Media Representation of Transgenders in India: Patterns, Perceptions and Policy Implications

Abstract

Representation of transgender people in the Indian media is an important aspect that is affecting the development of the policy decisions and establishing the correct path for the perceptions of the Indian population. Through the analysis of transgender people representation in different media routes, the study explores the hypothesis on whether such representations are leading to reinforcement of stereotypes or acceptance of the transgender people. It is going to determine the effect of media content on the attitudes of the people on the rights of transgenders and favorable attitudes to the anti-discrimination law. It is a quantitative study where the data was obtained with a stratified sample of 200 respondents represented by the diversity of age, gender, and geographic area. The results show that when the media exposure of the media content increases, especially in scenario of the content being of positive and inclusionary nature, greater support of the transgender rights is seen. Moreover, language and media consumption pattern were observed to be significantly having a moderating effect in attitude towards transgender individuals. The findings highlight the possibility of media as a strong weapon of social change, promoting legislative change and acceptance of transgender societies. It is suggested to promote targeted media interventions, particularly those that are based on regional languages, to increase the level of public awareness and promote more inclusive values of transgender rights acceptance. The creation of study specifically targeting attitudes fostered in society by media over long periods of time in addition to the influence of digital media on the formation of attitude should also be concerned with in the future.