Majestic Cover Drives!

Let's face it! You're just not good enough for it. You were born to help the society grow but hey, it actually was a good cover drive! But come to think of it, you can not even play for 30 days a month. 20 player squads have to be taken on every tour where 15 men used to suffice. You look funny while running up to deliver the ball. If I were you, I would rather stay back and deliver babies i.e help the society move forward. Why do you find it so difficult to admit that you were not born to play cricket. What can however, be done without hampering you cricketing career is that you matches can be kept discreet rather than airing them live on television. People watch cricket matches to enjoy the sport and no one is looking to get entertained by means other than the sport. What is even more questionable is that who are the dummasses who advertise during your matches? Anyways, what I would suggest here to sportswomen is that they better sit back home and do what they were born to do. I would suggest the media to stop encouraging such pseudo-sports by airing them on television and I would suggest brand managers to please stop advertising during these non-lucrative hours. There are better ways to throw money away!

Listening your heart out!

By: Shehryar

Blink twice if you find a news caster hot!
It is beyond my understanding why a female news caster has to look eye-catching while reporting even the gloomiest of situations. It should be the vocal effectiveness which should be kept into consideration while hiring a news caster in the first place, however, even if it is not, someone must go and tell these ladies that you need to look good while reporting - not hot.
Or let's keep the news bulletin aside for a moment, why do those ladies in cooking shows 'try' to look oh-so-beautiful? To be honest, if I personally look back at my life, the tastiest of foods that I've had in my life had either been cooked by some not-worth-looking-at lady or some man.
Come on! Grow out of these complexes and give your undiluted attention to your work rather than your killer look so that people can get information out of your bulletins rather than getting sighs.

Media and Domestic Violence

By: Shehryar

So often does the media highlight domestic violence cases that the matter is losing its importance over time and the masses have subconsciously accepted the phenomena that women actually deserve to be abused. Deserve might sound to be a very strong word for the cause but let's look into it before jumping to any conclusions.
Would you take any of such occurrences as seriously as you could have taken in case you did not know how frequent they were? The fact of the matter is that you neglect such news today and let your mind fall asleep when hearing such matters as you've gradually grown indifferent to them with the progression of time.
The need of time is to stop reporting these cases if you do not find enough space on the front page for such petty issues and jump into what might be called a practical solution to it. Reporting is not bad until it is done badly - or in this case, inappropriately.

Women used as a medium to attract consumers.

Women have always been used as an attractive item in media. Taking a look at all the advertisements around us, 99 % of them include women. We see women in bike ads and shaving cream ads!!! Its just amazing that how media is using the female sex to promote their products; be it a men’s product advertisement, daily use product or any children advertisement, one thing is common in every ad: WOMEN.

The exploitation of women in the media has become so common, particularly in advertising that most people fail to get outraged or even notice it anymore. While carrying out a research in my first year of bachelors on the topic: Westernization in Pakistan, 90 % of the people agreed to the statement that women are being used as sex objects in advertisements.

Today women are being glamorized a lot. Looking at Bollywood and Hollywood movies women are being portrayed as the eye candy for the viewers. They are being depicted in roles which no longer exist in real life. An example is that young teenagers today have a great exposure to media and they learn and try to copy from it. So the slim and trim figures of actresses, models and other celebrities send message to those naïve minds to be like them. And these young teenagers in order to gain social appreciation, risk their health for the sake of slim bodies.

Aside from the above facts media today also shows that women are no longer the dependent ones. Women today are equal to men and they have the capabilities to stand and walk side by side with males in every field, me it household decisions, professional field or personal life, women’s role is equal to men!

Media no doubt is exploiting women’s god given beauty but it has also played a major role in giving equal rights to women. And because of this exposure given to females, women now can step forward and if not eradicate then at least reduce the torture of males, which is very common in the primitive societies of the world.

Concluding media portrays women as equal to men, but female sex is also being USED by the media.

