Media Visibility and Gendered Spaces: The Portrayal of Women in Tea Shops in Malayalam Cinema

Tea shops in Kerala act as a setting for communication, conflict and companionship, reflecting this society’s socio-political outlook. Even though tea shops are categorized under ‘public space’, meant for all people, this space limits the mobility of women by reinforcing traditional societal expectations through gendered stereotypes. The spatial practices and their politics generated by the hidden power structures of the society are discussed in Malayalam movies. This study analyses the spatial practices in tea shops that make them gendered spaces, concentrating on the media visibility and presentation of women within these settings. By selecting the films Varathan (2018), Minnal Murali (2021) and Premam (2015) from the new generation period, the function of the tea shops as a gendered space is explored. This study employs Feminist Film Theory to analyse female narrative, placement and function in the prescribed space. Thematic analysis is employed to explore recurring themes and patterns in portraying women in tea shops across selected Malayalam films. The paper concludes that the chosen Malayalam films, through the portrayal of women in tea shops, reinforce conventional gender stereotypes by portraying women as submissive characters. This study contributes to the shaping of public opinion through the participation of women in public discourses and the role of films in normalizing these practices. The paper concludes that the selected Malayalam movies hold potential to educate the audience about inclusivity in the light of Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11). The potential of new-wave Malayalam films to explore public arenas as a narrative setting to convey unexplored themes is also suggested.