Editions

Nisha Mukherjee
Oct - 2020

Abstract

The roles portrayed by men and women are changing in every arena around the world like academic sectors, corporate sectors, in media and advertising etc. They have distinguished themselves in every walk of life. But has the representation of genders in advertisements changed? Or does it still conform to the old traditionalist ideas and notions of the society? These are the questions that are dealt with in the following paper. The first section of the paper reviews the Role Portrayals in Advertisements. The paper also oversees two randomly selected television ads from India and was content analyzed to examine both the recurrence of appearance and pervasiveness of gender stereotypes.

The roles portrayed by men and women are changing in every arena around the world like academic sectors, corporate sectors, in media and advertising etc. They have distinguished themselves in every walk of life. But has the representation of genders in advertisements changed? Or does it still conform to the old traditionalist ideas and notions of the society? These are the questions that are dealt with in the following paper. The first section of the paper reviews the Role Portrayals in Advertisements. The paper also oversees two randomly selected television ads from India and was content analyzed to examine both the recurrence of appearance and pervasiveness of gender stereotypes.

Keywords: Gender roles, Indian Television Advertisements, masculinity, femininity, gender stereotypes

Introduction

Advertising play a significant role in a modern society that has developed complex social boundaries that are progressing with time. Industrialisation and commercialisation make the world go around. Social constructs like gender, sexuality and gender roles are used as a tool to advertise and promote products, services and ideas in a global scale. The behaviour, attitudes, and socially defined gender roles are mimicked on the screen which leads to the misconception of the viewers regarding the reality. Erving Goffman called it “Commercial Realism”. Goffman argues that advertisements do not look strange to us, when they should. Advertisements take something that exists already in the world and they change it, forming a distorted reflection. "They emphasize some things and de-emphasize others," it is a hyper ritualization of the world, and we recognize, and even relate with some of the images.

“A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviours and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people based on their actual or perceived sex or sexuality.” (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_advertisement)

It is argued that these images could be teaching the viewers a vast array of social cues, and even the most subtle ones make an impact on the viewers. (Baran, Stanley J.; Dennis K. Davis (2005). Mass communication theory: foundations, ferment, and future). Further it is said that gender relations are learned through advertisements. (Jhally, Sut. "What's Wrong With a Little Objectification?")

Television advertisements follow the socials constructs of gender roles most of the time. Therefore, the predefined gender roles of masculinity and femininity are followed. It has always been said that to be woman is to be feminine and to be a man is to be masculine. These are mostly learned roles. There is little room for variation or a reversal of roles, except within the smaller frame of niche marketing.

Four of the most common kinds of gender stereotyping are:

• Personality Traits
• Domestic behaviours
• Occupations
• Physical appearance

Masculinity in Advertising

According to Jhally, Sut. The Codes of Gender. Media Education Foundation , some of the most common ways in which men are portrayed in advertising are :

• Alert and conscious of surroundings
• Standing upright
• Eyes open and looking around
• Bodies are controlled
• Mean expression on face
• Gripping things tightly with hands
• Hands in pockets
• Serious
• Physically active

Femininity in Advertisement

According to Jhally, Sut. The Codes of Gender. Media Education Foundation , some of the most common ways in which women are portrayed in advertising are :

• Touching self
• Caressing an object
• Lying on the floor
• Sitting on a bed or chair gracefully
• Not alert
• Confused
• Vulnerable
• Body contorted
• Dressed like a child
• Holding an object or a man for support
• Sexy and sexually available
• Seductive
• Playful

Review of literature

With the reference to existing literature, the study explores:

Definition:

Advertising is an audio or visual from of marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea (William J. Stanton, Fundamentals of Marketing, McGraw-Hill, 1964).

Role of Advertising:

Bishop (1944) mentions that majority of the advertisements are persuasive in nature and intention and that advertising is regarded as a vast apparatus which assails the eyes and the ears of the public with cunning inducements to prefer certain products over the other or to buy certain products in his book, ‘The Economics of Advertising’ (p. 19).

Gender Role Portrayals:

Past research indicates that in India, as in other nations, men and women are likely to be shown in stereotypical ways in television ads. (Gupta and Jain 1998; Jha Dang and Vohra 2005) 72% of teenage girls in major cities state that they would like to have a career (Reddy et al. 2007).

Stereotyping in Advertisements:

The gender stereotypes in advertising are so common place that it has become synonymous with the attributes being construed about each sex. According to Goffman (1979, p. 8) gender representations in advertising reflect “fundamental features of the social structure,” such as values, beliefs, or norms.

Advertisements depicting stereotypical roles of the genders help in creating cognitive schemes that reflect the typical and fundamental elements of reality among the viewers. Gender roles have also been impacted by the media and advertising. SlutWalk is one phenomenon that emerges through incontemporary "third-wave feminism". The SlutWalkmovement helps increase victim visibility and reintroduces sexual violence issues to the public. (SlutWalk: Feminism, Activism and Media, Kaitlynn Mendes)

Classification of gender roles are a reflection of today’s society. Through the ages men have been considered to be financial providers, career-focused, assertive and independent, whereas women have been shown as low-position workers, loving wives and mothers, responsible for raising children and doing housework. Nowadays a family model is based rather on a partnership than on patriarchy and women have more rights and possibilities on the labor market. Feminist environment had a significant impact on the change in this situation. Women's liberation movement fought for the rights of women and for redefining traditional gender roles. Although females and males are still not equal, the differences between genders are not so vast anymore. Nevertheless, many social institutions, such as mass media, still use gender stereotypes, based on the assumption that they are well known to everyone and help the receivers to understand the content of the message. ("Gender stereotypes in mass media. Case study: Analysis of the gender stereotyping phenomenon in TV commercials. | Krytyka.org – Nauka, Polityka, Kultura, Społeczeństwo")

Semiotics as a tool in television advertising

Television advertisements uses semiotics as a tool to create constructs and ideas in the minds of the viewers. Semiotics refer to the use of signs, symbols and looks to analyse and derive meaning or an idea. ‘Semiotics’ (or semiology) is one of the most powerful and influential ways of thinking about media, Bignell (2002, p.1-3). The name semiotics and semiology derive from the ancient Greek word ‘semeion’, which means ‘sign’.

Research methodology

This study explores how socially established masculine and feminine characteristics are used in Indian television advertisements. In this qualitative research, content analysis is used to find out the different type of Role portrayed by men and women in Indian TV advertisements.

Objectives

The objective of the study is to find the various gender roles portrayed by men and women by content and semiotic analysis of two randomly selected Indian television advertisements

Two randomly selected Indian Television Advertisements are selected to explore the gender roles and how it adheres to the socially defined expectations put on a man and woman

To examine the recurrence of appearance and pervasiveness of gender stereotypes in Indian television advertisement through the content analysis of two randomly selected Indian television advertisements.

To achieve the above objectives, I have examined two randomly selected Indian advertisements, Amul Macho, Men’s Underwear and Imperial Blue. They are analysed on the basis of:

1. Theme
2. Representation
3. Stereotyping

Findings

Amul Macho (underwear)

This Ad is rated as one of the most controversial in India and for the most obvious reasons was banned by the Advertising council. "Ye to bada toing hai.." is rated as one of the most vulgar and sexually explicit ads in the history of Indian advertising. This ad, with the women making suggestive movements as if she is up to something naughty, although banned, increased the market share of the company sharply with a turnover of Rs. 201 crores in 2007-2008.

The Theme and Representation:

In spite of it being exclusively a men’s product, women are used in the advertisement to depict manliness by representing the woman in a decorative family role as the woman is shown carrying a bundle of clothes to be washed, and the first cloth that she washes is her husband’s underwear. The expressions of the woman allude to coitus and sexual fantasies. The piece of clothing being used also refers to the depiction of manliness, confidence, macho image in front of the other women who are also washing clothes. There is an underlying allusion of impressing women.

The sari and the jewelleries worn by the woman shows that she is newly married and the other women who are washing clothes looks at her in contempt and scepticism, but as soon as she pulls out her husband’s underwear their expression change. The woman also adorns a look of pride and expressions that alludes to the underlying implication of coitus.

Signifier: In this advertisement the visual codes like the expressions of the newlywed woman, her expressions, washing of the underwear and the use of a washing bat are the signifiers.

Signified: The idea or the mental concept behind the visual codes are the macho image of the man, impressing women, alluded coitus, sexualizing the act of washing and woman in a decorative and family role.

