The Influence of Bollywood Films on Gender Role Perception among Youth: A Qualitative Study

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Page: 1670-1676

Padmaprabha¹ and Sahil Yadav² (Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh¹ and Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi²)

This study employs a qualitative design to examine how Bollywood film shapes gender roles. Ten participants, five men and five women, were chosen through network sampling, which used thematic analysis. It looked at how men are shown as providers and emotionally constrained, while women are portrayed as sacrificial and domestically bound. It was anchored in frameworks such as Butler’s gender performativity (1990), Bem’s gender schemas (1981), Bandura’s social learning (1977), and Crenshaw’s intersectionality (1989). Participants indicated a great desire for stories that included women’s stories that went beyond relationship identities, shared duties, and genuine emotions. The results emphasize the need for more complex, egalitarian, and intersectional portrayals in popular film by highlighting Bollywood’s function as an active shaper of gender norms rather than just a cultural mirror.