Negative stereotypes of women in TV series

By Ida Indawati Khouw

JAKARTA (JP): Turn on the television and you'd likely see an episode of local TV series, which are shown everyday at different times. Or, if you are watching other programs, you might see the trailers of those series. And you will see the same scenes: women (of all ages) weeping, crying, having a bad temper, being slapped or beaten or other kinds of negative portrayals you can list.

If you don't have time to follow the whole episode but are curious about the female figures, you can easily guess; the women would be weak, dependent, powerless or submissive. Or even bitchy and dominant.

Since years ago, women have been portrayed negatively in television series.

Hundreds of seminars discussing the general portrayal of women in local TV series may have been held, sharp criticism may have been uttered many times but whether they were heard is another matter.

So far, such "scientific" discussions with their noble appeal toward TV serial producers to change the stereotyping of woman in our society have had no impact.

In fact the portrayal of women got even more negative.

"Actually there have yet to be any improvement. What is clear is that the number of TV series is more now and most of them maintain such stereotyping of women," said Veven Sp. Wardhana, a television observer from the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow Information (ISAI).

This is supported by a research conducted by Veven.

Polling shows that one of the most popular series is Tersanjung 5 (Flattered 5). It portrays a frail woman. This series, according to ACNielsen Indonesia's July 9 to Aug. 12 poll, which is always top-rated, centers around a woman who is loved by her father-in-law, left by her husband and forced to marry a widower for the sake of wealth.

Some series indeed picture strong women but still negatively. For example the leading actress in Misteri Gunung Merapi (The Mystery of Mt. Merapi), which is also highly rated, is a antagonistic woman with good martial art skills called Mak Lampir (the Witch).

The question is why a lot of TV viewers are fond of watching sequences full of such stereotyping. Head of education department of Kalyanamitra (a women's organization), Ruth Indiah Rahayu, said because it is the representation of women's image in the general society, the audience sometimes try to identify themselves with those on TV.

"I once chatted with women who love such kinds of series and I found out that the plots have similarities with what they experience in their daily life, that's why they like it," she said.

Both Veven and Ruth admitted they have yet to see an example of a TV series which promoted the status of woman. They pointed out that even producers who tries to show a new paradigm of women are still trapped in male-dominated values, like in the series titled, Bukan Perempuan Biasa (No Ordinary Woman), which portrays the struggle of a rape victim, Menul, in living with her only daughter Sri.

The series still maintains old values that a woman's place is at home, like when Menul was raped after she fled her home because she did not want to be married. "It is signaling that if a woman leaves her house she will face dangers of sexual harassments," Veven said.

Head of the public relations department of Multivision Plus, the well-known producer of Indonesian TV serials and films, Abdul Azis, admitted that the most important thing in producing TV series is following the so-called market demand.

"Now we see that the public's taste is more on entertainment, that's why it is always given a big part in our TV serials," he said.

He admitted that TV series producers are not paying attention to women stereotyping issues.

The company has indeed made women the power of attraction. "Having a good looking face is a requirement for an actress. It's not a problem if their acting is not very good as we can train them later.

"We can't deny public taste on beauty. I think people wish to see beautiful people when watching TV serials because if not they will easily switch to other TV stations. Remember that we are in a tight competition with other producers," Azis said.

It showed that TV series producers have what Ruth said as "lack of gender awareness" and stressed more on the business aspect.

"There should be serials which, for example, depict women who are struggling against their fate without being too dependent on men," she said.

Veven added that film makers have yet to really try making such series and thus there is no evidence that audience don't like productions which don't maintain the stereotype woman.