Preservation of Culture-Sexual Purity
That sexual purity of women is one of the basic elements of the Indian cultural tradition is difficult to deny. Throughout years, the development of the Indian culture had been concentrated on the need for the Indian people to protect themselves from the unavoidable influence of Westernized cultural traditions. The caste system often became a good prism of gender analysis in the Indian cinematic art, and SUJATA is, probably, the brightest example of how Indian society treats chastity and sexual purity in women. Remember the scene when Sujata discusses her origin with her step-mother the mere fact of Sujatas belonging to the untouchable creates a controversial situation. Sujata realizes that her origin is likely to produce a significant effect on her future life, including her marriage (if possible). Nevertheless, her origin does not diminish the tensions that arise between her and Adhir throughout the movie, Sujata is being constantly torn between her inner feelings and the need for her to follow the norms of the society to which she belongs.
Sujata shows, that sexual purity in Indian culture and Indian cinema is in no way detrimental to the quality of erotic anxieties. On the contrary, sexual purity in Sujata and similar cinematic creations adds to the complexity of eroticism, making it both innocent and realistic. Whenever the young woman shies away from Adhir through her body language, sexual purity turns into the direct reflection of the Indian cultural traditionality sexual purity helps actors communicate elevated emotions and depict elevated characters (Chute 38). Several garden scenes in the movie seem to have been intentionally designed to emphasize the relevance of hidden eroticism in Sujatas behaviors. Every moment she sees Adhir, be it with Rama or alone, she avoids looking into his eyes. She will either lower her head or turn her back to him neither of these moves looks rude or impolite to Adhir.
On the contrary, Bimal Roy uses these moves to underline the significance of sexual purity in creating an elevated image of an Indian woman. All these scenes and behaviors imply that creating an elevated depiction of an Indian woman is impossible without showing this woman as sexually pure and intact sexual purity for the Indians is the necessary component of their aesthetic imagination and beliefs. This is what is also implied in one of the first scenes of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge the first train encounter represents the balance of sexual forces in the Indian society. This is the power of a man, who associated a woman with passivity but it is, as well, a new image of an Indian woman who has a certain degree of autonomy and can take decisions. Simran does avoid looking at her new male friend directly, and she, probably, confirms that sexual purity is as necessary as it is also vital in bringing emotional response and cultural appreciation to the surface (Chute 38). Sexual purity is stable and unchangeable, regardless of what caste an Indian woman belongs to. However, the discussion of sexual purity in Hindi movies is not always about male dominance.
The image of Simran and the context of her relationships with Adhir can be successfully referred to the modern Indian discourse, in which the image of an Indian woman is closely associated with the vision of autonomy (Daya 98). The new image of an Indian woman is constructed in ways that confirms the meaning of autonomy as deeply embodied into the notion of modern Indian femininity (Daya 100). Simran has an opportunity to travel, but her autonomy is relative otherwise it would contradict to the traditional idea of sexual purity in India. Simran actually exemplifies a boundary between Indian traditionality and modernity. She confirms that sexual purity is the basic criterion, according to which women are either included into or excluded from the Indian womanhood. The fears which Simran holds about her body are natural in the Westernized culture and she implies that the loss of sexual purity for an Indian woman is necessarily an act of violation, which traditional Indian society cannot accept. Simultaneously, she confirms that objectification of a woman as passive is logical in the Indian culture and those who dare to compromise their bodily purity are destined to forever lose their right to belong to their society.
The role of sexual purity is even more important in strengthening and reinforcing the vision of masculinity in India. Absurd at first glance, this link between sexual purity and masculinity in the Indian culture is, nevertheless, extremely relevant and important. Globalization and the emergence of transcultural moods make this link between sexual purity and masculinity particularly complex and problematic. Globalization and transcultural attitudes create conditions necessary for India to merge with other cultures and, simultaneously, threaten the stability of the cultural traditions and values in India. As such, India faces a serious challenge in its desire to reconcile its cultural heritage with the benefits and opportunities of the cultural openness to the West. The fact is in that studies have shown the significance of discourses of sexuality to the construction of nationhood. heternormative sexuality is crucial to the formation of hegemonic diasporic subjectivity. Womens bodies are crucial to nationalist discourse in that they serve not only as the site of biological reproduction of national collectivities, but as the very embodiment of this nostalgically evoked communal past and tradition (Mankekar 738).
Sexual purity in the Indian women helps Indian men maintain a reasonable balance between their power and freedom in pursuing women, and their masculinity that is closely associated with the need for protecting female innocence in their society. When Simran wakes up in her room and hears Rajs story, she is lost and confused but Raj is correct when saying that he, as the Indian man, does know the true value of female innocence and purity. This is actually a compromise that, on the other hand, revitalizes Indian masculinity through the prism of male respect to women and, simultaneously, redefines the notion of the female consent in the Indian cultural discourse. That Simran, in distinction from Sujata, does possess some degree of autonomy in her actions does not erase but only reinforces and strengthens the decision-making power of a modern Indian woman. Simran exemplifies a woman who perfectly realizes what is better for her welfare, and sexual purity obviously occupies one of the leading positions in the structure of her beliefs about personal stability.
