(Mis) Representation of Female Homosexuality in Select Bollywood Movies

Abstract

Being a lesbian is and has to be normal but in a society like India where heteronormativity becomes the standard, homosexual women are oppressed and threatened by several factors such as abandonment and abuse. Bollywood movies have considerable influence over our society to initiate a change to this scenario through adequate, appropriate and progressive representation of lesbian community, which it has failed to deliver most of the times. This paper focuses on the manner in which female homosexuality is represented in select Bollywood movies Unfreedom (2014) and Girlfriend (2004) and how problematic the factors such as male gaze and stereotyping have affected the very purpose of mis/representation of homosexuality in films.