Stereotype

Fictionalized dramas reinforced the sex role stereotypes of men as decisive, assertive, dominant, and career- oriented, and of women as emotionally dependent, eager to please, sentimental, and primarily concerned with family relationships. Female characters in these series were most often housewives, secretaries, teachers, or nurses. Women were featured more often (56% of content) than men in Indian commercials, yet were shown performing stereotyped female activities such as shopping, preparing meals, and dressing to obtain the sexual approval of men. This sex role stereotyping in the media is seriously impeding the struggles of women in India to achieve economic and political autonomy. (SK Behra, Gender Role Biases on Indian Television)

Stereotypical gender roles of men and women are portrayed subtly through the advertisements where the woman is shown in decorative family roles. In the Amul Macho advertisement, the woman is seen as washing the clothes and her presence is also used to market a male product through the sexual implications. The tag line of the product is “Crafted for fantasy”, this shows that the product USP is also connected to sexual fantasies between a man and a woman rather than the factor of comfort or fabric. The role of the woman in the given advertisement is to ad the fantasy aspect of having coitus with the man wearing the underwear.

Imperial Blue

Imperial Blue is a surrogate advertisement where the ad for the whiskey brand is advertised as music CDs. Society has cast men as earners and providers, and there’s also that pesky gender pay gap that means women don’t make as much. This is among a series of advertisements on the theme “men will be men”. This is an age-old adage.

Theme and Representation:

The advertisement shows a man pressing all the buttons of the lift together as a woman is about to enter the lift in hopes of spending more time with the woman in close proximity. Unlike the man who is wearing a suit, the woman is shown in a Saree, and is subjected to male gaze. There is another woman who is also in a suit looking at her file, but she is not given any attention by the man. The advertisements depict how men will always be superficial and would want the attention of a woman who adheres to the socially established characteristics of being beautiful. The advertisement also targets only the male audience through the advertisements. The woman is majorly used for a decorative purpose as she wears a saree in the corporate environment and garners the attention of the man. According to SK Behra, often in commercials women are shown to dress to get the approval of a man. The fact that the woman in suit does not get the attention of the man but the woman in saree does highlights this factor.

Signifier: The man is seen as pining for the attention of the woman in saree as he pushes all the buttons of the elevator to delay the lift. The other woman in the suit is ignored Signified: The signified idea here is the mental concept that men will always remain men and seek the attention of a woman.

Stereotype:

The advertisement of Seagram Imperial Blue’s comes with the tagline “Men will be men”. The idea was utilized by Pernod Ricard’s (the holding company for Seagram’s distilled brewery business) whiskey brand to connect to society and hence increase the interest towards their product. The catchy tagline became successful and left its impression on every man and woman as what is shown in the advertisement is considered to be the ‘obvious’ behavior of a man. The question now arises, how and why men will be men? The tagline has exclusively talked about the characteristics men possess. The Imperial Blue advertisements stereotypes gender roles and show how men will always seek female attention and how women in a workplace are subjected to male gaze. It also stereotypes the appearance and personality of males and females.

Conclusion

Women Objectification and Stereotypical Decorative and Family Role

Advertising through the medium of television can have more of an impact as it is an audio visual medium and unlike print advertising, television ads can be more demonstrative and can indicate more meaning than a single image. Television advertisements usually employ a storyline to their ads and much can also be expressed through innuendoes. In addition to this, television is also a popular medium, with unsurpassed reach and penetration. The controversial ad for Amul Macho, showing a young bride conjuring images of conjugal bliss as she washed her husband’s clothes was full of sexual innuendoes and was distasteful. (Sexual Objectification of Women in Indian TV Ads of Men’s Deodorants from 2000 to 2018, Rochelle Ann Lepcha, http://ijissh.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/08/12.pdf)

The advertisements of a product category which has been known to show women in a derogatory manner are the advertisements of men’s products. In India too, the trend of showing women as sexual objects and conquests has been observed. The condom ads in India too seem to showcase condoms not as a means of protection or family planning but focuses more on close up shots of the various body parts and suggestive expressions of a female celebrity. The concept in such ads has been the portrayal of women as sexual objects, as sexual rewards to the user of the product.

Confidence and manliness in men

Sex role research suggests that the conception of masculinity has changed over time in response to historical and social currents (Brod, 1987; Franklin, 1984; Kimmel, 1987). Within advertising there also seems to have been variation in the visual construction of masculinity, suggesting shifts in social beliefs about men. Advertisements like Imperial Blue allude to certain characteristics to men; it targets only male audience as it is perceived in the society that only men drink whiskey. The tag line “Men will be men” adheres to the social image of masculinity and manliness. Amul Macho, men’s underwear refers to the masculinity of a man with alluded coitus and the expressions of the young bride when she washes her husband’s underwear.

Sexualizing of Products

There is no doubt that "sex sells" is one of the most familiar phrases in marketing. With major brands benefitting from using sex appeal in their marketing campaigns for decades now, risque imagery that was once considered to be taboo or pornographic decades ago can now be found splashed across magazine pages, TV screens, websites, billboards and other marketing channels There is a lot of debate about sexuality and ethics in advertising but using sexualized marketing has been very successful for countless brands, and will continue to be for a long time to come. For example, Amul Macho, men’s underwear sexualizes the product with portrayal of a women and sexual innuendoes but does not throw light on the fabric or its comfort. The tag line goes as “Crafted for Fantasy”. Brands like Axe certainly have been using sexualized marketing to its advantage. The entire brand has been created with the purpose of "giving guys an edge in the mating game", which is pretty much the concept that drives commercials depicting women being hopelessly attracted to men using Axe deodorant. The year after the initial "The Axe Effect" campaign was launched, sales of the product went up 14 percent. (Alesia Hsiao, Between the Sheets: Getting to Know Sexualized Marketing Better, https://www.business.com/articles/between-the-sheets-getting-to-know-sexualized-marketing-better/)

References:

Baran, Stanley J. & Davis, DK.(2005). Mass Communication Theory: Foundation, Ferment and Future Cengage Learning: United States.

Behra, SK. (1989) Gender Role biases on Indian Television. Media Asia, 16(3):119-24.

Bishop, FP. (1944). The Economics of Advertising. R. Hale Ltd.: London.

Business.com, retrieved from [https://www.business.com/articles/between-the-sheets-getting-to-know-sexualized-marketing-better/] on 5th September, 2019

Das, M. (2011). Gender Role Portrayals in Indian Television Ads. Sex Roles: 64:208–222

Goffman, E. (1979). Gender advertisements. Harvard University Press: Massachusetts.

Jhally, S., Vega, A., Killoy, A., & Earp, J. (2009). The Codes of Gender

Kervin, D. (2016) Advertising Masculinity: The Representation of Males in Esquire Advertisements, retrieved from [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1026.6591&rep=rep1&type=pdf] on 5th September, 2019

Krytyka.org, retrieved from [http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/] on 5th September, 2019

Lepcha, RA. (2018) Sexual Objectification of Women in Indian TV Ads of Men’s Deodorants from 2000 to 2018. International Journal of Innovative Studies in Sociology and Humanities. Mendes, K. (2015). SlutWalk: Feminism, Activisim and Media. Palgrave Macmillan: United Kingdom

Sharma, P. & Gupta, P. (2015). Semiotic analysis of Indian television. Advertisements and its impact on consumers: an exploratory study. Journal of Communication Studies, 1(15): 71-90

Stanton, WJ. (1964). Fundamentals of Marketing. McGraw-Hill: New York

Sutjhally.com, retrieved from [http://www.sutjhally.com/articles/whatswrongwithalit/] on 5th September, 2019

Wikipedia, retrieved from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_advertisement] on 5th September, 2019

Neha Srijesh Menon
Freelancer content writer
Mumbai
Oct - 2020

Abstract

This research titled “An analysis of the status of woman journalist in print media in Bengaluru, Karnataka” is a study based on the working woman journalist who has faced constant hardships throughout their career and still facing it in different scenarios and situations. The research attempts to study on how woman has become a pioneer in the management, hospitality, and various other fields. This research work describes how woman has emerged as a journalist in the print media in India and basically concentrates on Bengaluru. This research work will give a review of the journalists, their experiences of what they feel is going around in this profession and also tells the future journalists how to go about in the field of journalism.

Keywords

Journalism, Women Journalist, Feminism, equal pay, maternity leave, stress, print media industry

1. Introduction

1.1 Indian Woman in Cultural Context

Historically, India has been a male dominated society. But in the past two decades we have seen that woman has started to acquire the managerial role which has mainly happened due to social change. We have also seen that in the past women were expected to get married, take care of the family and household chores. But now, in contrast to what we have seen, with the boom in the corporate industries, more and more women are pursuing a career in their respective fields.

Earlier, we have seen that “girl child” did not get any formal education because of the term “parayadhan” (other’s property). Slowly and gradually, the literacy level among girls is increasing and they have started to attend universities as well. In contrast to increasing literacy level and girls graduating with highest honors from the best business and engineering schools, most of the top positions are still held by men in the corporate world. (Nancy R. Lockwood, 2009)

1.2 Movement for Change

It is observed that with changing time, the basic core social values have started to change. Globalisation has bought the influx of multinational corporations and many companies started to invest in India because it had huge man power. And in this growth, women too started to rise. More and more women were being hired by the Human Resource managers irrespective of the gender bias. Placements were conducted on equal basis and we saw that women were entering into the fields like advertising, banking, civil services, engineering, financial services, manufacturing, police and armed forces and emerging fields such as IT and communications positions which were previously at large dominated by men.

