PROJECT NAME – STEREOTYPING OF WOMEN IN INDIAN

WOMEN

INDEX

OBJECTIVE

INTRODUCTION

MEANING OF STEREOTYPING

WHERE WOMEN STANDS IN MEDIA

ABOUT Tv Seials and advertisement

IMPACT MEDIA ON WOMEN AND SOCITY

CONDITION OF WOMEN

CASE STUDY

Conclusion

Sourse of information

Journal of Education & Social Policy

Portrayal of Women in Indian Mass Media: An Investigation

Himashree Patowary

Research scholar, PhD

Assam University

Silchar

Abstract
Media’s role towards women is

becoming the growing concern of the feminist writers, basically regarding

participation, performance and portrayal of women. Because different circumstances relating to the
media’s role

towards portraying the fair sex have opened a new angle by leaps and b

ounds to think precisely about it. There

are various criticisms raised by the feminists. According to the different feminists writers such as
Simon de

Beauvoir, Shulamith Firestone, Kate Millet, Gallagher, Bretty Friedman, media are reinforcing stereotype

images

of women as they are inferior, subordinate and submissive and only are the house wives devoid of all
qualities of

decision making.

India also there are various feminist writers such as Ritu Menon, Kamala vasin, Kiran Prasad

who have criticised the r

ole of print and visual media towards women and portraying them. They focus on the

point that as Indian society is male dominated and this dominance can be seen everywhere and
unfortunately

media is not the exeption to that.

1. Introduction

Women’s

participation, performance and portrayal in media are the three important dimensions of study for the

social science researchers of modern time, especially for the feminists. Because for the
empowerment and

development of the women section, it is very impo

rtant to give them proper environment where they can raise

their voices against the inequalities and the gender

gap they are experiencing in our male dominated or patriarchal

societies. Improving the status of women, in every aspect, is regarded as the onl
y way to eradicate this gender gap

and achieving a better quality of life for the women. For this, communication can be regarded as
vital way and

mass media can play a significant role in shaping social values, attitudes, norms, perception and
behaviour. I

t has

been widely recognised that media can play substantial role in promoting and disseminating information
among

the masses and are regarded as the key players in the social, political and economic
development of women.

Media can focus all the problems f

aced by women, these can give a space for women to talk about their rights or

freedoms and most importantly media can provide a democratic environment where women can
participate,

represent their womanhood and in which they will be portrayed positively. A

positive portray of women in media

is necessary to maintain the real dignity and status of women which will minimise the gap and
inequalities

between men and women. But if media also become male dominated or play the role as a mere agent
to forward

this tr

adition then the whole situation will be against the women where their development and
empowerment will

not be possible.

The term media is widely used as a short hand for ‘Mass Media’. The word media is the plural form of
medium.

Conceptually, the media a

re those technological agencies which are engaged in the creation, selection, processing

and distribution of messages among the people. As a logical connotation, the mass media deal with the
day to day

problems of the nation and especially of the general p

eople. It contributes towards the emergence of mass society

and mass culture.

Mass Media in India, like every modern and advanced country, comprises of the Print media and
Electronic media

which are composed of

the Radio, the Television, the Film, the Press, Publication and Advertising. Among these

media, the television, films, Advertisements, photography, animation, paintings etc. are regarded
as the visual

media.

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85

Statement of the Problem

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 contemporary India,
mass media

under various pressur

es have become the commercial channels only and failed to reflect the social problems or

aspirations of the entire population, especially the problems faced by women in particular. So,
the portrayal of

women in Indian media, be it films, television program

mes, 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 an on

going trend in today’s media, both electronic and print, to portray women as commodity,

sex objects and

sometimes as victims. It is known to everybody that Indian society is a patriarchal society;

patriarchy is
established in everywhere and every aspects of life, and unfortunately media is not exception to that.
Media as the

modern corporate

organisations are still dominated by the male and in all the higher posts men are employed and

they by controlling the whole system of media try to depict the picture of women as weak and inferior in
front of

the whole world.

Review of Related Literature

Jha, Rama, (1992).

Women and

the Indian Print

media

, New Delhi, Northern Book centre

In this book the writer Rama Jha describes about the performance and portrayal of women in media.
Firstly, she

talks about the women journalists who deal with the women’

s problems, and also mentions that there are some

male journalists who turn the problems viewed by the female journalists in to jokes. The male
journalists are

dominating the whole field of media in such a way that the female journalists can not be concern

ed about the real

problems of women and so their issues do not get proper limelight to be focussed of. The writer also
mentions

some problems faced by Indian women such as rape, burning of women by their in

laws, beating by husbands,

witch burning, illiter

acy and portrayal of women in print media. But those problems never got proper importance

because of the negative role played by the male journalists. So, the portrayal of women
sometime will not

positive. According to Jha, to portray women properly import

ance should be given on to publish the realistic

problems faced by them, without which some wrong pictures of women will be portrayed.

So, the writer urges to the whole Indian women to become concerned about their main
problems relating to

society, econom

y, culture and politics otherwise their male counterpart will portray wrong pictures of women in

front of the whole world.

Sharma K., Dr.Sanjeev, (2005), “Depiction of women in Indian media

A case of introspection for media

planners”

Samaj bigyan

shodh Pa

trica

, Amroha, Vol.1, no.1 April

Sept. pp.32

36,

In this article Dr.Sanjeev Kumar Sharma criticises the ways how Indian media both print and
electronic are

portraying women in the era of globalisation. The issues relating to women’s are not discussed in

media; rather

women are used as a commodity relating to women’s are not discussed in media; rather women are
used as a

commodity and sex object. Newspapers give no place to rape, crime, politics, scandals, serious
debates and

discussions on issues related

to women. Most of the newspapers publish only the gossips about the TV serials or

film actresses.
The writer also states that magazines as well as newspapers have sections for females where the reared
if left only

with the option of reading some persona

l gynaecological problems of married women or personal love hick

ups of

young girls.

In Television also there are various serials where women are shown involved in conspiracy,
premarital, extra

marital affairs, wearing costly, heavy golden and diamond

jewellery, little care about anything else than the

individual matters, and at all not even a word about the outside world. He also mentions about the
advertisements

where women are used to show their body. In most of the advertisements even a word about t

he outside world. In

most of the advertisements in India be it newspapers or television or magazines, the main

ingredient is women

and these depict the picture of women as vulgar and cheap.

Roy, S.S., (2012) “Portrayal of women in Indian Media

In the era

of neo

liberal economy”,

Global Media

journal

, June, Vol.3, No.1.

Journal of Education & Social Policy

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86

In this article the writer S.S.Roy states that today globalisation has left deep impact upon the Indian
nation. With

the passing of time with globalisation there occurred profound changes

in economic, cultural, social and political

arena. In economic system public sector has been ignored and private sector has been glorified.
Open market

system and privatisation have become the mantras behind the development of a particular country like
In

dia. The

writer focuses that the state relegates vast power on the hand of the private players. Of this,
competition is going

to be a usual thing among the producers of different markets. Every one is trying to sale their products
as soon as

possible. So,

they are busy with various manipulating activities to sale their products. That’s why they are taking

the help of advertisements.

According to the writer the companies busy with competition are using the faces and bodies of beautiful
women

to popularise t

heir products. These producers always producing lots of products everyday and there is competition

everywhere to become the best seller. For this they are using women in a cheap manner whether
necessary or not.

For example, they are using women in the adve

rtisements of cigarette, man, s underwear, man’s shaving cream

etc. They are portraying women wrongly for their own purpose.
Schaffer, Sharada J., (2006)

Privileging the Privileged

Gender in Indian Advertising

, Promila & co. New Delhi.

In this book, the

writer attacks not only the stereotyping but also the unethical and offensive representation of

women in advertisement that work to their detriment and perpetuates an undesirable gender hierarchy.

The author places her detailed analysis of individual ads

---

a whopping 2,000

---

against the backdrop of Indian

societal, cultural and religious norms that reinforce patriarchy and the inherent violence in Indian
society against

women, be it through bride burning, rape, or a number of other ways.

The author has

reviewed ads over a 12

year period from 1994 to 2005, but she admits that the majority of the ads

are from the 1990s, and her critical analysis raises some crucial questions that have troubled not only
women but

also social scientists cutting across gende

r. Unsparing in her observations, the author asks: “Does a woman need

to be always tall and slim, young and light

skinned with silken skin and mop of gloriously shining hair?

In the concluding chapter, the author presents a new code of ethics, challengin

g advertisers to re
-

examine their

notions of gender in order to uphold women’s inviolable right to be treated with respect and dignity.

Sudarsanam, Jawhari, (2005),

Representation of Women in Media: The

Legal

Debate

in Kiran Prasad (ed.)

Women and media

hallenging feminist discourse, The women’s Press, New Delhi.

In the article the writer discusses about the important points raised at the Being Conference (1995)
regarding the

role of mass media to curb the evil of depicting women in a derogatory manner.

According to him women should

be empowered by enhancing their skills, knowledge and access to information technology. This
ensures to curb

the negative portrayal of women internationally and to challenge instances of abuse of power in an
increasingly

impor

tant industry, the mass media.

The Beijing Platform of Action further suggests that the self regulatory mechanisms for the
media need to be

created and strengthen and approaches developed to eliminate gender

biased programming. There is a need to

develop,

by the media and advertising organizations, professional guidelines and codes of conduct and
other
forms of self regulation to promote the presentation of non

stereotyped images of women. Therefore, there is a

need to establish, consistent with freedom of

expression, professional guidelines and codes of conduct that

address violent, degrading or pornographic materials concerning women in the media, including
advertising. The

national governments and the international organisations have to play a role here.

They should encourage the

media to refrain from presenting women as inferior beings and exploiting them as sexual objects and
present them

as creative human beings.

Haripriya, M. (2005).

Women in Advertisement on Television

in Kiran Prasad

(ed.) Women and media

challenging feminist discourse, The women’s press, New Delhi.

Here the writer states that liberalisation and privatisation have definitely invaded the today’s consumer
market in

India. Our urban India is slowly transforming into a western society. The concept of global village
and

information revolution has led the markets to target the world with one message. The writer also says
that in this

process, western culture is being imbibed into our veins. The advertisers have not succeed

ed in the just and true

portrayal of women. There is surely a renaissance going on for the Indian women. But this
renaissance is not

being captured correctly by the advertisers. There is a need to voice out for a change in advertising
content.

©
Center for Promoting Ideas, USA

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87

Jha, Jyotsn

a & Nigam Divya (2007),

Women

in Advertising: Changing Perception

by NigamICFAI Uni press

In the book the writers have analysed the women’s presentation in media in present
perspective.Women have

been exploited by the advertisers for decades. They have fr

equently been stereotyped in the traditional roles oh

home maker, or have been projected as ‘visual prop’ to enhance the appeal of an advertisement.
However, since

the early 2000s, the frequency and the number of such demeaning and exploitative advertiseme

nts in the print and

the electronic media have reduced.

Das, Mallika (2000). ‘Men and Women in Indian Magazines Advertising’ ‘

Sex

Roles

’, Vol.43, Mt.SaintVincent

Uni, Springer US pp.699

717.

Mallika Das in her study examined the portrayal of women and me

n in Indian magazines ads. Over 1,100

magazine ads from a wide range of magazines in 1987, 1990 and 1994 were examined. Results
indicate that
although the portrayals of women and men in Indian magazine ads have changed the period,
they are still

portrayed

in stereotypical ways.

Punwani, J. (1988).

