The book offers a comprehensive, critical, and intersectional analysis of gender representation in global visual media – spanning film, television, streaming content, and social media – with a particular emphasis on digital platforms and non-Western perspectives. It examines how media both reflects and shapes societal understandings of gender and identity, analyzing intersections with race, class, sexuality, and other axes of power. Through cross-cultural comparisons, the volume investigates evolving portrayals of gender and their influence on media industries, policies, and audience reception.
A key focus is the transformation of gender narratives in digital spaces, exploring how platforms enable inclusive representations of non-binary, transgender, and fluid identities while reshaping societal discourse. The book critically engages with queer cinema, LGBTQ+ visibility, and marginalized perspectives, centering
subaltern voices often excluded from mainstream media.
Structured around non-dominant viewpoints, the volume analyzes:
Cinema and OTT platforms, dissecting constructions of masculinity and femininity across cultures.
Feminist media praxis, highlighting women's contributions to filmmaking, feminist documentary traditions in India, and gendered activism in environmental and digital movements.
Power and stereotypes, from hyper-masculinity in Indian popular cinema to films that subvert patriarchal norms.
Digital media's dual role – as a tool for LGBTQ+ activism and community building, and as a contested space for gender performance, identity negotiation, and resistance.