WOMEN IN MEDIA
THE PORTRAYAL, SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND LEGAL REFORMS
Introduction
The mass media have long been welcomed as the watch dog of society and this tradition bestows upon them the social responsibility to mirror and guide the process of social change. But in up to date Asian nation, mass media below varied pressures became the business channels solely and didn’t mirror the social issues or aspirations of the complete population, especially the problems faced by women in particular. Depiction of women in film, TV, daily paper and other media isn’t the past of human being concern.
As we all come over day by day to these media. They are depicting ladies as commodities and sex objects. A few socio-cultural factors such as character part, mishandle of ladies are displayed each day. So, the portrayal of women in Indian media, be it films, television programmes, visual advertisements or newspaper and magazines is becoming an area of great concern to the people having interest in social research and studies.
There is a current trend in today’s media, both electronic and print, to portray women as commodity, sex objects and sometimes as victims. It is famed to everyone that Indian society could be a paternal society; social system is established in all over and each aspects of life, and sadly media isn’t exception thereto.
The Cable Television Networks Rules restricted on the content;
The Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 were enacted under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Ordinance, 1994. The programme code under Rule 6 lays down restrictions on the content of both programmes and advertisements, Denigrates women through the depiction in any manner of the figure of a women, her form or body or any part thereof in such a way as to have the effect of being indecent, or derogatory to women, or is likely to deprave, corrupt or injure the public morality or morals
Rule 7 deals with restrictions on advertisements says, in its depiction of women violates the constitutional guarantees to all citizens.
Projects a derogatory image of women. The Rules say that women should not be portrayed in a manner that emphasises passive, submissive qualities and encourages them to play a subordinate, secondary role in the family and society. The cable operator is supposed to ensure that the portrayal of the female form, in the programmes carried in his cable service, is “tasteful and aesthetic, and is within the well-established norms of good taste and decency”.
A film is judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall impact and is examined in the light of the period depicted in the film and the contemporary standards of the country and the people to whom the film relates, provided that the film does not deprave the morality of the audience. The guidelines includes;
1) scenes degrading or denigrating women in any manner are not presented;
2) Scenes involving sexual violence against women like attempt to rape, rape or any form of molestation or scenes of a similar nature are avoided, and if any such incidence is germane to the theme, they shall be reduced to the minimum and no details are shown;
Section 7 of the Cinematograph Act provides penalties for violation of censorship provisions. Penalty can also be imposed for failure to comply with section 6A which requires that any person delivering a film to an exhibitor or a distributor will also give to him details of all cuts, certification, title, length and conditions of certification.
Portrayal of women by the Media
India has been a customarily preservationist patriarchal society, where sex role is unequivocally related to the winning devout and social scenery. Society and family also play a key part within the sex part improvement of people. In India a woman’s picture has been casted and formed by a long time of male matchless quality and female subservience. In spite of the fact that over the a long time ladylike and manly parts are very modified however the stereotyping of women still exists some place within the minds of the individuals in the society.
The media rather than highlighting the misuse of lady they conclusion up getting to be one of the reasons in increment of viciousness as their scope more frequently than not tend to it is genuine that media has brought to light as never some time recently certain misdemeanours against women but in an awfully inconspicuous way it too sustained the stereotyped picture of woman as a householder and an insignificant substance within for the most part ladies s problems never figure on the front page of a daily paper unless it could be a horrifying kill or a case of assault. daily papers indeed on ladies s page does not as a rule address pertinent issues for ladies strengthening but announcing is concerned with excellence tips formulas mild disorder etc. Advertisements have portrayed gender in distinct and predictable stereotypes.
Customarily, the parts of spouse and mother have been seen as a woman’s fate and she only career choice. For a long time, she has remained beneath the control of her father in childhood, under spouse after marriage and beneath child amid her ancient age. Hence it was the man who was taking the sole obligation of the family and was spoken to as the buyer for the whole family and hence a target for marketers. In those times she was portrayed within the part of either perfect housewife or as the object of crave. Within the final few decades due to globalization, growing advertise economy and the fast improvement in instruction and business there’s a drastic alter not only in role but moreover within the status of ladies within the society. There’s a move from the lady completely subordinate on a man, restricted to the residential circle to an independent career lady of the 21st century. Presently they are similarly contributing for the development of their family and the society. There’s a move from the lady completely subordinate on a man, limited to the household circle to an independent career lady of the 21st century. Presently they are similarly contributing for the development of their family and the society. They are mindful for the ordinary buys of their homes. Marketers are speedy to capture this drift and as distant as the idea of shoppers is concerned, marketers target ladies and are progressively depicting them in their advertisements. Women have gotten to be the most target bunch for the promoters both as the product clients and benefit suppliers. In spite of the fact that ladies were entering into the work constrain in unprecedented numbers, promotions have fizzled to portray this accomplishment of ladies. Women still are overwhelmingly confined to the age ancient sex developments and conventional roles.
