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@article{191296,
        author = {Aswathy CM},
        title = {Reframing Womanhood: Malayalam Cinema as Feminist Pedagogy and Cultural Intervention},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {8},
        pages = {6511-6519},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=191296},
        abstract = {The article examines the evolving representation of women in Malayalam cinema, tracing its ideological shift from patriarchal reinforcement to feminist resistance and empowerment. Traditionally, Malayalam films mirrored Kerala’s deeply ingrained gender hierarchies, portraying women as passive bearers of virtue, sacrifice, and domestic responsibility. Such representations normalised male authority and confined female subjectivity to silence and endurance. Drawing on feminist film theory and cultural studies, this study analyses how contemporary Malayalam cinema functions as a counter-discursive space that challenges these dominant narratives. Through a close reading of selected films—Achuvinte Amma (2005), How Old Are You (2014), Uyare (2019), June (2019), Sara’s (2021), and The Great Indian Kitchen (2021)—the article explores the articulation of female agency across domestic, professional, bodily, and emotional spaces. The analysis foregrounds key themes such as maternal authority, self-realisation, bodily autonomy, female desire, reproductive choice, and everyday resistance. It argues that empowerment in these films is not represented through spectacular rebellion but through gradual processes of self-awareness, voice, and refusal. By positioning cinema as a form of feminist pedagogy and cultural intervention, the study demonstrates how Malayalam cinema contributes to contemporary feminist discourse by destabilising patriarchal ideologies and reimagining women as active agents of social transformation.},
        keywords = {Malayalam Cinema; Feminist Film Theory; Patriarchy; Female Empowerment.},
        month = {January},
        }