Assessing the Role of Items Songs from Bollywood Movies in Delineating Gender Roles in India

ABSTRACT Crimes against women are common in India due to oppressive cultural norms. Bollywood offers an opportunity to investigate gender role representations. This research examines 20 Bollywood item songs through an intersectional lens. The study is concerned with how aural affordances in item songs delineate oppressive gender roles and violence against women. The study discovered four major themes: increased substance use and gang culture depiction, lower-middle-class women’s hypersexualization, the problematic item girl persona, and female sexual liberation. The study explains how item songs can positively influence public opinion about gender roles and violence against women.