Present day advertisements represent smart mom’s independence and passion, the super wife’s assertion in choice, the young girl’s choice of education over marriage, the modern women’s balance between the professional and personal life, but at the same time women are portrayed increasingly as highly sexualized and decorative objects. Women in advertisements were utilized to speak to those items with which they were not at all connected with.
A new type of beauty and self-image emerged for the women through advertisements, i.e. of a tall, skinny, woman with perfect skin. Advertisers started spreading the message (through the cosmetic product advertisements) that beauty and body image should be the main concern of the women and girls; on the basis of which they can attain anything in life. Media mostly tries to go with deep rooted traditional beliefs, rather than the newly evolved Even Indian Television Serials instead of portraying the real life women, they are depicting women in stereotyped roles involved in conspiracy, premarital, extra-marital, post fabric unlawful issues, wearing costly, heavy golden, and diamond Jewellery, perpetuating their religious fundamentalism, spending time is family feuds, suicidal love affairs, mega parties, palatial houses, luxury cars, sleek mobiles, elegant, make ups, little care about anything else than the individual matters, and above all hardly care about the outside world.
Critics of the prevalent portrayals of women in the mass media observe possible negative consequences for various segments of the population, such as:Women self-objectify in terms of body surveillance by adopting a form of self-consciousness in which they habitually monitor their own body’s outward appearance and spend significant amounts of attention on how others may perceive their physical appearance.
Unrealistic expectations held of how women should look or behave.
Stereotyping of women who are positively portrayed by or sexualized in the media, such as the theme of a “dumb blonde” or “blonde bimbo”, limiting the societal and career opportunities for people who fit these stereotypes.
Psychological/psychiatric disorders such as body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa.
The excessively coercive nature of appeal to strong sexual instincts to sell products or promote media.
Increase in the likelihood and acceptance of sexual violence.
Exploitation of women in movie and TV shows:
Television is usually subject to criticism for the sexual exploitation of women on screen, significantly once teenagers are concerned. In 2013, the fogeys tv Council discharged a report that found that it absolutely was progressively} more possible for a scene to be exploitatory once a immature woman was concerned. The report additionally found that forty three % of juvenile ladies on tv are the targets of sexually exploitatory jokes compared to thirty three % of adult ladies. The negative effects that this exploitation women within the media has on the mental state of young women, however recently the studies have targeted on aging girls in western societies. it’s been ascertained that the exploitation of young engaging girls within the media causes aging girls to feel a range of emotions together with unhappiness, anger, concern, envy, desensitisation, marginalisation, and discomfort that their look was being judged by others.
Self-objectification can increase in situations which heighten the awareness of an individual’s physical appearance. Here, the presence of a third-person observer is enhanced. Therefore, when individuals know others are looking at them, or will be looking at them, they are more likely to care about their physical appearance. Examples of the enhanced presence of an observer include the presence of an audience, camera, or other known observer. sexual objectification can be “roughly defined as the seeing and/or treating a person, usually women [and girls] as objects. From this perspective, women and girls are viewed solely as objects of desire and for their bodies, instead of whole individuals who have emotions, personalities, and behaviors beyond the scope of the act of sex. In movies, music and books it promoted in advertisements, magazines and on tv. it’s consumed daily by millions and its mental imagery is being viewed and applied to ladies and ladies everywhere the world; mass manufacturing stereotyped narratives and sexist social norms that conceive to form the value and worth of girls and women’s bodies. It’s the sexual objectification and exploitation of women and girls within the media. The role of the female lead ends up lacking substance and her character becomes sheer eye candy. Most roles for women involve glamorous skin show, a vivacious song and dance routine which makes the society to thing bad of the women. Women in films to reveal their bodies, these are personal selections created by actresses and administrators. However, the method this exposure and exhibition of sex is portrayed on screen has associate degree undercurrent, that carries messages to the audience, reinforcing additional, the pre-existing stereotypes in society, adding strength to the regeneration.