Dr. Sudhir Varma, a specialist in the field of gender and development in India, with a 36-year career in the Indian Administrative Service (the national civil service in India), “in spite of cultural and social taboos, more and more educated women are able to reach very high levels in the government, and the number of women in the corporate sector is gradually growing. There is no doubt that they have to constantly prove their efficiency to go up each step of the ladder. Corporate Indian women, earlier docketed into the routine repetitive work sectors like information technology, now head several national and Indian offices of international banks. They are also heading business and manufacturing houses.” (Nancy R. Lockwood, 2009)

1.3 Defining Feminism

Woman did not write in the beginning as it now, the obvious reason as Virginia Woolf puts it, “A woman must have money and room of her own if she is to write fiction.’’(Woolf, 1929) Money symbolizes power and freedom and a room of her own is to have contemplative thinking. Very often women had enjoyed these things in the past so to develop their imaginative capabilities and personal freedom.

Here, we can see the story of Ashraf Behan who was the first to enter the world of art and she earned her livelihood through this profession. At that time, she was forced to work since she lost her husband. Due to household duties, women in general are aloof from the wide imaginative world. They work from dawn to dusk and still their work goes unpaid. And very few like Ashraf Behan stand out in the crowd. (Dr. L. M. SWARNALATHA, 2016) And it is through art that many possible things can be done and make people think. Thus, started the activism. Many women writers across the globe started to use art as a part of their activism to bring about a social change and upliftment of women as whole.

1.4 Feminism in the Indian Context

Women in general have always struggled to get access to the fundamental needs such as right to education, equal pay at work, women’s right to abortion, right to gender equality and the practice of birth control. But this very core idea has been strictly maintained by the ruling power in the hierarchical system and feminists are fighting to strive against it. The very distinctive feature of the feminism in India is that it had been started by the men. And only later women joined the fray.

The list of who, champion the cause of women is long –Raja Ram Manohar Roy, Ishwarchandra Vidya Sagar, Keshav Chandra Sen, Matahari, Phule, Agarkar, Ranade, Karve to mention a few.

Uma Narayan quotes that though Indian feminists are struggling but the feminism in India is not merely a mindless mimicking of western agenda. Here, the women have to literate, empower herself that subject to patriarchal domination and comfort. Feminism is a struggle for equality of women, an effort to make women become like men.

1.5 Women as Journalists

There is a supposed societal trend that women cannot hold any managerial positions due to their traditional upbringing and intellectually being unfit for taking any decisions. But women today can very much choose journalism as their career option. There is a boom in the media industry and they are very much willing to take young, enthusiastic and career-oriented women who are willing to prove themselves.

A journalist named Charles Hands reported that there is a revolution the media field and women make better journalists as their male counterpart. They can do newspaper work, reporting, sub-editing, news editing and even do editing. There is also an advantage with the women. They do not drink. They are compassionate and lot more in touch with the real life. (PROF. UMA JOSHI)

Also in the Indian context we have seen lot of women making their mark in the media field like BarkhaDutt who reported a live Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan in 1999, MahrukhInayet who did a live sensitive coverage on the 26/11 Mumbai Terror attack, Tanvir Gill who does reporting on financial and business and the lists goes on. Women are winning laurels, awards and getting prestigious assignments purely on the basis of their hard work and dedication.

1.6 Rationale

This research is being done so that the standard of work culture for women goes up and they don’t face any problem in the work front and they receive equal opportunities as men. This research will also see to it that the women get equal pay, face less stress when they juggle with their personal and the professional life and also have a considerable decision-making environment for women in an organisation. This particular research is conducted to explore the gender bias in the print media industry. From the last decade, the number of women journalists is on rise and this research becomes important to study the status of women in the industry.

1.7 Objective of the study

1. To analyse the status of women journalists in the workplace on the basis of equal pay at work.
2. To evaluate the status of women journalists in respect to the various benefits such as maternity leave, compensation, hours of work, etc.
3. To find out the status of women journalists in various decision-making role.
4. To probe the level of stress faced by women journalists in their workplace.

2. Review of Literature

2.1 Raw deal for women Journalists

This paper covers the entire facets of the media organisation and how the women are treated in their work place. National Commission for Women has put forth some facts of how women go through hardships to find a respectable place in their organisation.

One of India's best-known women journalists, Mrinal Pande says, "When I joined the Times of India in the early 1980s, women did not figure in any organisational concerns. The chairs were too high, there were no rest rooms and the general attitude was - why is she here and not in Femina?" Although almost two decades later, women are entering in the field of media and making their mark in hard news reporting, many women in the profession continues to get the raw deal.

Earlier, it was seen that no women journalists had a permanent job. There were very few fortunate journalists who worked on 2 to 3 years on contract basis. But when it comes the time of recession, the women journalists were axed first. It was the mantra.

There was a women journalist named ChayamuniBhuyan who used to work in an established Assamese daily. She recounts her experiences as bit disturbing as she says that since she returned from her US tour (she was the one of the selected journalists for the 9/11 anniversary) she was said she didn’t have her job. She was fired! And upon enquiring more she came to know that she was marked “absent” and also, she was enrolled and worked for 3 years without an appointment letter! This was the sad state then. Many journalists get trapped in this corporate hustle.

Also, women are hardly promoted. There is a notion behind it. There is no “bar room” bonding that happens. Here the male counterparts get the bonus of bar rooming with their higher authorities. Then there is an issue of maternity leaves. English daily reported that before having a baby the women journalists are considered responsible but after pregnancy, she is not reliable since she has to juggle between her maternal and career role. Mrinal Pande says that “women’s productive years are also their reproductive years.”

But barring all odds, women still have proven to be better managers and they can manage their personal and professional life efficiently. But there is always a disparity between men and women and women managers claims that even though people talk about gender equality there is still a male ego that refuses to take women as their superior! (KAUL, 2004)

3. Methodology

The method that is adapted for this research is the in-depth interview method as it is the best suited to collect data from the journalists and editors for this study. This in-depth interview method is a technique of gathering data by asking questions to people who are thought to have the desired information. A formal list of questions called a questionnaire is prepared.

3.1 Interview Method

Interviews have been conducted on professionals of the print media industry. The reason behind this particular method is that it provides detailed information or opinions about the questions in picture. The interviews are conducted on media personalities basically on journalists and editors from the various English newspapers present in Bangalore.

Altogether 30 interviews have been conducted based on seventeen questions to the journalists and seven questions to the editors. The main intention of selecting journalists and editors for the interview is that it provided diverse opinion about the concept of the status of woman journalist in print media in Bengaluru.

The professionals who have been interviewed are ParvathaVardhini, principal research analyst, The Hindu, Ms, Archana Nathan, Reporter/sub editor, The Hindu, Deepa Ganesh, Senior assistant editor, The Hindu, Sangeetha Chengappa, Senior assistant editor, The Hindu, Shilpa Sebastian Romeles, chief sub editor/ principal correspondent, The Hindu, T.M. Veeraraghav, resident editor, The Hindu, Mrs. Mini ChibberAnthikad, deputy editor, The Hindu, B.K., special correspondent, The Hindu, Ishwar Daitota, freelance editor/journalist, Mr. Sujit Chandra Kumar, Features editor, Deccan Chronicle, Mr. G. Ulaganathan, editor, India Express and Deccan Herald, Ramu Patil, Chief reporter, The New Indian Express, Diya Kohli, senior reporter/copy editor, City Express, Ashwini M Sripad, principal correspondent, The New Indian Express, Indumathy Sukanya, sun editor/reporter, The New Indian Express, Meera Bhardwaj, Chief Copy editor/reporter, The New Indian Express, Nivedita Niranjankumar, City reporter, The New Indian express, Anushree Chakraborty, copy editor, The New Indian Express, Elizabeth Thomas, Reporter, Deccan Chronicle, Shiba Meria Kurian, Senior reporter, Deccan Chronicle, Jisha Krishnan, chief sub editor, The Deccan Herald, Shruthi Srinath, sub editor/ reporter, Sunday Herald, Arundhati Pattabhiraman, suneditor/reporter, Sunday Herald, Tini Sara Anien, sub editor/reporter, Deccan Herald, Anushka Sivakumar, sub editor/reporter, Deccan Herald, Deepa Natarajan, senior sub editor/ reporter, Deccan Herald, AnithaPailoor, chief sub editor, Deccan Herald, Prajna G.R, trainee reporter, Deccan Herald, Nina C George, senior reporter, Deccan Herald, and Asha Krishnaswamy, Bureau reporter, Deccan Herald.

