Mien decries TV series as sexist

Mien decries TV series as sexist

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi has poured cold water on the highly popular, locally-made television programs known as sinetron, condemning them as sexist.

"I truly despise all the sinetron because they have no quality whatsoever and they degrade the roles of women," Mien was quoted as saying by the Antara news agency yesterday when she launched a Pancasila guidance course for about 100 participants.

She singled out Bella Vista and Untukmu Segalanya as being the worst offenders against women's integrity. "One of these portrays a paralyzed women being bullied as if she was an animal."

Locally-made television drama series have been growing in popularity and many of them are now screened during the evening peak hours of the commercial networks.

The sinetron programs are widely touted as Indonesia's answer to redress the dominance of action-filled American programs and Latin soap operas, all equally criticized because they do not reflect local culture and values.

With the local film industry in a state of decay, Indonesian silver screen producers, actors and actresses have turned their attention and resources on the growing sinetron industry.

But Mien is not impressed, as was apparent from her remarks yesterday.

Women in sinetron programs are treated as "dead commodities", are always in the wrong and always the source of problems in society, she said.

Actresses should have some principles and refuse to play roles that denigrate women's roles, she said. "They should read the script first, and should not accept the role offered simply because of high pay."

Mien said she had relayed her concern at a recent meeting with a group of performers, including television actors and actresses, who belong to Golkar, the ruling political group. (emb)