Portrayal of women in Television

, published in an edited book ‘Women in Indian society: A

Reader’ by R.Gadhially, pp.225

232, New Delhi, Sage Pb.

In this book the writer has accused the TV programmes being portr

aying women in derogatory manner, which has

minimise the respect and dignity of women.He found that even though women were present in
most of the TV

programmes in significant numbers, their portrayals did not reflect the complexities of Indian women.

Pand

ey, M. (1991).

The Subject is Women,

New Delhi, Sanchar Publishing House.

Here the writer writes that since the advertising agencies in India are male dominated, the
tendency to portray

women in traditional roles, or in superhuman roles where they manage

the home and the job, has been inherent in

the content of Indian advertising.

Shelat, M. (1994).‘Gender portrayals in Indian advertising’, Seminar paper presented to the

Gender and

communication Section, International Association for Mass Communication

Research Seoul, Korea.

In this seminar paper the writer describes how after the gain of independence in 1947, advertising in
India was
restricted mainly to the print media since television reached the country only in the late
1960s.According to her

study,

the print advertisements of the 1950s and 1960s portrayed men as breadwinners of the family,
decision

makers and professionals while women were portrayed as being inordinately concerned with
their physical

appearance and cooking meals to please their men

and families.

Tefft, S. (1987).

India’s bill could jail advertisers

. Advertising Age.

In this book the writer S.Tefft states that along with the recent boom in advertising, there has
been a growing

concern among several Indian women’s group that too many

advertisers are portraying women as sex objects or

as stereotypical happy housewives.

Justice G.N.Ray, (2008) addressing the Press council of India at the inauguration session of National
Press Day

on Nov, 16, at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

Addressing

the Press council of India at the inauguration session of National Press Day, Justice G.N.Ray says that

the most significant movement will be the movement for the emancipation of women. There should be
respect for

the women section in all fields; they shou

ld be given equal pay for equal work, there should be no gender gap

between man and woman. According to him the most important medium through which the
problems can be

focused is the media. Both the print and electronic media should focus the gender inequa

lities, violences against

women. These should not give importance on focussing women as sex objects or commodities.
Choudhury, Maitrayee (2000). “Feminism in print media”

Indian

Journal of

Gender Studies

,; sage pb.New Delhi.

In this article M.Choudhury h

as stated the issue of feminism in the institutional context of the print media.

Discussing the modern issue of feminism the writer has opened a new angle to think about the equality,
freedoms

or liberties for the women. She showed a great concern for the

women’s movement for the restoration of the

feminine needs and necessities in the era of liberal economy.

Prasad, Kiran, (2005).

Women, Media and Society: Recasting Communication

Policy

, in the edited book by

herself “Women and media

challenging feminist

discourse”, The women’s press.

Journal of Education & Social Policy

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No.

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2014

88
Kiran Prasad in her article, ‘Women, media and society: Recasting communication policy’ which is
included in an

edited book by herself ‘Women and media

challenging feminist discourse, writes that without the welfare of t

he

women the development of the society is not possible. Women should be given the democratic space
where she

can talk about her problems. For this the media can be regarded as the best way through which they can
transmit

their voices and ideas to the mass

. So, media should play a significant role to develop as well as empower the

women by focussing their problems and most importantly they should portray women as strong and
superior not

like the inferior and less respected. Because distance between the medi

a and women not only derives the women

of their right to information but keeps them in the dark.

Tomar, Ranu in her seminar paper (2011). “Gender and Media: Status of women journalist in Hindi Print
Media

in India” presented at University of Work, 19

‘22

sept.

In her seminar paper Ranu Tomar attempts to explore the struggle for transformation and bridging gap
between

social identities of women and men. The relationship between media and women has a certain
structure where

women are trapped as an object.

She also states that the role of women in media decision making is reflected in

the poor representation of women issues and concerns.

Research Methodology
Aim

The research is made for making an

investigation about the portrayals of women in the Indian print and visual

media through feminist perspective.

Objectives

The objectives of the study are:

1. To analyse the feminist understanding of media.

2.

To critically analyse the media’s role in

constructing the images of women.

Research Design

In order to fulfil the objectives of the study the researcher will employ the Analytical Method.
An analytical

method is that where a researcher has

to use facts or information which are already availabl

e and analyse these to

make a critical evaluation of the material. In the present study the available data on Indian print and
visual media

will be critically analysed.

Research Questions

The research questions of the present study are:

1. What is the f

eminist stand on media?

2. How media play role in constructing images of women?

Data

Collection

Data for this study collected from the secondary sources of data. The secondary data includes books,
magazines,

journals, periodicals and different websites.

Analysis
During the past decade, advances in information technology have facilitated a global
communications network

that transcends national boundaries and has an impact on public policy, private attitudes and behaviour,
especially

of children and young adults. Ev

erywhere the potential exists for the media to make a far greater contribution to

the advancement of women. More women are involved in careers in the communications
sector, but few have

attained positions at the decision

making level or serve on governing

boards and bodies that influence media

policy. The lack of gender sensitivity in the media is evidenced by the failure to eliminate the
gender

based

stereotyping that can be found in public and private local, national and international media
organizations

. The

continued projection of negative and degrading images of women in media communications

electronic, print,

visual and audio

must be changed. Print and electronic media in most countries do not provide a balanced

picture of women's diverse lives and

contributions to society in a changing world. In addition, violent and

degrading or pornographic media products are also negatively affecting women and their participation
in society.

Programming that reinforces women's traditional roles can be equally li

miting.
©

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89

The world

wide trend towards consumerism has created a climate in which advertisements and commercial

messages often portray women primarily as consumers and target girls and women of all ages
inappropriately.

Women should be empowered by enha

ncing their skills, knowledge and access to information technology. This

will strengthen their ability to combat negative portrayals of women internationally and to challenge
instances of

abuse of the power of an increasingly important industry. Self

regul

atory mechanisms for the media need to be

created and strengthened and approaches developed to eliminate gender

based programming. Most women,

especially in developing countries, are not able to access effectively the expanding electronic
information

highw

ays and therefore cannot establish networks that will provide them with alternative sources of
information.

Women therefore need to be involved in decision

making regarding the development of the new technologies in

order to participate fully in their grow

th and impact. In addressing the issue of the mobilization of the media,

Governments and other actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender
perspective

in policies and programmes.

In this regard, some studies have found th

at social issues related to women(equality of status and opportunity) got

less than 9% while sensational stories relating to women which were invariably crime stories got
between 52%

and 63% of items in newspaper. Besides the print media, electronic media

is also depicting women as scrupulous,

religiously intolerant, craving only for their family, politically naive, socially inevitable and
culturally ultra

modern. In recent time, sex and sensation are becoming the primary motivations behind any
reportage, w

here

women are used as commodity; some time in advertising some products or some time as sexy
babes neglecting

the real status of the whole women section.

It is a fact that the Indian society generally considers women as weak and inferior. As a result,
a woman

undergoes tremendous traumas from birth to death. Many girl children are annihilated even
before they see the

light of the day, many girls are raped o

n roads or at homes, many wives are beaten by their husbands and in

laws,

many girls have to give up their education to help their parents to earn money. But media are not
focussing those

problems. They are only busy with to publish the gossips of the acto

rs and actresses, the love stories between

them. This negative attitude towards women in real life is very much reflected in the way media
represents them
as well. Media representations of Indian women reveal that they are less accepted and respected as pe

rsons and

more looked upon as objects. She has three projected roles

---

biological, domestic and decorative. Media are

hardly challenging the gender attitudes promoted and perpetuated by the society. Watching a BBC
documentary

on Indian cinema a British yo

ungster commented, “Indians must be very poor, and they seem to have very little

respect for women”. He had after all seen a few clippings of films inserted in the documentary. What if
he were to

watch at length, more of our kitsch movies and worse still s

exually suggestive, dehumanising song sequences.

Now a day, as a visual media, advertisements play important role in promoting different products.
Everyday we

are exposed to a number of advertisements through various media vehicles like newspape

rs, magazines, radio,

television, internet and various outdoor media. But there has been much criticisms against
advertisements as these

are portraying women as sex objects. Women’s physical attraction has been used as a whole, or in parts,
to market

every

thing from brassiers, male under garments to automobiles. These ubiquitous images encourage
people to

think of sex and women as commodity, and these may contribute to violence against women. For
example, there

is an advertisement of a premium whisky that s

hows one man is taking first sip of that particular whisky and the

lady sitting in front of him appears to be loosing some inches of her dress, after every drink the process
is going

on up three drinks. After three sips of the drink he finds that the breas

ts of the previously over clad lady have

become quick visible and half clad and his own shirt has slipped from his shoulders. And the voice smurs
kuchh

bhi ho sakta hain (Anything can happen). The depiction of women in this and other
advertisements is actu

ally

insult to the women in general which are destroying the real status and dignity of women. According to
a United

Nations Research Report (1975) on Advertising and the Portrayal of Women, advertisements have
been held

responsible for projecting women in

a derogatory light, and as inferior class of beings (National Advertising

Review Board, 1975).Shrivastava’s research on the Indian media has shown that the dominant
negative

stereotypes in connection to the portrayal of women are:

1. A woman’s place is

in the home.

2. The most important and valuable asset of a women is physical beauty.

3. A woman’s energies and intellect must be directed toward finding the right man.

4. Women are dependent coy and submissive; they are masochistic in their response to ind

ignities humiliations,

and even to physical violence inflicted upon them.

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5. The good woman is the traditional house wife long suffering, pious and submissive; the modern
woman who
asserts herself and her independence is undesirable and can never bring ha

ppiness to anybody nor find happiness

for herself.

6. Women are women’s worst enemies.

7. The working woman is the undesirable exception who must be brought in to the marriage
fold and made to

conform to traditional social norms.

The

1974 Report of the Committee on the Status of Women (Joshi Committee Report) found that ‘women
are

represented as wives and mothers in most TV and other media programmes. Although 36% of
them are

agricultural workers, women are predominantly projected as n

on

producers, with a decorative function, being

marginal to national growth and development. Plural nature of Indian culture and the diverse roles
women play is

neither acknowledged nor communicated. These results in stereotyped images and role specificati

ons of women in

unidimensional projection of their reality’.

Besides the advertisements, Cinema is also one of the most important and cheapest visual
medium of

entertainment in contemporary India. Unfortunately, the commercial film industry, which is a pu

rely profit based

industry, cares little about the image of women they portray to the public. Commercial films have
followed a set

pattern of female image portrayals wherein women are projected as sacrificing themselves for
the family and

reaffirming value

s of self
-

effacement and devotion to the male head of the family. Women who opt for a less

traditional life are portrayed in a negative light. Furthermore, these films vividly portray physical
violence against

women and hardly ever show women as being capa

ble of thinking for them in a logical and rational manner.

Gokul Singh and Dissanayake (2004) quoting Richards (1995) mention three categories of sexual
objectification

of women in Indian cinema, the tribal costume which is used for cabaret dances, throug

h which women’s body

particularly pelvic region and the other parts are shown, the wet sari and the behind the bush scene.
In the film

Hum Apke Hain Koun (1995), the leading female actress wore a deep cut blouse, indicating the
scopophilic

nature of the ca

mera. In an another popular Indian cinema Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge(1995) actress Kajol

enacting the modern version of the wet sari sequence, wearing not the sari but a more revealing white
costume. In

this film the female character comes from such a con

servative Indian family that she fears to tell her father that

she has fallen in love with some one. Given that conservative context, it seems unlikely that
such a character

would be dancing a rain dance.

