Fashion or Politics: Women in the Media, Pakistan
By Halima Tahirkheli
Electronic media has become more influential in Pakistan in the last decade due to the rapid development of communication technology. The media plays a vital role in Pakistan by providing information and awareness about national and international issues among its audiences. The media also plays a significant role in shaping society’s economic, cultural, and political priorities. Since the media in Pakistan is emerging and more radio and television channels are being launched, more women journalists are now appearing as anchors and talk show hosts on several television channels. Although these women are considered examples of professional working women, many female journalists still face numerous obstacles and challenges. Only three percent of journalists in Pakistan are women (Shah, 2013), and these women are encouraged to focus on issues related to fashion, homemaking, and entertainment.
Pakistani women are not often assigned to report on the environment, wars, disease outbreaks, current affairs, and political issues. Pakistani women make up about fifty percent of the country’s population. The male-dominated society has kept the majority of this fifty percent of the Pakistani population out of the fields of politics and social development. In a deeply conservative country, cultural taboos restrict women from reporting on some issues that are meant for their male counterparts. Some female journalists feel they cannot be taken seriously simply because they are women. Politics is still considered a male-dominated domain. Political shows mostly cover the progress of male politicians or their agenda on certain issues, such as fighting terrorism or their relationship with Western countries.
However, the media seems to underrepresent women politicians in Pakistan. The media often portrays women politicians as fashion icons and rarely reports on their political agendas. Many Pakistani women are illiterate and unable to read or research articles to gain awareness about the political development of the country. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, forty percent of women in Pakistan are literate (Omar, 2012). In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan, the female literacy rate is about three to eight percent (Latif, 2010). For many rural and illiterate women in Pakistan, their only way to gain knowledge about political issues is through the television when they go and clean their male family members’ rooms. The men usually keep the television sets in their rooms.
However, both literate and illiterate women may still have limited knowledge about political issues related to women’s rights due to the lack of coverage of women’s issues in these political shows. If more women journalists covered stories related to politics, it might enhance media coverage of the political activities of women politicians or their success stories in politics. Serious gender-based topics, such as honor killings, domestic violence, and girls’ education, could start to appear on these political shows as well.
References
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Latif, A. (2010). Alarming situation of education in Pakistan. Press International Reports. Retrieved January 3, 2015 from the World Wide Web: http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/know_sharing/grassroots_stories/paki...,
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Omar, N. (2012). Female illiteracy: A global crisis impacting the participation of girls and women. International Association of Schools of Social Work, United Nations.
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Shah, B. (2013). Pakistan’s fearless women journalists. Sampsonia Way. Retrieved October 28, 2014 from the World Wide Web: http://www.sampsoniaway.org/fearless-ink/2013/01/08/pakistan’s-fearless-women-journalists-binashah
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Uks Research Center on Women and Media, (2010). More women in media: The way forward. Retrieved January 2, 2015 from the World Wide Web: http://www.uksresearch.com/PublicationsPDFs/MORE%20WOMEN%20IN%20MEDIA-%20the%20way%20forward.pdf
By Halima Tahirkheli
Electronic media has become more influential in Pakistan in the last decade due to the rapid development of communication technology. The media plays a vital role in Pakistan by providing information and awareness about national and international issues among its audiences. The media also plays a significant role in shaping society’s economic, cultural, and political priorities. Since the media in Pakistan is emerging and more radio and television channels are being launched, more women journalists are now appearing as anchors and talk show hosts on several television channels. Although these women are considered examples of professional working women, many female journalists still face numerous obstacles and challenges. Only three percent of journalists in Pakistan are women (Shah, 2013), and these women are encouraged to focus on issues related to fashion, homemaking, and entertainment.
Pakistani women are not often assigned to report on the environment, wars, disease outbreaks, current affairs, and political issues. Pakistani women make up about fifty percent of the country’s population. The male-dominated society has kept the majority of this fifty percent of the Pakistani population out of the fields of politics and social development. In a deeply conservative country, cultural taboos restrict women from reporting on some issues that are meant for their male counterparts. Some female journalists feel they cannot be taken seriously simply because they are women. Politics is still considered a male-dominated domain. Political shows mostly cover the progress of male politicians or their agenda on certain issues, such as fighting terrorism or their relationship with Western countries.
However, the media seems to underrepresent women politicians in Pakistan. The media often portrays women politicians as fashion icons and rarely reports on their political agendas. Many Pakistani women are illiterate and unable to read or research articles to gain awareness about the political development of the country. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, forty percent of women in Pakistan are literate (Omar, 2012). In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan, the female literacy rate is about three to eight percent (Latif, 2010). For many rural and illiterate women in Pakistan, their only way to gain knowledge about political issues is through the television when they go and clean their male family members’ rooms. The men usually keep the television sets in their rooms.
However, both literate and illiterate women may still have limited knowledge about political issues related to women’s rights due to the lack of coverage of women’s issues in these political shows. If more women journalists covered stories related to politics, it might enhance media coverage of the political activities of women politicians or their success stories in politics. Serious gender-based topics, such as honor killings, domestic violence, and girls’ education, could start to appear on these political shows as well.
References
-
Latif, A. (2010). Alarming situation of education in Pakistan. Press International Reports. Retrieved January 3, 2015 from the World Wide Web: http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/know_sharing/grassroots_stories/paki...,
-
Omar, N. (2012). Female illiteracy: A global crisis impacting the participation of girls and women. International Association of Schools of Social Work, United Nations.
-
Shah, B. (2013). Pakistan’s fearless women journalists. Sampsonia Way. Retrieved October 28, 2014 from the World Wide Web: http://www.sampsoniaway.org/fearless-ink/2013/01/08/pakistan’s-fearless-women-journalists-binashah
-
Uks Research Center on Women and Media, (2010). More women in media: The way forward. Retrieved January 2, 2015 from the World Wide Web: http://www.uksresearch.com/PublicationsPDFs/MORE%20WOMEN%20IN%20MEDIA-%20the%20way%20forward.pdf
