Which verse of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa is Devdutt Pattanaik referring to?

Question

This Indian Express article quotes Devdutt Pattanaik as saying:

On tradition vs modernity

Modern people invent tradition. Because modern people want to feel “liberal” and “modern”, they will construct a past that is conservative. And you see that in writings all the time. So Sita has to be this creature who has no voice of her own. But when you actually read the Valmiki Ramayana, you'll be like, 'this lady seems to have a voice'. In fact, there's a dialogue where Ram says, "Whenever I ask her to do anything, she says no."

Which verse of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa is Pattanaik referring to?

Answer 1

But when you actually read the Valmiki Ramayana, you'll be like, 'this lady seems to have a voice'.

This might be referring to 5 Sargas of Valmiki Ramayana: Ayodhya Kanda where Rama asks her to stay in Ayodhya but she insists going with Rama in forest:

• Sarga 26
• Sarga 27
• Sarga 28
• Sarga 29
• Sarga 30

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In fact, there's a dialogue where Ram says, "Whenever I ask her to do anything, she says no."

This might be some opinion based interpretation of the below partial verse:

कारणैः बहुभिस् तथ्यैः वार्यमाणौ न च इच्चतः || 2.34.23

[Lord Rama to his father:] I tried to dissuade them (Lakshmana and Sita) with a number of reasons but they did not agree.

When we read this verse stand alone, this comes out like mentioned in the question but when we read it with context (after reading previous Sargas), we understand that it's not like Lakshmana and Seetha didn't agree to what Rama says but out of devotion and love they insisted to going in forest with Rama putting their comfort aside.