects of pornography on sexual assault. The number of views indicates the level of accessibility and the need to question the potential futility of the government’s imposition in terms of 1) A lack of research evidence connecting a link between pornography and violence and 2) The actual failure to reduce or cease the ability to access content that is violent and offensive. This further complicates determining a potential relationship between the case decline in 2019 and the pornography ban. The accessibility to pornographic content even after the imposition of the ban does not ensure the lack of a role played by the latter in shaping the sexual assault rates. It does display the need for the government to thoroughly plan, organize and take accurate and reliable measures to facilitate the proper execution of a pornography ban. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 38 CHAPTER VI Discussion The findings of the present study indicate the existence of a relationship between media and increasing sexual assault rates in India. The study found that the portrayal of content in Indian media furthered problematic attitudes that are contributive to sexually offensive behaviors. Twenty-two songs were analyzed across a fifty-year timeline and correlated with rape rates. The most common theme identified by the researchers in item songs was “animalistic consumption” or the explicit display of cravings for a woman in an animalistic and aggressive manner (eg: licking and wiping lips, lyrical indications of being preyed upon). Yearly correlations with rape incidence rates indicated a simultaneous rise of the theme of “animalistic consumption” and the number of incidences of sexual assault. It was observed that the song with the highest number of views from the ones chosen for the study, had the presence of the above theme. This signifies the heightened visibility and increased public exposure with its recurrence. The highest viewed songs had “Scopophilic camera angles”, “Normalizing coercion”, “Visual fixation”, “Sexualised dancing” and females having “No contribution to the plot” as dominant themes. All the above themes portray women as sexualized, submissive, and devalued beings. The average views for the songs chosen tallied to 10.74 crores. The difference between total likes and total dislikes of the songs was 1.11 crores. The high views and incline towards likes over dislikes as indicated by the figures not only showcases song popularity, but a positive and encouraging perception of the themes offensive to women that were present in the songs. The number of dislikes, although relatively lower than the number of likes, still contribute to the elevated views and the resulting popularity and visibility of the problematic themes portrayed in the item numbers. Several respondents expressed that female objectification often overshadows male objectification, and thus the team felt that it was pertinent to analyze male-centric item songs in order to understand the subliminal messaging that featured in songs centered around men. Subah Hone Na De is a male-centric item song from the movie Desi Boyz, released in 2011. The song features a male escort performance by the main heroes of the film. They compare themselves to Superman throughout the song. The lyrics are, “We are called Superman… at your service ma’am.” Throughout the entire song, they are wearing only pants, and often flaunt their bodies. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 39 Tattad Tattad is a male-centric item song from the movie Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, released in 2013. The song depicts the male hero walking around shirtless while posing and showing off to the hoard of women around him. At one point, one of the girls faints when she sees his body. The song’s lyrics are “Hey... look at lord Ram’s walk.... look at lord Ram’s attitude”. They essentially compare the hero to a god, especially his “commandeering” presence and the way he flirts with the women around him. Unlike women-centric item songs where they are compared to different items and foods, the male-centric item songs like Subah Hone Na De and Tattad Tattad compare men to the likeness of Superman and Lord Ram. The gender disparity is made evident through the analogies used for men and women. While women are constantly objectified and commodified, men are compared to supernatural, otherworldly, and godlike figures. Such comparisons continue to perpetuate false unidimensional and archaic thoughts and treatment towards women, while the male heroes are portrayed to be superior to normal men, setting unrealistic and machoistic standards for men. The research group analyzed 15 Bollywood movies in order to assess their popularity as well as their prevalent themes. The most common themes among the three highest-grossing movies out of those sampled, included ‘objectification’, ‘romanticizing womanizing tendencies’, male ego’, and ‘normalizing undue aggression’. Alongside these themes, a theme prevalent in many of the films sampled was ‘traditional gender roles’. The average box office collection of the movies was Rs. 144 crores. The box office success reflects the positive consumption of the themes which belittle women. Bandura’s social learning theory postulates that learning of behaviors can occur vicariously, whereby behavior is learned by watching other people’s being positively or negatively reinforced. When people view visual media which features misogynistic treatment of women being positively reinforced, they learn that this type of behavior is positive, and attempt to emulate it in real life as well. Constant exposure to degrading and violent behavior towards women which occurs in visual media tends to result in systematic desensitization towards issues like crimes against women. This desensitization also increases the likelihood of imitating such behaviors. The hypersexualized nature of filming occurs in a scopophilic manner, wherein the filmmakers attempt to satisfy their need to objectify women by filming them in a manner that projects their male gaze onto the audience. Furthermore, the female characters are situated to be “looked at”, Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 40 rather than the ones looking. This stems from the archaic belief that “men do the looking while women are to be looked at”, subjecting the