51%

Geo News is one of the most viewed and popular news channels of Pakistan and that is why I chose a program from this channel. As it says on its website, its policy is that ‘It will highlight the issues of concern and the cultural richness of its people through information, discussion and entertainment. GEO will propagate transparency of responsibility that will ensure its position as the most credible and meaningful source of information, through quality programming based on issues.’
For this assignment I chose a show called 51% that is aired on Geo News. It is hosted by Nida Sameer and is basically a magazine show based on women. It is aired on weekly basis and is based on news and issues revolving around women. What I like about this show is that it not only shows the negative issues and problems that women of Pakistan face, but it also concentrates on positive aspects and on celebrating womanhood. It is a mix of both hard and soft news and is executed in a way that is entertaining as well as encouraging and not just depressing as we would expect shows revolving around women to be. The show consists of ‘stories that have universal appeal with subjects as diverse and sensitive as religion, society, sex, education and arts, all from women's perspectives.’
Geo News and TV has been known for airing shows that focus on women and their issues, there was a very popular show known as ‘Geo Hina k saath with Hina Bayat’. This is because a large number of audiences are women and there a lot of issues on women that need to be highlighted through the media. Geo portrays women through ‘51%’ as a progressive part of our society and as having the potential to become successful. In the special 6th September episode, we are shown how women of Pakistan have progressed and are now actively participating in different departments of the Pakistan Air Force. One episode was on the typical day in the life of a Pakistani woman during Ramadan, although the topic being simple, it was interesting and highlighted the importance of women in our daily lives.
Another episode is on the interview of Reshman – the singer who has made her mark internationally. The interview is well-conducted and explores how Reshman, despite being a woman and a part of the music industry since the 60’s has been successful and represented Pakistan all over the world. It is an inspiring show celebrating the women of Pakistan as well as showing some of the serious problems faced by them which hinders their growth. It motivates people to overcome these issues so we can progress as a society.
51% does not have a tone of exaggeration or sensationlization and is well-researched. Overall, the show is a well put together and has an underlying sense of encouragement for women, men and caters to all ages. It generates positive response from its audiences and is balanced and unbiased.

A book review of " The second sex"

The book that I believe played a revolutionary role in history and triggered a continuous thinking process is the extensive, scholarly study, written in 1946 by French existentialist novelist and feminist Simone de Beauvoir i.e. Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex). This book as a matter of fact not only sparked the feminist movement but also became one of the most important books of the twentieth century. Beauvoir philosophically analyzed female oppression in The Second Sex where she says that women are fundamentally characterized by ambiguity and conflict. According to Simone de Beauvoir, woman is the “other” not only to men but also often to herself, an alien thing that is not quite human and has been reduced as a secondary gender by almost all the societies.
Beauvoir insightfully examines female biology and sexuality, myths relating to the female gender as a mother, a lesbian, a prostitute, and, ultimately, the liberated woman.
The author draws parallels between the situation of women and that of other oppressed groups such as the African-Americans and the Jews. It is believed that the African-American writer Richard Wright provided De Beauvoir with the theoretical model of oppression that she used in The Second Sex. She notes that it was men who created values, traditions, and religions. Therefore, male prejudices rather than any inborn defects in women have resulted in the dishonored position of females in society.
The Second Sex became a foundation for activist writers such as Betty Freidan and Kate millet. In the 1980s and 90s, authors such as Judith butler further built on her work. This glorious and genuinely revolutionary book began as an exceptional woman's attempt to find out who and what she was.
The book had an enormous impact on the women's movement, throughout the world, but especially in France, where women were not given the vote until 1945.

Representation of women

Women have always been victimized by being measured against cultural and religious morals of beauty, but advertising today often uses a little extreme by adding the element of sexism to make these notions of "ideal beauty" more prevalent and increasingly unattainable leading to various sorts of complexes.

There is no doubt, that advertisements and media in particular have their own marketing strategies. But the way they portray women as a sexual and saleable commodity, is indeed a cause of concern and needs to be checked.

We see that with modernization, woman's physical attributes are commercially browbeaten. In advertising, women are presented as an object of fantasized attraction to boost up sales. Whether a car commercial, or the introduction of a new tea brand, cooking oil, shampoos or other consumer goods, women remain the sale attraction. They use their body images even for the sale of the products.

Hence, we see that it is high time to realize and curb all the negative roles played by media to portray women and this very media should be used to promote the women as to what they actually are suppose to be presented as. This is the time to come up with policies and ramifications to make and use media as a useful and more responsible tool to promote gender equality and positive attitudes and behaviors.