Samantha Kretschmer WMST 100-001 Due: October 18, 2011 Female Companionship and Lesbianism The film Fire

by Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta was a film that many officials in India believed was offensive and contrary to the customs and culture of India. The definition of Indian culture has become highly contested and it is no coincidence that these contests have intensified with the ascendance of the Hindu Right. The continuous targeting of representations of sex and sexuality betrays an underlying fear that sex is something that is threatening to Indian culture values, to the Indian way of life, to the very existence of the Indian nation (Kapur 54). However, they failed to see the true meaning of the film which is to show the sexual feelings that women have no matter what culture they may be a part of. The film shows the true human nature of women that are sexually frustrated due to the cultural restrictions they feel placed upon them and how they can find relief from other women. The main characters are two different couples that are living in the same home. The older couple is composed of the wife, Radha, and her husband, Ashoka. The younger couple is Ashokas younger brother Jatin and his wife Sita. Sita and Radha also become Biji, Ashoka and Jatins mothers, main caregivers. Jatin and Sita seem like a good couple in the beginning of the film but it shows later on that Jatin is cheating on Sita with an Indian-Asian girl named Julie, when he exclaims that he does not love Sita at all. Meanwhile, Radha is shown to have a barren womb and is unable to have children with Ashoka which becomes a major problem in this stage of their marriage. Ashok is distraught because he feels that Radha cannot fulfill her duty as a wife and give him children, and as a result he treats her poorly. In one article titled Lesbianism:

an Act of Resistance by Clarke, Clarke states that men are given a sense of dominance over women, and as a result Women are kept, maintained, and contained through terror, violence and spray of semen (Clarke 130). This is representative of the relationships between the main characters and how Ashoka and Jatin are automatically put into a position of male dominance from the beginning due to their culture. As a result of his religious beliefs, Ashoka becomes celibate of all of his desires including sex and is unable to fulfill his wifes desires. Although both domestic relationships seem that they are completely different, they are actually very similar in the fact that both of them have the lack of passion and love in them, and are in a doomed state that cannot be fixed easily. The film also defines the lengths that the womens desires would take them, and how their bond is much stronger than anyone would have expected. Both of the couples have troubles that affect both sides of the relationship. For example, Ashoka and Radha are unable to fulfill each others desires due to the fact that she could not have children and he would never touch her even if she lay naked beside him. These faults in the marriage have taken their toll, and both are devoid of any spark of passion which is why Radha searches for it elsewhere and found it in Sita. As Radha and Sita grow closer together, they develop a sexual relationship with each other.
Lesbian existence comprises both of the breaking of a taboo and the rejection of a compulsory

way of life (Rich 318). The previous quote greatly demonstrates the fact that the relationship between Sita and Radha was especially attractive to them, and many lesbians in society. Their new relationship is very eye-opening as it becomes apparent that Radha and Sitas relationship is portrayed as a positive one. This relationship is also one where both truly feel love for each other which is absolutely opposite of their relationships with their husbands. In fact, as the two grow further and further into love not only do they openly show affection for each other beyond

friendship, they also begin to reject their husbands sexual advances upon them. This shows they have found the spark they are looking for in each other, not their husbands. Clarke describes factors of their new relationship well in the following quote: Lesbianism is recognition, an awakening, a reawakening of our passion for each (women) other (women) and for same women. This passion will ultimately reverse the heterosexual imperialism of male culture (Clarke 128). This true love that they experience shows that their bond is unbreakable no matter how embarrassing it is in their culture. Meanwhile, Ashok and Jatins relationship is faulty since the men dont particularly see eye to eye. Ashok disapproves of Jatins decision to still openly date Julie, while Jatin thinks his decision to follow a man named Swamiji and practice celibacy. In this way, it shows that the couples are actually separated by gender in terms of fulfilling each others passions; the women can and the men can do nothing for each other. This once again shows that women bond more strongly with each other, which is also seen when Ashok discovers the two women in the act of love and confronts Radha who then tells him that she is leaving him for Sita. She does this even knowing that she has committed a sin in their religion and she should be punished for it but risks it for Sita. The ending of this film was actually quite relatable to the title; as Radha tells Ashok she is leaving him for a woman he pushes her into a stove where she catches on fire as Ashok watches silently. However, Radha meets with Sita in the final scene of the film which once again shows that the womens relationship was absolutely unbreakable, and they have survived the flames. This film was banned in many countries for many reasons, and there were revisions that had to be made to even show the film in India. Many groups including Hindus Rights activist say that the film should be banned, The main plank of the Hindu Right's protest is that Fire, in particular, the representation of a lesbian relationship, is antithetical to Indian cultural values,

that it is a Western contaminant threatening to destroy Indian culture and the Indian family (Kapur 56). Due to the fact that one of the main characters named Sita shared a name with a well-known female in an Indian epic, the director, Mehta, agreed to change her name to Neeta in order to be less offensive. Mehta's compromise is a move that stands out as a stark example of the ways in which Indian society is being held ransom to one version, one story, one 'truth' about Indian culture (Kapur 55). In conclusion, there are many different types of women and they are treated differently by their own respective cultures. With these differences however, there always seems to be a constant in women. This constant being, that no matter what kind of women, each one will always be sexual being and can become frustrated when not allowed to properly express this part of themselves. In addition, female companionship is also a necessary part in any females life. This need is often fulfilled by other women and can be a great relief for many.

Works Cited Clarke, Cheryl. Lesbianism: An Act of Resistance. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings By Radical Women of Color. Berkeley: Third Woman Press, 1981. 128-37 Kapur, Ratna. Too Hot to Handle: The Cultural Politics of Fire. Feminist Review 64 (Spring 2000): 53-64. Rich, Adrienne. Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence. Feminism in Our Time. Ed. Miriam Schneir. New York: Vintage Books, 1994. 310-26.