Seediscussions,stats,andauthorprofilesforthispublicationat:http://www.researchgate.net/publication/283007645

DeconstructingGenderinCartoonProgrammingonChildren'sTelevisionChannelsinIndia–ATextualAnalysis

ARTICLE·OCTOBER2015

DOI:10.18701/imsmanthan.v10i1.5663

READS

26

1AUTHOR:

RuchiJaggi

SymbiosisInternationalUniversity

21PUBLICATIONS0CITATIONS

SEEPROFILE

Availablefrom:RuchiJaggi

Retrievedon:16December2015

1

Deconstructing Gender in Cartoon Programming on Children’s Television Channels in India – A Textual Analysis

Author: Ruchi Jaggi, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Media &

Communication (SIMC), Symbiosis International University, Pune, India.

2

Abstract

The post-liberalization era impacted Indian media significantly. Indian television in particular was a major beneficiary of this change. The programming content, technique, reach and reception got significantly reconfigured. The evolution of exclusive children’s television channels was a major development in this scenario. The last fifteen years have witnessed the rise of many 24-hour children’s television channels in India. The myriad content (Western, Japanese and indigenous) on children’s television channels is redefining the social and cultural construction of childhood. However academic research studies that articulate this are very few and far between in the Indian context.

The role of television in developing ideas on gender roles and identities has been researched in different global contexts. This paper would endeavour to build a critical narrative on the representation of gender (masculine, feminine and others) in cartoon shows on children’s television channels in India. In this research, the textual analysis of the narrative of four most popular cartoon shows on children’s television channels as demonstrated by the television ratings has been conducted. The messages being delivered through television programming have been analyzed by examining the gender roles fulfilled by different cartoon characters – feminine, masculine or others – and how gender stereotypes are propagated or challenged. The weekend episodes of the top four shows for three months (March – May 2014) are the sample for textual analysis. The research has been contextualized in the feminist theory paradigm and uses Stuart Hall’s theorizing of ‘representation’, ‘encoding’ and ‘decoding’ for the narrative analysis of these televisions shows (texts and visuals).

3

Introduction

Children’s television has developed as an exclusive domain globally. While it has been a

popular and successful segment in most of the Western countries for over five and a half

decades, it made inroads into India only in the post liberalization era in the 1990s. Cartoon

Network, launched in 1996, was the first exclusive children’s television channel in India.

Children’s programming was only a brief segment on general entertainment channels

before this. There are 14 exclusive children’s television channels currently. A Nielsen study

suggests that television in India is now a daily medium for children. The survey included

interviews with 3759 Indian children aged between 7 and 14, and 1121 parents of children

aged 4 to 6 years old across 19 cities in India – although Mumbai and Delhi accounted for

majority (Pahwa, 2011).

These figures represent television as an omnipresent entity in children’s everyday lives.

Their engagement with television content therefore requires an investigation as it

produces and circulates different discourses about identity, society, culture, consumerism

and other constructs.

Several studies have analyzed gender representations in different forms of media including

television. These studies have been attempted in different academic contexts – sociology,

political economy, psychology, peadiatrics, and culture studies. Content analyses of films,

advertisements, and television shows (fiction and news) to deconstruct codes of gender

representation have been done by many scholars in different countries. The tradition of

‘Effects Research’ has also been significant, where the impact of media representations of

gender on children has been evaluated.

This paper will attempt to explore representations of gender in children’s television

programming in India. While television programming includes both animation and live

action formats, this paper will focus on cartoon programming.

Review of Literature

Dafna Lemish (2010) argues findings from numerous studies on portrayal of gender on various media including films, television and video games. She succinctly sums up that ‘boys are identified with ‘doing’ in the ‘public sphere’, while girls are associated with ‘being’ in the ‘private sphere’. This argument is multi-layered. It highlights that the discourse on gender portrayals is such that one finds masculine representations to have higher social status in comparison with feminine representations in the media.

With this argument as one of the significant points of reference one can explore the various research strands in the area of gender representation.

4

Media and Gender

Given that media representations are discursive constructions (Lemish, 2010), their analysis is crucial to the understanding of gender.

Gallagher (1992) argues that the mass media function in the larger system of patriarchy and capitalism that controls media structures and organizations and represents women as subordinates. This argument highlights the gender politics of media representations at a generic level.

