EVERYDAY SEXISM: How Entertainment Industries and Tech Companies Reinforce Gender Stereotypes

THE POLITICS OF POP CULTURE

Gender stereotypes are preconceived notions about a gender due to their characteristics, behaviour and appearance. These are often considered as perspectives that are widely held especially in certain industries. Over the past few years, with increasing conversations around gender, feminism, and gender roles, stereotyping of men and women has started to reduce. However, they still exist to this day, especially in a country like India. 

Stereotypes are everywhere and the social conditioning for such stereotyping comes from various areas. People to this day are largely influenced by media sources including television, films, and other entertainment sources as well. Given such a scenario, it becomes important to understand the role of music and films in propagating gender stereotypes. Data tells us that there are 5.9 male songwriters to every one female songwriter in India. Further evidence of an unbalanced gender ratio in the industry is the songwriting credits. In 2019, it was found that out of the 513 songwriting credits examined, only 14.4% were for women while a massive 85.6% were for men. The Indian film industry is not much different in terms of gender inequality as per research conducted by the Ormax Media-Film Companion. Their study revealed that only 6 percent of films were directed by women. All of this shows that there is still a major imbalance when it comes to men and women in these popular entertainment forms. Another industry where there is a disparity between male and female employees is the tech industry. Given recent technological advances and the pace at which the world is moving, STEM fields and the tech industry in particular are gaining more importance. It thus becomes imperative for us to understand the participation of women in the tech industry. Women lack representation in the tech industry as well. As of 2022, globally, women in tech hold only 24% of computing jobs. The percentage of female STEM graduates is about 19%. This helps explain why women leave the tech industry at a 45% higher rate than men. In India, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), noted that women’s representation in the tech industry in India lies at 36%.

As part of our project for TribesforGOOD which focused on gender stereotyping, we as a team (Zoya Yadav, Rhesa Gupta, Suhaani Haque, Zurie Aboobakar), undertook secondary research to understand the role of the tech, film and music industries in India when it comes to propagating and popularising gender stereotypes. Our research has been presented below. 

MUSIC & MISOGYNY – Indian Music Industry

Perhaps the best thing that music is known for is its universality. Hip-hop recently overtook rock as the most widely consumed genre of music worldwide. This can be seen in India as well with local hip-hop artists emerging across the country even in the streets, creating hip-hop songs in vast regional languages that greatly attract public attention. While it is interesting to see this intermixing of different cultures, it brings about various concerns, especially when dissecting or analysing such songs from a feminist perspective. In a study analysing 403 rap songs, for instance, the researchers found that around 37% of the songs depicted women as just ‘objects’ of male desire and pleasure; 22% of the songs clearly portrayed violence against women including rape and assault, while 22% of them were misogynistic. This is cause for concern especially in light of the fact that India ranked 140 out of 153 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2021. This gap is evident in the music industry as well, where it is estimated that women earn one-fifth of what their male counterparts earn in the same professional settings.

A closer look at songs that are produced in India show us that a majority of them over-sexualise women and put them on display along with expensive cars as if they were trophies or objects. This has largely been accepted by a majority of the audience as well, although that is slowly changing which is a welcome change. While some people might wonder if such over-sexualization of women is a marketing tactic used by rappers to increase profits and views, the end result of such portrayal is increased gender stereotyping in public and private spaces. Such stereotyping also results in men and women being perceived differently for similar actions. A case in point is artists like Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Doja Cat and Cardi B being criticised for their performances and lyrics being ‘hypersexual’, while their male counterparts like The Weeknd, Drake and Travis Scott get away with doing the same thing. All of this shows that music continues to propagate gender stereotypes in society, even though more conscious efforts are being taken to pay attention to the lyrics and presentation of such music. 

Female artists in India are constantly underrepresented and suppressed at music festivals, although active steps have been taken to change that. An India Music Summit panel in 2021 saw female artists address concerns about objectification and the lack of playback singing opportunities in Bollywood. Despite a fair number of indie artists being women, about 70 percent of them shared #MeToo experiences, where they spoke about their experience of sexual harrassment. Many female playback singers are of the opinion that their voices are missing because of the reduction in female-centric movies and even songs. Akriti Kakar and Shibani Kashyap, in an interview with The Bridge Chronicle, explained how even movies with strong women protagonists like ‘Queen’ had no song sung solely by a female singer and the highlight of the movie ‘Tumhari Sulu’ was a song sung by a male singer. National Award-winning singer Sonu Nigam told IANS in an interview that he misses a good female solo number in films. All of this is further supported by an analysis of journalist Gurman Bhatia who studied about 24,000 Bollywood songs from the 50 highest-grossing movies of every year since 1950 and discovered that the share of female sung songs is declining.