characters to a power hierarchy, whereby the power rests with the man due to the patriarchal nature of society. Scopophilic filming also occurs through scenes that show focus on women over men’s shoulders, fixation on the female body, and men observing passive females. These types of imagery further the subjugation of women, by forcing the characters and audiences to look at female characters through a heterosexual male’s eyes, which tend to be the target audience of most movies. The team deployed a questionnaire of 19 questions among 50 respondents, out of which there were 40 valid responses. The majority of the respondents were between the ages of 20-25 and graduates. The respondents are comprised of 60% women and 40% men. The majority of the respondents stated that they came across sexualized content of women very often, indicating the pervasiveness of hypersexualization of women in media. Most viewers agreed that the narratives prevalent in media degrade women in a morally questionable manner and the exposure of this portrayal to viewers around the world must be assessed for its impact. Similarly, responses vastly indicated that the portrayal of women can be attributed to the increase in sexual assault rates. When asked to define objectification and sexualization, a large number of responses incorporated the ‘devaluing of one’s personality, emotions, and qualities’ as well as ‘treating and viewing people as objects for sexual pleasure’, demonstrating an understanding of the terminology and acknowledging its pervasiveness in their daily lives. In reference to the disparity in the casting of item songs generally being a different actress from the female lead, most respondents believed that the casted individual does not matter, largely due to the problematic nature of the item songs themselves. However, certain individuals who believed that the disparity should continue, thought the disparity would help protect the image of the main actress. This displays an inverse relationship between performing in an item song and the reputation of the actress. Most respondents felt that the representation of their gender in media impacted them largely due to the imposition of beauty standards, alongside the imposition of stereotypical gender roles. A large number of respondents believed that everyday media does not show a realistic view of regular women, and not only opinionated the gap between films and reality but emphasized the problematic creation of “ideal” standards specifically to women. The highest number of respondents chose ‘conversations with peers’ to be the source from which they gained significant knowledge about sex, while the lowest number chose ‘sex education in school’. This Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 41 demonstrates that the sex education largely available to students in India is vastly inadequate, leading to the students resolving to conversations with peers in order to understand sex. When asked the most common consequence for a rape victim in Bollywood movies, the majority of respondents chose the option ‘she is rejected from society’. Since movies are popularly believed to be a reflection of society, opinions around the relative commonality of ostracization of females as a consequence may showcase the realistic societal rejection of victims of sexual harassment. Data indicated that a majority of the respondents believe item songs are more sexual than softcore pornography, sex scenes in contemporary Bollywood movies, and sex scenes in old Bollywood movies. Hence, the viewers believed that item numbers consisted of content that was more sexually explicit than softcore pornography, leading to the questioning of the accuracy of censorship ratings for item songs. Multiple respondents highlighted the inaccurate portrayal of sex in media, and how it could lead to inadequate understanding of it and its perpetuation by the lack of effective sex education for children. Out of 19 questions, at least 1 respondent declined to answer 11 questions. This can be attributed to the taboo nature of topics related to sex, which was witnessed in the reluctance to answer certain questions. The research team correlated sexual assault incidences with the date of enforcement of the porn ban (October 2018), and a decline in incidence rate was observed in 2019, one year after access to pornography was declined to people living in India. The team analyzed pornography in two phases below to further the insight into whether the decline in cases was related to the enforcement of the pornography ban. Phase 1 of the pornography analysis was done on globally popular and accessible websites. Common Indian themes were identified from the websites. Pornography videos analyzed were seen catering primarily to the desires of a male audience since 50% of the titles studied had a female subject as the main subject of the title and the video. The hierarchical portrayal of characters was observed through power relations/power play narratives that were found in the majority of the themes. This inequality -was not gendered and hence cannot be assessed as gendered discrimination. Instilling inequalities and power as aspects of sexual relations may normalize the dominance of one party over the other for its viewers. Whether this perception could drive sexually aggressive motives and desires is a topic for further research and discussion. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 42 Indian pornography videos that were sexually coercive and aggressive were searched for the highest number of times and received 100% likes from its viewers. This highlights a positive response towards and normalization of content that is exploitative and aggressive to women. Overall, the popularity of aggressive and non-consensual sex was lower than consensual and non-aggressive sex in all the sites used for the study. The websites generated no results when the words raped and forced were typed and further research on the Indian context is required to determine the impact of violent pornography on sexually assaultive behaviors. Phase 2 of the pornography analysis involved switching the VPN to an Indian IP address to evaluate the content accessible to the Indian population. The team expected the inability to access pornography videos due to the enforcement of the porn block by the government of India. The results generated did not support the above since videos with the title of “forced sex” and “rape” were easily accessible, had adequate views, and received higher likes over dislikes. This shows the futility of the government in executing a legal decision to reduce access to problematic content and the lack of research conducted prior to making the above legal decision. It additionally necessitates questioning if the pornography ban was contributive to the decline in cases since videos were very much accessible to the Indian public. The potential relationship between the government’s failure and the subsequent decline in rape rates is a topic that requires further research and study. Due to the taboo nature of topics related to sex, education about it is largely inaccessible to the modern youth. 