Achieving gender equality is a desirable social goal globally
Gender Equality was made part of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948
The Constitution of India not only guarantees women equality but empowers the state to enforce measures to achieve equality through positive discrimination
In 1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). India is a signatory to CEDAW
The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, asserted women’s rights as human rights and committed to specific actions to ensure respect for those rights
Achieving gender equality is Sustainable Development Goal 5, to be attained by 2030 by all countries in the world
Media and Entertainment industry in India is INR2.1 trillion (US$26.2 billion)
Film industry is the fourth largest in this sector
Media is an important actor in the promotion of gender equality
Portrayal and Visibility of women, men and genderqueer individuals are important for achieving gender equality in the Media and Entertainment industry.
School of Media & Cultural Studies
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
June 2023
The on-screen representations of women, men and LGBTQIA+ persons,
and
Women present off screen as crew members and in other parts of the film ecosystem
Top
films from the year 2019
2019 was the last year before pandemic-related lockdowns, when the study commenced in 2021
10 women-oriented films between 2012-19
Major conversations on gender-based violence and #MeToo between 2012-19
1930
total
speaking and named characters studied
23.3%
36%
0.3%
7%
76.4%
57%
The lead propels the story forward
The co-lead plays a
role of lesser importance than the lead but also propels the story in association
with the
lead
The romantic co-lead plays a role of lesser importance in the story and has a romantic association with the lead
A romantic interest role is shorter in length and of limited influence
All the other roles those are supportive in nature in a film with a name and/or dialogue
The age of characters was enumerated based on visual representation
and
dialogues
The 21-45 year age group is the dominant age group among all genders
Women-centric films are more inclusive with children, teens of all genders, and
the elderly playing characters
in the films
Caste in films is observed through the last names of characters, caste-based occupations, caste symbols, household rituals, caste pride dialogues, domestic practices and interactions
Characters were enumerated into two categories (Dominant Caste and
non-Dominant
Caste)
The majority of characters in box-office toppers and women-centric films are shown as belonging to dominant castes (92%)
Lead characters belong to non-dominant castes only if the film is on caste
Religious identities in films are represented through visual symbols, dialogues, music, religious rituals, religious pictures, idols, places of worship, clothing and jewellery
Majority of the characters playing the leads, co-leads, romantic co-leads and romantic interests in both box-office toppers (79%) and women-centric films (64%) are Hindu
Only 0.5% of characters are
shown
with
disabilities
People with disabilities are shown to attract sympathy or as comic relief in box office topper films
LGBTQIA+ characters in box-office toppers are not shown with disabilities
All the characters with disabilities in box-office topper films are male
Heterosexual female characters in box-office toppers and women-centric films are not shown with any physical disability
Only one women-centric film presents the lead character with disabilities
Employment was inferred from the visuals, dialogue, display of income-earning work or references to employment and earning
Among the women
characters:
42%
of women are employed in Box office toppers and
33%
are
employed in women-centric films
Figures higher than the national figures for women’s employment but stereotypical, sexualised and also often trivialised
LGBTQIA+ characters are shown to be in employment
Women professionals (doctors, nurses, teachers) are represented voyeuristically
Employment is shown as double-edged. Families complain about women’s commitment to their jobs. Managers complain about women’s family responsibilities
16%
0.4%
83.6%
23%
1%
76%
Media, Care work, Medicine
Military, Police, Politics & Crime
Empowerment and agency of women in films is expressed in terms of personality traits rather than their rightful place in society and in the world of work
Characters in big cities have careers/aspirations. Characters from small towns, where a lot of contemporary films are set, are not afforded such representation
Even the ‘new economy’ narratives sidestep substantive representation of women in employment and in decision-making positions
Characters in films are shown as being in committed romantic or marital
relationships.