3.2 Interview Analysis

On the basis of the interviews, the interview analysis is done by comparing different opinions on the same questions. The interview analysis gives a clear understanding of a commonly accepted opinion about a question and helps in attaining specific conclusions.

3.3 Conclusions of the Interview

Conclusion of the interviews is based on the conclusions of the analysis of each question.

1.4 Sampling Technique

For this particular topic, the researcher will be selecting the purposive sampling technique (non-probability sampling) which the researcher thinks is the most appropriate ones for the given study. The method that this research topic requires is the in-depth interview which is a qualitative method and it is the most effective method in receiving the views and opinions of the journalists and editors. The data that is collected from this method will be called primary data as the information regarding opinions and attitudes are directly received from them. The data collected from books, documents, printed materials, etc. are known as secondary data.

3.5 Sample Size

Respondents form a sample size of 30, is used for this research purpose including twenty-five female journalists and five male editors for the better clarifications on this topic.

3.6 Sample Selection

Since the research topic is related to print media, the respondents will be mostly professional female journalists working on field and two male editors for their opinion on the same.

4. Analysis of the Interview

4.1 Interview Analysis

The analysis done below is based on the interviews which have been conducted in two and the half months. The interviews are conducted on media professionals, basically journalists and editors from the various English newspapers present in Bangalore.

• Objective 1: To analyse the status of women journalists in the workplace on the basis of equal pay at work.

1. Do the journalists get equal wages in terms of designation or performance based? Is there any gender Bias in terms of payment?

Lot of journalists agree upon the fact that they do get equal wages. Many also agree upon the fact that the payment that they get is purely on the contract basis. The wage board or the working journalist act system is not there in many organisations. Journalists like B.K from Hindu says that, though from outside it might seem that the wage is equal, but in actual it is not. There is a huge difference between the men and women in terms of payment which is not openly revealed. Whereas Sangeetha Chengappa from Hindu openly says that there is a preference on the community basis when it comes to payment and salary hike and she also says that there is a difference in payment, but on an individual level everyone is satisfied with their payment. Editors like G. Ulaganathan, Ishwar Daitota, RamuPatil,Sujit Chandra Kumar all have the same opinion that there is no gender bias in the organisation as well as in terms of payment. But Anushka Shivakumar from Deccan Herald has a different opinion. She says that there is a gender bias in terms of wages. Rest all the journalists says that they haven’t come across such issue before. And many journalists agree with the fact that they get the wages in terms of the designation and some say that they get it in performance and some says both. But each one of them has an increment in their salary each year, but these are completely based on their performance. Parvathavardhini from Hindu and Meera Bhardwaj from the New Indian Express says that, for a designation there is a standard amount which is fixed, which they get, but some get the salary based on their experience as well.

• Objective 2: To evaluate the status of women journalists in respect to the various benefits such as compensation, hours of work, etc

2. How many hours do you work in a day? Do you get compensated for overtime work? Normally the journalists are allowed to work for 144 hours in four weeks beyond which they are compensated for overtime work. Is this in practice? Does the professional life affect the personal life for female journalist?

Most of the journalists, except very few work maximum 8 hours. Though there is no time limit for a journalist and as they are supposed to work continuously, they have to follow the story and keep track of it. So, it is very difficult to complete their work sitting at office alone. Some senior journalists like, Meera Bhardwaj from the New Indian Express says that, she works 15-16 hours most of the day. She also works from office as she writes two articles on weekly basis which appears in the newspaper, and also Sangeetha Chengappa, from The Hindu, even she starts her day at 7.30 am in the morning and she works, more than 8 hours a day, which means that she crosses the limit of 144 hours per week. The reporters from the Deccan Herald are quite time bound and they, most of them do not work more than 8 hours a day as they have a weekly deadline to meet. But they at the same time, agrees up on the fact that the journalists from the news desk work more than 10 hours a day as they have to meet up with deadlines each day. But apart from working overtime, they do not get compensated for the extra time they put in their work place. The editors, like T. M. Veeraraghav says that, the 144 hours a week was set up during that time, when the journalists’ salaries were very less. Now most of the organisations have come out of the wage board system and now most of them hire journalists on the contract basis, where they pay the journalists 3 times higher salary than the traditional wage board. Ramu Patil from the New Indian express says that they always encourage journalists to complete their work faster and leave office early. He says that the hours of work depend on the assignment which they take. Whereas, G. Ulaganathan says that if the journalist works overtime, then he or she may get a day’s off from the organisation.

• Objective 3: To analyse whether the female journalists get maternity leave up to 3 months on full wages.

3. Do the female journalists get maternity leave up to 3 months on full wages?

All the 30 journalists have agreed that they do get the three months maternity leave on full wages. Some journalists like Shipla from The Hindu says that she also took the extra pending leaves which she had, which in total came up to 6 months. So, she got in total 6 months of leave on full wages and the organisation also gives full support regarding the same and the organisation is also quite lenient with this system.

• Objective 4: To find out the status of women journalists in various decision-making role.

4. How far are the women journalist involved in the decision-making role in an organisation? How many editors are female?

Asha krishnaswamy, from Deccan herald says that majority of the sections are headed by women but when it comes to taking a final call on news pages, men hold the key positions. Like Asha, many other senior journalists like Meera Bhardwaj, B.K, Tini and many more says that though women are pretty much deciding what happens in the page, but when it comes to the final thing, men are at the top deciding everything. They also says that there are very few women in the top, with such a senior most position and it happens because of many women do not chose to go or they drop out of the profession because of many other commitments. But there are notable women journalists like A T Jayanthi of Deccan Chronicle who was the editor of the newspaper for twenty years says G. Ulaganathan. But, Mini Chibber from The Hindu says that, women make almost all the decisions since their editor is a female. But it depends organisation to organisation. Whereas Sujit Chandra Kumar defends saying that there is enough representation of women in all departments.

• Objective 5: To probe the level of stress faced by women journalists in their workplace.

5. What do you think is the level of stress/work pressure faced by female journalist in an organisation? What is the strength of female journalist for covering hard news like crime beat?

Many journalists like Asha Krishnaswamy, Archana Nathan, Deepa ganesh, Sangeetha Chengappa,AshwiniSripad, Meera Bhardwaj, Shiba KurianAnithaPailoor agrees that they face no stress in job. Whereas B.K says that it’s the individual stress that a journalist takes when in work. But, Ishwar Daitota, says that there is nothing like male or female when it comes to stress. The job level is same, the assignment is different. It is the journalist’s knack of how they deal with it. Many journalists have the same opinion as him. But Ulaganathan says that, it depends on the individual and the husband or the parents as the case may be. No doubt it is tough work and no time limits. Ulaganathan also says that women are very god at covering very sensitive issues as they handle it with expertise. Also, Ramu Patil says that, women used to cover crime beat earlier. They had a crime beat reporter who was a female. Most of the editors says that the reporters are free to choose the beat they want. But Meera defends by saying that many women journalists are forced to do a certain task which they feel will be well covered by men and they do it till their tenure. They are cornered to one side for the rest of their life.

Major Findings

There are many key factors to note in this research topic which are as follows:

• The payment of wages is done on the terms of designation and a fixed salary is decided for each post. And the journalists get paid for the extra stories that they come up with.
• The women in the organisation do get the maternity leave on full wages and apart from they can retrieve their pending leaves and use them in this period.
• The working journalists do not get compensated for the overtime work that they do instead some organisation gives them a day’s off to compensate the overtime work.
• The women journalist works maximum 10 hours a day on an average.
• The women’s hand in the decision-making role is very limited since there are very few women in the top most position, and men make the final decisions when it comes on making pages. The top-level management is mostly dominated by men.
• The stress level for the women journalist is less in the features department since they have to meet up with the weekly deadline. But the stress level for the news reporter is comparatively very high irrespective of a male or female.
• The female journalists when they go out for getting news, they are mostly on their own. The organisation hardly gives the security. Seldom, the journalists are accompanied by photographers. While in the office they most organisations have women grievance cell where they can give complaints. But not often looked after.
• There is a lot of discrimination in terms of payment which is not openly revealed.
• The journalists get their travel allowance and get their phone bill reimbursed upon proper submission of documents.
• The journalists get their EPF (employer’s provident fund) and medical bills get reimbursed.
• The journalists reveal that their experience working in the organisation has been good since the organisation gives them lots of freedom to what the journalists want.
• Almost all the journalists are on the contract basis, so the security of job is a serious issue.
• Conclusion
• In India, from the very start, women had been suppressed and they had been denied rights for many things such as education, work, and so on. They were confined to the four walls of the house. In fact, there are many such cases, for instance, Savitribai Phule, went through hardships, looked down by the society, pelted with stones, just to give education to the young girls. Later, she became one of the pioneers and inspiration in the field of education. There were lot of reforms and movements for the women’s rights, and that’s where the feminism came into existence in the early 19th century. Feminism is nothing but establishes, and achieves equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.
• Since, India is a patriarchal society, and women are still suppressed by men and their ideologies, women want that even they have an equal pay as of men at work and so on. The feminist thoughts and revolution in the west is influencing women to a great extent and this might help the women to get their equal rights in the work front as well.
• Here, the women journalists are determined, career oriented, action packed, committed, and ready to serve the news at par as of men. Not only that, women journalists can very well balance their professional lives and personal lives and look into everything they desire. But there is a lack of women in the senior most level and the decision-making role is very much limited to women and top-level management is very much dominated by men.
• Women journalists can do a better job on field and for the society if they are given freedom of thought, expression, independency, security and respect.

