Potrayal Of Indian Woman by media.

The portrayal of women in media plays a crucial part in setting the mindset of the society. Now there are some thoughts which will go with the above saying but some would definitely contradict. To some media is just a representation of what society is, while to others media means liberation and power to lead the change. But here we are not going into the counterparts of either of the arguments. The focus is simply on the latter one.

Media has the indomitable power to lead the change! Media means power to communicate to the masses. Media means the power to reflect the happenings, injustices in the society to its people and guide them the path to growth. The merits to media are countless but how many of them have been achieved by media in the past 62 years of Indian Independence. The media maniacs or the journalists might have a lot to say in order to prove the merits of media in the society.

But then why are Indian women still suffering? Why has the so called media never ever tried to portray importance of women in society? Recent statistics show that there is one female raped every 22 minutes in India. Why?The answer to this lies at the inception of democracy. Be it movies, ads or newspapers, Indian women have always been shown suffering. I still recall an advertisement  which had come up during my childhood days. The brand, if I remember correctly,   was Iodex balm. The advertisement showcased the female protagonist cleaning utensils and complaining for her backache. Solution Iodex balm. The manufacturing company and the advertising agency both enjoyed the profits of selling the product by playing it on Indian sentiment.But this gave away a wrong message. And sadly this was just the story of one brand. You can see thousands of such ad films which heave upon the fact of women suffering and thus making business.

Not just advertising, even newspapers and print media are no less in bolstering their support to this wave. A recent example would speak for it. A national award winner at a tender age of 11 for a film, Sweta basu got arrested with the charges of prostitution. What did the media do?

       They leaked images and news regarding the charges on the actress which lead to tarnished her image in the society. But there was not a single newspaper that reported the names of the men who were involved in it. Only the girl got to suffer and the males flew away with the power of money. Who forced the girl to enter into prostitution? Why was she given such a choice to earn money?! Who got her to this path?! The male chauvinist society.Inspite of knowing the fact, media chose to highlight the half truth.Infamous stories about casting couch in glamour world, and the recent incidents of actresses being taunted on sensitive issues in their press conferences just prove that no matter how much we talk about women empowerment for growth and progress of the country but sadly indian women suffer. And media which is a shout out for liberation, the voice of the nation sits in the silence under the dark shade of corruption and selfish business motives.