Research Symposium

BIO

Reagan Haddix is a freshman in Studio Art from Tennessee, interested in animation, digital media, and film. Her career goal is to work as a storyboard artist and create animatics in the story development stage in films. She would like to do research in the future surrounding the mechanics of using a combination of 2D and 3D animation.

Female Representation in Female-Directed Bollywood Movies

Abstract

This project looks at how having a female director in Bollywood films impacts a film and the way women are represented. Representation has been steadily increasing and support of equal opportunity jobs have gained public support due to publication of studies showing the gross underrepresentation of women. Our research finds the number of female characters and how they are shown through the film coding process, with close watching and marking every time we see certain things. Each research member would be paired with one to three other members to watch and analyze one film. The number of all male and female characters would be found and surveys on each female character would be completed and referenced to other members’ surveys. The surveys ask questions about the character’s class, caste, religion, clothing, level of modesty, if and how they are sexualized, accessories, their relationships, and other linked areas. We argue that when the director of a Bollywood film is a woman, female characters are shown closer to reality and are less sexually emphasized.

Keywords: Bollywood Film Women