Voices and

images of
Women in
Media
Media Nearly 25 years ago,
in 1995, during the

Matters Fourth World

Conference on
Women, 189 UN
Member States
• “Print recognised the
and electronic media do n central role of media
ot in shifting the gender
provide a balanced pictur stereotypes that
e of women’s diverse live influence how we
s and contributions think and act
to society
in a changing world.”
BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION 1995
 Media Matters:
“If you can see it, you can be it”

• “Girls are seen in cooking, are seen in farming…. And the

men are seen in big pictures. It means that even a young girl
will grow up saying that actually… I’m to be a cleaner, I’m
to be in a kitchen!” YOUNG WOMAN, 19, UGANDA
• “They [media] have a lot of influence on how our society
functions… First for the young women and girls, and for all
the women, it makes them lacking in confidence and also
thinking that all the stereotypes in their lives are true and
unconsciously they will accept [them].”
YOUNG WOMAN, 19, SENEGAL
What do you see?
What do you see?
 https://www.adweek.com/creativity/these-se
Some xist-ads-for-luxury-watches-sparked-anger-and
-apology-but-is-the-brand-even-real/
Change
s.. https://www.boredpanda.com/modernized-vi
ntage-sexist-beer-advertisements-budweiser/?
utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&
utm_campaign=organic
Some Changes........
Some changes.............
 • In 2014, women in the top-
grossing films were nearly three

The
times as likely as men to appear
partially or fully
nude: 26% and 9%, respectively.

Power • In 2015, women made up only

24% of the persons heard, read
about or seen in newspaper,
television and radio news: in

of the
news about politics
and government only 16% of
people in the stories are women.
“There is so much in the culture

Story that is quietly telling women

that our stories don’t matter.”
LENA DUNHAM, FROM THE
DOCUMENTARY,
HALF THE PICTURE, 2018
Why Media
Matters?

• Media does not tell people what to think, but it tells people
what topics to think about, and how to think about them
by focusing on some aspects and not others.
• Media, whether print, film, online or on television, shapes
perceptions of who can be an authentic leader, and in
most cases, this means men.
• Press coverage of politics clearly reinforces the idea that
leadership is a male domain.
Men lead,
women
follow
 • Media messages matter: they can affect our
behaviour and form our opinions and it is
alarming that what the new research for this
Rewrite report shows clearly is that we have not
moved on: women are sexualised,
Her objectified and their place is at home.
Story...... (https://plan-international.org/girls-get-
equal/rewrite-her-story)
• Female leaders are a minority and, where
they do exist, they are still
sexually objectified.
• The films analysed include few characters
whom girls can identify with and few who
inspire them.
• Gender equality has not yet made a real
impact on the stories told to our children.
 • It seems a little counterintuitive, but
in a world where female leaders of
countries are still fairly rare,
across the top-grossing films men

Men take and women are equally likely to be

shown as leaders of their country.

charge, • However, here it is the men who

come across as more effective and
more respected: on screen, women
women presidents and prime ministers are
ineffectual – not really up to the job.

look nice: • It is only at family level where the

films analysed show women in the

on screen majority as leaders – 18% compared

to 13%.

stereotypes • The family remains securely a

female domain: here women are
shown as better leaders,
more intelligent, more likeable, more
effective, harder-working and
equally likely to be respected as
male leaders.
 • Entertainment media is only part
of that story. Girls and young
women are also bombarded by
Every Picture images – on advertising
hoardings, in shopping centres,
Tells a Story: along the roads – invading all
it’s not just aspects of their daily lives as they
go to school, college or work.
the movies • Do these images tell the same
story as the entertainment media
we are analysing, portraying
women as secondary characters,
giving them domestic roles and
concentrating on what they look
like rather than what they think
or say?
 • Women’s bodies are used to
sell products
• Girls have to be pretty
• Men are more intelligent than
women
• A woman’s place is in the
home • Their analysis also
• Leadership is for men. uncovered high levels of
sexualisation and female
nudity:
• One-in-five women in
these
advertisements are sexua

Findings: lised: none of the

men are.
• Women are also three
times more likely than
men to be shown partially
nude.
Findings:
• Knowledge is a Man’s World
• In TV and radio shows, 4 out
• In the advertisements of 5 experts are men.
analysed there are no
• On any given topic, the
men shown in a presenter is surrounded on
kitchen and few women average by 20% of women
in an office. experts and 80% men.
• Men are three times more • Some very serious weekly TV
likely to be shown shows only have 2% of
working than women. women experts per year.
• Natacha Henry, Writer,
lecturer and
broadcaster, France
 • Globally, only 24% of people heard, seen or
read about in the news are women. This
gender gap is widest in news about politics

Philippe and government, where women are featured

in just 16% of political news.

