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| Sunday, 7 March 2004 |
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Newspapers and gender politics: Move over, darling! by Lasanda Kurukulasuriya Women's Day is around once again, and Sri Lanka's mainstream newspapers
will dutifully carry appropriate panegyrics on women, lamenting the
discrimination they face in all spheres of life, remarking Yes, they might even venture to mention the poor representation of women in the higher rungs of management and decision making everywhere - in spite of their better performance in education - and decry the near invisibility of women in local government and provincial and national legislatures. An irony that seems to miss all these male scribes many of them editors of their respective publications - is the fact that these benedictions to women, raised in unison on Women's Day, are all invariably written in the third person, never in the first. They would all refer to "Her" and "She" and "Them," never "I" or "We" or "Us." The reason is obvious. There are no women editors in Sri Lanka's mainstream press. A recently released Media Guide for 2004 attests to this fact when it lists 29 daily and Sunday newspapers, in English, Sinhala and Tamil media, all of whose editors are male. Chauvinism A glance at the bylines that appear in any mainstream newspaper will show that there is no lack of women journalists. The problem is that Sri Lanka's newspaper industry has from its inception been a male bastion, characterized by an all-pervasive environment of male chauvinism. What this translates into, on Women's Day, is an odd cocktail of editorials, the tone and content of which is, by turn, pompous, condescending, paternalistic or patronizing, if not downright sexist. For example, women are firmly tethered in service to mankind in one editorial that read: "We share in the elation and joy of the women of this country on stepping into the limelight today, International Women's Day, and on being honoured for the sizeable contribution they make for mankind's well-being." It is true that the English language itself presents challenges to writers sometimes, in its lack of gender-neutral terms. But is it too much to expect some sensitivity in the choice of words, in an editorial on Women's Day? The same editorial goes on to betray the typically sexist attitude that blames the woman for her own predicament: "It is our belief that enough is not being done by most local women's organizations to explode the widely held myth that women are objects of sexual gratification. This is attributable to the fact that some women continue to cosy up to this image." In some English newspapers last year, Women's Day did not even merit editorial comment but went on record in the form of a supplement, carrying advertisements targeting women, along with messages from the minister etc. The importance of women, who represent over 50 per cent of the population, is never lost on those who seek to exploit a market. Nor on those who wish to exploit a name, as in the case of the women heads of state in Asia, who were persuaded by party hierarchies to enter politics over the dead bodies of their husbands or fathers simply because their name would draw votes. This year Women's Day coincides with the emergence of a political party fielding women candidates exclusively, to contest an election in Sri Lanka. The National People's Party led by Sharmila Daluwatte has nominated 23 candidates for the April 2 election, and plans to campaign on a platform of women's rights. The party is not new - they contested the 2000 election under the same banner but with 4 women and 20 male candidates. Still, this is amazing, in view of Sri Lanka's dismal record of political participation by women, and the legacy of violence they inherit. News of the National People's Party's new campaign strategy was reported in a national English newspaper with an introduction that reduced their mission to "wanting to give credence to the old adage the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." Thus, woman is never released from "her wife and mother" role. Ignorance Reports on women's issues that defeat their purpose in this way are not uncommon in our media. Whether such reporting is the result of ignorance or perversity remains a puzzle. What is patently clear is that Sri Lankan newspapers have a long way to go in the matter of becoming even nominally gender sensitive. The politicians who paid lip service last year to the women's manifesto that demanded a minimum 30 per cent quota of seats in parliament, have now handed in nomination lists from the two main contenders, the UNp and UpfA, with an abysmal 4.5 per cent of women candidates. Similarly, male newspaper editors around the country, even as I speak, are hammering out Women's Day editorials that pontificate on women's rights. If Sri Lanka's newspaper industry pretends to espouse anything even remotely approximating gender equality, it needs to start by opening its doors to women at the highest levels of management within its own battlements. And those editors churning out Women's Day editorials will have to start putting their money where their mouth is. |
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on the need for
attitude change, and calling on relevant authorities to take necessary
remedial action. Editorial columns will list the formidable contribution
made by women to Sri Lanka's economy, as the backbone of the workforce in
the garment industry, the tea industry and in West Asian employment, which
sectors constitute the country's top foreign exchange earners.
