Ascendancy of Mass Media in Achieving Gender Equality

Abstract

For centuries, marginalisation has affected the niches and nooks of the world on a different level. Identities like caste, creed, religion, language, race and gender have been practiced with a hierarchy and hegemony. Women are one of the largest marginalized communities along with LGBTQIA+. OTT platform plays a crucial role in displaying voices from the margins in order to showcase socio-cultural inequality and inhumanity. The present paper deals with the Indian patriarchal mindset that refuses to accept women as a major contributor and creator of society. Accepting all weak gender identities as a part of the main stream is almost like mission impossible. Desmond Tutu’s ‘rainbow colour society’ is a far reaching-goal in India. Thanks to social media of the 21st century for transmitting these minority voices to the public’s attention and awareness. The media of the 21st century has aided a lot in conditioning society’s mindset into accepting an egalitarian society. The present paper deals with marginalized married Indian women’s voices from a film called The Great Indian Kitchen on OTT and a television series based on Manju Kapoor’s novel Married Woman and Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, Namesake. The house wives have been portrayed as searching for identities and are rebellious against the stereotypical roles. The issues of identities of the women protagonists have been powerfully depicted through these channels. The research is based upon qualitative and quantitative data analysis with statistical evidence wherever necessary. The paper is divided into four parts, namely the role of media in the 21st century, issues of identities as a theoretical background, application of the identity issues of Ashima , protagonist of book , Namesake Nimisha, the protagonist, in the film The Great Indian Kitchen and in the tele-series The Married Woman and last but not the least conclusions. This is a study and critique to highlight how the media aids in re-conceptualization of societal norms and traditions for the queer and female community to gain their self-esteem and dignity with special reference to GEM (Gender Empowerment Measure).