In their study of the mistreatment of women in

commercial Hindi films, Dasgupta and Hegde examined a sample

of 30 movies. After examining the movies the researchers concluded that the mistreatment of
women in Hindi

films is a mechanism which reinforces and perpetuates the patriarchal order of Indian so

ciety.

Television is also one of the most popular electronic media in India. In the television
programmes women are
basically seen as performing the decorative functions and as being marginal to national growth and
development.

Another important aspect of

television programming is that large chunks of the entertainment programmes are

drown from commercial film content. A crucial implication of this phenomenon is that as in
commercial films,

women on television entertainment programmes are projected as non

thinking, sacrificing and suffering beings

while educated and motivated women are seen as the scourge of the patriarchal order of society.

TV serials are depicting women and young females as involved in conspiracy, pre

marital, extra

marital, post

illici

t affairs, wearing costly, heavy golden, and diamond jewellery, perpetuating their religious
fundamentalism,

spending time in family feuds, suicidal love affairs, mega parties, palatial houses, luxury cars,
sleek mobiles,

elegant make

ups, little care abou

t anything else than the individual matters, and at all mob even a word about the

outside world.

As in the case of television, Desai and Patel state that the majority of the radio entertainment
programmes in India

are borrowed from commercial films. As fa

r as typical women’s programmes on radio are concerned, on an

average, 60% of programme time is devoted to entertainment only. Twenty percent is given for
educational
programmes, and 20% is used for imparting information. Women are portrayed as gossip

mong

ers, and they are

given advices on how to become a good wife, a good mother and improve their physical
appearance. They are

also given elaborate instructions on how to cook, sew knit etc.

The print media in India (when compared to electronic media) have limited impact on the vast
and mainly

illiterate population of the country. The majority of the population has depended on the oral tradition of
cultural

transmission for over two hundred ye

ars.

The last few decades have seen tremendous changes in the lifestyles of men and women across all over
the globe and particularly so in our own country. Globalization, market economics and above all, fast
strides in technology have affected virtually all facets of life be it religion or education, politics or
employment, fashion or health care. With the advent of computers and telecommunications, media has
also undergone a sea of change. Media in India, which until a few years back used to comprise of the
morning newspaper, the radio broadcasts and the sole television network screen images of
“doordarshan”, comprises today of a dazzling and at times mind boggling array of communication
devices. The media, which was earlier merely a reporting device, is today a vibrant means of shaping,
molding and influencing public opinion.

However, in spite of all these changes, the media has not managed to overcome the typical stereotypes
that are associated with women in India. While there are certain departures from this, the fact remains
that by and large, there is a huge potential for better and a more realistic projection of women. It does
not require any detailed analysis to conclude that the media is in a state of confusion and are perhaps
unsure of the way they want to see women. On the one hand they still have this eternal image of a
woman who is confined to the boundaries, duties and responsibilities of her home and her family.
Even a contemporary TV advertisement, like that of “MOOV” is based on the same philosophy. The lady
in this advertisement is shown as the single person doing all the housework, and attending to the whims
and fancies of all her family members, from her husband to kids, to mother and father-in-law, and
simply everybody. She is allowed a break from her work only when she cries out in pain from a
backache. And then the family decides to recognize her presence by passing a tube on ointment around,
and the husband offering to apply the ointment for her. But those moments of respite are few, as she is
back on her feet the moment the pain recedes, and the bombardment of orders and requests begin
again. The docile, subservient nature of the woman is apparent, although not meant to be so perhaps!!

Another image of women in India that has grown in the recent years is the one that we have aped from
the west and which gradually is gaining momentum. This is the portrayal of the woman as a showpiece
or an icon of glamour. We hardly come across an advertisement these days where we don’t see a pretty
model beaming at us, be it the advertisement of a new model car or that of a cold drink. We see the
advertisement of the new “Maruti Zen” where the tiger stalks a young woman in a dark alley. The
advertisement had to be withdrawn due to public pressure.

In other words, the portrayal of women in the Indian media oscillates between these two extremes: the
“mother India” and the “glamour girl” image.

What the media does not see and project is the image of a woman as a serious partner in decision-
making, a serious contender as a professional: doctor, engineer, teacher or a computer specialist, a
serious politician or leader. This is so in spite of the fact that we have today a large number of working
women, and there is hardly any field that does not have women representatives. We have women
administrators, entrepreneurs, doctors, police women, computer specialists, politicians and most
surprising the entire media business is full of women practically performing all types of activities.

It is indeed a very sad phenomenon. For example, companies like Wipro, Infosys, IBM, Microsoft etc
employ almost equal number of men and women. But when it comes to a TV advertisement regarding
computers, we always find that it is the projection of a man behind the monitor!! The woman has to use
‘fair & lovely’ and wear a pink dress to become a cricket commentator.

There is no end to such examples and though “India is shining” and we have progressed by leaps and
bounds, the fact remains that the usage of women as perceived in our country oscillates between these
two extreme stereo types.
Women in India have had a very categorically defined role since time immemorial. Be it films,
advertisements or theatre, women’s roles have been defined on the continuum of being trivially
significant to being absolutely worthless.

Most ads which featured women showed typical Indian housewives. Brands like Nirma, Dabur, etc made
women endorse house hold products. You would either see saree clad women doing some household
chore or buying some grocery items. A research showed that Indian ads reflected stereotypical roles like
women’s place is in the home and they don’t take important decisions and they are not considered
significant.

There has been a socio-cultural change in the society over decades. Traditional gender roles, despite
certain revisions, are still standard and stereotypical in the large segment. On the contrary, a new
segment that is cropping up these days – sensationalism. Sexuality in the media has been on a constant
rise due to that.

Cadbury introduced a new image of a woman when it re-positioned itself as a product that can be
consumed by people of any age group especially youngsters and not only children. In trying to expand
the target audience, Cadbury portrayed a woman in a way that was never seen in Indian Ads before.

The visual showed a cricket stadium where the match is about to end. When India wins, the lead female
runs to the pitch, to hug the batsman. While she is running, she is sensually consuming Cadbury and the
expression of extreme pleasure is evident on her face. This ad was a paradigm shift for both, Cadbury
and existing image of women.

Currently, Indian ads are a mix of traditional, sexual and progressive. Traditional ads show women as the
typical house wife and home-maker and wide. Sexual ads objectify women with a sexual focus. Initially
such ads were restricted to categories like perfumes and undergarments. But now, the horizon has
expanded and sexuality has occupied an invariably important place in Indian ads.

For instance, the Gourmet ice-cream ad by Vadilal shows a woman in a sensual night wear. She is
seductively licking the ice cream and relishing it with an expression of pleasure and satisfaction. The
Maaza ad starring Katrina Kaif is another example of unwanted sexual appeal in the advertisement. The
makers thought that the visual was not a disaster enough, so they added the tag line “Aamsutra – Pure
Mango Pleasure”. The words like ‘Pleasure’ are an indirect comparison to sex.
Cosmetic brands are also instinctively using visuals which have a sex element in it. Progressive ads which
show women as both, independent and sex object are still acceptable. But only women as objects to be
obtained by men for their own sake, isn’t really appreciated by the Indian mentality.

On the contrast, showing women as only housewives or mothers, can also have a negative effect. It
might convey the message that Indians are still narrow minded and are not open to working women and
their changing life styles.

Thus, overall a combination of all aspects need to be perfectly integrated into Indian ads for portraying
the true and acceptable image of women. Ads like Double Diamond where they show an independent
and confident woman, is the need of the hour. HDFC’s “Sar Utha K Jiyo” is an example of upgrading
woman’s image. Airtel has wife playing the boss of the husband which was not really accepted and
appreciated in our society and culture. It still isn’t to a greater extent. So, yes media has played an
important role in forming the woman’s image differently, time and again. And it will continue doing so

- See more at: http://www.campusghanta.com/dimag-ki-dahi/changing-role-of-women-in-indian-

advertising#sthash.6z1Hzgd9.dpuf

Panelists at a national consultation on women and media on Tuesday were concerned about under-
representation of women in journalism, especially in Hindi and regional language media.

At the consultation organized by a high level committee on status of women appointed by the Centre,
chairperson Pam Rajput mentioned three prime areas that the panel would look into — presence of
women in the media, representation and portrayal of women in media and regulatory mechanisms.

Speaking at the meet, women and child development minister Krishna Tirath said participation in media
had been from certain classes and communities. "Women from marginalized sections of society remain
under-represented," she said.

Panelist and journalist Pamela Philipose cited a report by the Media Studies Group (MSG) which found
only 2.7% women in media at the district level. The MSG surveyed 255 districts of 28 states in 2012 and
obtained information through RTI. "The survey across districts found 329 accredited women journalists,"
said Philipose.
Besides, 70% of news came from male sources in the media. "That is also a reason why issues of women
don't find place in mainstream media," said Philipose.

Tirath urged the committee to recommend ways to improve work conditions for women in the media.
Even basic amenities like toilets were often not accessible to women journalists, the minister said.

"Women journalists who need to wait long hours outside North Block and South Block in Delhi for
reporting assignments, for instance, have no access to toilets. Several women journalists have told me
that they had to leave the profession due to kidney stones," said Tirath.

The 14-member committee, set up by the Centre in 2012, is expected to submit its final report on socio-
economic, political and legal status of women in 2015.

While lauding media activism, especially after Delhi gang rape that helped galvanize public opinion
leading to significant law amendments related to rape and violence against women, Tirath said, "Media
activism many times proves to be a double-edged sword. The media's power to mould public opinion
has been sometimes misused and has led to trials by the media."

Just as the media can create positive public opinion, it can promote conservative and patriarchal
thinking, said Tirath. "The print and electronic media often do not provide a balanced picture of
women's diverse lives and multiple contributions to society in a changing world. Television programmes
that reinforce women's traditional roles can be equally limiting," she said.

She pointed to a growing trend where advertisements and commercial messages often portray young
and old women primarily as consumers.

n modern society, everyday people are bombarded with graphic advertisements, slogans, and images
that underlie a major issue; objectification and exploitation of women in mass media. In fact, a recent
study found that consumers view on average 247 advertisements each day. Although it is beneficial for
company’s revenue sake, there are negative side effects attached to this crucial element of marketing.
People begin to subconsciously believe in what they see and try to apply it to their reality. Moreover,
women have negatively changed their lives according to the psychological influences from mass media
about what makes for a beautiful woman. Gender roles are shaped mainly by mass media influences
including television, advertisements, music, promotions, commercials, billboards, Internet, cosmetics,
and social media. Nowadays, the media has major control over societal norms and it influences opinions
and perspectives through psychology. Specifically, the female viewers are subconsciously changing.
Countless women alter their body image and mindset to reflect women they view in these everyday
advertisements.

In this essay, I will explore the topics of exploitation of women in mass media; the negative effects in
societal norms due to this issue, counterarguments and refutations, and finally remedies to supersede
this issue.