Daniel Chandler (1997) says “where women are shown as successful outside the domestic sphere, they are frequently portrayed as people living with misery in their lives”. Chandler further argues that stereotypical masculinity is portrayed as natural, normal and universal, but it is in fact a particular construction.

It is largely a white, middle-class heterosexual masculinity. This is a masculinity within which any suggestion of feminine qualities or homosexuality is denied, and outside which women are subordinated. The notion of 'natural' sex differences help to preserve the inequalities on which our economic system continues to be.

Durham and Kellner (2006) argue that societies have established the hegemony of males by institutionalizing of male dominance over women. They state

By manipulating the message, media can create a certain image of reality, which is consistent with the policy of the dominant group. As a result, the reflection of a real world is incomplete and distorted. Although people are aware of the unequal representation of certain social groups in mass media, it is hard to remain objective and insensitive to its influence.

Goffman (1976) and MacDonald (1995) argue that the constructions of femininity and masculinity are part of a dominant ideology that prescribes proper behaviour for men and women.

Tuchman (1978) conducted a large scale study and demonstrated that women made a large part of the North American workforce. The research further went on to establish that despite this reality, the media represented women solely in domestic roles.

Children, Television and Gender Representations

Children are surrounded with a plethora of media images that they constantly engage with. While on one hand this can be very overwhelming, on the other hand it would not be an exaggeration to argue that the influence of these images is a negotiated process of meaning making by children.

Media, in different forms, play the role of socializing agents in children’s lives. Dominant media messages tend to promote certain ideologies more than the others. A constant engagement with the media can possibly make children internalize the dominant

5

ideological discourse. Hence representation of gender from the lens of dominant media discourses can influence children’s understanding of masculinity and femininity, thereby restricting the scope to experience alternative discourses on gender ideologies.

Lemish (2010) states that the ‘boys’ like ‘adult men’ on media are always shown to possess the characteristics such as action, rationality, forcefulness, aggressiveness, independence, ambitiousness, competitiveness, achievement, higher social status and humour. Similarly ‘girls’ like ‘adult women’ are characterized as passive, emotional, caregiving, childish, sexy, subordinate to males and of lower social status. These portrayals are restrictive impressions of gender roles and underestimate the potential of children in general.

Lemish (2010) in her seminal work, ‘Children and Television – A Global Perspective’, summarizes a few themes to establish how television is integrated in children’s everyday lives. The key themes outlined include – age, gender, context, content and potential. The investigation of each of these themes can help us look at children’s relationship with television in more comprehensive ways. While each of these constructs requires to be investigated independently as well as in conjunction with each other, the themes of gender and content are of immediate concern to this research paper.

Smith & Cook (2008) conducted four different studies to emphasize on the need for female character development in the media where the usual trend is underrepresentation and over emphasis on physical attributes. They examined over 4,000 characters 400 G, PG, PG-13 and R-rated movies. They state that their data reveals two types of females – the traditional and the hypersexual. Another significant finding of this study was that animation programming had more male characters.

Thomson & Zerbinos (1995) conducted a study on gender representation in cartoon programming as a follow up to the research studies on the same subject in 1970s. One of the studies they used a point of reference was by Streicher (1974), who studied the portrayal of females in cartoons. Thomson & Zerbinos use Streicher’s summarized analysis of the study in their paper which states-

a) Females were less in number as compared to males b) Made lesser appearances c) Had fewer lines d) Played lesser lead roles; occupied fewer positions of responsibility e) Were less noisy; were less active f) Were more juvenile than males g) Males did not participate in house work

Thomson & Zerbinos (1995) looked at numerous studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s (Strenlanz & Serbin, 1974; Levinson, 1975; Mayes & Valentine, 1979; Barcus, 1983). They studied gender representation in children’s cartoons of the 1990s to find out if there were any changes in these portrayals. The research concluded that though stereotyped portrayals of gender were still prominent in children’s cartoons, some significant changes had occurred in two decades. There were evidences of female leadership who were now shown to be more independent, assertive, responsible, intelligent, competent, and helpful.

6

Similarly there were instances (though few) of male characters talking more and bragging less.

England et al (2011) studied gender role portrayals in nine Disney Princesses films. They found out that though the traditional gendered portrayals did not move away from the recent films, some movies did represent some non-stereotypical representations. The female characters showed some attributes of assertiveness and leadership over time. However the male characters did not represent any change.