Portrayed on screen has associate degree undercurrent, that carries messages to the audience, reinforcing additional, the pre-existing stereotypes in society, adding strength to the regeneration.
Violence against women in social media:
In the present times, we discover the widespread use of blogs, social networking websites, twitter and sensible phones as extremely powerful and extremely prestigious platforms wherever problems associated with ladies injustices and atrocities likewise as violation of human rights, domestic violence and infringement of freedom of speech, thought and expression will be mentioned or shared, so conducive in building sturdy opinion teams or lobbyists with a awfully centered point of read and giving rise to people’s movements. As with most positive technological developments, potential negative impacts square measure inherent and will be self-addressed. So media should develop story lines, images, characters, programmes and products that promote healthy attitudes towards girls, masculinity relationships and sex. Media ought to give honest and full coverage of girls in politics, sports, business, health and education. The freedom and independence of social media has provided ample opportunity to stage and bring forth the various contemporary women issues and women movement dealing with gender issues like women atrocities and injustice.
These cases were came to known and get a mass support from the people with the help of media.
A case which shook the conscience of the masses and literally forced every person to come on the streets and stage their protest against the lethargic Indian Legal system and which shook the very foundation of the functioning of the judiciary. The 23 year old medical student who was gang raped and then brutally murdered in a bus in Delhi on 16th Dec, 2012 questioned the basic issue of woman safety and security. The case wouldn’t have become a widely discussed one had the social media not played its active role in making the incident a matter of public debate and discussion. Facebook and Twitter played a major role in not only showcasing the anger of the masses but it proved out to be the strongest platform where people staged their anger and utter frustration against the government’s indifferent attitude towards the incident. The case rather encouraged many journalists also to resort to facebook and twitter for updates on events and check the feedback of the activists. An Australian Reporter said that, “Twitter was really helpful to get a sense of the public sentiment and developments.” He followed the # delhigangrape hashtag, the official Twitter account of the Indian Government, women’s groups, pressure groups and Indian media on the subject. Facebook was the only place where strong opinion groups were formed and were posts became viral within seconds or people showed their support for nirbhaya by changing the facebook profile picture to a black dot.
Turkey’s Twitter Campaign
In a major case in Turkey, a woman was murdered brutally when she tried her level best to protect herself and stop the rapist. The incident immediately sparked mass agitations in Turkey and encouraged many more Turkish women to take on to social media in cases of women atrocities, murder and all kinds of sexual harassment. The article describes a case of Jo Anne Cusick who had to face sexual assault at a very tender age of eight but unfortunately lacking in courage at that time could not speak about it but after 28 years she shared the tweet on social media, joining the group of hundred other victims who also tweeted about their stories of assault. All these victims responded to one simple question as to what were they wearing when they were assaulted. The posts soon became viral and ignited widespread conversation on social media and blogs among victims as to whether sharing stories on public platforms of social media was truly a healthy step in the recovery process.
The debate started when Christine Fox, a young woman who regularly tweeted under the handle @ steenfox, had to face an argument from a follower that women were themselves responsible for all these assaults as they often wear revealing clothes and then they are assaulted. She strongly contradicted by replying that most of the women who are raped are decently dressed and added a hastag: # RapeHasNoUniform. There are many cases where woman have expressed all their personal miseries and pain on twitter and they have never felt shy about it as they strongly feel that exposing such stories through social media platforms rather makes the woman more careful, more strong and courageous and gives them a lesson of never to trust anyone as they can only be the perpetrators.
In fact it has been reported that female social media users have drastically gone up, clearly indicating the real power of social media. Women have been the right users of social media, whether it’s the question of bringing forth their painful stories or igniting thought provoking conversations on various issues related to women atrocities or gender inequality and social change.
Delhi Rape in Uber Cab;
A horrific case took place in Delhi which again shook and questioned the basic issue of safety of girls in Delhi was the rape case of a 27 year old finance executive working in a finance company in Gurgaon. The 27 year old was raped by a taxi driver while she was returning home from a dinner party in Gurgaon. The incident gave rise to certain reports titled, ” Delhi Rape: Twitter flooded with angry messages against Uber. Social Media played a very active role in the case and the comments and opinion of the people on Twitter made the public think for a while about the woman safety issue in such hired taxis. Uber had a tough time to win back the trust of the customers as the mass uproar on social media had completely damaged it image in the market. Twitter was flooded with messages posted by previous Uber Cab users who said that they all were deleting the app and refused to use its services in future.
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