First, I will explore the issue of objectification. Women are prone to objectification with the constant
vulgar advertisements and sex industries. In a social perspective, objectification means to treat a human
as if he or she was a thing, or an object, without any regards of their emotions or dignity. Objectification
can also include treating someone as a belonging to another person (usually belonging to a man), used
as a tool for self-fulfillment or needs, and also permissible to use, abuse, damage, and destroy.
Furthermore, sexual objectification is a culturally masculine perspective aimed towards women being
solely objects for sexual pleasure and disregarding the intelligence capabilities of a woman. Sexual
objectification derives from feminist theories and is said to be the cause of gender inequality. The cause
of this perspective has unfortunately affected women to be submissive as sexual objects and exploited
in numerous types of mass media. For example, rap music often uses degrading terminology in regards
of women. Subconsciously, this creates a barrier between men and women. Men feel that it is
permissible in today’s society to use and damage a woman’s dignity by treating them as sexual objects.
In correspondence to these man made ideas, women often submit themselves as sexual objects through
participating in vulgar music videos, modeling in advertisements, and pornography. Pornography itself is
the portrayal of sexual objectification of women and mainly targeted towards male audiences. It is the
intentional act of using women for sexual advantage and then tossed aside like an object. Pornography
is a source of emotional disconnection between male and female relationships. Pornography is sexual
fantasies that men hope to achieve in real life. Recently, female inequality has become so easily
permissible in society with the constant mass media influences.

Why do companies choose to advertise female sexual objectification in commercials and billboards?
“Sex sells,” and truthfully, it really does. Often we see seductive photographs in promoting a certain
product or brand. Companies tend to use sex in their advertisements because they are aware that it is
simply attractive, and from a business standpoint, any attention is good attention. Companies want to
stand out to their customers, attract large audiences, which results in large revenues. There is an
underlying psychology behind such marketing strategies. For example, the deodorant company called
AXE uses sexual advertisements to promote their product, which is a masculine target market. The
company calls it the “AXE Effect.” The message means that if you use this particular product, women will
always surround you because you will be the best smelling man around. This message is implied of
course, but it really has psychologically trained men to not only buy this AXE deodorant spray product
and be more hygienic, but also to view women as sexual beings. The women in the advertisements are
usually thin, blonde, speechless girls who appear as emotionless zombies who are instantly attracted to
the male smell. This is a subtle example of female objectification.

Another example of unjust female treatment in mass media is the Breast Cancer Association. The Breast
Cancer Association is a non-profit organization that aims to fundraising money for breast cancer
patients. The slogan, “I Love Boobies” was made to catch the attention of audiences in order to raise
more money. Surely they are successful in this motive. However, the justification for their slogan is that
they want to “remove the shame associated with breasts and breast health.” Their belief is that people
should protect and treat their breast with respect and care. Coincidentally, their word choice suggests
otherwise.

Another example of sexual objectification in advertisements is Victoria’s Secret, a leading international

lingerie brand. The Victoria’s Secret advertisements usually depict beautiful blonde size 0-2 models in
lingerie. Blonde women are usually glorified in society as the most beautiful women in the world. How
to the ethnic women feel about this? Excluded. Ethnic women feel the need to change their
appearances to resemble the skinny blondes in the ads. That is why so many ethnic women are
damaging their hair with toxic bleach. Many artists like Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Nicki Minaj color their
hair platinum blonde, which does influence a social perspective for large audiences, thus resulting in
similar behavior among ordinary people.

The cultural phenomenon of objectification is not entirely new to today’s society. In fact, it has
progressed over time. Many actresses are considered “sex symbols” or objectified. The word “Sex
Symbol” was first used in the 1950’s. For example, the first “It girl” many are familiar with was the pop
culture star Marylin Monroe, who starred in films of the 1950’s-1960’s era. She is a perfect example of a
dehumanized sex symbol because of the media’s emphasis about Marylin Monroe being the “most
beautiful woman of her time.” The media tends to utilize movie stars, actors, actresses, and models to
mold the latest norms.

Now I will explore the issue of gender roles. Gender roles also play a big role in advertisements. Gender
roles are the stereotypical roles usually within the household context. For example, the man is the
moneymaker, the hard worker, the intelligence of the house, while the woman is basically the slave,
baby-maker, and emotional figure of the house. Furthermore, these stereotypes affect the behavior of
the female gender. Again, there is a barrier between men and women. Decision-making, profession, and
education are referred to the man. Meanwhile, housework and childcare is usually the woman’s duty.

Women have always been adored and glorified for their physical attributes, but with the help of large
audiences for various media and advertisements, the effect is even worse. Studies say young women are
especially affected by objectification in media. There are countless cases of young girls suffering from
anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder caused by psychological obsession with
obtaining a “thin” figure. Even worse, Bulimia Nervosa is the eating disorder that consists of eating large
amounts of food in a short period of time, followed by forcefully vomiting to result in drastic weight loss.
Unfortunately, these cases usually end in physical shock, and sometimes death. The underlying reason
for these disorders is mainly mass media influences. When young girls see unrealistic models glamorized
and having size 0 waists, adolescents begin a psychological unhappiness with themselves. To justify their
dissatisfaction, adolescents try to change their appearances, becoming obsessed with weight, calorie
counting, and more. These cases are not widely noted, in fact, the media never mentions them.
Therefore, it is the media to blame for the dehumanization of women.

Depression is also another psychological disorder caused by media influences. Young women are
especially at risk of this disorder. Depression is when a person feels unmotivated, sad, anxious, hopeless,
guilty, restless, and even suicidal.

There are many causes of depression, but surely the media has influences that can enhance this
disorder. For example, a commercial that depicts a skinny girl being chosen over a heavier girl may affect
a young teen to think she is not worthy of affection and love. Moreover, she will psychologically be
steered to think she must fix herself, rather than identifying a problem in society as a whole.

More often now than before, women are alternating their appearances by conducting plastic surgeries
for breast enlargement, eyebrow or lip tattoos, and liposuction (slimming) to enhance physical features.

What is the reason behind these painful and expensive procedures? Outside forces affect female
mentality including reality shows like Extreme Makeover, a plastic surgery reality show aired in 2002.
These kinds of television shows suggest the acceptance of a new norm to enhance the physical
attractiveness of ordinary people especially in superficial environments like Hollywood and Beverly Hills
in America. Some critics noted that Extreme Makeover reinforces unattainable and unrealistic goals for
audiences. It is implied through these reality shows that real beauty can only be achieved through
plastic surgery and cosmetics. For example, the idea that people should pay a surgeon to conduct
liposuction instead of exercising and maintaining a balanced diet in order to lose weight. It is ignored
that most people cannot afford to have cosmetic surgery done. Television shows like this can potentially
encourage disorders like anorexia, bulimia and depression.

Now I will discuss the counterarguments about women’s role in mass media. Civil Rights activists like
feminists are becoming more and more popular and fighting against objectification of women in mass
media. A feminist is someone who believes in equality between male and female genders including
political, social, economical, and cultural rights. Since the 1970’s and 1980’s, feminists have formed their
attitudes towards sexual exploitation in the pornography industry. Feminists believe the sex industry
consists of male dominance and female exploitation. They have even formed anti-pornography
feminism. However, some feminists disagree. Some women believe that sexual advertisements are a
freedom of choice for a woman to embrace her physical attributes and sexuality. Feminism is the
empowerment of women that gives women a voice. Furthermore some women take pride in having the
power to attract men, and enjoy being seductive and willing to put themselves in front of a camera.

Another counterargument is that women are not forced to be in pornography or sex work. They have
chosen to participate in the sex-industry. In fact, the sex industry is among the highest paying
occupations for females in the world. Although these jobs are reinforcing the objectification norm, these
women are sometimes single women who need to provide for their children, paying student loans,
desperate for any job that can pay their bills like anyone else. Today, there is gender discrimination in
salaries. For every dollar a man makes, a woman only earns 91 cents, working the same exact job. There
are obviously feminine discrimination in every economic level.

To further refute this counterargument, poverty is one of the most influential reasons why women even
participate in the sex industry at all. Sex workers are usually ethnic (African, Latino, Russian, Asian, etc.)
and are discriminated in a professional workplace. Sexism, or gender discrimination, exists in the
workplace, making it inevitable for women to earn more money working a sex job, rather than an
education associated profession. Lack of civil protection is also another reason why women choose to be
sex workers. There are countless situations of rape, battery, and assaults that go unnoticed and/or
unresolved.

Now I will suggest remedies to resolve the issue of objectification of women in mass media. How can
advertisers break gender roles? Although most of the time audiences see women exploited in
advertisements, sometimes women are portrayed as intelligent, liberated, strong individuals.
A great example of this kind of women-empowering companies is Dove, another deodorant company
but aimed towards female audiences instead. Dove emphasizes natural beauty in women of all shapes
and sizes. Real women like to see other women, with whom they can identify, furthermore making the
Dove Company very profitable through their feminist approach. Other cosmetic companies including
Pantene, Covergirl, and Proctor & Gamble are woman empowering. Pantene, a hair care company’s
slogan reads, “Shine Strong.” Covergirl is a Cosmetics company whose slogan reads, “Girls can.” Proctor
& Gamble is a feminine product manufacturer commercials say “throw and fight like a girl” empowering
a woman’s strength. Most importantly, Verizon, a mobile phone company, slogan said, “inspire her
mind” suggesting brains over beauty in a woman.

Women are becoming leaders in today’s society; achieving record athletic accomplishments, being CEOs
of popular companies, and achieving civil rights. Today’s women outnumber men in college, with 33%
more likely to earn a college degree. The International Woman’s Achievers’ Awards (IWAA) celebrated
and honors the accomplishments of women Globally. The purpose of this commemoration association is
to empower young women to achieve their goals.

Popular companies should follow this marketing strategies that Dove, Pantene, Covergirl, and especially
Verizon have adopted. Women take more pride in being intelligent than being the beautiful
stereotypical uneducated and emotionless sex object. Perhaps there would less eating disorders and
expensive cosmetic surgeries. This approach would make for a better environment and respect towards
women.

In conclusion, Music, Television, Advertisements and Promotions, Cosmetics, Internet, and Billboards are
powerful tools used by mass media in order to shape and influence large audience opinions. Thus
resulting in negative effects for women. In today’s society, women are objectified as sex symbols
through glorifying actresses and models that are wearing seductive clothes and having the slimmest of
slim bodies. Pornography and sex work has become a leading industry in today’s society. This reality
truly affects the everyday woman’s perception and insults the real beauty inside a woman. Meanwhile,
the media hardly does anything to resolve these issues. In fact, there isn’t much conversation of the
fatal truths about the negative side affects in young women including anorexia, bulimia, and depression.
Rather than suggesting that women should worry about being beautiful and fitting into the hottest
swimsuit of the season, women in mass media should be empowered for the strength they have to give
childbirth and be educated individuals. More companies should adopt a more woman-friendly approach
in their marketing strategies because it would be mutually beneficial for both parties.

Although the media is a pervasive and profoundly influential socializing force, parents and teachers can
make a difference. Young children are especially vulnerable to the teachings of media because they
don't have the critical capacity necessary to distinguish between fantasy and reality, to identify
persuasive intent, or to understand irony and disregard stereotypes. The cumulative and unconscious
impact of these media messages can contribute to limiting the development of a child's potential.

Introduction
Much of children's knowledge and the experience of the world is indirect, having come to them through
the media. Media are not transparent technologies; they do not offer a window on the world. In
mediating events and issues, television, film, video games and other media are involved in selecting,
constructing and representing reality. In so doing, the media tend to emphasize and reinforce the values
and images of those who create the messages and own the means of dissemination. In addition, these
values and images are often influenced by commercial considerations. As a result, the viewpoints and
experiences of other people are often left out, or shown in negative ways.

Male and female images

As one dramatic example, the image and representation of women and girls in the media has long been
a subject of concern. Research shows that there are many fewer females than males in almost all forms
of mainstream media and those who do appear are often portrayed in very stereotypical ways.