References

1st, W. (2010). THE CASE FOR CHANGE. UK: people 1st.

BHAGAT, P. STATUS OF WOMEN JOURNALISTS IN THE PRINT MEDIA.

Dr. L. M. SWARNALATHA. (2016). Patriarchal Designs in Shashi Deshpande’s ‘The Dark Holds No. IOSR Journal of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) , PP 26-27. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/6880/6/06_chapter%201.pdf. intenet. FEMINISM IN INDIAN CONTEXT.

Katharine Sarikakis, R. R.-S. feminist theory and research.

KAUL, M. (2004). RAW DEAL FOR WOMEN JOURNALIST.

Menon, N. (2012). Seeing like a feminist. Penguin/zubaan.

Nancy R. Lockwood, M. S. (2009). perspectives on women in management in India. Mumbai: SHRM.

PROF. UMA JOSHI, D. A. Images of Women in Print Media.

Rajeshwari Sharma, S. I. (2009). Perspectives on women in management in India. USA: SHRM.

Woolf, V. (1929). A Room of One’s Own. England: Hogarth Press, England.

Role of Films in Enhancing Transgender Normalcy with reference to evolution of trans-characters in cinema.

Abstract

The term ‘transgender’ is used for people whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to us at the time of birth. The transgender community, since time immemorial has faced severe discrimination, inequality and had a stigma attached to them due to lack of information and awareness. . They have been subjected to mockery, violence, discrimination, harassment and mistreatment. The study explores how film plays an important role in helping the transgender community from being socially exclusive to socially inclusive. The first part of the paper will explore heteronormativity and the second part includes evolution of transgender characters in the films over the years by content analysing four different films and concluding how the mindset of people has changed, if any, towards the transgender community.

Keywords: Transgender, Normalcy, Heteronormativity, Transgender in Cinema, Silence of the Lamb, The Danish Girl, Sangharsh, Samantaral, Discrimination.

Introduction

In an iconic scene from the film Tootsie (1982), Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey walks down a crowded New York City street dressed for the first time as his transgender alter ego Dorothy Michaels. The audience has not seen Michael as Dorothy until this very moment; the last shot before the cut to this scene is of Michael sitting in his agent’s office. How does the audience know how to react to this scene? How do we know to laugh rather than to cry, get angry, be afraid, feel sympathetic, or any of a number of other emotions? [JR Miller (2012) Crossdressing Cinema: An analysis of Transgender Representation in films].

Transgender" is an umbrella term that describes people whose gender identity or expression does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, a transgender person may identify as a woman despite having been born with male genitalia. There's no one way to be transgender, and no one way for transgender people to look or feel about themselves," the organization says on its website.

A person's internal sense of being male, female or something else is their gender identity. For cisgender, or non-transgender people, their gender identity matches their sex at birth. For transgender people, the two do not match. [https://www.livescience.com/54949-transgender-definition.html]

According to American Psychological Association the term ‘transgender is an umbrella term commonly used for people whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to us at the time of birth.’ During the British period when criminal Tribes Act 1871 was passed, the Trans people from that point of time was categorized as criminals. They have been subjected to mockery, violence, discrimination, harassment and mistreatment. Since such a stigma is attached to this community, the concept of ‘coming out’ has been forced upon them. With the advent of media, a ray of hope has been found in the end of the tunnel.

Films have always played a major role in influencing our thought processes and shaping our society. The transgender community has been coping with the lack of diversity and serious roles on the silver screen since the dawn of show business. Since time immemorial transgender people are often portrayed as an element of comical relief, psychopaths or serial killers. This was due to lack of understanding of transgender people and their community. However, with movies like ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ (1999) and ‘Transamerica’ (2005), a shift from demonising transgender people to greater attempts to understand them and represent them positively was noticed. This shift from the negative to positive light was brought about in three prominent stages-

• Initially, (1950- mid 1990’s) transgender were portrayed in films as sensational freaks and psycho killers, for example- Glen or Glenda (1953), The Homicidal (1961), Sleepaway camp (1983) Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Next, it was the era when they were portrayed in the positive light and from demonising transgender people it shifted to a greater attempt to understand them and represent them positively for example -Films like Ma Vie en Rose (1997) and Transamerica (2005)
• And finally, the next wave of representation took place and we began to see stories of people who are being supported to live as the gender with which they identify themselves like Boys Don’t cry (1999), The Danish Girl (2015).

By examining transgender representations in film, this research expands our understanding of how marginalized groups are represented across a range of texts and the way a body of text can communicate particular ideas about a marginalized group.

Literature Review

With the reference to existing literature, the study explores:

• Heteronormativity

Heteronormativity is a concept used by sociologists and other social scientists to describe the way that sex and gender are used to hierarchically organize people in our society. More specifically, heteronormativity is the belief that heterosexuality, or a romantic and sexual attraction the opposite sex, is the only normal sexual orientation. Other sexual identifies are considered unnatural and are sometimes even legally prohibited.

Heteronormativity enforces not only strict norms about sexuality but also reinforces strict gender roles within society. For example, the model that women should stay home with children while men work is upheld by a belief that men and women have specific jobs to do in our society.

This is also related to what is known as the gender binary, whereby individuals are categorized into either male or female. Although the terms sex and gender are related, it is important to note the distinction between the two. Sex refers to the biological and hormonal differences between men and women, whereas gender refers to the social relationships and standards that define how men and women should act. [https://study.com/academy/lesson/heteronormativity-definition-concept.html]

Transgender and other

In "Gender Trouble" Judith Butler undermines the distinction between sex as a natural given category and gender as an acquired cultural- social category. Butler argues that sex also is a socially constructed category which stems out of social and cultural practices and in the context of a discourse that has a history and its own social and political dynamics.

In "Gender Trouble" Judith Butler develops her famous performative theory of gender (and the analysis of drag queens in this respect) which tries to account the manner in which a subject identity is formed while establishing Butler's claim that gender identity is not a manifestation of intrinsic essence but rather the product of actions and behaviours, that is, performance. In other words, Judith Butler argues that everyday actions, speech utterances, gestures and representations, dress codes and behaviours as well as certain prohibitions and taboos all work to produce what is perceived as an essential masculine of feminine identity. Butler aims at deconstructing this notion of integrated, stable identity as the extension of an inner essence, and the illusion of the sexual body, which are in Butler's view repressive and dangerous, but also underminable.

Judith Butler relies in "Gender Trouble" on Michel Foucault's theory presented in "Discipline and Punish", which challenges the relations of body and soul. Foucault argued that oppression imposed on prisoners is not internalized but is rather imprinted or marked on their bodies. Methods of discipline and punishment act on the body and form the image of the recalcitrant inner soul. This image regulates and justifies the actions of power upon the body. Foucault's argument, adopted by Judith Butler, is that the soul is the prison of the body, and not the other way around as was widely held in western culture. In this Foucault means to argue that discourse formations that deal with the human soul and define it essentially operate through the body and on the body, shaping it and marking it with the traces of the alleged "soul" which hides somewhere deep inside. In "Gender Trouble" Judith Butler genders Foucault's notions and holds that gender is in fact the predominant cultural agent which operates on the body, thus constituting the concepts of masculinity/femininity and the identities of heterosexuality/homosexuality. Judith Butler's agenda in "Gender Trouble" is to deconstruct the essential nature of gender identity and to expose it as the fabrication that it is.[Judith Butler(1990) Gender Troubles]

Concept of ‘Coming Out’

The term ‘coming out’ refers to the process by which one accepts one’s own sexuality, gender identity or status. This can be a continual, life-long process for homosexual, bisexual, transgender.

