Investigating Abilist Undertones in Mounaragam: An Analysis

Media narratives on contemporary television have evolved to include more diverse representations of women with disabilities, particularly in terms of regional content. Despite the fact these narratives often aim to contest discrimination, they frequently contain subtle forms of ableist ideology through what this study terms 'conditional acceptance.' This research examines how seemingly progressive narratives in the Malayalam television series Mounaragam simultaneously empower and undermine disabled women's agency through supportive characters' perspectives. Using feminist disability theory and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks, this study conducts a detailed textual analysis of dialogues and narrative structures that reveal internalized ableism within apparently empowering portrayal. The analysis demonstrates how qualifications like "if she weren't mute" within supportive narratives perpetuate discriminatory ideologies while appearing to challenge them. This study contributes to existing scholarship on media representation by identifying and theorizing the paradox of conditional acceptance, offering new frameworks for understanding subtle forms of discrimination in progressive content, and advancing the discourse on the authentic representation of disabled women in media.

Keywords: agency, conditional acceptance, feminist disability studies, intersectionality, media representation.