Biased media follows gender stereotypes

With such development in technology, people in this golden age depend on media to a great extent. It not only influences an individual's thoughts but have its effect on global society.

If we have a closer look at our society we find that those days are not long gone and no doubt, there is still oppression present for women by men and these men in power subsequently control the means i.e., media. A precise look at T.V. shows, children's toys and advertisements reveal that they marginalize and objectify women as merely being involved in household, incapable of competing and deceitful. Media also enrolls in it, how an ideal women should look like, through its adverts it creates a mold, which may be a women with extensively slim figure, and one who doesn't fit into it is forced to adjust one's appearance.

In 1995, T.V. Shows like, FRIENDS were broadcasted in Fiji, and study reveals that in merely 3 years from then over 11.9% of women were over the toilet bowl and bulimia, all because they wanted to look like those thin figured characters, it was not a choice for them but an only option. Also today, when half of the time child is awake he's introduced to the social world through media, it is high time to critically keep an eye on the depiction of gender in media. Media has its freedom and it is wrong to control free speech by any means, and in a country like ours where media has the freedom to produce anything without even the interference of government, we can't do anything except to censor what is being published.

"In mainstream media, stereotyping is a standard way of characterizing people." Though there are leading women but in media they are shown in a more bitter way than the male. For example, in BREAKING BAD, a woman's adulterous affair is shown to be bad and immoral whereas her husband being a drug dealer wins sympathy as he's working for his family.

Similarly while walking through a children's toy store we find in the boys' section full of superhero figures, while in the girls' section we see kitchen sets, odd-shaped barbies.

Moreover, the boys' toys are made more complicated and for girls' they are simply painted pink, just to show that boys are intellectually stronger than their counterparts, which is yet another stereotype that media follows. Also in comic books, which is a source of entertainment and is accessible to most of the public, we mostly have male superheroes if by chance we strike one or two lady figures their pictorial representation is done in such a way that they are shown sexually being over girly (over curves), same is the case with barbies.

This female inferiority becomes a source of cultural understanding for those who believe only on media for their connection to outside world and they find it absolutely right.

Possible solutions for it can be- firstly, a male should be from very childhood be educated about respecting women and that they are not someone who need to submit always. Next, workshops should be held in order to educate children maybe in fourth or fifth grade about puberty, color, different sexual orientations and sex, so they do not abide by wrong means and treat each other in a wrong way. Next, women need to unify to speak out about them being suppressed by the media representatives, social media can play a good role to fight back.

The media by whosoever it is controlled, brings out a figure of women as being weak, a commodity, an incompetent one. Media is setting an unacceptable appearance for women. It is also leading to the acceptability of women being inferior. Accurate positioning of women, women fighting back, and proper education may combat the following of gender stereotypes by media.

Posted By: Shivani Dalakoti, brand ambassador "MY VOTE FOR a BETTER INDIA" social initiative by "Pickyouropinion.com".