Savin-Williams and Ream (2007) highlighted various benefits and reasons for coming out including the desire to share one’s life with others, ending concealment, gaining freedom and maintaining honesty and genuineness. [Savin-Williams and Ream (2007)]

Cinema’s Role in influencing the perception of the audience

It is impossible to deny the role of cinema in society. Ever since its conception, moving pictures have proven to be far more than just a simple tool for entertainment. Throughout history, individuals have manipulated this technology, not only to tell stories but also as a unique channel to broadcast opinions — opinions that have gone on to change the perspective of entire generations and achieve real change. The most common method of doing this comes in the form of documentaries, movies that usually focus on a specific, real life topic with the hopes of initiating change or bringing awareness to an issue otherwise not there. Cinema extends its influential reach to more than just cultural phenomena. [Joshua Reid (2014), Cinema and movies play formative role in society]

Research Methodology

In this qualitative research study, I am analysing the content of four films to understand how films enhance transgender normalcy. The variables I am analysing are:

• Narrative Conventions
• Visual Codes
• Audience Perception

• The objective of this study is to understand how the evolution of transgender characters has occurred on celluloid over the years from being mere comic relief or demonizing them to showing them in the positive light as the protagonist by content analysing four mainstream cinemas.

• The objective of this study is to examine how films play a significant role in permeating transgender normalcy into mainstream cinema as opposed to heteronormative roles through audience perception.

The study will be based upon two case studies -->

Case1) Representation of trans characters in two Hollywood films. The films I have taken into account are The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and The Danish Girl (2015)

Case2) Representation of trans characters in two Regional films. The films I have taken into account are Sangharsh(1999) and Samantaral(2017).

Findings

Case1-Films Taken- The Silence of the Lamb and The Danish Girl

In Case 1 the first movie I have critically analysed is the iconic 1991 movie, The Silence of The Lambs, where the trans character, Buffalo Bill has been portrayed as sensational freak.

Hollywood is often found guilty for promoting transphobia and cissexism. The negative attitudes and discrimination directed toward people whose gender identity, or perceived expression, is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. In Jonathan

Demme’s Silence of the Lambs, JameGumb, also known as Buffalo Bill has been demonized as a psychotic transgender person in contrast to normative expressions of gender who are idealized as innocent. The result is a transphobic dichotomy with cisgender and transgender positioned as moral opposites. Transgender women are often represented as psychotic killers as a way of reflecting to mainstream society’s fear of gender nonconforming people. This portrayal in film reinforces the idea that being transgender is unnatural and perverted, and in a sin to the mankind. This results in embedding transphobia in the minds of a wide range of audience. Silence of the Lambs also portrays transgender women as imposters. After analyzing the Buffalo Bill case files, Hannibal Lecter claims, “Billy hates his own identity, you see, and he thinks that makes him a transsexual, but his pathology is a thousand times more savage and more terrifying.” This quote enforces the idea that other people can determine a person’s gender identity. There is also a taboo revolving around the genitals of transgender people, because of the idea that one’s sexual organs determine gender. One of the most memorable scenes in Silence of the Lambs is the one where Gumb dresses up in a flowing cloth, tucks her genitalia between her legs, and poses in front of a mirror, all while wearing the hair and scalp of one of her victims. This scene is often considered as the film’s most disturbing moment. In the mind of the audience Buffalo Bill is supposed to be scary not only because she murders and skins her victims, but because she is having the body of a man underneath women’s clothing. Such demonization of trans character have risen to transphobia as a result of which trans people thought that they should hide their non-normative gender expressions at the expense of their emotional well-being.

Silence of the Lambs idealizes normative gender expression. Conformity to gender roles is seen as innocent, an antithesis to gender variance. Martin is illustrated as the innocent victim, conforming to the gendered damsel in distress trope, in contrast to Gumb, who is the gender-bending killer. [ Savannah Staubs(2014)]

In contrary to The Silence of the Lambs, the next movie I have analysed is The Danish Girl which tells the story of the well-renowned Danish painter, Lili Elbe, who was among the first individuals in the West to undergo gender confirmation surgery. The films rightfully showcased the inner struggle in a transgender person between the genders they are born into versus the one where they feel they truly belong. This is one of the few movies where the trans character is portrayed in the positive and raw light instead of diminishing the character into psycho killers or mere comic relief. This is a welcome change in the showbusiness. Such films leave a positive mark in the mind of the audience about the trans community when they witness the struggles a trans person has to go through on an everyday basis. This enables the society to be more inclusive about the trans-community and not ridicule them as something sinister and unnatural.

Case 2

Films Taken- Sangharsh and Samantaral

In Case 2 the first movie I have taken into account in famous Bollywood movie ‘Sangharsh’ where the trans woman, Lajja Shankar Pankey played by Ashutosh Rana, was portrayed as a Devil worshipper who abducted children, sacrificed and cannibalised them. The trans woman is demonised as a horrifying serial killer. Such depiction of trans characters led to fear and disgust in the mind of the audience. People started associating real life trans people with those they have seen in the movie. Just like Hollywood, even in Indian regional films transgender women are often represented as psychotic killers as a way of reflecting to mainstream society’s fear of gender nonconforming people and heteronormativity is shown in the positive light where the films protagonist, Reet Oberoi, played by PreityZinta was shown as the righteous, innocent CBI Officer. Such portrayal has led to transphobia and inclusivity of trans people have become a taboo.

In contrary to the first people, the second film, Samantaral, explores the topic of transgenderism in a very different way. This movie revolves around the life of a mid-age man, Sujan, who identifies himself as transgender. Because of the taboo and shame revolve around this issue, his family kept him in house arrest always trying to hide his identity from the outside world. The audience empathises with the character of Sujan, his struggles, his loneliness, his suffocations on a very personal level. In the climax, the protagonist commits suicide and donates his eyes to his abusive younger brother, which is like a slap on the face of the society. The films trade all the nuances of a trans character life in a very raw and beautiful manner and delivers the message that a transgender is not someone who is born against the rule of nature, but a mere human being of flesh and blood. The fear and sin which revolves around a trans person is completely baseless and is just a construct of the society.

Conclusion

Film has a uniquely powerful ubiquity within human culture. Glamour on silver screen has more impact on the masses than real life issues. Initially the transgender representations work generally to position the transgender identities of the characters as separate from heteronormative society which lead to a distancing of the characters from the member of the audience. The characters were also visually constructed to show a difference between their transgender identities and heteronormative society. Earlier the portrayal of trans character was done because of the following objective-

• The trans character were written in such a way to create a distance between them and the heteronormative audience. The distancing of the transgender characters from the audience is done by using specific narrative conventions and visual codes to deny the audience an emotional investment or identification with the characters. The characters were often presented as objects of ridicule by privileging their heteronormative counterparts and as objects of fear by constructing them as threats to violently attack heteronormative society. However, in the recent times we see a change in the portrayal of transgender as element of empathy and sympathy rather than fear and hatred is included in the narrative. This change in narrative helped showing the transgender in a very different light to the audience which in turn has given escalation to trans normalcy in our society.
• Filmic representations of transgender individuals are constructed with a primarily heteronormative audience in mind. This is the main reason the heteronormative identities of the characters are privileged throughout the films. Film, in general, seeks to reflect the interests and concerns of the audience so if the audience is viewed as primarily heteronormative, transgender representations are constructed to appeal to this dominant audience. [ [JR Miller (2012) Crossdressing Cinema: An analysis of Transgender Representation in films]. However, as the mindset of the people started changing, they are becoming more acceptable to the trans-community which is return is influencing the choice of narrative of the films revolving around the trans character. The trans community is no longer shown in the negative light only as psycho killer and sensational freaks but their real-life stories are also being told in the form of auto-biographies.

Times are changing and so are the narratives of cinema. Cinema has been the biggest source of entertainment for people in the entire length and breadth of the country. All sections of society-rich or poor, young or old, literate or illiterate-are crazy about watching movies. Cinema cultivates certain ideologies in the mind of the viewers. When the trans characters were portrayed as devils in disguise, our society was skeptical about the inclusivity of trans people because of the influence that films were having on them. However, as the portrayal of the community was changed from devil to human of flesh and blood, the entire taboo about the community began to fade away. Now we have included transgender in every sphere of life, for example- India’s first transgender judge, Joyita Mandal, transgender police officer,PrithikaYashini, college principal, Madhabi Bandyopadhyay to name a few. Even though times are changing we still have to go a long way before trans normalcy becomes a way of life.

References:

American Psychological Association, retrieved from [http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx] on 5th September, 2019

Butler,J.(1990): Gender Trouble. Routledge: United States.

Livescience, retrived from [https://www.livescience.com/54949-transgender-definition.html] on5th September, 2019

Miller, JR.(2012): Crossdressing Cinema: An Analysis of Transgender Representations in Films.

Savin-Williams, RC. & Ream, GL. (2007). Prevalence and stability of sexual orientation components during adolescence and young adulthood.Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 36(3), 385-94.

