Paper Type
Complete
Paper Number
PACIS2025-1193
Description
Cinema significantly influences societal norms through promotional imagery, yet gender and colour biases in South Indian cinema remain under-examined despite their social relevance. The study addresses this gap by computationally analysing gender representation and colourism in South Indian movie posters. Utilising DeepFace and OpenCV for facial and skin-tone analysis, 7,745 posters from Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu cinema (1910–2024) were assessed. Results indicate persistent male dominance (78.2% of detected faces) and a notable preference for fair-skinned females (45% fair vs. 25% for males), with minimal temporal improvements and industry-specific variations. This research empirically validates significant gender and colour biases in regional promotional media, highlighting representational disparities and providing actionable insights for filmmakers, policymakers, and digital platforms to foster inclusive visual practices in media representation.
Recommended Citation
J, Balu and R, Dr.Sinimole K, "Data-Driven Diversity: Analysing Gender and Colour Bias in South Indian Movie Posters for Inclusive Media Representation" (2025). PACIS 2025 Proceedings. 10.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2025/conftrack/conftrack/10
Data-Driven Diversity: Analysing Gender and Colour Bias in South Indian Movie Posters for Inclusive Media Representation
Cinema significantly influences societal norms through promotional imagery, yet gender and colour biases in South Indian cinema remain under-examined despite their social relevance. The study addresses this gap by computationally analysing gender representation and colourism in South Indian movie posters. Utilising DeepFace and OpenCV for facial and skin-tone analysis, 7,745 posters from Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu cinema (1910–2024) were assessed. Results indicate persistent male dominance (78.2% of detected faces) and a notable preference for fair-skinned females (45% fair vs. 25% for males), with minimal temporal improvements and industry-specific variations. This research empirically validates significant gender and colour biases in regional promotional media, highlighting representational disparities and providing actionable insights for filmmakers, policymakers, and digital platforms to foster inclusive visual practices in media representation.
Comments
Diversity