Constantly polarized gender messages in media have fundamentally anti-social effects.

In everything from advertising, television programming, newspaper and magazines, to comic books,
popular music, film 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 can't protect themselves and are the natural recipients of beatings, harassment,
sexual assault and murder.

Men and boys are also stereotyped by the media. From GI Joe to Rambo, masculinity is often associated
with machismo, independence, competition, emotional detachment, aggression and violence. Despite
the fact that men have considerably more economic and political power in society than women, these
trends - although different from those which affect women and girls - are very damaging to boys.

Research tells us that the more television children watch, the more likely they are to hold sexist notions
about traditional male and female roles and the more likely the boys are to demonstrate aggressive
behaviour.

In fact, images aimed at children are particularly polarized in the way they portray girls and boys. In
advertising, for instance, girls are shown as being endlessly preoccupied by their appearance, and
fascinated primarily by dolls and jewellery, while boys are encouraged to play sports and become
engrossed by war play and technology.
Furthermore, children are increasingly being exposed to messages about gender that are really intended
for adult eyes only. These images also help shape the notions little girls and boys have about who they
should be and what they can achieve.

Anti-social messages

In the context of some of society's real life problems, the constant reinforcement of polarized gender
messages has fundamentally anti-social effects. Research tells us that the more television children
watch, the more likely they are to demonstrate aggressive behaviour. Furthermore, the linking of sex
and violence - increasingly evident in everything from mainstream advertising to slasher movies - is
particularly troublesome in the context of a society struggling to overcome real life violence against
women.

The role of media education

Media education can play a crucial role in counteracting the impact of these messages. Helping children
to understand that media construct - as opposed to reflect - reality; that they communicate implicit and
explicit values; and that they can influence the way we feel and think about ourselves and the world, are
vitally important lessons towards achieving a society in which women and girls are seen and treated as
equal to men and boys.

The media tendency to link sex and violence is alarming.

Nevertheless, the good news is that parents and teachers can have a much greater impact on a child's
development than the media to which the child is exposed. Real life modeling of alternative ways of
being male or female, or of resolving conflict; time spent engaging children in imaginative play, and in
activities which teach pro (as opposed to anti) social values, ultimately have the most lasting influence.

Mass media uses stereotypical characters to make it easy for the audience to identify the good guys or
gals and the bad guys or gals. It is easier to create programs around stock characters than to develop
varied personalities. Stereotypes limit our views of ourselves and others and of the reality of the world.
The media construct their own version of reality. The point of view of the message presented is driven
by ethical, political, economic and social standards of the producers. Characters of ten reflect a narrow
range of roles.

The elderly are under-represented. Women and girls are both under represented and portrayed in a
very limited set of roles. Victims of violence are usually portrayed a young and beautiful women. Visible
ethnic minorities often appear in limited roles. People depicted as intelligent (especially children and
adolescents) are often portrayed as unattractive as well.
A stereotype is a view or a characterization of a person or a group of persons based upon narrow and
frequently incorrect assumptions. Although children will be able to recognize some examples of
stereotyping, this concept is very sophisticated and can be difficult to grasp at a young age.

Suggested Activities

Images - Using TV or video clips and magazine or newspaper pictures, chart similarities and differences
in appearance and body size for the good and bad characters. Look again at the clips and make note of
the type of camera shots used for the good and bad guys or gals. Compare the characters with self and
peers and family members.

Working women - List the jobs that TV mothers have such as teacher, doctor. Do we ever see them
working at their jobs? Does your mother have a job? If she works outside the home do you ever visit her
there?

I'd rather be me - Form two groups - one of boys, the other of girls. From various media have the boys
list female traits and interests that are most commonly featured, while the girls do the same for male
characteristics and concerns. Form new mixed groupings and discuss how boys and girls feel about the
stereotypes by which their gender has come to be represented. What is artificial about these
stereotypes? An appropriate video resource available from TVO is Behind the Scenes.

Jobs - Examine the media to determine how certain occupations are portrayed, and then interview
people in those occupations to ascertain how realistic portrayals are. Count the number of women or
men portrayed in jobs. List the types of jobs for women and men portrayed. How do these findings
compare to the jobs held by the parents of students? Stereotypes limit our views of ourselves and
others and of the reality of the world. They limit our perceptions from infancy to old age.

Posed vs. natural - Select pictures from newspapers and magazines that show the difference between
posed and natural photographs of girls and boys, and men and women. Describe what is emphasized in
each.

What's wrong with this picture? - This video is available from MediaWatch and has accompanying
educational materials. It can be used to discuss gender issues and concepts such as nonverbal messages.
Does body language differ by gender? Make your own collection of pictures or TV clips for each gender
and explain the message perceived.
A Real Princess - Introduce stereotyping by brainstorming words to describe a princess. Read the book
by R. Munsch, A Paper Bag Princess. Discuss and compare with the image we have of Princess Anne or
Princess Diana.

Witches - Make a series of slides of witches, using illustrations from children's books. Use these to
encourage discussions about stereotyping of women and witches and the male equivalent.

Twisted tales - Rewrite fairly tales from the point of view of the opposite gender.

Visual novels - View literature-based films. Compare the films with the books for the handling of gender
roles. Does one media form rely more on stereotypes? Why? Generate more examples.

Women's are the wealth of India and they have contributed in almost every field and made country feel
proud at every occasion. They are in front, leading the country, making mile stones and source of
inspiration for many. However, another reality of Indian society is that there is systematic discrimination
and neglect of women's in India, which could be in terms of inadequate nutrition, denial or limited
access to education, health and property rights, child labour and domestic violence etc. The fear of
sexual violence has been a powerful factor in restricting women's behavior and sense of freedom. The
struggle against violence is actually the struggle against the unequal distribution of power both physical
and economic between the sexes.

Media is the mirror of society and media reports are reflection of happenings in the society. Media has
immense power to influence the masses and communication and IT revolution has further increased its
importance. Unfortunately, nowadays media is wavering from its actual role and giving biased
information which makes development of the society more difficult. Portraying women as equals in the
society is a subject that has been given low priority by the Indian media. The Indian media needs to be
sensitized to gender issues and now must focus on women issues in a decisive way as their role is
detrimental for the women empowerment in India. In the light of these facts, the present paper focuses
on women's issues in contemporary Indian society and role of media in addressing the issues.

Introduction
In the 21 st century India is fast emerging as a global power but for half of its population, the women
across the country, struggle to live life with dignity continues. Women are facing problems in every
sphere of life whether employment, access to health care or property rights. The attention required is
still not being paid to the issues that concern this section of population. Women empowerment in India
is still a distant dream. There still exists a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the constitution,
legislation, policies, plans, programs and related mechanisms on the one hand and the situational reality
of the status of women in India, on the other hand. India is fast developing but women's in India
continue to be discriminated. The declining sex ratio in India amply portrays the discrimination shown
towards women at the stage of birth. Women may be have stardom in any stream but are getting
harassment every day by their surroundings. They are victims of crime directed specifically at them,
rape, kidnapping and abduction, dowry-related crimes, molestation, sexual harassment, eve-teasing,
etc. Around 40 per cent of married women in India are victims of domestic violence. The increasing
violence against women shown in television and films and their vulgar portrayal as objects of sex is also
an important contributing factor in the escalating violence against women in India. The crimes against
women in India are growing at a rampant speed. Women, irrespective of their class, caste and
educational status, are not safe. The lack of any serious effort to rectify the weaknesses in dealing with
the crimes against women further compound the situation and result is that the conviction rate remains
abysmally low.

The resurgence of women's issues resulted in U.N. declaration of 1975 as women's year and the period
of 1975-1985 as women's decade due to the international recognition of the problems faced by
women's all over the world. The appointment of the national committee on the status of women in India
in 1972 and the publication of the report highlighted that despite constitutional guarantees the roles,
rights and participation of women in all sphere of life were limited. In spite of constitutional and legal
safeguards, the women in India continue to suffer, due to lack of awareness of their rights, illiteracy and
oppressive practices and customs. A steep decline is evident in the male- female ratio in India over the
last century. It declined from 972 females for every 1000 males in 1901 to 927 per thousand in 1991 and
921:1000 (921 females for 1000 males) according to the census of 2001. The northern states in India
show even poorer ratios than the national average. From cradle to grave there is a systematic
discrimination against women. Nutrition, health care, education are all withheld or provided grudgingly
to daughters. Son preference is expressed in deep rooted cultural mores, blessings and rituals at a
marriage, foods prescribed for pregnant women, condolences at the birth of a girl child.

Women Empowerment in India

According to Cambridge English Dictionary ‘e mpowerment' means ‘to authorize'. In the context of the
people, they have to be authorized to have control over their own lives. When applied in the context of
development of the particular segment of population, the women have to be ‘empowered' to have
control over their own lives to better their socio- economic and political conditions. Thus, women e
mpowerment can be interpreted as totality of empowerment including political, social, cultural, and
other dimension of human life as also the physical, moral and intellectual. Empowerment of women
unlocks the door for modernization of any society. Participation and control over resources of power are
critical indicators in the process of development. Women especially in rural areas possess the least
proportion of these resources and are therefore dependent. Thus, the question remains that who will
empower them and how to empower them. Ideally speaking no one empowers any one and the best
way is ‘self empowerment '. However, this segment of population is handicapped both structurally and
culturally to empower themselves without any outside help and affirmative action by the state and
others. At the same time, it's also true that as long as they don't make any effort at self-empowerment,
it would be long and difficult task and process for the outsiders to empower them. Instead of remaining
passive beneficiaries, they must have to become active partners.

After independence, Government of India took several initiatives, programmes and policies, apart from
constitutional and legal safeguards for the empowerment of women in the country.

Constitutional provisions in India

The Indian constitution grants equality to women and also empowers the state to adopt measures of
positive discrimination in favour of women to neutralize the cumulative socio-economic, educational
and political disadvantages faced by them. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Preamble,
Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles of the Indian c onstitution . Article 15
of the Indian constitution forbids discrimination on grounds of caste, religion, sex, race and place of
birth, whereas Article 16 ensures equal opportunities of employment. Some of the provisions of Indian
constitution safeguarding the women rights include: Equality before law for women (Article 14); S tate
not to discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex , place of birth or any of
them (Article 15 (I)); S tate to make special provision in favor of women and children (Article 15 (3));
Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office
under the State (Article 16); State to direct its policy towards securing for men and women equally, the
right to an adequate means of livelihood (Article 39(a)); E qual pay for equal work for both men and
women (Article 39(d)); To promote justice, on a basis of equal opportunity and to provide free legal aid
by suitable legislation or scheme or in any other way to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are
not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities (Article 39 A); State to make
provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief (Article 42); State to
promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people
and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation (Article 46); State to raise the level
of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health (Article 47); T
o promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India and to
renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women (Article 51(A) (e)); Not less than one-third
(including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat to be
reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat
(Article 243 D(3)); and n ot less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women
belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by
direct election in every Municipality to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation
to different constituencies in a Municipality (Article 243 T 3) etc.