Boillat, • Every single day the media expose us to

images, situations and words which convey

Director
stereotyped descriptions of what is
“feminine” and what is “masculine”,
arbitrarily assigning to women and men roles
General of determined by their gender.
• Stereotypes are the product of a “typical”
Human Rights human behavioural process: by creating
categories, we simplify decision-making.
and Rule of Given that the vast majority of information
received by us is stored in our subconscious

Law, Council without first being consciously “filtered” or

analysed, it is inevitable that our judgment,
attitudes and behaviour are very often
of Europe influenced by stereotypes and prejudices of
which we are unaware.
 Young women
What worldwide are still
learning from
Young advertising
how important their

Women looks are – “we have to

be pretty” – and that
their place is at home.
• “I have learned that

Learn?? most products are

advertised using girls’
pictures.”
YOUNG WOMAN, SOUTH
SUDAN
• “The girl is ready to put
forward her beauty not
her personality and her
human qualities.”
YOUNG WOMAN,
SENEGAL
 • A series of interlinked
understandings can be provided for
the continuing under-representation
of women including as senior

Why are decision makers and reporters,

presenters & journalists including:

Women
1. The fact that the organisational
culture of media remains largely
masculine (EIGE, 2012).

Under 2. The existence of glass ceilings for

women in middle
senior management levels in the
and

represented 3.
media (Byerly, 2011).
The continued existence of

? gender pay gaps in many

countries (that often increase
with age). The National Union of
Journalists in the UK and Ireland
in 2009 reported a pay gap of
17% between male and female
journalists.
 1. ‘The prevalence of family unfriendly working
practices such as inflexible working hours or

Why are penalising women for taking time out to raise

children, increased security and safety risks
for women working in conflict areas’
Women (International Federation of Journalists, 2009
p5).

Under 2. ‘The culture of high stress, bullying and

harassment, unacceptable workloads, and
anti-social working hours which pressure
represente working parents (generally the women as the
primary care giver) into part-time,

d? temporary or freelance positions. In turn

putting them in even more vulnerable
positions in terms of job security, promotion,
legal status and ability to share the same
rights as contracted colleagues’ (International
Federation of Journalists, 2009 p6).
 “Let more women take charge behind the camera. And I mean
this at every level. Trust in them to share diverse and
interesting female experiences. Women can create more
What Needs to be complex and rich female protagonists if they have access to
the decision-making process. Employ more women to be
Done... directors, show-runners,
cinematographers, or film critics.”
writers, producers,

ASH MAYFAIR, 34, FILMMAKER, VIETNAM

 What Needs to be
Done...
Terminology is also an area
where real care is needed on
use of broad terms like
”mums say” rather than
“parents say” or referring to
the individual. The word can
again homogenise and
wrongly assume the individual
is speaking for all and
assuming all have the same
views.
- John Battle, Head
of Compliance, ITN,
United Kingdom
What Needs to be Done...
• Terminology in reporting crime against women and
children is an area where change is occurring.
• It is particularly important not to mix up what is
legal with what is not and give a stamp of
respectability:
• Not “images of child pornography” but “images of
child abuse”;
• Not “elopement with a teacher” but “abduction”;
• Not “child prostitution / child prostitute” but “child
abuse and abused child”.
• The media plays an important role in reflecting
attitudes in society. Those who work in the media
should be conscious of this.
- John Battle, Head of Compliance, ITN, United
Kingdom
Why women’s voice
and participation matters
• To have a voice is to be a citizen. Having a voice means
having the capacity to speak up and be heard and being
present to shape and share in discussions, discourse, and
decisions.
• Full and equal participation requires that everyone has a
voice. Participation in decision making enables women to
voice their needs and challenge gender norms in their
community—individually and collectively.
• If women’s participation is to be transformative, their
voices need to be heard in a broad range of decision-
making forums, from households to national parliaments.
 • “When I was a girl in Swat, only a few of us were
speaking, but our voice had an impact. And now not
only I but millions of girls are speaking through our
I believe voice, through raising our books and pens. My father
said, ‘Do not do one thing with your daughters—do
in the not clip their wings. Give them the same right the
boys have.’

power of • Bad people came, and they took all normal life from
us … they had so many rules as to what we could do.

the voice We could not go to market. We fought for our rights. I

wrote the blog for the BBC and wrote my diary. Not
only was I speaking, many of my friends were talking
of wome to the media and to news channels. Media was like a
messenger, telling what we are saying to the world.
n We spoke, we wrote and raised our voices. We spoke,
and we achieved our goal. Now Swat is now a
peaceful place. Girls are going back to school and
are allowed to go to the market.”
(Source: Malala Yousafzai in conversation with Jim Yong
Kim, World Bank, Washington DC, 2013)
 ARCHANA KUMARI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
THANK DEPARTMENT OF MASS
COMMUNICATION AND
YOU NEW MEDIA
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF
JAMMU
References
• https://internews.org/i
mpact/women
• https://plan-internatio
nal.org/girls-get-equal/
rewrite-her-story
• https://www.worldban
k.org/en/topic/gender
/publication/voice-and
-agency-empowering-
women-and-girls-for-s
hared-prosperity