Study.com, retrieved from [https://study.com/academy/lesson/heteronormativity-definition-concept.html] on 5th September, 2019

TheSocyCinema/blog, retrieved from [https://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/blog/the-not-so-hidden-transphobia-in-silence-of-the-lambs] on 5th September, 2019

The Reflector, retrieved from [http://www.reflector-online.com/opinion/article_f2561142-5587-11e4-9627-001a4bcf6878.html] on 5th September, 2019

Charitha Prabasarani Marcus
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Sri Lanka
Dec - 2020

Introduction

This chapter starts with the background of the study and researcher provide an introduction about the emerging trends of Social media networking and how modern peers are maintaining relationships with the use of Social Media Communication. Then the researcher explains the research problem, research objectives, research questions, significance of study, and methodology of the study.

Background of the Study

The era we are living in has reached the higher level of technology, where people are more ‘aware’ and ‘connected’ than before. ‘Mobility’ plays an essential role in contemporary world where people are not firmed in one place but keep moving with their work. The modern technology has made this easier and more convenient. The arrival of new media and online media made our daily communication quicker and easier with plentiful mobile communication devices. This also gave rise to Social Media Networking which has become an integral part of people’s daily life.

Social Media Networking is a form of communication, which use many channels available on the Internet to communicate a message to a targeted audience in an online environment. Social Media Networking involves exchanging, capturing, storing and presenting information in written, audio or video formats. Largest Social Networking sites includes Face Book, Twitter, Face Book Messenger, You Tube, We Chat, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Skype, Viber etc.… and any feature that allows interaction of individuals that has ability to engage in conversations with each other. Social Media Networking allow people to share content quickly, efficiently and in real-time and it has transformed the way we communicate in day to day life.

Today, Social Media have become an important way of communicating and maintaining relationships. It has become an essential tool for social networking. When observing the contemporary society, it is normal to see people are more engaged with Social Media Networking during the day and night. The reason for this is easy accessibility of Social media in the mobile devices which people use in their daily life.

Interestingly, Social Media has created a ‘networked society’ especially among the young peer groups. They are always connected and engaged through various Social Media Networking sites. During their daily work most of the people do not hesitate to use Social media for numerous reasons. So, in one-point Social Media Networking has made relationships closer since it is real time communication. However, Social Media Networking can impact the peer communication positively as well as negatively.

Even though Social Media Networking has numerous benefits there is a concern whether it really make closeness or a distance in verbal communication. Because often we observe in the society people are isolated with their mobile devices and Social Media evading face to face verbal communication. One important aspect is due to obsession of Social Media people can be a victim of Social 1Ostracism. People can be unaccompanied even after being with peers.

This study will be aiming to find out what are the positive and negative impacts of Social Media Networking on peer communication. The objective is to find out does really social media networking make peer relationships stronger or does it make any distance in face to face communication? The study is significant because it will try to find out the habits and behavior young peers on Social Media platforms and how they use it for building and maintaining relationships. It will also observe the different patterns of peer communication used by individuals on Social Media. Most importantly the study will focus on the impact of Social Media Networking on Early Adulthood Peer Communication in the country. This study is valuable for both academic and practitioners of Sri Lanka to understand the impact of Social Media Networking on Early Adulthood Peer Communication and the research will fill the research gap in the topic in Sri Lankan context to a certain extent.

Literature review

Social Networking and Young Peers

Over past decade, the importance of technology has become very significant in the lives of young people. Undoubtedly, Social Media Networking plays a vital role in modern peer relationships. Generally, young peers have integrated Social Media into their lives and from building a friendship to maintaining it, Social Media tools have become an essential force. Therefore, Social Media Networking have today is an imperative platform for young people to maintain and reinforce their peer relationships.

Interestingly, modern online communication tools are developing rapidly by advancing newer features always. Smartphones are very important devices providing networking facilities to peers since majority of young people are connected online through their smart phones. Today, young peers are lot more connected than before. Majority of them are heavy users of Social Media Networking sites. Fascinatingly, Social Media Networking sites keeps youth in their peer circle.

Students are the future of nation. They are the ones who have been born into a generation that can be called the “internet generation”. Their every need is fulfilled by the internet. Be it that of making relationships to shopping to finding information on the internet. Zarryl Lobo, (2008)

A study done by Mahat, S Mundhe on Impact of Social Networking Sites on the Youth, Sinhgad Institute of Management and Computer Application, India (2014) discovered that social media had enabled the youth to gain awareness about the society and current issues and it has provided a platform of discussion on societal issues such as education, human right violation, effects of global warming, crime against women, corruption political controversies etc. The researches have suggested that youth should be protected against the unhealthy contents circulating on Social Media and its effects in modern society.

Social Media Networking allows young peers to maintain and stay in touch with their existing friends. Sometimes they might have long distance relationships and unable to meet often but still maintain friendship through Social Media Networking. Sometimes online communication also helps to find long lost friends especially through social media. This is a very positive aspect. In other hand, Social Media plays a critical role in connecting with new friends, allowing young peers to learn about new friends and also get to know them better. While maintaining existing friendships over Social Media tools young peers also interact with strangers online in order to build new friendships. This can be positive as well as negative. It is important to find how actually these Social Media Networking activities affects young people’s lives and how they develop, maintain peer relationships with their existing friends as well as with strangers.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of teens who have made a new friend online say they have met new friends on a social media platform. Two-thirds (62%) of teens say they’ve shared their social media username with a brand-new friend as a way to stay in touch. Beyond making new friends, social media is major way that teens interact with their existing friends. More than nine-in-ten teens (94%) say they spend time with friends on social media. (Lenhart, 2018).

The study, the influence of the social media on the Nigerian youths revealed that Nigerian youth spent more time on social media network than other sites. The report said that female youths' pregnancies occurred due to exposure to social media pornography. According scholars in order to safeguard the modern youth, unhealthy social media contents like crime, sex and other harmful tendencies should be monitored. Adaugo et. al (2015)

According to a 2001 survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 48 percent of online teens believe that the Internet has improved their relationships with friends; the more frequently they use the Internet, the more strongly they voice this belief. Interestingly, 61 percent feel that time online does not take away from time spent with friends. (Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2008).

“Social Networking is just a tool after all but is mightier than the sword.” This is not just a statement but is the reality of the power of influence of social networking on the perception of mass audience. Social Networking has positive influence else well as can have adverse effect on an individual’s psychology depending upon the perception of that individual. Social Networking can be used in every possible way depending upon the needs, wants and desire for the outcome. Bharadwaj (2014)

Research problem

Social Media Networking is the latest and most impactful invention of modern media technology. Not only the communicative aspect of the contemporary society, Social Media Networking has also changed the way people build and maintain relationships. Today Social Media Networking is a must to keep in touch with one’s friend and family circle. At the same time the Early Adulthood is the stage of a human where he/she enters to the mass society, takes responsibilities and develops themselves physically and mentally. In this age the relationships they build are really important to shape their lives. Not like earlier in modern society Social Media Networking is one of key paths to build and maintain relationships. Social Media Networking gives many positive reasons to deal with them, also bounces many negative causes of using them. The main concern is because of the availability and easy access of Social Media Networking young people tend to have less face to face verbal communication. The addiction to Social Media Networking also cause many psychological issues in young people. Addiction to Social Media Networking can isolate a person without any social integration. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to find out positive and negative impacts of Social Media Networking on Early Adulthood Peer Communication. The concern committed with this, does really social networking make peer communication stronger or does it make any distance or downfalls in peer communication. There are also apprehensions that how Social Media Networking affect other aspects such as consumer socialization, social movements, and peer victimization in Early Adulthood which are ultimately contribute for a better peer communication. Because of above mentioned issues it is valuable to research about impact of Social Media Networking on Early Adulthood Peer Communication. This study will be aiming to find out what are the positive and negative impacts of Social Media Networking on Early Adulthood Peer Communication.

Research objectives

Key Objective

1. To observe the actual impact of Social Media Networking on Early Adulthood peer Communication in Colombo.

Specific Objectives

1. To study the Social Media Networking behavior of early adulthood peers in Colombo.
2. To study the influence of social media networking on early adulthood peers to build/maintain relationships.
3. To study the impact of Social Media Networking on Peer Victimization.
4. To study the relatedness of Social Media Networking on Consumer Socialization among peers.
5. To study the connection between Social Media Peer Communication and formation of Social Movements.

Research Questions

1. First Question How Young Peers in Colombo behave in Social Media Platforms?
2. Second Question Does Social Media Networking influence young peers to build/maintain Relationships?
3. Third Question Do young people affect by Social Media Peer Victimization?
4. Fourth Question Does Social Media Networking contribute to Consumer Socialization among young peers?
5. Fifth Question Does Social Media Peer Communication contribute to the formation of Social Movements?

