Indonesian mass media continue to exploit women
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)