National 4 (Spotlight Weekly)

Regional Discrimination

South Asian activists stress on the need to do away with traditional practice of stereotyping and subjugating women by media in the region

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Women in South Asia are persistently portrayed by the different forms of media in negative and stereotypical manner and exploited as a sexual object and a gratifying commodity despite strides made by them in various sectors, including media itself.

Over the years, although women in South Asia have been able to make remarkable achievement in political, social and even in media sector, the age-old imprint of patriarchal society is yet to wear off.

And that imprint is evident in various headlines and news features that regularly appear in the mainstream media. “In everything from advertising, television programming, newspapers and magazines, films and video games, women and girls are more likely to be shown in the home, performing domestic chores such as laundry or cooking, as sex objects who exist primarily to service men, as victims who cannot protect themselves and are the natural recipients of beatings, harassment, sexual assault and murder,” said Bandana Rana, a leading television anchor and the president of Kathmandu-based Sancharika Samuha (Women Communicators Forum).

Journalists, women activists and experts of South Asia concur that the portrayal of women is more or less similar in whole of the region. At a regional conference organized jointly by South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) and Sancharika Samuha in Kathmandu on June 26-27, the participants adopted a declaration urging all concerned “to refrain from presenting women as inferior to men and exploiting them as sexual objects.” The declaration further called upon, “To re-orient and re-educate the policy makers, editors, news editors, reporters, script writers, producers, crews and camerapersons on gender issues in order to perceive, portray and project woman as equal authentic human being.”

The newspapers and electronic media of the region are saturated with gender-biased coverage. Women occupy a very little proportion of newsmakers and that, too, most of them belong to glamour and film industry. The women as hard newsmakers like in politics and economy are hard to find.

“Globally women make up barely 18 percent of newsmakers and within that only 10 percent account for political newspeak. A 1994 study of India by Media Advocacy Group had found that a mere 7 percent of women figured in the political and economic segment of news and 26 percent in soft news,” said Rita Manchanda, an Indian journalist and executive director of South Asian Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR).

“The day the papers reported the convening of the 14th session of the Indian Lok Sabha (immediately after the May elections) – in the leading English daily, the front page was hijacked by the massive display of four bikini-clad Miss Universe finalists,” Manchanda notes.

In Nepal, too, the portrayal of women has not improved, the journalists said. Two years ago, an upcoming actress committed suicide after a vernacular weekly published her nude photograph. The women activists refer to a recent example of media’s devaluation of women, which was manifest when the media with crass insensitivity brutally referred to 200 Nepali girls who had been trafficked to India, rescued and returned were spoken of as “AIDS affected prostitutes” and “Garbage collected from India.”

A report by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, has stated that there are less than 12 percent women journalists with majority of these occupying subordinate roles. “Women are still predominantly portrayed in roles within the home, performing domestic chores or as sex objects. They are more likely to be portrayed as being victim, subservient, dependent, nurturing, selfless, sacrificing mother and wife or as a busy secretary, glamorous model and scheming mistresses,” said Rana. According to her, print media in Nepal cover only 7 to 10 percent of the total coverage on women’s issues – and about half of these are related to sex, prostitution, glamour, entertainment and crime.

Babita Basnet, a lady journalist cites an example of how Nepalese media treat women. “When a handful of Nepalese women were sexually exploited when they went to work in Gulf countries, the media presented the story in such a manner as to indicate that women should better stay within the four walls of their homes. They ignored the fact that a large number of Nepalese women were working overseas without any problem and that they were exercising their human rights and even contributing to their nation in form of remittances they sent.”

Similar is the case in Sri Lanka. In dealing with the crime of incest and child rape, the focus is shifted to the migration of Sri Lankan women (particularly to the Middle East) en masse, which has left an indelible impact on the family.

Rieta Rahman, an activist from Bangladesh said that in her country ‘the coverage of women’s issues by the media does not include aspects which promote and create awareness for gender empowerment among the citizens.’

Tasneem Ahmar, a woman rights activist from Pakistan, expressed concern over the lack of gender sensitivity in Pakistani media. According to her, Pakistani media, especially the Urdu and regional language press, indulges in a particular kind of gender-insensitive behavior whereby the language used is not only abusive and sexist, but also extremely judgmental. “While the print media accuses the woman of all sins: ‘kanwari maan ne gunahon ka bojh koorey ke dher par phaink diya’ (virgin mother throws her burden of sins on a garbage dump), ‘saat bachchon ki ma aashna ke sath bhag gayi’ (mother of seven elopes with lover); many teleplays are using biased languages like ‘aurat to hoti hi Naqasul aqal hey’ (a woman is intellectually inferior) etc. These remarks and statements continue to victimize women and reinforce already existing negative images,” she said.

A noted media critic of Nepal, Dhruba Hari Adhikary agrees that the gender stereotyping and image exploitation of women is rampant in the whole of South Asia. “But in many cases, the continued exploitation is the result of lack of resistance or counter-measures from the women’s groups,” he said. “Take for instance the beauty pageants. Except for some politically colored groups, nobody protests such rampant exploitation of beauty of a woman. Such tendencies fuel the gender insensitivity.”

Yubaraj Ghimire, a well-known Nepali journalist and Editor of Samaya weekly, however, has a different version. “It is not that the media is not properly portraying women in leadership in the spheres of politics, social work or business.” He cited an example of an incident two years ago when Nepalese media extensively reported on the beating by a village community to a lady named Marani Devi who was charged of being a witch. Media came to the rescue of Marani Devi whose story was treated without any gender or social bias. As a result, she is now an icon of a movement against the evil social practice.

Ghimire, however, agrees that the participation of women in media in Nepal is far less than encouraging or proportional.

In view of the lesser participation of women in media and in view of the deep-rooted social prejudices, media in the region are yet to completely shed-off their conservative stance as far as the portrayal of women is concerned. Until and unless, media start presenting women in their proper light, the social prejudices, patriarchal beliefs and gender-insensitivity cannot be expected to be defeated.