Hibbeler (2009) analyzed masculine representations in Disney animated feature films and concluded that

Disney does not appear to be making progress toward more accurate and positive representations of male characters. Male characters that were heroes and central were portrayed as being younger, slender, sexual and romantically involved, aggressive, and as having family structures not commonly seen in society. These representations of male characters are very stereotypical in nature and may not provide young boys with positive role models for gender development.

There is very limited research on children’s television in India. There are studies on gender portrayals in children’s television advertising (Khairulla, 2009; Anuradha, 2012; Bakir, 2013). ‘A Report on Children’s Television Programmes in India’ (Eashwer, 2000) was an empirical study that was carried out in March-April 1996 in Chennai (earlier known as Madras). It mentions serious concerns like rural-urban divide, class distinctions, media literacy, content regulation, parental monitoring, value representations, and gender representations among many others, but at a very cursory level.

Gotz et al (2008) conducted quantitative media analysis of children’s TV in 24 countries across the world. The main characters of the fictional programmes were coded for the purpose of this research. The results showed a ‘clear under-representation and stereotyped depiction of female characters worldwide’. India was a part of the sample for this project. 158 fictional programmes were coded from various Indian children’s television channels including Cartoon Network, Disney, Doordarshan, Nick, Pogo, Sony, Star One, Star Plus, Sun TV, Surya TV among others. The main highlights of this research with respect to India were

1. The content of animation programming was about 81%. 2. Domestically produced content accounted for only 15.8% of the total programming. 3. There were 36.1% female characters and 63.9% male characters. 4. Females mostly operated in groups. Loners were only males. 5. Females appeared slightly more often at private places and at school, males at

public/work sphere.

The literature surveyed for the study sets the premise to approach the study of gender representations in children’s cartoons on Indian television. As Lemish (2010) says that ‘very few other cultural phenomenon have such a magnitude of penetration (like television), and fewer have achieved global status. Television is a dominant medium in India. The complex relationships between children and television are redefining

7

childhoods. As culture theories postulate, children are actively engaging with media and negotiating its texts actively. This situation makes it imperative to make sense of the cultural constructs being portrayed. There is a major gap in terms of scholarly research and arguments in this area in India.

Theoretical Framework

In his path-breaking text on representations, Stuart Hall argues that representations can invoke a certain kind of identity claim. Media are the most obvious (but not the only one) forms in popular culture that circulate these representations, which indeed are a powerful circulation of meanings. This circulation of meanings involves the question of power which cannot be bracketed out from the question of representation. The individual or institution with the power to circulate a certain representation also gives it a certain meaning. These meanings are based on certain cultural codes that these individuals/institutions abide by. Hence media images and texts are conflicting sites where dominant ideologies may be positioned. Hall calls it the ‘politics of the image’. Media texts therefore are not objective sites. The ideological deconstruction at the level of text is critical to its understanding.

Feminists over the years have discussed sex and gender as two different constructs – with sex as a biological construct and gender as a social construct. Feminist scholars have focused their research, analyses, and critiques on the premise that media representations of gender are contemporary expressions of deeper ideological assumptions and discourses, rooted in worldviews and belief systems that produce a particular view of gender (Lemish, 2010).

Methodological Framework

Media texts can be analyzed to deconstruct gender representations in different ways.

Textual analysis comes out of the work of structuralists which presumes that any popular culture products (media texts) could be decoded by reading the signs within the text (Bainbridge, 2008). The polysemic nature of media texts can create multiple levels of meaning. Hence textual interpretation is a critical process.

This paper used textual analysis to deconstruct representations of gender in children’s programming on Indian television channels. The sample comprised only animation programming as a filter. The primary objective of the research was–

To study and analyze the representation of primary female and male characters

This study does not use quantitative content analysis as has been used in most ‘representation studies’ (literature review). This study is contextualized in the culture studies tradition and has attempted qualitative message analysis or textual analysis.

McKee (2004) notes that “we have a very odd lacuna at the heart of cultural studies of the media. Textual analysis is the central methodology, and yet we do not have a straightforward published guide as to what it is and how we do it”. McKee’s statement

8

leads us to look at different studies that may have used some form of textual analysis. Newbold et al., (2002) give some clarity on the technique –

There are two main strands particularly relevant to qualitative content analysis. The first, narratology, focuses on the narrative or story-telling within a text with emphasis on meaning that may be produced by its structure and choice of words. The second draws on semiotics and focuses attention on signs and sign systems in texts and how readers might interpret (decode) those signs.