88% of male and 58% of female college students from Mumbai claim that they do not receive sex education from their families. The disparity in the statistics between men and women once again reflects the gendered politics at play, when it comes to sex. Due to this vacuum of awareness, students resort to materials such as magazines, books, and pornography due to its relative availability in the current scenario, along with conversations with peers. Studies have also linked uncensored internet exposure with sexual contact, as well as sexual content and sexual contact, especially when it is males who have unrestricted access to the internet from a young age. Providing sex and drug education would be a vital means of reducing rape culture, and the stigma surrounding sex. The current study confirms Laura Mulvey’s hypothesis that cinema does recognize and profit from the male gaze and voyeuristic pleasure. Cinema hence furthers the dominant patriarchal codes by interweaving them with the erotic. The above paper further solidifies the expansion of Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 43 the standardization of a dominant ideological belief beyond Hollywood cinema and the resultant globalization of cinematic impositions of a power imbalance. “People are not born with performed repertoires of aggressive behavior, they must learn them.” (Albert Bandura). Observational learning (which is the foundation of the social learning theory) is a survival instinct marked by convenience, including the assimilation of behavior by observing it and the subsequent consequences. Bandura believes manifestation of the observed behavior into practice does not occur in an identically imitative sense, the amalgamation of multiple observations or the evolution of a single observation to diverse forms by the observer is a possibility. Bandura specifically associated aggression to observational learning and stated the strong influence televised aggression imparts on its viewers which can be learned the following ways: 1) The display of aggressive styles to be learned 2) Alteration of the restraint over aggression 3) Incremental desensitization to violence through repeated exposure 4) Structuring reality of the viewer; a fundamental determinant of their actions The above implications applied to the context of sexually offensive and problematic content analyzed in the research paper can result in the following behavioral patterns: 1) Internalization of the themes displayed in the content 2) Reducing the threshold to having questionable beliefs or practicing the themes in real life 3) Normalizing the themes and conditioning viewers collectively to accept the normalization 4) Blurring the boundaries between the themes and reality. If the above four pointers are not already a realistic representation of the underlying explanation behind the current statistics of rape incidences, the above consequences are crucial in deciding the drives and instincts that are heavily shaped by media portrayals. The merging of offensive and dangerous themes with reality may prove to be the most subtle yet chronically damaging consequence whose infectious reproduction is driven by oblivion. The social learning theory not only decodes the importance of analyzing the implications of the above themes but realistically highlights the need to measure these effects in different contexts exposed to a variety of media. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 44 Limitations While this study attempted to study the effect of Indian media on sexual assault in a holistic manner, a few limitations should be noted. The main limitation noted by the researchers of this study is the number of unreported sexual assault cases, as only 2% of the sexual assaults that occur get reported (Palermo, Bleck, and Peterman 2018). There are many reasons why a sexual assault might go unreported by the victim, and thus it could not be included in the study. Furthermore, due to constraints of both time and manpower, the study could not investigate the entirety of the Bollywood and Indian media genres. Therefore, the study consists of a fragment of the genre and is not indicative of the entire genre. Population representation in the questionnaire is low. This is largely due to the refusal to answer questions of a more “controversial nature” by members of the older generation (35 years and above). The portion of the population which has answered the questionnaire is composed largely of adolescents who have not been as affected by the Bollywood genre, due to their upbringing in a largely globalized era. The researchers of the study had originally wanted to talk to various convicted felons of sexual assault cases, in order to understand the effect Bollywood or Indian media had on their psyche and the motivation for their sexually deviant behavior. Furthermore, the educated upbringing of the majority of the respondents would lead to a more balanced understanding and effect of Bollywood on them. Oher people of lower socioeconomic backgrounds would not have the same latent understanding of the disparity between media portrayals and real life, due to the function of media such as television and movies as a means of escapism from real life. Another main limitation would be the subjective nature of the study. The thematic analysis of the songs and movies done by the researchers would have some level of cultural bias. Also, the questionnaire relied on a self-report response, which drastically increased the probability of the respondents giving socially accepted responses. Lastly, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) website is structured in a confusing manner, making it difficult for visitors of the website to access any information. For further research, it is recommended to have a larger sample size for both the visual media covered as well as the respondents. