Misogyny in the writing of negative female characters

Read time: approx 10mins

Have you noticed a stark difference between the writing of male and female negative characters and their endings? Why are female negative characters completely bad and never allowed to redeem themselves whereas male negative characters who repent are always redeemed? Why are they so completely immoral in the way male baddies never are? Let's talk about some female negative roles and how justified their ending was...

Minal Khan as Nisha (Jalan)

The 2020 ARY drama serial Jalan (literal meaning jealousy) was the first time Minal Khan appeared as an antagonist on-screen, and, without a doubt, she took all the limelight to herself. Although the drama serial received huge criticism for its misogynistic approach, it continued to gain blockbuster ratings and recognition due to an increase in audience consumption.

Minal Khan played Nisha's role, a selfish girl who will do anything to get what she wants- even if it means snatching her sister Misha's (Areeba Habib) happiness. Nisha, who is completely jealous of her sister's relationship with her husband Asfandyar (Emmad Irfani) decides to create problems between them and slyly lures her own brother-in-law into cheating on his wife and marrying her instead. Nisha's greed for her sister's luxurious lifestyle backfires on her when she finds out that Asfandyar has fewer business and property shares to his name than his older sister (Nadia Hussain). This character of Minal Khan from start to finish is a negative streak of pure jealousy and ruining relationships. She showed no remorse when her sister committed suicide after suffering in her relationship and she showed no care or responsibility towards the child Misha left behind (and the father she was now married to). Nisha's parents completely disown her after this horrific incident. Later on when Asfandyar begins to understand Nisha's greedy intentions and manipulative ways, he throws her out of his house. Nisha now has nowhere to go.

This character of Nisha has been presented to be so one-dimensional and dangerous as her streak of negative portrayal escalates over the course of the drama. Nisha's character, in the end, does not have "time" to repent but rather fears her dead sister's conscious who is repeatedly trying to warn her of the consequences of her wrongdoings in the last episode. In order to "escape" this reality, Nisha runs out of the house and gets in the car still seeing her sister's spirit and screaming at her whilst driving. Suddenly, she has a car crash and the aftermath turns out to be Nisha's punishment as she is left isolated in a women's shelter in an unrecognisable state. 

The ending seemed somewhat typical and unsatisfactory because Nisha never really realised or reflected on her actions which were so essential after destroying the lives of so many people. Sometimes, we feel that dramas rush the endings and forcefully push any typical punishment as an outcome but do not address the character's personal thoughts and accepting their wrongdoing. These endings aren't as meaningful for an audience that need the issues addressed and accepted as what's wrong is wrong and such behaviour and actions need to stop in the real world. 

At no point over the course of the drama did the writer allow us to feel any sympathy towards Nisha's character- because she just got worse and worse. Therefore, I guess you could say that Nisha deserved it because even her own parents disowned her and felt disgusted by her actions and showed no pity after she was held responsible for her sister's death. In reality, the worst thing to see is your own child pass before you do- especially in the way that Misha died by jumping in a fire it was definitely the last straw for the parents. Could Nisha's actions be psychologically explained? Nobody is 100% bad so did the writer take things too far? 

Sanam Chaudhry as Anji (Ghar Titli Ka Par)

The 2017 GEO drama serial Ghar Titli Ka Par proved to be popular throughout its run and gained high ratings. Although Sanam Chaudhry has now left the showbiz industry, her performance in Ghar Titli Ka Par is said to be her best and we cannot agree more! She was the main attraction in the drama that proved to be entertaining for an audience overpowering the main lead Aiman Khan👀.

Sanam Chaudhry plays the role of Anji who comes from a poor family background but her self-obsessed nature causes her to be greedy and flirtatious throughout the drama. Anji is shown to be of this nature from the very start of the drama which is set in college time where she meets Shafaq (Aiman Khan) a kind-hearted and naive girl and befriends her because of her money. Anji is a disloyal friend who consistently uses Shafaq for her own selfish needs. Anji is shown to come round to Shafaq's house frequently and consistently making her presence aware and slyly presents herself to be an "ideal bahu" in front of Shafaq's parents. Anji flirts with Shafaq's brother Kamran (Ali Abbas) and when she finds out he's engaged to his childhood fiancee Irum (Yashma Gill), this does not stop her from attempting to break off their relationship. Anji brainwashes Shafaq into hating Irum and uses Shafaq as her voice in the house to speak against Irum. However, Irum's patience and wisdom allow Kamran to understand Anji's true colours but they are still unable to explain this to Shafaq. Irum and Kamran get married. 

During her college days, Anji regularly visits a restaurant where she flirts with a waiter who is madly in love with her. She tells her name as Shafaq and uses him to get free food. The waiter constantly asks to marry her, upon which she makes lame excuses. She does however manage to get a lot of money and an expensive jewellery set out of him and then disappears for many years. The waiter is left to be depressed at work which leads to him getting fired. If Anji was not interested in him she should've never played with his feelings because he is left with no trust in women. But until Anji is benefitting from such luxuries and favours, she will continue to flirt with anyone and everyone to get what she wants.

The drama leaps 2 years forward when Anji's mother finds her a rishta in Lahore from a well-to-do family. Aftab (Ali Ansari) lives alone and is very hard-working, and, of course, Anji agrees to marry him for his money without once meeting him. Anji, being the self-centred woman she is, dresses up everyday with no care or responsibility in the house as a wife or even as a mother. Anji's life purely revolves around her going shopping and leaving her kids with the maid for hours. Aftab puts up with this behaviour for a very long time until he realises how careless Anji is with his kids. Anji puts on this "bechari" face in front of the neighbours whom Aftab is quite friendly with for many years. The married couple are childless and Anji makes sly remarks to rub this in on the husband, how he has married a useless woman when in reality she is a lovely woman. Anji is also shown to be flirting with her neighbour and they go out on bike rides together.

