Gender, Leisure and Media Representation in India through a Social Justice Lens: A Sociological Study

Leisure, as delineated by the World Leisure Organization is considered as a vital component of human right which enable individuals to develop an agency. Likewise, leisure studies scholars (Zarezadeh, Rastegar:2023) have also posited that access to quality leisure also encompasses social justice offering individuals a chance for relaxation, self-development, social interaction, and wellbeing. However, previous research conducted across both English & Non-English-speaking countries suggests that globally and cross-culturally leisure activities are not gender-neutral i.e., women have been the disadvantaged sex vis-a-vis men due to the prevalent social regulations when it comes to choosing and engaging in desired leisure activities (Yerkes, Roeters, Baxter:2018). Similarly, in India, access to leisure is regulated by the social expectations prescribed separately for both the sexes, which situates women as the primary caregiver, confining their everyday activities to domestic responsibilities and childcare. Such practices are further exacerbated through media representation like advertisements, films etc. by glorifying and idolizing women’s domestic duties, advocating and promoting them as a ‘religious calling’ irrespective of their multifaceted intersecting social identities. Therefore, against this backdrop, this paper aims to explore through the intersectional paradigm how women’s engagement in desired leisure activities is predominantly proscribed in contemporary India. This paper is grounded in the in-depth interviews and analysis of the narratives of 25 employed women and 25 employed men in both private and government sectors, aged 35-50 years, alongside an analysis of Indian visual advertisements.