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 45 Practical Implications There are various practical implications of this study that could be implemented in order to eventually improve the quality of life for women. There are vast numbers of unreported cases, which the team faced as a limitation, for which the main attribution would be the backlash and ostracization of sexual assault victims. Movies are considered to be a reflection of society and the prevalence of attitudes against sexual assault victims could discourage other victims from reporting their abusers. Elimination of such portrayals in mainstream mass media could increase reporting rates. The hypersexualized nature of the item songs that feature in most Bollywood movies comes across as more sexual than explicit sex scenes and soft pornography, as witnessed in the questionnaire. This brings into the effectiveness of the censorship and certification of movies that occur in India. As of right now, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) rates most Bollywood movies as U or U/A, meaning they are family-friendly or a child may watch under parental guidance. This would mean that children are regularly exposed to the sexualized nature of item songs, which are rated to be family-friendly. While exposing children to sexual content isn’t necessarily wrong, the inaccurate portrayal of sex and derogatory nature of item songs can lead to unhealthy attitudes about sex. The questionnaire highlighted the lack of valid sex education sources, as the majority of respondents specified that their most significant source of knowledge about sex stemmed from conversations with peers and a minimum number of respondents learned from sex education classes in school. This emphasizes the need for adequate sources for sex education. The study also highlights the taboo nature of topics related to sex that is still prevalent in India. This is reflected in the refusal to answer certain “controversial questions”, as well as the faulty portrayal of sex in media and the generalized beauty standards for both genders. This can lead to unhealthy attitudes about sex which could lead to sexually deviant behavior such as sexual assault. Furthermore, the unrealistic portrayal of gendered ideals of beauty can adversely affect the self-image of the consumers of mass media such as Bollywood movies. The pornography analysis highlights the inability to effectively execute the 2018 porn ban. Despite the ban, many sites are easily accessible in India, and even mainstream porn sites are accessible with a VPN or virtual private network. However, further studies are required in order to establish a linkage between pornography viewership and sexual assault rates. Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 46 Conclusion The current study highlighted the impact of Indian media on sexual assault rates. The assessment of data and results produced from it showed a possible link between Indian media content and sexually aggressive behavior, although further research is required to practically observe the relationship. Song themes were offensive to women with the most common theme being characteristically offensive and aggressive to women. This theme parallelly inclined with an incline in annual rape incidence rates. A study of confounding variables that co-exist with media influences can be broadly conducted to holistically observe a multitude of environmental influences that contribute to sexual violence. Thematic analysis of the movie revealed a variety of themes that have gained severe popularity in the narratives of mainstream Bollywood movies, especially those that refer to women in a degrading manner. When related to Bandura’s observational learning theory, it brings into question what the mass is absorbing from such mainstream content, and their ability to critically evaluate the content in order to take in the positive attributes. The extreme box office success of these movies with harmful narratives is extremely concerning when considering that Bandura believed learning of behavior occurs through the amalgamation of multiple observations or the processing of a single observation to diverse forms by the observer. Since the prior research conducted around indian pornography and sexual assault rates have been scant, the current study provided deeper insight into the relationship of the two variables. Sexual assault incidence rate saw a parallel decline alongside the enforcement of the porn ban despite previous western studies claiming the lack of a reliable link between sexual assault and pornography(Linz et al, 1987). The study revealed the presence of sexually coercive Indian pornography that had considerable number of views and likes. Similar videos were accessible to a geographically Indian audience even after the ban was imposed. The likelihood of the porn ban causing a decline in sexual assault incidence is thereby weakened with the above finding. The ample availability and likeness towards content that is sexually abusive towards women highlight the need for attention and further research to determine an ascertained cause for the decline in rape rates in 2019. The sample size of the questionnaire analysis is largely composed of students between the ages of 20 and 25. Results indicate that the respondents alleged that they came across sexualized content in mainstream media, and the content in mainstream Bollywood is extremely degrading Impact of Indian Media on Sexual Assault Rates 47 towards women. Several responses highlighted the problematic nature of item songs, which largely stems from the power hierarchy at play by showing the disparity between the “virtuous heroine” and the “desirable vamp”. The majority of respondents found item songs to be more sexual than other sex-related content like sex scenes in movies and softcore pornography, which highlighted the need for extreme censorship when it comes to the availability of hypersexual nature in family-friendly Bollywood movies. 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