All of the data mentioned above conclusively proves that stereotyping on the basis of gender is prevalent in the music industry to this day. Given that Punjabi music proved to be the second most streamed category after Hindi on music streaming platforms suggesting the popularity of Bollywood and Punjabi songs. 

Bollywood and Punjabi Music Industries

The social construction of the lyrics in Hindi and Punjabi music have led to the establishment of male dominance over female, thus placing it on false dichotomies. The colonisation of female actors in songs is one of the outcomes of power politics in gender representation. 

The Bollywood music industry is ripe with sexism, wherein female pop musicians are criticised for their sexuality and appearance over their art. Although the songs have been largely influenced by Indian culture, they have lyrics that objectify women as embodiments and objects desired. At the same time, a strong and heroic lyric label is attached to the male actors across the industry who are considered to have all attributes to be placed on top of the hierarchy. 

“Tu cheez badi hai mast” is a famous Hindi song that quite explicitly and literally objectifies women. Calling them a “cheez” is demeaning and in a true sense, calls women an object that men must possess. The influence of this song has led to many cat-callers in our community using it on women today. “Jumma Chumma De De” is yet another hindi song where a group of men splash water on a girl. They surround her and repeatedly ask her to kiss a man because she had promised to kiss him on Friday. 

Not long ago, Honey Singh was criticised for his sexist lyrics. In his song “Brown Gang”, he tells a girl that he never touches anything sub-standard and will also give up sex with white girls for brown girls. He further, repeatedly tells the girls that he is willing to give this brown girl the golden opportunity to be in his possession. 

Like Bollywood music, Punjabi music is becoming more and more sexist by the day. Mainstream songs in the language are filled with offensive lyrics or storylines which normalise problematic behaviour including stalking and harassment, and manipulation. A lot of Punjabi songs these days either portray stalking or relationships where women are demanding things from their husbands and boyfriends which encourage the inaccurate image of women as ‘gold diggers’. The portrayal of women in songs equalises them to eye candy for men who sexualise them. The song “Palazzo”, for example, portrays a partner belittling his girlfriend when she is harassed by other men in a public space. Furthermore, he indulges in victim blaming. One of the repeated sentences in the song is “Je 3-4 gabru halaake kitte na, fayada ki palazzo paake nikle da” which translates to “If 3-4 men do not get killed by your looks, what is the use of getting dressed up in a palazzo?”. The whole song focuses on her attire and looks which has heavily sexist undertones and reinforces the myth that women dress up only for men. Another example is the song suicide which has a toxic storyline which revolves around a man threatening to kill himself if the lady in the song rejects him. When the lady does reject him, he threatens to kill himself in front of her. This is a sight she can’t bear and so she agrees. He then forces her to display physical affection and she does it against her will. The entire song is based on violation of consent, manipulation and alludes to the justification of stalking all of which are normalised in the video. Furthermore, lyrics in the song Naah portray women as gold diggers as they are portrayed as creatures who can only be satisfied with material things in the music video. The entire song is based on the stereotype that all women are gold diggers as they only date men for money. The song’s main themes include the validation of stereotyping women as gold diggers as well as rationalising toxic relationships. In addition, the female character in the music video isn’t shown speaking and is depicted as a mere prop. This proves that the song also has undertones of objectifying women and normalised sexism. 

Other examples:

Songs like Gucci Armani, Prada, Naah Goriye, and Lamborghini, we see how women have been stereotyped and simply labelled as a gold digger. The Punjabi music industry always chooses an expensive location and luxurious cars for the shooting of their songs, they also present their male lead as handsome and extremely rich. These characters live a lavish life and spend tons of money because they ‘earn it’. On the other hand, the female characters are always presented as inferior to the male lead and are also portrayed as people who can easily get persuaded by material things.

In addition, these industries objectify women and portray them as sex objects. In the rare case of them somewhat resembling humans and human nature, they are depicted as helpless creatures who need constant support and approval of males who only want them to look pretty by their standards of beauty. There are plenty of examples where male singers comment on the physical appearance of women in the lyrics lecherously. Some examples are Sheila ki Jawaani, choli ke peeche kya hai, Bomb lagdi menu. The male singers use vulgar language to describe them. The reason for the use of this language is to attract viewers to increase their fan following. Even though some people find these kinds of lyrics entertaining or hot, these sexist strategies and songs with sexual innuendos almost always cost women their dignity in society. These kinds of songs not only create division between sexes but also create a lot of other gender related issues in society. The kinds of images they are producing are extremely toxic for any society. These industries should realise that their content is not just for entertainment; the kind of message the song gives impacts the viewers and their perspectives as well. These negative perspectives put womens’ image in danger.