The more westernized the Indian people and women, in particular, become the more concerned they get about preserving sexual purity of women as the distinctive feature of their cultural uniqueness. That is why Simrans father seeks to arrange his daughters marriage with a man, whom she had never seen before. This is the act that is unacceptable to a woman who already considers herself a part of the westernized world and the act, which her father views as the guarantee for preserving his daughters sexual purity before and during her marital life. That is probably, why, in relationships between Sujata and Adhir, Adhirs desire to preserve Sujatas femininity and sexual purity is not as visible as it is between Simran and Raj. Sujata exemplifies a person, who carries the primary burden of responsibility for her own sexual purity, while Raj is the one who undertakes the role of a caregiver for Simran. In their conversation after the play, and the moment Sujata feels Adhirs touch, she cannot escape her inner anxiety about the risks of breaking gender norms of her society even an innocent touch for Sujata is a step beyond sexual purity. It is probable that westernized culture that significantly reinforces the need for Indian men to preserve and care for sexual purity in Indian women, because Indian men in westernized societies experience the lack of masculine self-expression and apply to Indian womens sexual purity as the only possible means to revitalize their gender stability in the Indian cultural discourse.
In her film, Atidya Chopra openly asserts that preserving sexual purity in the westernized world is possible. Moreover, men intentionally seek to preserve sexual purity of their women as a sign of their belonging to one and the same cultural tradition. No, that does not mean that the West does not threaten the virginity of Indian women, but Indian men can be fairly regarded as safest and the most reliable guards of their sexual purity. The incident between Simran and Raj and the fact that he did not use her vulnerability and weakness reveal the natural commitment, which men of the Indian background display toward national codes of modesty and sexual purity of Indian women (Mankekar 739). Simultaneously, Simran is discouraged by the fear of having engaged in a sexual intercourse with Raj an act that goes against her cultural beliefs and undermines her cultural reputation. Actually, the whole love affair between Raj and Simran is about sexual purity, and the latter works as an effective tool of preserving Indian cultural uniqueness under the pressure of the Westernized cultural influences. Everything is different for Sujata and Adhir in their society, sexual purity is taken for granted and is deeply appreciated. While Adhir pursues her in the garden, after the play, etc., even the direct eye contact for Sujata exemplifies the crossing of acceptable femininity boundaries. Sujatas behavioral reactions position eye contact and touch as a form of gender contamination. The time Adhir touches Sujatas shoulder (while discussing the theme of her birthday) reveals Sujatas expectations about relationships with men her reaction is sudden, her feelings are mixed, ranging from unexpected confusion to even aversion and antipathy. The latter are the direct products of Sujatas compliance with the norms of sexual purity and her continuous desire to remain intact. Sujata represents an ideal of an Indian woman and serves an effective tool of protecting the Indian womanhood from the possibility of maintaining a close contact with a man. Simultaneously, Adhir, possibly, does not seek to confirm his masculine power over Sujata but may be using his dominant social and gender position to reflect the logic of gender beliefs in the society to which he belongs his feelings to Sujata is a form of transforming his sexual energy into spiritual wellbeing. His relationships with Sujata could potentially become a reliable tool of domesticating the politics of the existing gender discourse in the 20th centurys India.
It should be noted, that the striving of the Indian men to protect Indian womens sexual purity in the West is the reflection of the two important cultural tendencies. On the one hand, the protection of sexual purity serves a good instrument of reconciling Indian and Western cultural traditions. On the other hand, sexual purity stands out as the element critical for preserving and reinforcing Indian masculinity in the West that Raj does not display any erotic intentions toward Simran confirm his dignity and self-control as the necessary components of his cultural masculinity. Derne is correct, when saying that because nationalist Indian men identified the public world as a typically male domain, they made women the primary bearers of Indianness in the crucial spiritual domain (87-88). As such, sexual purity in the context of the westernized cultural tradition for men is not only a part of their self-identification with the Indian culture, but is an effective means of reinforcing the sense of their own masculinity.
Indian men who are torn between their inner cultural identity and objective cultural realities will tend to perceive western cultural traditions as threatening to the Indian womens cultural uniqueness. The desire of Indian men to preserve Indian womens sexual purity is the essential component of their cultural self-identification. By preserving Indian womens cultural identity, Indian men do their best to protect their women from the detrimental influence of the global culture. Their striving to sexual purity is also a part of the natural mens desire to reconcile their cultural beliefs with those of the westernized world when Raj and Simran take a decision to run away and to continue their relationship, they take a step toward the westernized world without disrupting the stability of their cultural ties with the Indian nation. As a result, sexual purity continues to be the central element of cultural representation in Indian films. Sexual purity is the dominant theme in the Indian society sexual purity distinguishes Indian women from other cultures and is actively used by Indian men to strengthen and reinforce their masculinity in the West.
Sexual purity continues to be the dominant theme in the Indian society. The development of transnational cultural trends and cultural globalization show sexual purity as the critical element of the Indian cultural heritage and as vital for the preservation of the Indian cultural uniqueness. Bimal Roy and Aditya Chopra send a profound cultural message to the audience they confirm that preserving sexual purity in the West is not simply possible, but it also desirable as a matter of protecting Indian women from the Westernized cultural influence. In the West, sexual purity serves an effective tool of preserving and reinforcing the sense of masculinity in Indian men in the west.
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