Indonesian mass media continue to exploit women

JAKARTA (JP): Women are immensely exploited in Indonesia's mass media, movie industry and commercials. This is due to the country's strong paternal culture, and the government seems to make little effort to stop the exploitation.

State Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi said in a keynote speech at a discussion on women in mass media that print and electronic media in most countries do not provide a balanced picture of women's lives and contributions to society in a changing world.

"Indonesian women have long been regarded as konco wingking (subordinate partners to their husbands or brothers). Yet things are changing, women are now equal to their male counterparts. Unfortunately society, including the mass media, has not captured this important change. Women are constantly portrayed as objects," the minister said.

The mass media stresses more on women's sexuality rather than their inner power, she added.

The exploitation is related mostly to the paternal culture, where men are considered superior to their female counterparts, according to the minister.

How can we stop the exploitation?

Sugandhi suggested that women must be well-educated in order to avoid being exploited.

"Women should stand up and fight for their rights if they want to be considered equals, " the minister said as she left the meeting after reading her keynote address.

The discussion, organized by private television station PT Surya Citra Televisi (SCTV) at the Hilton Hotel's Golden Ballroom on Monday, aimed at seeking solutions to erase the perceived stereotype of women and to empower women in mass media, movies and advertisement. The meeting involved experts in the related fields.

Fikri Jufri, former editor in chief of Matra monthly magazine, agreed that women are degraded both in print and electronic media. In this globalization era, the competition between print and electronic media has become very keen, he said. Each does their best to attract audiences.

He observed that in order to attract as many readers as possible, many publications present pictures and stories of beautiful and sexy women as their selling point.

There is also exploitation of women in electronic media. Many films, commercials and other programs do not present women properly, according to Fikri.

Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a prominent lawyer, shared the opinion and called on the government to pay more attention to what goes on in the media, considering the great impact broadcasts and publications have on the public. Electronic media presents both audio and visual images that draw a large audience nationwide, she said.

"The first step is to tighten control over films, dramas and commercials on all television stations. Otherwise the degrading of women will continue," the lawyer said.

Arswendo Atmowiloto, an expert on Indonesian television, commented that most private television stations in Indonesia are business-oriented.

"They pay little attention to the issues on the rights of women or men. This policy is clearly reflected in their programing," Arswendo said.

Arswendo continued to say that women in television are mostly illustrated as inferior people. Programing on all stations is dominated by telenovella (Mexican soap operas), telemandarin (Chinese films), sinetron (local TV dramas), and Indian Films in which female characters in those films are portrayed as losers.

As a matter of fact, television stations have the power to improve the image of women, he said. The majority of their target audience are women, while many of the stations' workforce are also women.

"It depends on their policies and willingness whether they want to change the stereotype of women in their programs," he said.

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The world of advertisement also portrays women in the same way. Female performers appear mostly to meet the demand of consumers -- male consumers in particular.

Subiakto Priosudarsono, director of Hotline advertising agency, explained that the use of females in commercials is almost obligatory for many local advertising companies. Advertising is a marketing strategy. A woman in a commercial will more or less sway consumers' decision to buy a product.

Negative representation of women in commercials occurs because of bad taste in advertising, he said.

There are some steps to avoid tasteless advertising, Subiakto said. Many talented women hold top-level positions in local advertising agencies. They could control the message of a commercial so that exploitation of women is reduced significantly, Subiakto said.

In addition to this, Subiakto also suggested that women who own large-scale companies, like Martha Tilaar and Mooryati Soedibyo, take an active part in the effort to eliminate the exploitation of women in advertising.

"These women have the power to force any advertising agency they hire to make high-quality ads for their products," he said.

To censor tasteless commercials which excessively exploit women would be very difficult, he said. The Indonesian Association of Advertising Companies which acts as supervisor and censorship board can only oversee its 60 members. The number of advertising companies operating in Indonesia is estimated to be 600.

The exploitation of women in Indonesian films is no less than in mass media and advertisement.

Rahayu Effendi, a film producer, explained that sex and women in film are closely related to each other. Many films exploit women's sexuality to draw moviegoers and increase their profits.

"Women are portrayed as sex objects in many films. Because such films sell, many filmmakers tend to produce them. They do not want to take the risk of making more serious films," said Rahayu, who was once a sex symbol in the Indonesian film world.

Rahayu said that the exploitation of women in film occurs because it is a male dominated world.

"There are only a few women directors or film producers," she said.(raw)