Where are the Women? Gendered Indian Digital Production Cultures Post #metoo

Abstract

My article examines the influence of platformization in labor exchanges to assess how gendered expectations impact digital production cultures. It investigates the socio-cultural transactions that marginalized communities, especially women, from above-the-line professions have to navigate as they seek work opportunities on streaming services. Drawing on feminist production studies and media studies scholarships, the article discusses how gendered expectations become the norm in hiring creator labor. Through analysis of the data-set on the gender representation of key creative professionals in the Indian web series produced between 2014 and 2020, semi-structured interviews with creative professionals, and trade press literature, this research offers a nuanced understanding of how and why Indian on-screen dynamic representations and democratic entrepreneurial working structures do not eradicate gendered production norms. On the contrary, gendered interpretation of algorithmic data, the #metoo movement, and newer forms of sexism emerge alongside existing gendered production cultures to hamper the participation of women and minorities.