This is an indication of how characters are imagined within a
normative
framework
Only 21% of all characters are in committed romantic or marital relationships in Hindi films
For each of the genders, the distribution is - 40% of female
characters,
28% of
LGBTQI+
characters and 14% of
male characters are in committed relationships
Women-centric films, which also have more family and gender relations-oriented
subjects
have a higher percentage of females, males and LGBTQI+ in
committed
relationships
Three indicators were used to categorise the appearance of characters: attractiveness, skin colour and body shape
Attractiveness was studied as the extent to which the character was the recipient of verbal and nonverbal indications that communicate physical desirability
Women across all films receive higher verbal and non-verbal comments/hints about physical attractiveness
60%
of women
characters
have fair skin,
0nly
35% of male characters
are
fair-skinned
55%
of Male characters
are
of
‘wheatish’ complexion
Darker skin tones are the least preferred
Majority of women are thin in box office toppers and women-centric films. However, the percentage is lower in women-centric films
In both types of films, male characters are of medium body shape
Love Your Body
Clothing in films is a shorthand to indicate the class, caste, marital, religion, ethnic status and attitude (traditional or modern) of the characters. In the case of women characters, it is about their sexuality and virtue, as well
Women who play key roles wear Western and Indian clothes
Female characters are seen predominantly in Indian clothing such as the sari, salwar kameez and lehenga
Male characters are seen in
only Western
clothing
such
as Western-style trousers, denim jeans, western-style shirts
and t-shirts
Greater expression of ‘modern’ identities in women-centric films compared to box-office topper films
LGBTQIA characters are seen
more in
western clothing
than in Indian clothing in both types
of films
More women than men wear sexually revealing clothing
Objectification was studied by observing dialogues, actions and cinematic angles
More female characters are treated as sex objects by other characters, regardless of the type of film
Women-centric films that cover themes of sexism, sexual harassment and gender
relations slip into objectification through voyeuristic
camera angles
More male characters initiate intimacy
Expression of intimacy is higher in women-centric films
Public domain focus
War, politics & leisure
Private domain focus
Love, sexuality & gender relations
Violence in films outstrips love and romance
More female characters are involved in intimacy but male characters initiate it
Consent-seeking in intimacy is still
fraught with violence
and misogyny
Women-centric films explore structures of patriarchy and question them. couple of films also highlighted marital rape
Films continue to demarcate men as ‘bad men’ and ‘good men’
Films that explore sexual intimacy do not address contraception or safe sex
LGBTQIA+ characters are sexualised in Box office films
Violence of different forms and on different characters is endemic to films
Perpetrators of physical and verbal violence were categorised into initiators and retaliators
A majority of male characters and male leads are shown as initiating physical violence in box-office topper films
Few female leads are shown as initiating physical violence in a few box-office films
More male characters are targets of physical violence than female characters in box office topper films
More female characters are targets of physical violence than male characters in women-centric films
Perpetrators of verbally violent acts use loud or soft words to attack and intimidate other characters
Verbally violent males who target other males are a majority in films
More female characters are shown as initiating verbal violence targeted against women in
women-centric films
Sexist humour normalises inequalities and gender discrimination
Sexist jokes and statements are made in films to intimidate or compliment women and gender-nonconforming individuals
“औरत जैसी” (Like a woman) continues to be used as a mockery for queer characters or non-aggressive male characters
“चूड़ी पहन के” (wearing bangles) to brand a man as a ‘beta male’ exists in films
Male characters crack most of the sexist jokes in films
Female characters rarely call out sexism
Female characters that resist sexist humour are portrayed as aggressive women or wild women
Bechdel-Wallace Test examines gender bias and representation in any media. A film is said to pass the Bechdel test if there is at least one scene where two named women characters talk to each other on topics other than a man
Only 36% of box-office films passed the Bechdel test while 100% women-centric films passed the Bechdel test
More female characters in women-centric films had conversations about their lives, careers, domestic responsibilities, mental health and aspirations compared to women in box-office topper films
The legal framework provided by Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code was used to study the various acts of sexual harassment that were committed by characters
Box office topper films show more instances of sexual harassment compared to women-centric films
Stalking is the most common form of sexual harassment. In a few films, this is shown as the pathway to seeking a woman’s love
Ignoring the incident
is the most common response
Male leads respond with violence and aggression if ‘their women’ are
sexually
harassed
Women who call out sexual harassment are blamed for inviting it
Box-office topper films with few exceptions are largely
out-bound (politics, society, action
trillers, terrorism, etc) and women-centric films are in-bound (family, gender, interpersonal
relationships, sexuality, etc)
There are more men than women on screen in films
The majority of films have male leads and women as romantic interests
LGBTQI+ characters are getting visible but are stereotyped
Films have characters that are young in age, able-bodied, upper caste and Hindu
Women characters are fair, thin, sexualized, objectified and subject to sexist jokes
Women in employment hold stereotyped jobs and rarely have
decision-making power
Consent is still inadequately dealt with
