Women in Indian Media
Our world is increasingly driven by a combination of information
and entertainment values. These are promoted by the explosion of different
means of communication, especially electronic communication, such as satellite
TV and Internet. Even news is packaged as entertainment. The markets for
information and entertainment are extremely competitive and continuously
looking for ways and means of increasing eyeballs.
It is to this effect, the private enterprises try to innovate
strategies to sell their products. One such means is advertisement. The
language of advertisements is more about the consumer than the object to be
consumed. In the patriarchal society of India, what could be a more appealing
language than woman? Sex sells after all.
Television and Films
The media is a powerful influencer in India. Advertisements not
only promote the commodities for commercial gain but these are also media
through which culture can be promoted, demoted or redefined. Although there are
many outlets for advertising, electronic media, especially television, capture
a lion’s share.
Advertisements deliver messages of specific life styles of
specific strata of society. The life styles of the upper-class are portrayed in
the entertainment contents to create a sense of desire and aspiration amongst
the viewing public. To promote such
messages, models that can be passed as representing the upper-class are hired.
These models are mostly Hindi and regional film actresses and actors; in other
words they are fair-skinned, sexy, slim, glamorous and macho (male models). To
emulate these models, modeling and fashion schools have sprung up all over
India. These institutions and the various modeling agencies are primary sources
of fresh models to meet the unforeseen boom in ad and fashion industries.
Advertisements have played an important role in manipulating and
manufacturing ideological transformation and transmission in the public domain.
Through advertisements, a new form of culture and norm are being implicitly
constructed. The new Indian is
constructed as English educated, upper caste, cosmopolitan, rationalist with
scientific bent of mind against rural, illiterate or semi-literate, lower case,
parochial mentality. This new individual has been constructed as “….the typical
corporate executive, an upwardly mobile professional who travels a great deal,
works hard, and unwinds at weekends and holidays.” Physical fitness, smart and
good looking, fair complexion are the hidden formula to sustain in the market.
Naturally, socially ostracized, neglected, deprived, illiterate rural poor
women have no place to enter into the public domain. The image of the educated
woman is typecast as arrogant, insensitive, self-centered, domineering, hard,
ruthless and the cause of all the suffering around her.
The Indian films, especially the commercial Bollywood ones, are
also recreating and sustaining this new
woman. Gone are the heroines who used to espouse maternal instincts. The
current crop of Bollywood actresses is artificially beautiful. Similar to
Hollywood, more and more Bollywood stars are turning to plastic surgery.
Katrina’s lips, Preity Zinta’s dimple (controversial), Priyanka Chopra’s
perfect cupid bow lips and nose, Sridevi’s straight nose, and Shilpa Shetty’s
overall transformation are all thanks to cosmetic surgery. Then there is botox;
Hema Malini is the poster woman. India is fast becoming a destination for
cosmetic surgical treatment. The singular reason for such a steep rise in
cosmetic surgery in India is because it has become more affordable, economical,
and alluring. Bollywood is no longer just an entertainment medium, it is a
lifestyle.
There has been much criticism of television advertising of some
commercial products like cigarettes, laxatives or articles of intimate wearing
apparel on moral grounds. Newspaper articles have found some advertisements
objectionable, violating the requirements of good taste and being offensive.
Some objections have also been made to the appearance of scantily clad women in
some commercials and sexual overtones in others. One particular ad on mango
juice starring Katrina Kaif has garnered the moniker of “aum sutra.” Mangoes as
sex aids and deodorants (Axe brand) turning women into nymphomaniacs –
advertising in India seems unable to think beyond Sex to Sell. Television
serials are depicting women and young females involved in conspiracy,
premarital, extra-marital, and post-marital illicit affairs. They are seen
wearing costly, heavy golden and diamond jewelry, perpetuating their religious
fundamentalism, spending time is family feuds, suicidal love affairs, mega
parties, palatial houses, luxury cars, sleek mobiles, elegant make ups – little
caring about anything besides the individual matters.
A social activist comments, "No matter how television
producers justify their stand, the fact remains that media influences women the
most. All of us have a social responsibility. Since serial makers are ignoring
theirs, it is up to the common people to raise their voice against the negative
portrayal of women in the so-called family dramas."
Print and Internet
Newspapers give preference to news related to rape, crime,
politics, scandals, sports and economics; serious debates and discussions on
issues related to women in general are completely missing. The columnists of
the newspapers are rarely females. Most of them who find place in the leader
pages are political activists or so-called socialites. In vernacular press, the
depiction of women gets a share only in colored pages where there is a lot of
gossip about actresses of TV serials or film stars along with some hot pick-up
and pin-ups. The English press also dwells upon providing snaps of hot babes and
erotic photo-gallery of party-mania in multi-star hotels. Even the photos of
sports stars are provided in a manner that depicts their body attraction.
Although the Press Council of India has clear guidelines on the
way the media should report on and depict women, there is a lot of controversy
regarding these instructions and many newspapers are not clear in their own guidelines
while tackling such sensitive issues. The fact that crime briefs are reported
as simple events, mostly unaccompanied by any analysis, conveys a sense of
media apathy and indicates the inherent belief that violence against women is a
daily feature of life and does not require analysis.
The internet and the mobile media are rife with indecent photos
of women and girls. In 2012, the Union Cabinet made forwarding of pornographic
multimedia messages from phones and internet liable for stiffer punishment.
Amendments to the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 were
cleared, broadening the scope of the audio-visual media and material in
electronic form.
Recommendations
The impact of the mass media should be monitored, so that one
can determine what kind of and how much impact the media has on people and
society. It might prove more useful for one’s organizational goals to use other
communication means, such as religious, social or tribal groups, the school
system, political parties, the government agencies, or other NGOs.
Clearly, the current mass media does not provide a balanced
picture of women's diverse lives and contributions to society in a changing
world. Much remains to be done with regard to the "participation, portrayal
and access of women to the media and its impact on and use as an instrument for
the advancement and empowerment of women". What India needs in the present
context are minimum regulation and more enablement. Consequently, the following
are worth considering:
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