The Punjabi music industry, which generates an annual revenue of around ₹7 billion, is the largest independent music industry in India. Mainstream Punjabi music represents part of their culture and therefore represents their ideologies. The ideologies these songs represent are often problematic. For instance most songs reinforce gender stereotypes and foster the internalisation of male superiority as a cultural belief. The above analysed songs give viewers an insight into normalisation of gender stereotypes and reinforcing of a patriarchal Punjabi society. 

These are just a few out of multiple songs in the Indian music industry that not just portray sexism and stereotype many women, but also influence many people in our community who listen to these songs and idealise these actors. They therefore not only boost more stereotypes but impact the role of females in the industry today. 

THINK TECH, THINK MEN? – The Indian Tech Industry

It is an accepted fact that tech industries remain male-dominated and women continue to face extreme backlash. This comes in the form of salary discrepancies, harassment, low representation, and more. However, there are often many initiatives and events to get more women in the tech industry, as well as an educational push to get more women into STEM Programs.

Despite this research shows that the tech industry is almost 75% male, and even as the number of females in tech grows, it is very disproportionate to the number of men. 

There are many common examples of gender bias that can negatively impact any industry, particularly women in the tech industry.

• Unequal pay. Unequal pay is a common result of this bias. Women and men who do the same job with the same qualifications yet are not paid the same amount, which is highly unfair.
• Unfair interview questions about family and home. Sometimes women in interviews can be asked questions about their commitment to work, and how they intend to balance their other responsibilities as mothers or wives. 
• Diminished responsibility. Very often a woman is not given equal responsibility as a man of the same merit because ‘ she is a woman.’ They may be passed over for their male counterparts for no other reason than their gender.
• Unequal access to restroom facilities. Something as simple as the location of a restroom can be unequal for women at work. We have seen in movies demonstrating real-life stories portraying this inequality in male-dominated space.

When women have a prominent role in an organization, the doors are open to more diversity which is a major benefit. This can include:

• Creative problem-solving: When more people from different backgrounds put their ideas and thoughts together, creative solutions arise. 
• Insight into a target is demographic: When you encourage diversity, you can appeal better to your target demographic. Whether you have people in your target demographic working with you, or not, diversity always plays a role in getting an insight to the target.
• Higher financial returns. Greater creativity, more ideas, and unique individuals can help impact an organisation’s bottom line. The increase in creative, strategic policies leads to better financial returns at the end of the day increasing net profits.

Statistics about women in the tech industry:

• Today research shows that of all the computing jobs in the U.S. only 25% are held by women. Additionally according to a research study, in Silicon Valley where tech is huge, men earned roughly 61% more than women on average. And in every large technology organisation like Apple and Microsoft, women hold far less than 50% of the jobs at every level. 
• It’s extremely important to note that research also shows that more than 50% of women leave tech jobs mid-career, a turnover rate that is nearly twice as high as the male turnover rate. And nearly 40% of women who earn engineering degrees either quit or never enter the profession. Only 3% of women say a career in technology would be their first choice. 

These statistics are alarming and paint a picture of what the existing male-dominated technology looks like. Improvement, change and acceptance in the mindsets of people can help erase these gender biases in highly renowned industries that have aspirants around the globe and stand as symbols of global belief. 

THE CINDERELLA COMPLEX – Indian Film Industry

Hindi Cinema or Bollywood as it is more popularly termed, is the biggest film industry in the entire world. Bollywood made its first statement in the early 1930s and has since grown tremendously; today Bollywood movies are dubbed into various languages and enjoyed by watchers all over the globe. We may enjoy an occasional Bollywood movie or two, under the pretence that we’re perhaps watching a movie starring our favourite actors, or the movie seems interesting by the looks of it or even just because; but so many people remain blind to the sexism and gender biassed stereotypes be it on or off screen in this industry.

