Research Symposium

BIO

Adeline Ryan is a second-year student at Florida State University, pursuing a degree in Psychology. She is originally from Saint Cloud, Florida, and plans to pursue a Master of Psychology after graduating. She aspires to become a child psychologist. She completed 50 hours of community service in the greater Tallahassee area.

Representation of Women In Female-Directed Bollywood Films

Abstract

This research has a focus on how Bollywood films directed by women portray female characters in the cultural expectations and societal norms found in India. Gender roles in India are typically women being characterized according to misogynist interpretations of how a woman should act in their society. This allows us to see how with female directors, women are portrayed differently in these films. Throughout this research, we gather quantitative and qualitative data through a process known as film coding. We go through different films and fill out surveys in Qualtrics, then compare answers to make sure everything is correct. While doing this process, we go through and mark different things such as clothing, religion, education, work, relationships, taboo behavior, and more which allows us to gather an understanding of how exactly the women in the films are being viewed as. This project is still in its initial stages so there is no conclusive data or results yet. However, while viewing these films we can begin to see the different trends in women while coding these films.

Keywords: Bollywood, Women, Representation, Film