Research Symposium

BIO

My name is Bitia Roig San Roman and I am from Tampa, FL. I am a sophomore here at FSU majoring in Risk Management/Insurance and Finance. My research is on studying how women are portrayed in Bollywood films directed by women.

Representation of women in female-directed Bollywood films

Abstract

Bollywood films are extremely popular throughout India. 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, Movies, Women, Impact