“She is divorced, don’t talk to her much”, “She has made a fool out of her marriage”; you must have come across these comments in an Indian society. A divorced woman is often mocked more than a divorced man. You’d obviously feel that the above statement supports sexism. But trust us, in the societal pressure we live in, the truth cannot be denied.
The interesting fact is, way back in history, Egypt & Romans had the most liberal attitudes towards divorce. The reason for that is, there was no religion; instead there were a set of common secular norms. But as time passed, Christianity came in & the church was completely against divorces. Similar goes for Hinduism.
Penny for your thoughts: does that mean we should go back to those secular norms?
Disclaimer: there are no ill feelings about any religion. There are ill feelings about the misleading stereotypes & lifestyles that could ruin a person’s life. Out of all the countries in the world, India has the least amount of divorces- a percent. Is this because love is in the air? To back this statement, according to the BBC, the percentage of separation in India is thrice the percentage of divorces. For a simple reason, CULTURAL RELEVANCE.
Divorce In Hindi Cinema Favoured The Man, Always, Until Recent Movies Changed This Narrative. Movies like Dil Dhadakne Do & Saudagar depict the typical dynamics of women suffering & men moving on, to bring in the change, the OTT platforms are doing a great job with shows like four more shots & that is exactly what we need.
Bollywood movies like “Ki & Ka” where the male ego is taken off, is not what majority of the audiences prefer to see. One observation if you can relate to, is when a woman shifts the oscillation of her position to being in power, a traditional Indian man dislikes it. The woman would be blamed for not taking care of the bread, kids & her husband. Yes, these things still exist in small towns & villages.
Hence, we at Rekindle are trying to make divorces normal. With the rise of gender roles & family structures, it is getting harder for individuals to live happily. If a relationship can shower innumerable amounts of positivity & productivity, it can also shower toxicity in the same amount.
There are always 2 sides to a coin.
Let's accept the fact that divorces can have a positive approach to; they can improve a person’s well being, can make people empowered, can be a start for a fresh beginning, can increase one’s self respect & can be neutral.
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