Legislative provisions in India

T he government of India has enacted several women-specific legislations to uphold the constitutional
mandate and to protect women against social discrimination, violence and atrocities and also to prevent
social evils like child marriages, dowry, rape, practice of sati etc. The ‘crime against women' under
various legislations of government of India could be broadly classified within two categories: First, t he
crimes identified under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which includes Rape (Sec. 376 IPC); Kidnapping &
Abduction for different purposes (Sec. 363-373); Homicide for dowry, dowry deaths or their attempts
(Sec.302/304-B IPC); Torture, both mental and physical (Sec. 498-A IPC); Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC);
Sexual harassment (Sec. 509 IPC) and importation of girls (up to 21 years of age). Secondly, t he crimes
identified under the Special Laws (SLL) which are though not gender specific, but some do have special
provisions to safeguard women and their interests. It includes The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948;
The Plantation Labor Act, 1951; The Family Courts Act, 1954; The Special Marriage Act, 1954; The Hindu
Marriage Act, 1955; The Hindu Succession Act, 1956; Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956; The
Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (Amended in 1995); Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961; The Medical Termination
of Pregnancy Act, 1971; The Contract Labor (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1976; The Equal
Remuneration Act, 1976; The Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1979; The Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act, 1983; The Factories (Amendment) Act, 1986; Indecent Representation of Women
(Prohibition) Act, 1986; Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987; and The Marriage (Amendment) Act,
2001 etc.

The constitutional and legislative provisions in India not only grants equality and protection to women,
but also empower the state to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. In India,
within the framework of a democratic polity, laws and development policies, programs have been aimed
at women's advancement in different spheres of life. From Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards, there
has been a marked shift in the approach to women's issues in India, from welfare to development of
women. India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments
committed to secure equal rights of women. Important among them is the ratification of the Convention
on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1993; The Mexico Plan of
Action (1975); the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (1985); the Beijing Declaration as well as the
Platform for Action (1995) and the outcome document adopted by the UNGA session on Gender
Equality and Development & Peace for the 21 st century titled ‘Further actions and initiatives to
implement the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action ' have been endorsed by India for
appropriate follow up.
Government Policy in India

The Government of India had ushered in the new millennium by declaring the year 2001 as 'Women's
Empowerment Year' to focus on a vision 'where women are equal partners like men'. The objective of
government policy in India has been to bring about development, advancement and empowerment of
women in the country through active participation of all stakeholders. The government has attempted
to create an environment through positive political, economic and social policies for complete
development of women. Government policy has been to promote women's participation in political,
social and economic life of the nation and identical access to health care, quality education, career and
vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational health and safety, social security
and public office etc. The objective has been also to s trengthen legal system aimed at elimination of all
forms of discrimination against women and changing the societal attitudes and community practices by
active participation and involvement of both men and women.

Five Year Plans

In the first five year plan, the issue to provide equal status to women in India was focused. In fact the
first four five year plans were focused on organizing various welfare activities for women's with priority
to women's education. The fifth and sixth plans witnessed a shift in approach from welfare to entire
development of women in India. The seventh plan laid stress on efforts to identify and promote
beneficiary oriented programmes with the intention of extending direct benefits to women in India. The
eighth plan made a significant shift from development to women's empowerment. It recommended 30
percent reservation for women at all levels of government. The Ninth plan ensured that a minimum of
30 percent of benefits or funds flow to women from all ministries and departments of the government.
As the result, some positive indicators of women's development in India can be seen in the female
literacy rate, which rose from 8 percent in 1947 to 54 percent in the 2001 census. In the same way life
expectancy rate rose from 40.6 years in 1861-1971 to 58.1 years during 1981-1991 and to 64.9 years in
2001. The total fertility rate has also come down from 5.97 in 1951-1961 to 3.3 in 1997 and to 2.97 in
2001, signaling a comparatively greater acceptance of family planning and late marriage norms. Women
presence in parliament has also increased from 4 percent in 1952 to 8.9 percent in 2001. At the village
and district levels, nearly one million women are heads and members of the local self-government
institutions.

There is no doubt about the fact that development of women has always been the central focus of
planning since Independence. However, a clear vision is needed to remove the obstacles to the path of
women's emancipation both from the government and women themselves. Efforts should be directed
towards all round development of each and every section of Indian women by giving them their due
share.
Education

The Government policy has been to ensure equal access to education for women and girls. Special
measures were taken by the government to eliminate discrimination, universalize education, eradicate
illiteracy, create a gender-sensitive educational system, increase enrolment and retention rates of girls
and improve the quality of education to facilitate life-long learning as well as development of
occupational, vocational and technical skills of women in India. Reducing the gender gap in secondary
and higher education and gender sensitive curriculum is the focus area of government

Health

Women must have access to comprehensive, affordable and quality health care. A holistic approach to
women's health which includes both nutrition and health services with special attention to the needs of
women and the girl at all stages of the life cycle is another priority of the government. The reduction of
infant mortality and maternal mortality, which are sensitive indicators of human development, is a
major concern. The government policy reiterates the national demographic goals for Infant Mortality
Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) set out in the National Population Policy 2000. Measures
have been taken by the government to enable women to exercise informed choices regarding their
reproductive rights, vulnerability to sexual and health problems together with endemic, infectious and
communicable diseases such as malaria, TB and water borne diseases as well as hypertension and
cardio-pulmonary diseases. Government is also focused on to tackle the social, developmental and
health consequences of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases with a gender perspective.
Spread of education, compulsory registration of marriage and special programs like BSY and delaying the
age of marriage so that by 2010 child marriages should be eliminated are other focus area of the
government. In view of the high risk of malnutrition and disease that women face at all the three critical
stages of life cycle viz., infancy and childhood, adolescent and reproductive phase, government is
focused on meeting the nutritional needs of women and widespread use of nutrition education to
address the issues of intra-household imbalances in nutrition and the special needs of pregnant and
lactating women.

Economic

Women comprise the majority of the population below the poverty line in India and given the harsh
realities of intra-household and social discrimination, macroeconomic policies and poverty eradication
programs is the focus area of the government to address the needs and problems of such women.
Government intends to implement the programmes which are women oriented with mobilization of
poor women and convergence of services, by offering them a range of economic and social options,
along with necessary support measures to enhance their capabilities. In order to enhance women's
access to credit for consumption and production, the government has proposed the establishment of
new and strengthening of existing micro-credit mechanisms and micro-finance institution so that the
outreach of credit is enhanced. Other supportive measures include the adequate flow of credit through
extant financial institutions and banks, so that all women below poverty line have easy access to credit
and to include w omen's perspectives in designing and implementing macro-economic and social
policies by institutionalizing their participation in such processes. Government also intends to recognize
their contribution to socio-economic development as producers and workers in the formal and informal
sectors (including home based workers) and initiate appropriate policies related to employment and
working conditions.

Legal System

Government intends to make l egal and judicial system more responsive and gender sensitive to
women's needs, especially in cases of domestic violence and personal assault. It intends to enact new
laws and review the existing one to ensure that justice is quick and the punishment meted out to the
culprits is commensurate with the severity of the offence. The government policy aims to encourage
changes in personal laws such as those related to marriage, divorce, maintenance and guardianship with
the full participation of all stakeholders including community and religious leaders so as to eliminate
discrimination against women. The evolution of property rights in a patriarchal system has contributed
to the subordinate status of women. The government policy aims to encourage changes in laws relating
to ownership of property and inheritance by evolving consensus in order to make them gender just.

Institutional M echanism

Government of India intends to strengthen the institutional mechanisms which exist at the Central and
State levels, through provision of adequate resources, training and advocacy skills to effectively
influence macro-policies, legislation, programmes etc. to achieve the empowerment of women in India.
Government initiative includes the formation of the National and State Councils to oversee the
operationalization of the policy on a regular basis. The National Council to be headed by the Prime
Minister and the State Councils by the Chief Ministers with broad in composition having representatives
from the concerned Departments/Ministries, National and State Commissions for Women, Social
Welfare Boards, representatives of Non-Government Organizations, Women's Organizations, Corporate
Sector, Trade Unions, financing institutions, academics, experts and social activists etc . the government
also intends to establish National and State Resource Centers on women with mandates for collection
and dissemination of information, undertaking research work, conducting surveys, implementing
training and awareness generation programs, etc with link up with Women's Studies Centers and other
research and academic institutions through suitable information networking systems. The government
proposal also includes strengthening of institutions at the grass-roots and district level. Government
intends to organize and strengthen women's into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) at the
Anganwadi/Village/Town level through its programmes and help them to institutionalize themselves
into registered societies and to federate at the Panchyat/Municipal level. These societies will bring
about synergistic implementation of all the social and economic development programs by drawing
resources made available through Government and Non-Government channels, including banks and
financial institutions and by establishing a close Interface with the Panchayats/ Municipalities.

Indian government s pecial initiatives for women

Special initiatives were taken by government of India for building confidence and self dependency across
Indian women. Some of them include: (i) National Commission for Women was set-up as a statutory
body in January 1992 with specific mandate to study and monitor all matters related to constitutional
and legal safeguards provided for women, review the existing legislation to suggest amendments
wherever necessary, etc.

(ii) Reservation for Women in Panchayats & Municipalities (Local Self Government): T he 73rd
Constitutional Amendment Act was passed in 1992 to ensure one-third of the total seats for women in
all elected offices in local bodies whether in rural areas or urban areas.

(iii) The National Plan of Action for the Girl Child (1991-2000) to ensure survival, protection and
development of the girl child with the ultimate objective of building up a better future for the girl child.

(iv) National Policy for the Empowerment of Women (2001) t o bring advancement, development and
empowerment of women in all spheres of life through creation of a more responsive judicial and legal
system sensitive to women and mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process. The
strengthening and formation of relevant institutional mechanisms and implementation of international
obligations/ commitments and co-operation at the international, regional and sub-regional level was
another commitment.

(v) The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005: It provides for more effective
protection of the rights of women guaranteed under the constitution who are victims of violence of any
kind occurring within the family and for matters connected herewith or incidental thereto. It provides
for immediate and emergent relief to women in situations of violence of any kind in the home.

(vi) Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) was created in January 2006 and is the nodal
Ministry of the government of India for the advancement of women and children.

(vii) Implemented ESCAP Project on Improvement of Statistics on Gender Issues during 1994-96 by
organizing the first National Workshop on Improvement of Statistics on Gender Issues in 1994 followed
by Second National Workshop in 1995, at New Delhi. These workshops laid the foundation of identifying
various relevant issues including data requirement, data gaps in the field of gender statistics and
indicators on gender issues. Started bringing out the regular Annual publication “Women and Men in
India” since 1995.

(viii) National Plan of Action (NPA) was prepared in 1998 for Improvement of Statistics on Gender to
bridge the data gaps. In a meeting held at Rome in December 2007 in wake of Global Gender Forum, it
was decided by IAEG that India would chair an Advisory Committee for capacity development in Gender
Statistics.

Women Issues in India: Current Perspective

Women's are the wealth of India and they have contributed in almost every field and made country feel
proud at every occasion. They are in front, leading the country, making mile stones and source of
inspiration for many. In politics, President Pratibha Patil, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, UPA
Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Chief Minister of UP Mayawati and Delhi Sheila Dixit, bureaucracy, Nirupama
Roy, in socio-cultural field, Medha Patekar, Arundhati Roy, Shobna Narayanan, Lata Mangeskar, Anjolie
Ela Menon, Rekha, Meera Nayar and many others, in sports, Sania Mirja, Saina Nehwal are some of the
names at the top. Women's are also playing important role in national growth and economic
development through corporate houses. They are not only working at grass root level but participating
in decision making. Jyoti Naik, President of Lijjat Papad, Kiran Mazumdar, Chairman and Managing
Director of Biocon, Naina Lal Kidwai, Deputy CEO of HSBC, Ranjana Kumar, Chairman of NABARD, Ritu
Kumar, CEO of Escolife, Priya Paul, Chairman of Apeejay Park Hotels, Indira Nooyi, Chairperson & CEO of
Pepsico, Roshani Nadar, CEO of HCL are some of the pioneers in their respective field. At present
women's are contributing and participating in every sphere, politics, business, education, science and
technology, media, sports, art and culture etc.