Women-centric films reverse this casting and also are more diverse
female crew for 35 films
For every woman actor on screen
there are
8
female crew members behind the screen
male crew for 35 films
Whereas, for every male actor on screen there are 19 male crew members behind the screen
For every 1
woman in the crew
there are 6 men in the crew
Women as a percentage of the crew
are
higher
in women-centric films
compared to box office topper films
Women-centric films have more female crew at 15% compared to 13% in the box-office toppers
Women-centric films had double the number of female heads of department at 6% compared to the 3% in the box-office toppers
48.2%
44.1%
There are software technology skilled women contributing to Box–office films that use animation and visual effects in war films and sci-fi films
(2010-2020, www.imdb.com)
(2010-2020, www.filmfare.com)
(1991-2017, www.filmfare.com)
(2009-2019, https://dff.gov.in)
(1969-2018, https://dff.gov.in)
Data Coding Agency
Pixights Consulting, Mumbai
Report Design
Adosys Consultancy Pvt Ltd., Kolkata
Funding Support
US Consulate Mumbai
Research Team
Dr Lakshmi Lingam
Dr Sunitha Chitrapu
Research Assistants
Ms Diksha Sindram
Ms Asmita Srivastava
TISS, Mumbai
Dr Shalini Bharat, Director, TISS
U S Consulate Mumbai
Mr Mike Hankey, Consul General
Mr Robert Anderson, Cultural Affairs Officer
Ms Almitra Kika, Program Manager, Public Diplomacy
School of Media & Cultural Studies
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
June 2023
Screenplay and dialogue writers have often been overlooked in India
in terms of
visibility and acknowledgement
Women screenwriters increasingly focus on gender roles in society
Four screenwriters, three screenwriter directors and one film programmer/ screenwriting mentor were interviewed to understand their experiences of the industry
One out of the eight interviewed studied the Screenplay Writing course offered by FTII, Pune
Others either did a media course or switched to screenwriting from other media professions
“I
was told by a leading producer
that you can't write about female friends. I remember a
few years ago, I wrote a story about War. World War and the Indian participation in it.I
mean there was no way I could get money to make it because nobody will trust me with it.
Despite having done so much work they will trust a new guy to make a war film”
“It was also suggested that why don’t I take a big male star as her co-star so that it could get funded, and it could see the light of day”
Do we have critical numbers of women and queer scriptwriters
Do we have critical numbers of women producers who are able to green light projects by women screenwriters?
Is the film industry putting in place policies to have an equitable eco-system?
Screenwriting Education and Development: Production companies need to invest in teaching screenwriting at par with international standards
More women and gender queer individuals in writer’s rooms of series and films to be encouraged by creating opportunities, lucrative remuneration and time to write to pitch and produce a script
More women as Producers to produce and green light scripts to change the male gaze
Anti-sexual harassment
policies
need to be in place to secure women and queer writers who engage with, pitch or
workshop their projects with other crew members in offices or
in private spaces
Assistant Professor,
School of Media & Cultural Studies,
TISS, Mumbai
School of Media & Cultural Studies
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
June 2023
In-depth interviews with 18 women directors
Senior most in 70’s and youngest in their early 30s
All interviews were done online between January 2022 and April 2023
What does it mean to be a woman director in the Hindi film industry?
What can be done to make both cinema and the sets more inclusive?
How can we address sexual harassment and the provision of infrastructure on the sets?
What has and has not changed in the Hindi film industry in terms of gender in the last twenty years?
Filmmaking led by women changes the gaze, making it more nuanced and representative
However, the ‘woman’ Director tag typecasts women film makers reducing their chances of getting funding
Finding finance for women-centric films by early career women directors is a challenge
Mentorship has a strong positive impact in increasing the number of women directors
Infrastructure: provide clean toilets, creches, POSH committees
Network building: to facilitate mentorship and sponsorship of early-career women directors
Hiring women: have a minimum percentage of women in every department
Female forward storytelling: Increase financial support for women-led narratives
School of Media & Cultural Studies,
TISS, Mumbai
School of Media & Cultural Studies
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
June 2023
Audiences are an important part of the cinema ecosystem
Young online media critics are exemplars of ‘active’ audiences
Their social media conversations are important for the film industry to get feedback on film narratives and issues of representation
Interacted with young online media critics
Followed hashtag conversations
Mapped the diversity of conversations
Comments on cinema are made through text, memes, and mashup videos
Humour and satire make commentary accessible
Gender representation is discussed beyond the binary
Inclusive and intersectional view of gender
Online communities are introduced to feminist and social justice vocabulary
‘Nasty’ audiences - trolls and abusers negatively impact online conversations
In a heavily mediatised world young people need critical media education to deal with various kinds of media content and navigate social media safely
Beyond representation on and behind the screen, representation in front of the screen also matters. Women and non-binary folx need improved access to cinema
Conversations driving progressive change are being shutdown by trolls and abusers – film industry needs to build campaigns and actionable community guidelines
The government, film producers, distributors, and digital platforms can design special campaigns and events to promote women and non-binary audience participation
For feedback or any related communication write to : dean.smcs@tiss.edu outreachsmcs@gmail.com