McKee (2004) discusses the concept of ‘framing of text’ and advises that textual analysis can look at two key components of the text – the frame and the context. McKee’s guide also suggests that certain questions while looking at frame of the text can explore it in different ways. The key questions that textual analysis of media representations can investigate can be –

What is being represented? How is it represented? Using what codes? Within what genre? How is the representation made to seem 'true', 'commonsense' or 'natural'? What is foregrounded and what is backgrounded? Are there any notable absences? Whose representation is it? Whose interests does it reflect? At whom is this representation targeted? With what alternative representations could it be compared? How does it differ?

These questions point to different techniques of textual analysis such as exnomination, structuring absence and the commutation test.

The context can be discussed from the perspective of the industry that has created the text and also by the positioning of the text.

Sample

The sample comprised weekend episodes of top five (television ratings wise) cartoon programmes on children’s television channels. The time period for the study was between March and May, 2014.

The following shows (in order from high to low) garnered the highest rating points (information received during an interview with correspondent at indiantelevision.com, Feb 2014)-

1. ‘Chhota Bheem’ on Pogo 2. ‘Doraemon’ on Disney Channel 3. ‘Ninja Hattori’ on Nick India 4. ‘Oggy and the Cockroaches’ on Cartoon Network 5. ‘Pakdam Pakdai’ on Nick India (These recordings had some problems and the

episodes of the time frame could not be retrieved from the web)

The research has looked at each programme one by one. The textual analysis of different episodes of every programme has been done in conjunction with each other. The final

9

analysis has drawn out themes from all the analyses as the premise of arguments on gender representations in cartoon programming on Indian children’s television channels.

The weekend telecast of each of these shows ranges between 3-9 hours. Episodes also get repeated. After eliminating replication, the following sample was finally drawn

Television Show Number of Episodes Chhota Bheem 31 Doraemon 30 Ninja Hattori 21 Oggy and the Cockroaches 25

The following table lists the names of television shows used for the analysis.

Name of the Television Show Names of Episodes Analyzed Chhota Bheem Touch of Stone; Lost in the Woods; Kalia’s

Master Plan; Chalti ka Naam Cycle; Sea World; Missing Scientist; Forbidden Tree; Jaggu Daggu Bhai Bhai; Third Eye of Buddha; Elephant’s Tale; Cruise to Iceland; Dakku ka Chachu; Haathi Bheem ka Saathi; The Shark; Come Back; The Menacing Statue; Blast from the Past; The Hiding Game; Wooden Bot; Check Mate; Arabian Night; Bheem and the Vampire; Laddoo Eating Competition; Dholakpur Fair; Journey to Atlantis; The Haunted Blue Castle; Bheem and Santa Claus; Bheem & Ganesh; The Mask; The Temple of Bats; Raju the Skater

Doraemon Invisible Hand; Magic Lamp; Nobita’s Bluebird; Sumo Belt; The Good Friend Catalogue Maker; The Mini Dora Rescue Team; Gunfighter Nobita; Nobita Meets a Ghost; Treasure Hunt; Switching Mirror; Time Room; Soap Bubble Helmet; Nobita’s Ancestors; Time Pistol; Doraemon gets scared of Dora Cakes; Lost Article Return Spray; Nobita the Angel; Confessions Hat; Anger Storage Battery; Happiness Insurance Machine; Doctor’s Bag; Bad Head Band; Interest Disk; The Campaign Car; The Soul Studying Microphone; Nobita Meets his Grandma; Boomerang Spray; Time Made to Order; Aladdin Lamp; Lost Article Return

10

Spray Ninja Hattori Shinzo’s Hidden talent; Ninja Technique of

Shadow Lapping; Eyes to Eyes, ears to ears; Teacher is leaving; Ninja Technique of Animal Language; Reason for a Fight; Shishumaru Falls in Love; Kenichi becomes a Cowboy; Kiyo destroys Amara’s Statue; Ninja Technique of Photography; Shame Shame Hattori; Hattori loves Skateboards; Time to Wake Up Ninjas; Shishimaru Lives a King’s Life for a Day; Friends Forever; Tsubame Gets a Grog; Multiple Hands Ninja Technique; What We Hoped and What Happened; Even a Ninja can have a Cavity; Out with a Secret

