Sunday, December 5, 2010

Portrayal of Women in Our Pakistani Media

Media is a platform which provides us with all this information and means of communication, which is all mainly through the press, radio, cinema, television, music industry, computer networks and the internet from where the information is being transmitted rapidly to the global audience allowing ideas to exchange, attitudes to form, and a new society to shape. In the past 50 years media has grown its influence exponentially through the modern technology. In the beginning there were telegraphs, then the radios, then the newspapers, magazines, television and now the internet.

We are daily dumped with loads and loads of information like happenings around the world, what’s hot and what’s not, what’s the trend these days, the latest fashions, the new cosmetics, the new malls, housing schemes opening in new towns, new locations, update on tourism all by advertising. The reason why media has greatly grown its influence and has become a major source of awareness and information amongst the general public is because of it advertising. Media is all about advertising. Whether it’s selling a pair of shoes or the best shampoo to selling an Aston Martin Vanquish or a Porsche GT2 media will advertise it. How? With women in their ads, media uses women to sell products, although more men are seen to dominate the Brand Ambassador’s post than women, yet these men in the advertises show up with many beautiful attractive women with them.

So what is the media’s portrayal of women today? Women are portrayed with high sexuality, displaying half naked bodies openly exposed on magazine cover to sell cosmetics or a fragrance. Most banners in Pakistan especially many on shara-e-faisal have women there, selling lawn, biscuits, Honda motor cycles, bubble gum, juices like nestle and local brands, mobile network packages, ufone, telenor, zong glow, warid, mobilink, tea, Lux soap, Mc Donalds happy meals, food, anything and about everything has women up there to sell their products.

Women have always been measured against the cultural ideals of beauty but nowadays media uses sexism to make ideal beauty. The over exposure of women around the world in advertizing is definitely a question of concern, but the matter is left untouched mostly. In Pakistan the situation may not be as bad, yet the portrayal of women in our own country isn’t very decent.

3 comments:

  1. Pakistan media is highly influenced by western media. It has now started portraying women as sex symbols, like komal mentioned half naked bodies etc.

    This is because there is gender inequality in pakistan and other countries and media has shown men as the dominant figure over women.

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  2. i just want to ask what are the causes behind this wrong portrayal of women in advertisements??the male domination or something else??

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  3. I like that you are very honest and direct to the point.

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