Kids’ TV Programming in India: A Comparison of Gender Representation in Imports versus Locally Produced Programmes

• Main Authors: Ann Maria Rozario, Vaageessan Masilamani, Arulchelvan Sriram
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Athens Institute for Education and Research 2017-07-01
• Series: Athens Journal of Mass Media and Communications
• Subjects: cartoons; children; gender; india television
• Online Access: https://www.athensjournals.gr/media/2017-3-3-3-Rozario.pdf

Kids’ television channels in India air a mix of foreign and domestic programming. Comparisons between the two types of programming have been made on a variety of issues. A less talked about aspect though, is the differences or similarities in how both types of productions represent gender. This study aims to identify whether both genders are presented equally in domestic and foreign productions that airs in India. A content analysis of evening prime time programming on various kids’ channels showed that the average ratio of male to female characters in an individual programme was 3:1. Males also outnumbered females in the programming of the majority of the countries. The gender ratio of almost all countries’ productions (including India) did not reflect the gender ratio of their own population as well as that of India’s census population. All three countries (USA, India and Japan) with the highest number of programmes in this sample had more titles with the names of male characters than females. Among the character roles, the role of the protagonist’s ally/friend/co-worker was the most common role which all countries allotted to both genders. In terms of gender representation, American productions were the most similar to Indian productions.