Oggy and the Cockroaches Washing Day; Into the Wild; Panic Room; Airship House; The Lighthouse Keeper; Dump the Roaches; Dee Dee’s diet; A Jealous Guy; The Ice Rink; Fight to the Sun; The Kitchen Boy; The Easter Egg; Now You See Me, Now You Don’t; Roommate wanted; The bathtub race; Mission Oggy; French Fries; Bitter Chocolate; The outsider; Go Slow with Your Dough; The Mousegater; Wrong Side of the Bed; Too good to be True; Jealousy; Happy Birthday

Analysis

Chhota Bheem

Chhota Bheem comes across as a highly gendered text. While the main protagonist is a male, there is dearth of female characters across most episodes. His core group of friends has four members including him. One female character figures as his close friend in a primary role. However, her functional role is limited to being a part of Bheem’s daily escapades and providing him with unconditional support.

Bheem represents highly masculine traits. He is shown to be very independent, courageous, powerful, intelligent and adventurous. While he is not labelled as a superhero, the various stories and his characterization is all about celebrating his power and bravado. The image of his masculinity dominates and overshadows all the narrative of the show. The title song of the show shows Bheem to be picking up boulders, vehicles and even a bull. He is also the eternal problem solver in his village. He is usually the one who gives ideas and suggests resolutions for all problems.

11

His friend Raju is more of an infant, while Jaggu (a monkey) is just a fun partner who is around Bheem all the time. It is interesting to note that this animal character in the show is given a very clear male identity.

Chutki, Bheem’s friend, is the only female who is part of his daily activities. Though she is not shown to be timid, yet her dependence on Bheem is more than evident across the story. In the episode ‘Chhota Bheem and Ganesha’, Chutki is abducted by a dragon only to be rescued by Bheem. She is also portrayed as very emotional and nurturing. In the episode ‘Lost in the Wood’, when the entire group of friends goes for a picnic, Chutki lays down the plates and serves food. In most of the episodes, Chutki is the one who advises caution when the group is readying for the next adventure, expressing a very maternal characteristic. She is usually the only one who appreciates aesthetics and admires flowers and butterflies.

Indumati, the other female character, is the princess of Dholakpur. She does not go out with Bheem and his group, but is shown to be very fond of Bheem. There are subtle messages of romantic attraction between Bheem and Indumati. However, their interaction takes place only in situations where Bheem either rescues her or her father.

The other group who usually competes with Bheem’s group is led by the large and heavy Kaalia. Kaalia’s physical appearance is the most striking feature in his portrayal. He represents a very one dimensional, physical version of masculinity. Dholu and Bholu, his stooges, cannot compare with Kaalia in size and muscle power. Kaalia’s size overpowers their meek personalities. However, Dholu and Bholu, though shown to be less masculine physically, are cunning and scheming – a very typical representation for the non-traditional male body. Kaalia’s character aspires to have the same social status as Bheem. In the episode, ‘Kaalia’s Master Plan’, he challenges Bheem in a wrestling match only to be defeated in the end. Chutki is shown to be cheering for Bheem as he fights and then shown to be fluttering her eyes when Bheem wins.

The settings of the episodes also weave an interesting gendered discourse. Women are never a part of groups and congregations. Few women who are seen in the frame as stories progress are engaged in some kind of domestic chores always. While Bheem is generally shown to be exercising, juggling and running, Raju playing with bow and arrow; Chutki is shown admiring and smelling flowers. In the episode, ‘Chalti ka Naam Cycle’, as all the males are excited to see a bicycle that does not stop, Chutki again advises caution. While all the characters are also portrayed as astonished by such an invention, Bheem portrays complete understanding of the technique with which the cycle was made.

In ‘Bheem and Santa Claus’, all the children are shown to be discussing what gifts they had asked from Santa Claus. While Raju says he has asked for bow and arrow, Chutki says that she wanted a doll. Bheem and Kaalia say that they did not ask for anything. This is an instance of a gendered narrative with no subtleties. Boys like weapons and girls like dolls. Bheem and Kaalia’s reluctance to ask for a Christmas gift also creates a gendered hierarchy in the group. By saying that he did not want a gift, but wanted to give one to every child in the village, Bheem portrays the role of the male head of the family. Kaalia rationalizes his reluctance by saying that he already has everything thus displaying a distant and arrogant attitude which is very typical of masculine representations. So there is a hierarchy with the

12

good male at top and the bad male at the bottom, with subordinate masculinities and femininities in between.