However this is the one face of coin and on the other side of coin is the hard truth of the Indian society.
There is systematic discrimination and neglect from early childhood of women's in India, which could be
in terms of inadequate nutrition, denial or limited access to education, health and property rights, child
labour and domestic violence. The fear of sexual violence has been a powerful factor in restricting
women's behavior and sense of freedom. The struggle against violence is actually the struggle against
the unequal distribution of power both physical and economic between the sexes. It is important to
address the root cause for the subordinate status of women in the Indian society. Hillary Clinton, US
secretary of State, addressing the Delhi University students on 20 July 2009 said that “women's roles
and rights are as important as any issue we can list. Women are the key of economic growth. It's been
established through research”. Men should perceive women not as subservient being but as
empowered individuals who are equal partners. The issues need to be seen in the context of a
patriarchal social framework and a value system based on ‘son preference', such as the son being
responsible for the carrying forward of the family name, support in old age and for performing the last
rites. Further, the practice of dowry and the tag of ‘Parayadhan' translate into daughters being
considered an economic liability. Women's are not only entitled for survival but also to a life with
dignity, grace and equal opportunities so that they can grow to their full potential. There is an urgent
need to pay attention to the issues that concern this section of population. The focus should be on
poverty reduction, gender justice, health, nutrition, sustained awareness of rights and redressal,
eradication of social evils etc.

Political Issues

Women's equality in power sharing and active participation in decision making, including decision
making in political process at all levels will ensure the achievement of the goal of women
empowerment. Government of India through 73 rd and 74 th Constitutional Amendment Acts reserved
the one-third of seats in all local elected bodies for women as a sign of political empowerment. Over a
million women have actively entered political life in India through the Panchayat Raj institutions. There
are many elected women representatives at the village council level. The percentage of women in
various levels of political activities in India have risen considerably, however women are still under-
represented in governance and decision-making process. T heir power is restricted, as it the men who
wield all the authority. Their decisions are often over-ruled by the government machinery. It is crucial to
train and give real power to these women leaders so that they can catalyst change in their villages
regarding women. In recent years there have been explicit moves to increase women's political
participation at top level. However, the Women's reservation bill is a sad story as it is repeatedly being
scuttled in the parliament. All this shows that the process of gender equality and women's
empowerment still has a long way to go.

Economic Issues

Women professionals in India are facing a range of problems. Women have extensive workload with
dual responsibility of profession and household and they have to balance household demands with
those of their profession. Development policies and programs of the country tend not to view women as
integral to the economic development process. This is reflected in the higher investments in women's
reproductive rather than their productive roles, mainly in population programs.

Women are engage in economically productive work and earn incomes though their earnings are
generally low. Most of the women work in agricultural sector either as workers, in household farms or as
wageworkers. It is precisely livelihood in agriculture that has tended to become more volatile and
insecure in recent years and women cultivators have therefore been negatively affected. The
government's policies for alleviating poverty have failed to produce any desirable results, as women do
not receive appropriate wages for their labour. There is also significant amount of unpaid or non-
marketed labour within the household. The increase in gender disparity in wages in the urban areas is
also quite marked as it results from the employment of women in different and lower paying activities.
They are exploited at various levels. They should be provided with proper wages and work at par with
men so that their status can be elevated in society. There is urgent need to improve women's economic
status because they are fundamental to the process of economic development of the country.

Social and Cultural Issues

The socio-cultural attributes in society have left a deep mark on women empowerment in India. Parents
depend on sons for support in old age and looked to them as potential builders of family prestige and
prosperity whereas daughters are considered to destine for others. Women's in India need and expect
equal access to education, health, nutrition, employment and productive resources. In fact they are
fighting for their rights to decide their own path for development.

Education

The female literacy rate in India is though gradually rising, it's lower than the male. According to the
National Survey data (1997), only the states of Kerala and Mizoram have approached universal female
literacy rates. The gender gap in education is far greater in northern states of India. Although in states
where enrollment rates for girls are higher, many girls drop out of school after a few years of education.
Factors such as inhibition on education being imparted by male teachers to girls once they reach
puberty, is responsible for drop out. Consequences are that early marriage and child birth pronounced
in families of lower socio-economic status.

Health and Nutrition

The socio-cultural practice of women eating last in the family has eminent effect on her health especially
if it is a household in low economic status. Most direct effects of poor health and nutrition among
women in Indian society are high mortality rates among young children and women of child bearing age.
A women health and nutrition status influence her newborn's birth weight and chance of survival. Post
neo-natal death is generally caused by infectious diseases. The incidence and severity of most of this
disease are affected by controllable factors such as immunization, health care and nutrition. Due to
gender biased, these factors are not controlled equally for male and female children. Maternal mortality
in India estimated at 437 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, result primarily from infection
hemorrhage, obstructed labour, abortion and anemia.
Crimes against Women

Crimes against women are of various natures. It include crimes involving sexual exploitation for
economic gains like prostitution & trafficking, adultery, abduction, rape, wrongful confinement, and
murder etc on the one hand and crimes related to women's property like dishonest misappropriation,
criminal breach of trust, domestic violence, dowry extortion and outraging the modesty of women etc
on the other. These crimes are not only injurious and immoral for the women but for the society as a
whole.

Domestic Violence

In Indian society, it is widely accepted that within the family the man is the master and women is the
inferior and subordinate partner and societal pressure force women to maintain this status quo. Wife
beating is the most prevalent form of violence against women in the Indian society and it is viewed as a
general problem of domestic discord. According to National Crime Report Bureau, 1.5 lakh crimes
against women are registered annually out of which nearly 50,000 are related to domestic violence in
their homes.

Female Infanticide and Feticide

This is playing a significant role in lop sided sex ratio in India. Poor families in certain regions of the
country sometimes resort to killing baby girls at birth, to avoid an unwanted burden on family resources.
Sex selective abortion has also been common in the country. It's dangerous to abort the foetus after 18
weeks of pregnancy and quiet harmful for mother too at such a late stage. Various techniques of sex
determination and sex pre-selection have been discovered during the last fifteen years, such as
sonography, fetoscopy, needling, chorion biopsy and the most popular amniocentesis have increasingly
become household names in India. Amniocentesis technique is used in the small town and also in some
cities of states like Gujrat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamilnadu,
Rajasthan etc. Mumbai and Delhi are also the major center for sex determination and sex pre-selection
tests

.Dowry

Dowry remains the major reason for discrimination and injustice towards women in India. When dowry
demands are not met, it precipitates into serious consequence for the young bride. The Dowry
Prohibition Act of 1961 marks the first attempt by the Government of India to recognize dowry as a
social evil and to curb its practice. The act was modified with the Dowry Prohibition Amendment Act of
1984, which has again been modified with Dowry Prohibition Bill 1986. Women's organization have
played key role in this process of change. The 1961 Act define dowry and makes the practice of dowry-
giving and taking, a punishable offence. However, i t is ridiculous to see that even among highly
educated sections, the articles of dowry are proudly exhibited in the marriage as a status symbol. The
dowry abuse is increasing in India. The most severe is ‘bride burning', the burning of women whose
dowries were not considered sufficient by their husband or in-laws. Most of these incidents are reported
as accidental burns in the kitchen or are disguised as suicide. Dowry is one of those social evils that no
educated woman will own up with pride, still many are adhering to it. Practices of dowry tend to
subordinate women in the society. Women should be more economically empowered and should be
educated properly regarding the various legal provisions such as Section 498A CrPC, protection from
domestic violence etc., only then this evil menace could possibly be eradicated from Indian social
system.

Rape

Rape is the fastest growing crime in India compared to murder, robbery and kidnapping. According to
the report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), every 60 minutes, two women are raped in this
country. A total of 20,737 cases of rape were reported in the year 2007, registering a 7.2 percent
increase over the previous year. According to NCRB, 19,348 rape cases were reported in the year 2006.
The biggest number of such crimes was reported from Madhya Pradesh. One-quarter of the victims
were minors, 75 percent of culprits were known to victims and 10 percent were relatives. These figures
are underestimations as many incidents go unreported due to fear of stigma and non awareness of
rights. There are also the countless cases of eve teasing, indecent gazes, pinching, brushes and
comments that infringe upon the rights of women, especially in overcrowded spaces and public
transport buses and trains. Major cities in the country have become the hub of misdemeanor because of
technological reach. Mobile, cyber café, car, beach, mall, restaurant, hotel have become popular
apparatus for the criminals. What precipitates the problem is that the incidents of rape, sexual
molestation and harassment have been followed by dubious attempts by perpetrators and law enforcers
to arm-twist the course of justice. There is a need for a drastic change in attitudes and mindsets
towards such incidents. Poor investigations, harsh cross examination of victims, senseless adjournment
of cases and faulty assessment of evidence and furnishing of evidence by victims in presence of culprits
are areas that need reforms.

In the year 2007 for which the latest data is available from the National Crime Records Bureau, seven of
the ten fastest rising crimes in India were those against women. While the incidence of all cognizable
crimes under the Indian Penal code rose by under 5 percent over the previous year, dowry deaths
registered an increase of 15 percent, cruelty by husband and relatives 14 percent, kidnapping and
abduction of females 13 percent, importation of girls 12 percent and sexual harassment by 11 percent.
Rape and molestation cases grew by a more modest 6-7 percent, but even that was higher than the
average rate. Despite the increasing cases of crime against women, they would appear to be not in
priority list of the investigating agencies. The NCRB data shows that investigation starts within the same
year in only one out of 10 sexual harassment cases and only two out of ten cases of molestation or
cruelty by husband and relatives. Similarly, only three out of ten rapes and dowry deaths are
investigated within the same year. A comparative study of the data available about these crimes suggest
that there were rise in the crimes against women in 2008 compared to the previous year. While a total
of 1,012 cases were registered for kidnap of women in 2007, the number went up to 1,494 in 2008.
Similarly, the number of incidents related to dowry death rose from 1,226 in 2007 to 1,233 in 2008.
Similarly, cases of atrocities perpetrated for dowry rose to 2,230 in 2008 from 1,493 in 2007. Cases
related to eve-teasing and molestation shot up to 188 during 2008, 20 more than those recorded in the
previous year. Also incidents related to kidnapping of women increased from 1,012 in 2007 to 1,494 in
2008. The fact remains that there is sufficient information about crime against women that calls for
appropriate remedial actions.

Role and Importance of Media

Media is the mirror of society and media reports are reflection of happenings in the society. Media has
immense power to influence the masses and communication and IT revolution has further increased its
importance. The role of media has become very important in shaping present days society. Media is the
part of the life, all around, from the shows one watches on television, music on the radio, the books,
magazines and newspapers. It educates people about the current issues and influences the public
opinion. The common people rely on media to know about happenings in the society. M edia is often
considered as the 4 th pillar of the society and democratic medium of information. Media has the power
to pressurize and criticize the drawbacks of democracy. It is instrumental in bringing about unity among
the masses and is backbone of the nation. The reach of media to common people has increased and
undoubtedly media has attained the role of a very powerful organ in virtually all spheres of life. The
electronic media, particularly television, has become the most influential medium of mass
communication in India . Television has a myriad of different goals, which range from entertainment to
education. Various confines of education and entertainment are depicted in television. It's often looked
at as a babysitter for children. The viewing of television can entertain the young and old alike for great
amounts of time.