Since the 1950s, Bollywood movies have gone through a few changes. To start with, there were barely any women in the industry working as directors, actors, producers, scriptwriters, and so on. The overall behind-the-scenes male strength was reflected on screen as well. Over the years, female representation escalated. Ironically, the inherent sexism didn’t go away. For instance, in older films, female leads or characters were normally the moms or love interests or spouses of the male leads, with the target of supporting them in their day to day endeavours. The ladies were there to add “relief” in the middle of the ‘genuine’ battles, difficulties and challenges faced by the ‘hero’. The ones challenging general cultural standards and societal norms were either club-dancers, mistresses, vamps, women who held onto propensities like smoking or drinking, or women who explicitly expressed sexuality and sexual interest. The ensembles were additionally intended to portray something very similar, with “good” women wearing more traditional garments and “not-very great” ladies being scantily dressed. This is just an overview of on-screen stereotypes.

Let’s have a look at some of the answers we have gotten from a very successful female director and producer who is part of the Bollywood industry. 

Would you say that gender stereotypes or sexism are/is present behind-the-scenes in the industry?

Yes. 100%.

Have you ever been directly affected by a stereotype or have had to deal with discrimination of a sort?

I consider myself blessed, having grown up in a well-affiliated family with a lot of connections in the industry – be it my brother, my father, cousins, you name it. I also pride myself in being very verbal and I know how to take control of a situation and so my answer is no, not really, I haven’t been affected by something like this – thank god – but I have definitely seen it happen.

Could you recount an instance of what you have seen yourself? And what type of issue usually occurs? Have you raised your voice about it?

Well I have seen it many-a-times with my assistants, the make-up team and hairstylists, the list goes on. Most of the time it’s the boys thinking they are superior or have more authority than the women. I hear taunts a lot, sometimes it’s depreciative statements, blanket statements as though they own the world. And yes! I have spoken about it, a lot of times I let it go because it’s portrayed as ‘friendly banter’ or a joke but when it gets out of hand I go off; one time I fired one of the boys for constantly nagging one of my girls to go out with him and when she repeatedly said no he said something like ‘tu toh jhalli-junglee hi dikhti hai, koi nahi boyfriend banega teri, mein tha yaha opportunity de raha tha tereko, leleti toh tera bhala hota’ (you look ungroomed/unkempt and shabby anyway, no one is going to be your boyfriend, I was here you should’ve jumped at the opportunity it would’ve been better for you.) I mean what the hell? Have some shame. At the time I did call him names though and I feel rightfully so, and he has 3 sisters can you imagine? I thought he’d have had some kind of respect for girls at that point.

How do you feel when you see instances like this?

It’s disgraceful, it’s disheartening. Women aren’t objects or toys to play around with or boss over and make your puppet. Cut the 1950 bullshit and please grow with the times.

Can you give me an example of something you may have heard of happening in the industry on a larger scale, relating to this topic?

I actually know of a t.v. show casting director who was recently fired. (What did he do?) Before casting women he would bribe them by telling them they’d make it big in Bollywood with his help, he’d talk to them in detail explaining how he’d start them off small and then have them work their way up because he has ‘connections’ in the industry. This is all jazz ofcourse he was a conman because after persuading them, and asking them to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), he’d ask them to take naked pictures of themselves so he’d ‘know exactly what show to cast them in’. If he liked the women he’d go further and ask for sexual favours. It’s absolutely revolting, it makes me sick even thinking about it.

CONCLUSION

 In conclusion, we can firmly establish the fact that gender-based stereotypes are prevalent in the music, tech and film industries in India as well as in countries abroad. While many have witnessed male dominance and have spoken about it in public, its existence is an undeniable truth, which was clearly seen through the primary research conducted as shown above. The public’s failure to spot such stereotypical instances in the music and film industry indirectly leads to their propagation. Spreading awareness through such research articles and addressing a larger mass of people can help reduce such orthodox and patriarchal beliefs in society. 

References:

1. https://thesecondangle.com/mainstream-punjabi-songs-stereotyping-females/
2. https://feminisminindia.com/2019/11/01/5-punjabi-songs-sexism/
3. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajes.12447?af=R
4. https://www.safecity.in/feminism-gender-and-pop-music/
5. https://spinditty.com/playlists/Songs-About-Gender-Identity
6. https://www.wgu.edu/blog/women-tech-addressing-gender-bias2002.html

Authors

Rhesa Gupta

Rhesa is an 11th Grade student at the Kodaikanal International School.

Suhaani Haque

Suhaani is an 11th Grade student at the Neev Academy.

Zoya Yadav

Zoya is a 10th Grade student at The Shri Ram School, Arivali

Zurie Aboobakar

Zurie is a 9th Grade student at JBCN International School

The Authors are young gender advocates who have worked on gender justice through TribesforGOOD’s Global Challenges and Social Justice Program.