Doraemon

Doraemon is one of the longest running (since 2005) shows on Indian television. It is the story of a futuristic robot cat that helps a young boy Nobita, who is neither good in studies nor in sports. Doraemon is a Japanese anime and has been dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu for Indian television.

The primary character of the story, Nobita, is shown to have the weakest personality. He is always pressurized to perform, and takes Doraemon’s help for the same. Nobita’s character is constantly negotiating with the stereotype of a young boy, who typically should be intelligent, sportyand brave. Since he is not able to live up to the stereotype, he is often ridiculed by his family and friends across different stories. Nobita’s character has been portrayed to have three striking inadequacies – physical strength, brain power and financial limitations. There are repeated references to these inadequacies in different episodes (more to the first two than the last one). Hence the show constructs an imagined identity of an ideal boy and chronicles Nobita’s aspirational struggle to assume the same. Every time he falters, the discourse in the narrative identifies these inadequacies to be the rationale for his failings.

Gian and Suniyo are his closest male friends. While Gian is physically very strong, Suniyo belongs to an affluent background. Both the boys bully Nobita repeatedly. Gian and Sunio’s social positions, marked by their physical and financial strength respectively, put them in positions of power. While there are instances when Gian dominates Suniyo, Suniyo is able to negotiate with the dynamics by luring Gian to play with his expensive toys. However, Nobita keeps getting subverted in his relationship with both of them.

Shizuka is the only female in Nobita’s group. Her characterization is replete with feminine stereotypes. While the boys play baseball, she is shown to attend piano and painting classes. All the boys apparently have a romantic attraction towards her. Nobita is shown to imagine her as his bride many times. Nobita uses Doraemon’s gadgets to impress Shizuka. Shizuka is also shown to be very fond of baking for her friends. She invites them often to her place and serves cakes and cookies. In crisis situations, for instance in the episode ‘Gunfighter Nobita’, she becomes the ‘damsel in distress’ who is rescued by Nobita, her ‘knight in shining armour’. She is also portrayed as very emotional and caring. She tends to sick animals (in the episode ‘The Mini Dora Rescue Team), helps her friends with their homework (in several episodes such as ‘The Bad Headband’, ‘Time Room’).

Nobita’smother is shown as a homemaker who is constantly engaged in household chores – cleaning, washing, cooking and buying grocery. She is shown to be always worried about Nobita’s academic performance and shouts at him very often. The narrative does not build her character with any other shade. She is a ‘quintessential’ nagging mother. Her relationship with her husband is also represented as very transactional and she is always seen in the setting of the house and the hearth. Nobita’s father and his teacher, two adult males in the narrative, also stick to very linear stereotypes. The father does not engage

13

with anyone at any personal level and is shown to live a life just around his profession. Similarly, the teacher’s obsession with academic performance is the long and short of his characterization.

Doraemon emerges as one of the most multi-dimensional characters in terms of gender performance in this show. He is shown to be courageous, responsible, caring and emotional. However when he is either with his girlfriend or sister, he tends to portray dominance and arrogance. For instance in the episode ‘Treasure Hunt’, when his sister Doramee is able to rescue him and his friends, he brags that she could this only because she was his sister. This may be the text’s struggle to position Doraemon’s masculine identity in a certain way.

Ninja Hattori

Another very popular show on Nick India, Ninja Hattori is also a Japanese anime which has been dubbed into both Hindi and English. It is the story of a young Ninja who starts living with a young boy, Kenichi and his family.

Ninja Hattori is another gendered narrative where the number of primary male characters outnumbers the female characters by miles. The central characters - Ninja Hattori, Kenichi, Shinzo, Shishimaru (a dog), Kemumarki Amara, Kiyo (a cat) and Kenichi’s father are the primary male characters in various episodes. Kenichi’s friend Yumiko, Tsubame (a female Ninja) and Kenichi’s mother are the primary female characters.

Hattori is a brave Ninja whose entire focus is to master all the Ninja techniques and train his younger brother Shinzo and his Ninja dog, Shishimaru in the same. Hattori is shown to possess exceptional leadership abilities. He dominates the narrative as the dominant masculine character, who shows way to all the other characters in different situations. Kenichi, Shinzo and Shishimaru look up to him as their ideal. Kemumarki Amara is another Ninja who competes with Hattori all the time and aims to defeat him.