It is revealed that Shafaq had a love marriage with her brother's friend Azir (Shehzad Sheikh) and they too have shifted to Lahore. The two college friends decide to meet. Upon seeing Shafaq's lifestyle, peace, happiness and husband Anji feels jealous. Azir is richer and more handsome than her own husband which leaves Anji now plotting to break her friend's marriage. Just like we saw earlier in the drama, Anji is seen to create misunderstandings between Shafaq-Azir causing trust issues. Eventually, Azir throws Shafaq out of the house believing false accusations that Anji has told him about Shafaq cheating. One day, Azir and Anji go for dinner and the same waiter many years ago whom Anji used to flirt with recognises her. He begins to explain everything Anji did with him to which Azir is shocked and finally recognises his wife Shafaq to be innocent and Anji to be purely evil.

Anji, who used to be very disrespectful to her own house's maid is now seen many years later as a maid herself. The once ever-so-glamorous Anji who used to get dolled up everyday to seek male attention is now seen to look the complete opposite. Anji is now not the main centre of attention or in control of anyone. In the last scene, Anji sees Aftab with his kids who are now all grown up and fail to recognise her. Aftab has re-married but had no kids with his second wife. Anji questions this in a spiteful manner- has she not changed?

This character of Anji has been represented to be quite realistic but still lacks that variation in character that we see in real life. Anji is shown to be manipulative and greedy- she never has the right intentions. This behaviour gets worse over the course of the drama as she's shown to be a home-wrecker purely out of jealousy. She's never content with what she has- always looking for "bigger and better". Anji is not seen to feel guilty about her actions and there are no signs of repentance. It's just like makafat-e-amal, what goes around comes around. She is seen in the last scene to now be in the shoes of those she troubled living the "real" life. She seems tiresome from her job but there is no self-reflection of the past. Many people did however like this ending as they believe Anji got what she deserved. What stood out to me was the very last dialogue though which sounded almost like an insult. Anji questioned Aftab's second wife why she did not have kids of her own to which she just walked off in disbelief. What does this tell us about Anji's character development?

Komal Aziz as Sehba (Raaz-e-ulfat)

The 2020 GEO drama serial Raaz-e-ulfat kept viewers hooked for many reasons; one of which is the stark clash between the good and the bad. Komal Aziz gained a huge fan following and received a lot of praise from her fans through Instagram.

Komal Aziz plays the role of Sehba, an impulsive girl who comes from an elite class and lives a modern lifestyle with the freedom to do as she pleases. In contrast, we see Mushk (Yumna Zaidi) a simple daughter of a strict father who wishes to study higher education at university. The girls both meet at university and befriend each other. Sehba is surprised to know of Mushk living by her father's old school values and encourages her to explore the freedom that she has never had. Over time, we see Sehba influencing Mushk who challenges her father's strict ways. Mushk happens to meet Irtiza (Shehzad Sheikh) who is also a family friend of Sehba. Their relationship develops over time which causes Mushk to lie to her family and do things she wouldn't usually do. Mushk, as any girl does, excitedly shares everything that happens between her and Irtiza with her friend Sehba. However, Sehba is now jealous as she too developed a liking for Irtiza. Sehba hatches a series of plans against Mushk to trap her into getting involved in the wrong things which causes Mushk's family to lose their trust in their once simple-going daughter. One day, Sehba pressurises Mushk into going to her friend Nomi's (Danial Afzal Khan) party and drugs her up and locks her in a room. There's a police raid and everyone is arrested but Mushk manages to hide and later escape. Mushk reaches home in a dishevelled state and her family thinks the worst. Irtiza's family call off the wedding.

Sehba later visits Mushk's house with her wedding invitation- her family are getting her married to Irtiza. On the day of the wedding, Nomi turns up and reveals Sehba's true colours and confirms Mushk to be innocent. Irtiza is shocked and in agony and calls off the wedding. The next day, Sehba in a gush of anger turns up at Nomi's house and murders him. Soon after, Sehba has a car accident and is in hospital with injuries. She realises the consequences of her actions and wants to meet Mushk & Irtiza. Sehba truly repents and asks them for forgiveness for her actions and soon after dies.

Sehba's character, in contrast to the previously mentioned characters, shows some screen time of guilt and repentance. Sehba wasn't all that bad- there were signs of psychological issues with her too. Sehba's character more so just wanted to be loved by someone. Her first love Nomi didn't take her seriously so naturally, she felt jealous when she saw her simple friend Mushk was loved by Irtiza.

Due to the fact that Sehba just craved a bit of attention and love from someone, she isn't all that evil. Therefore, when things begin to go downhill for Sehba, an audience may partially be able to relate to her circumstances and begin to empathize with her. By the end of the drama, Sehba realises the consequences of her actions and desperately wants to plead forgiveness before Mushk and Irtiza whilst she's on her deathbed. The very last scene between Mushk and Sehba shows that Mushk always saw Sehba as her friend and so forgave her after seeing her in an injured state. Moments later, Sehba dies. Most people were satisfied with this ending for Sehba, that she got what she deserved. After all, because of her misunderstandings, Irtiza left Mushk who he was so in love with. BUT the foundations of a relationship do lie in trust so maybe Irtiza's mohabbat was "kamzaur".

Can we really justify the typical endings of negative characters?

Typically, male negative roles are shown to be egocentric, toxic and abusive. For example, common Feroze Khan characters match this description but the character in the end is shown to repent over a number of episodes and usually this is enough to justify their behaviour over the entire drama. On the other hand, female negative roles stem from jealousy and greed and show little or no remorse for their actions. What does this imply in real life? Whatever a man does that is wrong is "okay" but whatever a woman does wrong is unforgivable?