Abstract

The dominant patriarchal standards continue to govern society, resulting in the subjugation of women through discriminatory practices, domestic abuse, and sexual assault. In numerous instances, women are not regarded as equal individuals, but rather as objects for the sake of male exploitation. Intimate partner violence is a reality which includes physical and sexual abuse along with the controlling behaviour. Media is a reflective tool for society. The portrayal of gender discrimination in the Indian web series encompasses several perspectives and conveys multiple meanings. In the web series ‘Criminal Justice 2: Behind Closed Doors’ we witness the sexual abuse of a woman in marital relations. Such issues remain hidden mostly because females do not reveal them due to the shame attached to it and suffer both mental and physical agony. The police, influenced by patriarchal norms, fail to investigate the underlying truth of crimes. The present study undertakes feminist critical discourse analysis of the sexual and mental abuse against women in the webseries ‘Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors-seasons 2’. The webseries has eight episodes from which dialogues manifesting power imbalance and gender stereotypes are randomly selected for the study. A total of fourteen dialogues were analysed carefully using feminist stylistics and Critical discourse analysis. Both the approaches help us understand and uncover the inherent sexism and power structures in the language and society. The textual analysis of the selected dialogues revealed the use of misogynist and sexist language by the male characters on the prosecution side.

Keywords

Domestic abuse, OTT, Sexual violence, Feminism, Gender discourse, Critical discourse analysis,

References

  1. Aarntzen, L., Derks, B., van Steenbergen, E., van der Lippe, T. (2023). When work–family guilt becomes a women’s issue: Internalized gender stereotypes predict high guilt in working mothers but low guilt in working fathers. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(1), 12–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12575
  2. Ahmed Ghosh, H. (2004). Chattels of Society: Domestic Violence in India. Violence Against Women, 10(1), 94–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801203256019
  3. Alam, S., Haque, S.A. (2021). Gender, language and Indian reality television: locating social stereotypes and linguistic sexism. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 12(2), 482–492. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2021.2.482.492
  4. Biswal, M. (2023). Deconstructing the Complexities of Domestic Violence: A Case Study of Darlings and Ammu Movies. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2023.v05i04.4831
  5. Cameron, D. (1998). Is there any ketchup, Vera?: gender, power and pragmatics on JSTOR. Discourse & Society, 9(4), 437–455. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926598009004002
  6. Dijk, T. A. van. (1993). Principles of critical discourse analysis. Discourse and Society, 4(2), 249–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006
  7. Fairclough, N. (2010). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. Routledge, London.
  8. Fathima, A. (2022). A large number of Indians believe its ok for husband to beat wife. The News Minute. https://www.thenewsminute.com/news/large-number-indians-believe-its-ok-husband-beat-wife-163801
  9. Felson, R. B., Messner, S. F., Hoskin, A. W., & Deane, G. (2002). Reasons for reporting and not reporting domestic violence to the police. Criminology, 40(3), 617–648. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2002.tb00968.x
  10. Foucault, M. (1972). The Archaeology of Knowledge: The Discourse on Language. Translated from the French by A. M. Sheridan Smith. Pantheon Books, New York.
  11. Gaur, M., Khan, S.U. (2022). Reading Evolving Family Dynamics in Post-Liberalization Hindi Cinema: A Case Study of Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999), Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (2001) & Dil Dhadakne Do (2015). Amity Journal of Media and Communication Studies, 9(1), 119-137.
  12. Gelles, R. J. (1977). Power, Sex, and Violence: The Case of Marital Rape. Family Coordinator.
  13. Ghosh, H. A. (2004). Chattels of Society: Domestic Violence in India. Violence Against Women, 10(1), 94–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801203256019
  14. Hodge, B., Kress, G.R. (1988). Social Semiotics. Polity, Cambridge.
  15. Jejeebhoy, S. J., Cook, R.J. (1997). State accountability for wife-beating: The Indian challenge. Lancet, 349(SUPPL.1), S10–S12. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(97)90004-0
  16. Jejeebhoy, S.J. (1998). Wife-Beating in Rural India: A Husband’s Right? Evidence from Survey Data on JSTOR. Economic and Political Weekly, 33(15), 855-862.
  17. Kapur, R., Cossman, B. (1996). Subversive Sites: Feminist Engagement with Law in India. Sage Publications.
  18. Krienert, J.L., Walsh, J.A. (2018). An examination of intimate partner sexual violence: Comparing marital and nonmarital incidents employing NIBRS Data, 2008-2012. Partner Abuse, 9(1), 41–57. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.9.1.41
  19. Lakoff, R. (1973). Language and Woman’s Place. In Language in Society. Cambridge University Press. 2(1), 45-79. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500000051
  20. Leela Visaria. (2008). Violence against Women in India: Is Empowerment a Protective Factor? Economic and Political Weekly, 43(48), 60–66. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40278238
  21. Mayoriska, U., Febrianti, Y., Widodo, H.W. (2022). Sexist Language of the Characters in the Movie Colette. JoLLA: Journal of Language, Literature, and Arts, 2(7), 1054–1064.
  22. Menegatti, M., Rubini, M. (2017). Gender Bias and Sexism in Language. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication, 451–468. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.470
  23. Mills, S. (1995). Feminist stylistics. In The Routledge Handbook of Stylistics. Routledge. London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315795331.ch21
  24. Mills, S. (2003). Michel Foucault. Routledge. London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203380437
  25. Mills, S. (2008). Language and Sexism. Cambridge University Press.
  26. Mills, S., Mullany, L. (2011). Language, Gender and Feminism. Theory, Methodology and Practice. Routledge, London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203814666
  27. Newton, R.M., Zeitoun, P. (2003). Is Androcentric Bias in the Educational Workplace on the Wane? Perplexing Findings. Journal of School Leadership, 13(4), 385–404. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268460301300402
  28. Richard B. Felson, S.F.M. (2000). The Control Motive in Intimate Partner Violence. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63(1), 86–94. https://doi.org/10.2307/2695883
  29. Sharma, N., Chakrabarti, S., Grover, S. (2016). Gender differences in caregiving among family - caregivers of people with mental illnesses. World Journal of Psychiatry, 6(1), 7-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v6.i1.7
  30. Sippy, R., & Arjun Mukerjee. (2020). Criminal Justice 2: Behind the Closed Doors.
  31. Slovska, I. (2022). WHAT IS SEXISM? Analìtično-Porìvnâlʹne Pravoznavstvo, 2, 96–100. https://dspace.uzhnu.edu.ua/jspui/bitstream/lib/58708/1/WHAT%20IS%20SEXISM.pdf
  32. Ubillos-Landa, S., Puente-Martínez, A., González-Castro, J.L., Nieto-González, S. (2020). You belong to me! Meta-analytic review of the use of male control and dominance against women in intimate partner violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 52, 101392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101392
  33. United Nations. (2023) What Is Domestic Abuse?. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/what-is-domestic-abuse
  34. World Health Organization (2021). Violence against women, World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women