The functional positioning of these characters builds a hierarchical network of relationships where Hattori assumes the most powerful status of a brave, intelligent, focused, helpful and responsible male leader. His reluctance to express his romantic feelings for Tsubame is another stereotypical masculine representation. On the other hand, Tsubame is shown to only think of Hattori when she is in the story. This is a very polarized representation of masculine and feminine attitudes towards love and romance.

All the feminine representations are extremely stereotypical. Kenichi’s mother is shown to only take care of the kitchen and the house. In one of the episodes, ‘Out with a Secret’, she is shown to be reading a detective novel. All the kids and her husband return home and ask her for food. When she says that she was not able to prepare anything as she had been reading, they express anger and disappointment. None of them is shown to go to the kitchen and organize food. The narrative in fact shows the mother leaving her novel and going to the kitchen. All the other characters except the mother were males in this

14

particular scene. Such instances are representative of extremely stereotypical gendered portrayals.

In another episode, ‘Even a Ninja can have a Cavity’, Yumiko is shown to be talking to Hattori on roadside when a truck passes by. Her skirt flies up and her underwear can be seen. She thinks that Hattori is looking at her and gets very angry. The notion of females as the object of male gaze can be drawn out from this particular instance. While Hattori tries to absolve himself of Yumiko’s accusation, this narrative is representative of sexualizing female bodies.

Oggy and the Cockroaches

Among the sample under study, this show comes across as the most gendered as well as the most non-gendered text. There are no female characters in this show at primary or secondary levels. Hence it does not address the subject of feminine representations at all. Interestingly, the male characters in this show are very non-stereotypical and least competent and responsible. Being a slapstick trickster cartoon, it represents its male characters in ways that cannot be perceived as traditionally masculine. The sole purpose of each episode is to show the cockroaches pull a mean trick on Oggy and have fun.

However since all the characters represent animals, it is indeed strange that none of the animals is a female. Hence through exnomination, females are completely absent from this text. While the male characters are exceptionally non-stereotypical, the absence of females is problematic. Well, as a famous punchline of an Indian bike ad says, ‘Why should boys have all the fun?”

Concluding Remarks

The data on Indian children’s television programming collected by Gotz et al (2008) finds some resonance in this study. There is dearth of domestic programming (only one out of the four shows analyzed in this study is a domestic production). Their other observation that most of the programming narratives are male-centered has also been repeatedly demonstrated in this study. Females in the analyzed texts operated in groups while males were more active in the public sphere even as loners.

Returning to Lemish’s argument quoted in the literature review, in these television shows ‘boys are identified with ‘doing’ in the ‘public sphere’, while girls are associated with ‘being’ in the ‘private sphere’. None of the texts have a female protagonist. In instances where there are primary female characters, their activities and representations are defined by the primary male protagonist’s sphere of reference.

Chhota Bheem is a linear narrative and does not comprise any complex coding in terms of gender representations. Males engage with what is deemed masculine and females engage with what is deemed feminine. It portrays physical strength as the parameter of popularity and success.

Doraemon is a relatively complex gendered narrative. While every character is shown to struggle to live up to their societal gender stereotype; there are sub-texts of opposition in

15

the narrative as well. Nobita’s silent acceptance of himself, his mother’s non-articulated expectations to break free from routine, and his father’s untold desires to look at other things (golf and fishing) besides his profession are unexplored oppositional discourses in the narrative.

Ninja Hattori negotiates the struggle between linear and complex gender representations. However the complexity of gender representations lacks convincing arguments. Hence what get represented are assertions like ‘boys will be boys’.

‘Oggy and the Cockroaches’ endeavours to stay away from any kind of gendered discourses. However by structuring the absence of one gender, it creates a problematic discourse on gender on the other side. (The more recent episodes now have a female character ‘Olivia’. These episodes were telecast post the time frame of this study).

The most popular cartoon shows on Indian children’s television channels can certainly attempt for more diversity in characterization and representation.

16

References

1. Anuradha, M. (2012). Gender Stereotyping in Television Commercials Aimed at Children in India. Media Asia, 39(4).

2. Bakir, A., &Palan, K. M. (2013).Agentic and Communal: Multinational Analysis of Gender Portrayal in Children's Television Commercials. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 34(1), 39-56.

3. Chandler, Daniel. (1997). An Introduction to genre Theory. Retrieved on March 15, 2014 from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre.html

4. Datta, S. (2000).Globalisation and Representaion of women in indian Cinema. Social scientist.Vol. 28.

5. Durham, Meenakshi Gigi, Douglas M.Kellner (2006). Media and Cultural

Studies.Blackwell Publishing. Retrieved on March 5, 2014 from http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/

6. Eashwer, L. (2000). A report on Children’s Television programmes in India. In Growing up with TV: Asian Children’s Experieces (Ed.).AMIC, Singapore.

