https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i3.100
Constructing the Feminine in Kerala Cyberspace: An Analytical Study of Female Representation in Internet Memes
ASALATHA C.K.
Research Scholar
Department of English
Fatima Mata National College, Kollam
Affiliated to the University of Kerala
Abstract: The participatory media have begun to occupy an inevitable space in our lives as an online space where people come together to forge relationships, share ideas, discuss and engage in politics, and construct identities. It can be considered as an extension of our physical world as it builds on the social and cultural codes of the latter. Hence, representations, identities, and interactions in participatory media are simultaneously influencing and are influenced by the way people perceive reality in a particular culture. In a highly patriarchal community, where women are mostly kept out of the public and political sphere, notions and representations regarding women are problematic as they evade reality, seldom express the genuine female voice, and are often stereotypical, presented from the male point of view. This study analyses how women are represented in Kerala Cyberspace, with a special focus on Internet memes and their role in constructing a gendered identity. The present study aims to unravel the ways in which humour is used to control the female agency, as disciplinary rhetoric to reinforce and normalize gender roles and the subordination of women. The study employs the method of thematic analysis on 50 popular memes from Kerala that feature female characters, which were randomly selected. After familiarization, categorization, and analysis of the sample, six overarching categories of female representation were identified: Domesticity, Inferiority, Objectification, Deceitfulness, Stupidity, and Emotional Instability. The investigation results point to the fact that sexism, under the veil of humour, evades scrutiny and achieves a certain level of tolerance and acceptance among the public, reinforcing dominant notions regarding gender by normalizing them.
Keywords: Participatory Media, Memes, Kerala Cyberspace, Gender, Sexism, Humour
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