Nowadays media is wavering from its actual role and giving entertaining or biased information which
makes difficulties for development of the society. In the present era of globalization and liberalization,
media has become more responsive towards global market and commercial gains. Today, newspapers
and television channels are trying to make fast money by cashing on the news in wrong sense and wrong
way. The result is that news is available in various interesting colour. Instead of giving important
information and educative programmes, media is giving emphasis on sensationalizing the public. In the
race to become more popular and to make more money, they have broken all the limits which they
must follow while serving to build a healthy and progressive society. They have virtually no respect for
the sentiments and ethics of the people and the land that they serve to.
Portraying women as equals in the society is a subject that has been given low priority by the Indian
media. They have been interested in conveying to the public a particular kind of message regarding
women. One can flip through the pages of popular magazines and news papers, watch television
programmes and commercial films to get the content of them loud and clear. The Indian media loves to
see women as home-makers and as an avid consumer. For them, the woman is the one who buys
without end and her hair, dress, shoes, each bears the stamp of the latest, the most expensive products.
Though the media purports to project them as modern and liberated woman, but in actual endorsed
them as consumers.

Though television has become a pervasive and powerful medium of communication in India but the
portrayal of Indian women on the television is derogatory to their image and is slightly linked with their
real concerns. Given the fact that the majority of women workers are housewives, there is hardly a
glimpse of every day adjustments women have to make in the home, the burden of housework, their
contribution as housewives and mothers. On the other hand they are portrayed as housebound and
tradition bound passive persons whose major concerns are domesticity. There are instances of
stereotyping and discrimination . The news, sponsored TV serials and reality shows dealing with real life
situation and character on television has huge TRPs. The Indian soap operas (TV serials) like Hum Log,
Khandan and Buniyad of 1980s, revealed more clearly what one could expect from television's portrayal
of women and strengthened the belief that no matter how vast the variety of women portrayed, the
message they conveyed did not fill one with any hope. Even t oday on Indian soaps, women are
portrayed quite badly, perhaps worse than before. In view of such observations, the P. C. Joshi
committee (1985) recommended a system of regular monitoring of the portrayal of women on
television.

The popularity of films in India makes one speculate the magnitude of the social consequences of such
media portrayals even more. The portrayal of women in Hindi films reveals the sheer quantity and
variety of violence directed towards them. Women in bollywood films are often portrayed as hysterical
bimbos. Screaming, yelling and crying are part and parcel of woman's reaction to stressful situations.
There are number of movies where women who assert themselves are considered ‘bad' while men,
even if they tease and hit women are considered ‘heroes'. The Hindi film industry is a profit oriented
business and the dictates of the patrons, to a large degree, limits the choices of the directors of the
movies. The Indian audience also must be partially blamed for the acceptance of such mistreatments of
women in movies.

There are many instances of mistreatment of women by Indian media and not much has changed
regarding portrayal of women. Interviews of men in newspapers usually focus on their work and hardly
ever mention their marital status or their dress sense. By contrast, women achievers are subject to
irrelevant and distasteful queries. Take for example the interview of banker Tarjani Vakil by a leading
daily. The interview treated the reader to colourful details about her appearance, personal life such as
her penchant for beautiful sarees, her decision to stay single and her living in an extended joint family
with emphasis on her feminine qualities like her soft voice. Another example is the television interview
of the senior police officer Kiran Bedi in which she was asked if she likes to cook. The media does try to
establish a woman feminist, especially if she is a successful woman. Other examples of media biasness
are also there. When the issue of reservation of seats for women in panchayats was discussed on
television, it was men who did the talking while women sat as silent spectators. When women were
shown leading dharnas against the Dunkel Draft, not even woman parliamentarian like Margaret Alva
was approached for her views.

Media Coverage of Women Issues

Media implicitly rank the importance of the public issues according to the amount of press coverage
devoted to an issue. Lack of appropriate media coverage of an issue leads to the implication that the
topic is not important. Public awareness is significantly lessened if a story is not reported. Violence
against women is a global pandemic and the consequences of media ignorance and bias are horrific. In
India, the amount of coverage in mainstream media is inversely proportional to the actual prevalence of
the kinds of violence and gives a false impression. Most disturbing is the disproportionate coverage of
sensationalized violence. Invariably, rape stories get far more coverage than domestic violence stories.
In all likelihood, this is because rape stories usually focus on one individual woman. If she is attractive,
she is a very marketable victim. It is no accident that rape is a frequent theme in pornography. The
sexual brutalization of women is a highly marketable business and a profitable story for the news media.
For example the Indian media, be it press or the broadcasters, choose to highlight the rape and murder
of a 14-year-old girl rather than to report about the success of women in recent panchayat elections in
the country. The media have no time to show the actual problems of real India at the grass root level, its
culture, traditions, faiths and beliefs and so on. They usually show only those handpicked stories which
sells and increase their TRPs.

Even the amount of media coverage women get overall is much less than men do. Men are provided
with a larger number of opportunities to present their viewpoints and shown in diverse roles in all areas
like administration, law, business, science and technology. While representation of women varies from
negligible to total exclusions and are interviewed and talked about only in certain accepted professions
such as educationists or doctors. If they are interviewed for achieving success in a ‘male' profession,
then it often goes to great pains to point out her ‘feminist'.

Indian media needs to be sensitized to gender issues. It should play proactive role in inculcating gender
sensitivity in the country and should ensure that women are not depicted in poor light. It should devote
special slots for crimes against women in India and discuss all proactive aspects. The challenge before
media is to move beyond clubbing what happens to women with routine crime briefs, on the one hand,
and sensational stories, on the other. Media should take a proactive role in creating public awareness on
the rights and privileges of women. Constitutional and legal rights should also be advertised and
discussed regularly. The latest rulings and judgments are discussed so that the public are made aware of
these rulings. Press Council should be given more teeth so that they could intervene effectively to
counteract objectionable publications. There must be mechanisms to sensitize Censor Boards and bring
about a working dialogue between members of the Censor Board and citizens groups.

This is the time to rethink and revisit the country's mass media policy. There are many issues which
should be discussed threadbare to have an unbiased and healthy media policy in the country. But before
that materializes, the stalwarts of Indian mass media should exercise prudence and restraint, show the
truth, unadulterated, undoctored and unbiased news and views, unbiased analysis and non-
sensationalization of events or incidences whether big or small.

Government Media Policy

The government in India is striving for removing demeaning, degrading and negative conventional
stereotypical images of women and violence against women in media. The government attempt is to
involve private sector partners and media networks at all levels to ensure equal access for women in the
area of information and communication. The government of India policy is to encourage media to
develop codes of conduct, professional guidelines and other self regulatory mechanisms to remove
gender stereotypes and promote balanced portrayals of women and men.

Conclusion

Though the status of women in India, both historically and socially, has been one of the respect and
reverence, but the hard truth is that even today, they are struggling for their own identity, shouting for
diffusion of their voices and fighting for their own esteem. Every day, they cross among the fears and
fraught for individuality. Despite the constitutional guarantee of equality of sexes, rampant
discrimination and exploitation of women in India continues. The incidence of bride-burning, woman
battering, molestation and ill-treatment of women are on increase. It is high time now that women
should get a respectable and dignified position in the Indian society. Awareness in the women as well as
society should be created and their equal rights should be effectively implemented. Crimes against
women should be made punishable and a research should be done on every crime which comes to the
light.

In the era of globalization and with revolution in means of communication and information technology,
the media role has become more crucial for women empowerment in India. The Indian media now must
focus on women issues in a decisive way as their role is detrimental for the women empowerment in
India. It is essential that media should devote a good percentage of their programmes to create
awareness among women and the society at large, give information about women's rights and
machineries to approach for their all round development . Programmes to strengthen women
development should be enforced and news adversely affecting their development should be censored or
banned. Thus, t he distant dream of women empowerment in India can be realized with the support of
media, government and NGOs. As Swami Vivekananda rightly said that “The nation which doesn't
respect women will never become great…..”. Therefore, in pursuit of making India a great nation, media
should work towards giving women their much deserved status.

For most of the typical Indian housewives there is no better timepass than watching the family dramas
unfold on small screen. TV Serials like ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ (KSBKBT) and ‘Kumkum’ ran
almost for a decade and had captivated the entire women population of India. So was their popularity
that once a group of ladies protested on the streets of Mumbai because a character named Mihir in
KSBKBT had been killed. The producers were forced to miraculously bring him back so as not to lose its
TRP.

With an increase in audience, the number of such soaps has drastically increased in the past few years.
Indian men especially the working husbands also form a part of the large community of viewers. Most of
the women are so much bitten by the bug of soaps that it has become their only topic of discussions
during chaitime gupshups, addas and kitty parties. Everyday I see my mom discussing events from the
last night’s episode with the housemaid. The questions that interest her are how a character (mostly
bahu) is tortured by the saas; how a choti bahu is playing game to defame the badi bahu, etc.

Now here are some common features of characters in 90% of the serials:

1) The woman in sari with thick vermillion of her forehead, having a ghung-ghat is an ideal bahu with
likeable appearance.

2) The female protagonist always has an innocent face, is polite and most of the time submissive to
elders.

3) The woman with smart, confident look is the one who is conspiring. She is ruining the family’s
happiness and is hated by the viewers.

4) If a woman is in western clothes, in many cases she is depicted as someone with low moral
character. She is the devil who has affairs with married men and creates complications.

5) A woman is always shown to be financially dependent on her man. Men are the dominating and
rule-making members of the family. A woman is supposed to consult her husband before taking any
major decision.
These saas-bahu dramas are not only watched for entertainment but are also loved by the people. The
characters seem to become a part of the daily lives of millions of families all over the country. Such is
the extreme obsession with TV serials that it seems to influence the mentality of all the strata of the
society. The in-laws want a bahu like Parvati or Kumkum who would be docile and sacrifice everything
for family’s happiness. They begin to think that the ideal place for a woman is at her husband’s feet; that
her only duty is to take care of her in-laws and raise children. It is indecent for a woman to venture into
the professional world and they should let men take care of all the financial matters.

In today’s world we are debating on woman’s position in the society; protesting against rapes,
infanticides, dowry system; fighting for women’s right. But we seem to ignore the influence of the idiot’s
box on more than 60 crore Indians of all age group. It is true that these serials will not portray women so
as to elevate their position in the modern world. Why can’t the producers show a courageous woman
IPS Officer or a successful businesswoman? Because in doing so they may lose a large population of
viewers who find it extremely difficult to accept the professionalism in women’s attitude.

So do these entertainment channels have no responsibility towards a society where female infanticide is
so common, where the birth of a girl child is a curse and where educating a girl is a waste of money? Do
note that there are around 15 crore TV sets in India. That means more than half of India’s population is
exposed to all the ill-effects of TV serials. People seem to enjoy the stereotypical portrayal of Indian
families no matter how much melodramatic or boring they are. If these soaps are their obsession they
will never accept men-women equality in the society.

Thus, if we want to fight against prejudice for the upliftment of women, there is an urgent need to
modify the scripts in these soap operas. Women should be depicted as brave, independent and
professionally successful. The producers shouldn’t try this as an experiment to test viewership but take
this initiative as a mission. In the beginning they may have a hard time and people may not appreciate
the change from conventional plot. It may take more than a decade to change the mindset of Indian
people but things should begin now.