7. England, D; Descarte, M. & Meek, M.(2011). Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney princesses.Sex Roles. Retrieved on May 15, 2014 from www.wstudies.pitt.edu/.../Gender_role_portrayal_and_the_disney_prince..

8. Gallagher, M. (1992).Women and Men in the Media.Communication Research Methods. Retrieved on April 11, 2014 from https://www.irma.ac.in/pdf/randp/1020_53632.pdf

9. Gotz, M.et al. (2008). Children’s TV Worldwide: Gender Representation. Retrieved on Dec 6, 2013 from www.br-online.de/jugend/izi/english/.../goetz%20et%20al_engl.pdf

10. Hall, S. (1997) ‘The Work of Representation’ In: Hall, S (ed) Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London. Retrieved on March 15, 2014 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sbYyw1mPdQ

11. Hibbeler, B.L. (2009). Exploring Representations of Masculinity in Disney Animated Feature Films. Unpublished Thesis. Retrieved on April 21, 2014 from repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.../HIBBELER-THESIS.pdf

12. Lemish, D. (2010). Screening Gender on Children’s Television.Routledge. New York. 13. Macdonald, M. (1995) Representing Women: Myths of Femininity in the Popular

Media. London: Arnold. Retrieved on March 22, 2014 from http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/files/2012/05/miriam-lowe.pdf

14. Macnamara, J. (2005). Media content analysis: Its uses, benefits and Best Practice Methodology. Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal. Retrieved on May 22, 2014 from http://snap3.uas.mx/RECURSO1/libroselectronicos/BIBAS%20PERIODISMO%20-%20DIGITAL/ART%D6CULOS/Media-Content-Analysis-Paper.pdf

17

15. McKee, A. (2004). A beginner’s guide to textual analysis. Retrieved on April 13, 2014 from http://www/enhancetv.com.au/articles/article3_1.htm

16. Mehta, R. B. (2011). Bollywood, nation, globalization: an incomplete introduction. Bollywood and globalization: Indian popular cinema, nation, and diaspora, 1-14.

17. Murthy, M. (2009).Representing Hindutva: Nation, religion and masculinity in Indian Popular Cinema, 1990 to 2003.Popular Communication.Taylor & Francis.

18. Pahwa, N. (2011). Digital Media Consumption Habits of Indian Kids: Cartoon Network Survey. Retrieved on Sep 15, 2012 from http://www.medianama.com/2011/03/223-media-consumption-habits-of-indian-kids -cartoon-network-survey/

19. Signorielli, N., McLeod, D., & Healy, E. (1994). Gender Stereotypes in MTV Commercials: The Beat Goes On. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. Retrieved on April 18, 2014 from fromwww.radford.edu/~jaspelme/.../mtv%20womens%20stereotypes.pdf

20. Smith, S., Choueiti, M., Scofield, E. & Pieper, K. (2013). Gender Inequality in 500 Popular Films: Examining On-Screen Portrayals and Behind-the-Scenes Employment Patterns in Motion Pictures Released between 2007-2012. Retrieved on March 10, 2014 from http://annenberg.usc.edu/Faculty/Communication%20and%20Journalism/~/media/5DB47326757B416FBE2CB5E6F1B5CBE4.ashx

21. Thompson, L. &Zerbinos, E. (1997). Gender Role in cartoons: Has the Picture changed in 20 years? Retrieved on April 18, 2014 from www.wstudies.pitt.edu/.../images/.../gender_roles_in_animated_cartoons..

22. Streicher, H.W. (1974). The Girls in the cartoons.Journal of Communication.In Thompson, L. &Zerbinos, E. (1997). ). Gender Role in cartoons: Has the Picture changed in 20 years? Retrieved on April 18, 2014 from www.wstudies.pitt.edu/.../images/.../gender_roles_in_animated_cartoons

23. Tuchman, G. (1978) ‘Introduction: The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass Media’. In: Tuchman, G., Daniels, A.K. and Benét, J. (eds). Hearth and Home: Images of Women in the Mass Media. New York: Oxford University Press.Retrieved on March 22, 2014 from http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/files/2012/05/miriam-lowe.pdf