Are news stories gender neutral?
So here's an article that won a national award for being gender sensitive and neutral. But is it really gender neutral? Read the article(link given below) and get back to the blog again to realize how much less consciously, we consume media.
https://www.google.co.in/amp/www.thehindu.com/news/national/happy-feet-in-mumbra/article5042555.ece/amp/
Happy feet in Mumbra
Reviewing from a gender perspective ( which age group did the story address, types of sources used for the story, kind of words and language used, quotes used, whether the journalist is male or female):
Mumbra- a name used in every single paragraph of this article. A place with a major population of people belonging to muslim community. But seems like the ethnicity of girls is used as a tool to grab the attention of people. Also, continuously emphasizing on how class, caste and religion demand men and women to follow traditional practices and fulfill societal expectations.
The 1st paragraph obviously drives our attention to the dressing of the girls rather than imagining how they prepared themselves before playing football. Specifying ‘slip out of their hijabs’ was absolutely not important or stereotyping ‘hijab’ as a symbol of oppression for a woman.
Further, where the term ‘male-dominated sport’ is used, shows how like other sports, football has been gendered as a sport played by males. Again it says about how females are breaking this stereotype, but somewhere my concern is ‘why can’t we assume it normal?’ males may play it as well as females, be it ‘wow’ or ‘haww’. Why does it seem like a huge-huge discovery if males do something that was usually done by females and vice-versa. Neither sports nor any activity restricts itself to gendered boundaries, where only one of the genders can have the privilege to perform/play it and not the rest.
Further, in the same paragraph, the town is described, supported by a status report of TISS 2011. Looking at the statistics of Mumbra mentioned in the article – 24% of women are illiterate, 92% don’t work and 28% are married before the age of 17. Seems like no men exist in the town! A general description of town should definitely focus on the conditions of males too. Also, what about the role played by men behind such conditions of women.
Followed by, quoting ‘ to preclude confrontation, she finishes her share of household chores’ i.e. to avoid argument in the house, she does her household work. This clearly states that it is not her choice to do so but no matter if a woman is allowed to fulfill her interest, she has to contribute some part in household work as her primary duty and play her role with accomplishment whether she wants to or not. ‘Abba says girls should stay home and not even study’ describes about the rigid and orthodox mentality of people for girls.
‘Magic bus initially intended to train 14-17 year olds from Mumbra in football’, why? Why only 14-17 years? Though it was further done for all age groups, that too exclusively, because the girls demanded to play alongside boys. So even though if girls willingly played football, it was taken too lightly and narrowed itself by not being open to all age-groups and all kinds of women/girls.
Aliya shaikh does not face opposition from her father, but her mother and three brothers. This builds took pictures in my mind: 1. A woman not supporting another woman( even after living in the same family) and resisting her to do something of her choice. 2. Gendered society and mind sets exist not simply because of generation-gaps but how young minds believe, contribute and promote the gendered set-up.
Further, when sukhada tatke writes that it was so amazing to know that forty girls urged to play this sport but at the end, the enthusiasm vanished and there were only twenty girls forming a team. Then what could be the reasons that the girls dropped out if they showed interest towards the game?
Also, it was too difficult for them to find a ground, so this shows that even if the issues have been settled at the private space and the girls have fought against the opposition they faced from their family members, there are still people in the society resisting the girls play football or let me say not willing to see them in the ground.
A tournament between boys and girls and it is good to see Indian society heading towards change – a good change.
https://www.google.co.in/amp/www.thehindu.com/news/national/happy-feet-in-mumbra/article5042555.ece/amp/
Happy feet in Mumbra
Reviewing from a gender perspective ( which age group did the story address, types of sources used for the story, kind of words and language used, quotes used, whether the journalist is male or female):
Mumbra- a name used in every single paragraph of this article. A place with a major population of people belonging to muslim community. But seems like the ethnicity of girls is used as a tool to grab the attention of people. Also, continuously emphasizing on how class, caste and religion demand men and women to follow traditional practices and fulfill societal expectations.
The 1st paragraph obviously drives our attention to the dressing of the girls rather than imagining how they prepared themselves before playing football. Specifying ‘slip out of their hijabs’ was absolutely not important or stereotyping ‘hijab’ as a symbol of oppression for a woman.
Further, where the term ‘male-dominated sport’ is used, shows how like other sports, football has been gendered as a sport played by males. Again it says about how females are breaking this stereotype, but somewhere my concern is ‘why can’t we assume it normal?’ males may play it as well as females, be it ‘wow’ or ‘haww’. Why does it seem like a huge-huge discovery if males do something that was usually done by females and vice-versa. Neither sports nor any activity restricts itself to gendered boundaries, where only one of the genders can have the privilege to perform/play it and not the rest.
Further, in the same paragraph, the town is described, supported by a status report of TISS 2011. Looking at the statistics of Mumbra mentioned in the article – 24% of women are illiterate, 92% don’t work and 28% are married before the age of 17. Seems like no men exist in the town! A general description of town should definitely focus on the conditions of males too. Also, what about the role played by men behind such conditions of women.
Followed by, quoting ‘ to preclude confrontation, she finishes her share of household chores’ i.e. to avoid argument in the house, she does her household work. This clearly states that it is not her choice to do so but no matter if a woman is allowed to fulfill her interest, she has to contribute some part in household work as her primary duty and play her role with accomplishment whether she wants to or not. ‘Abba says girls should stay home and not even study’ describes about the rigid and orthodox mentality of people for girls.
‘Magic bus initially intended to train 14-17 year olds from Mumbra in football’, why? Why only 14-17 years? Though it was further done for all age groups, that too exclusively, because the girls demanded to play alongside boys. So even though if girls willingly played football, it was taken too lightly and narrowed itself by not being open to all age-groups and all kinds of women/girls.
Aliya shaikh does not face opposition from her father, but her mother and three brothers. This builds took pictures in my mind: 1. A woman not supporting another woman( even after living in the same family) and resisting her to do something of her choice. 2. Gendered society and mind sets exist not simply because of generation-gaps but how young minds believe, contribute and promote the gendered set-up.
Further, when sukhada tatke writes that it was so amazing to know that forty girls urged to play this sport but at the end, the enthusiasm vanished and there were only twenty girls forming a team. Then what could be the reasons that the girls dropped out if they showed interest towards the game?
Also, it was too difficult for them to find a ground, so this shows that even if the issues have been settled at the private space and the girls have fought against the opposition they faced from their family members, there are still people in the society resisting the girls play football or let me say not willing to see them in the ground.
A tournament between boys and girls and it is good to see Indian society heading towards change – a good change.
Comments
Post a Comment