Significance of the study

It is obvious that wrong use of social media networking can affect people’s lives psychologically as well as socially. The risk is higher in the stage of early adult hood since in this period of time young people are more exposed to social networking to deal with their peers. Also, peer relationships have a major impact on person’s overall development. While enjoying the benefits of modern social media, the issues related with social media peer networking can be unwelcomed troubles. Therefore, proper consideration of this practice will lead social media users/professionals of media/academicians to find effective way to use social media networking to make strong and healthy peer communication.

This study is valuable for both academic and practitioners of Sri Lanka to understand the impact of social media networking on early adulthood peer communication and the research will fill the research gap in the topic in Sri Lankan context to a certain extent.

Methodology

Researcher conduct this research using bellow mentioned research strategies

Research approach – Quantitative method is use for this study to measure the impact of Social Media Networking on Early Adulthood Peer Communication.

Data Collection - Data will collect through the questionnaires. In questionnaire, first section design by asking demographic questions and the next sections are designed to measure impact of social media on respondent’s peer communication. The secondary data for this study mainly from previous research and other secondary sources as books, journals, newspapers, related conferences & seminars and internet.

Sample techniques – Research sample base on selected respondents between ages 18-35 who live Colombo Sri Lanka. Convention sampling method was used. Total sample include 120 respondents.

Data analysis method - Descriptive statistics

Limitations of the study

The accuracy of data cannot be guaranteed fully, since some respondents will not give their true opinion or not in the correct state of mind when answering the questionnaire. Undergoing the research certain limitations have to be faced as well.

Data Analysis

Researcher only used quantitative methods to measure the topic. But it is better to use both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Sample size

The sample size is only 120 people which is not enough to identify the clear impact of the Social Media Networking on Early Adulthood Peer Communication in the country.

Geographic location

Sample has taken from the certain areas of Colombo city, Sri Lanka which is also not enough to identify the actual impact.

Time frame

The study is limited to the time frame of three months where the research should be limited according to it.

Subjective area

Since there are hundreds of Social Media Networking sites available the researcher only focused on few most popular social networking sites.

Conclusion

Research questions was analyzed by using some questions and according to the descriptive statistics the researcher has come up with following conclusions.

1 How Young Peers in Colombo city behave in Social Media Platform?

Undoubtedly each and every respondent are using Social Media. Colombo as the commercial capital of Sri Lanka there is no surprise that the latest technologies and trends are spreading rapidly among citizens. Therefore, most of young peers of Colombo seems to be more active and aware about Social Media. Here, we can come to a conclusion that social media is widely used by many young people in Colombo. But, a decade ago social media popularity was retrograde. Yet, it is not fair to compare these results with whole country since the spread of Technology and New Media\Social Media is not equal in every corner of the Sri Lanka. Because of less Information Technology knowledge, lack of infrastructure, and less access to Internet in rural areas can change these results in a dramatic way. But however, due to the popularity of smart phones there is an uprising popularity of social media in urban, semi-urban and rural areas of Sri Lanka. However, study indicates that in present Social Media has become an integral part of young peers of Colombo.

Smart phones are the most used device by young peers to connect to Social Media. Less price and availability of smart phones made it more obtainable on young peer’s hands. It is handy and can use anywhere anytime. Therefore, other than Computer or Laptops young peers of Colombo use Smart Phones for Social Media Networking. This indicates that there is an absolute connection between use of Smart Phones and Social Media Networking.

The Foremost purpose of using Social Media by young peers are, to stay in touch with friends or Lovers and also Entertainment Purposes. Especially Social Media is the best way used by young peers to communicate and maintain distance relationships. Therefore, undoubtedly Social Media is a strong fact of building, maintaining young peer relationships. Also, it is an ideal medium for lessening life stress and providing entertainment to them.

Interestingly the data is concluding that one of the top reasons to use Social Media by young peers are for business and marketing purposes. This is an emerging trend. The findings show the importance of enhancing Social Media Marketing in the country. Though Internet marketing is still young in Sri Lanka it is a significant fact that young people are progressing Social Media Marketing and Business opportunities in the country. They have their own opportunities to start or join in a new business through Social Media. Still, this has a way to go throughout the country.

Social Media has become a friend or a partner to many young people to fill up their spare time. They often use Social Media to get refresh during busy schedules. That means they are mostly aware of what is happening in their friend’s life. This is a good circumstance to maintain peer relationships since they are updated about their friends.

Social media has become one of the fastest and popular medium among young peers to know news and happenings around the world. They mostly like to use social media to stay in up to date on current news and affairs. It is significant since there are more viable media such as newspaper, radio or television to get updates on currents happenings. Also, there are many doubts on online news circulations such as fake and manipulated news. Still, young adults prefer to use social media for current news and affairs because of instant updates.

Young adults of Colombo also use Social Media mostly to make new friends. But female respondents didn’t have much interest on this like male respondents due to safety issues on Social Media. Sharing photos and videos is one of the favorite and definite activity by many social media users. Getting feedbacks form friends in the form of likes and comments has made young peers to share photos and videos often in Social Media. Many young people use social media to give a voice to their hidden opinions. Therefore, social media has become a good platform to share opinions especially for those who has no place for their voice.

Many individuals, mainly female prefer to share their own life updates with social media friends. Some young people think it is essential to update each and every update of life in Social Media. Therefore, behind most of real-life activities of young peers, updating it on Social Media has become a pioneer intention.

Social media has both banes and boons. Using social media for pornographic materials is not a secret anymore. Many young people, especially men seek pornographic contents through social media.

Faking people through social media fake identity has become threat to a healthy use of social media. Still many young people tend to have fake social media profiles other than their original profiles for several reasons. Therefore, there is an obvious possibility of faking people through social media every now and then.

Also, recently social media has become a powerful medium to gather people for various social movements, charity and discussions. However, Educational purposes comes last of using Social Media by young peers. Therefore, researcher concludes that Young peers of Colombo have not identified the educational value of Social Media much. Moreover, it stands as an obstacle to studies by distracting young peers.

However, having a Social Media account has become an integral part of modern life. Young peers feel that use of Social Media is a necessity to keep in touch with their social circle.

Significantly for most of young peers there is no specific time to use social media. They use it often, time to time, during the day, whenever they get a chance to scroll the mobile phone screen. Especially, youngest people are much habituated to spend time on social media during the day. They are heavy users of Social Media. But when the age group get mature, they seem to get less time to spend on Social Media due to their busy schedules and responsibilities. Still, Young peers of every age group use Social Media widely.

When considering other media habits of young peers Television is the most preferred mass media among them where they spend more time after Social Media. But young peers do not like much to listen to radio like they spent time on Social Media or Television. The popularity of online music apps, download ability of songs, mobile music and vlogs have impacted the popularity of radio. Most of the young adults have less interest in reading printed newspapers. Availability of DVD, online streaming and downloading movies and also downfall of local cinema has made a distance with young peers and cinema theatre. But they often use internet to watch movies as they are big fans of Hollywood, Bollywood and Kollywood and Korean Cinema. But unfortunately, modern young adults have ignored valuable art forms such as folk arts and traditional theatre utterly.

Facebook, Facebook Messenger and You Tube are the mostly used and preferred Social Media Networking sites among Young People. Still, social networking sites like Tumblr, Reddit and My space are not popular in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They mostly spend much time on chatting and calling on social media apps such as whats up, imo, viber, messenger and Skype. There are people who even use more than 4 hours on face book and you tube. This can be an addiction.

2 Does Social Media Networking Influence Young People to build and maintain relationships?

According to the study the modern young peers feel peer relationships are highly important for their life. That indicates in young adults’ lives peer relationships have very significant importance. As they feel Peer Relationships are extremely important to their lives, they are often a part of active peer groups. There is not anyone who doesn’t participated in a Peer Group. Female mostly prefer to have one specific peer group while male are members of several Peer Groups. Overall Peer Relationships are a certain aspect of young peer’s lives and they are definitely a member of one or more Peer Groups. It means that Peer Relationships are an important force of modern Socialization.

Face Book is the most convenient method to maintain Peer Relationships. But, in many other countries young peers have turned towards other various social media platforms to maintain peer relationships since face book has become quite old method or very common platform. But in Sri Lanka still young peers are highly attached towards face book and other social media stands secondary. There are some social media which are popular in other countries but still not well spread around Sri Lanka. Such as Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, Google+,Reddit, Tumblr, My Space…

However according to the study top 5 Most Convenient Social Media Used by young adults in Colombo to maintain their Peer Relationships are;

Face Book

Whatsapp

Facebook Messenger

Viber

Snap Chat

Most clearly young adults of Colombo are more affected towards social media which provide chatting and conversations other than any other social media which provide other facilities. For example, you tube is for vlogging and Twitter is for micro blogging not to chat or interact with friends. That indicated the sole purpose of using social media by young adults in Colombo Sri Lanka is to maintain, build relationships and interact with their peers.

The above conclusion is ensured by the activities mostly involved by young peers in Social Media. They use it mostly for Voice Calling a friend, Video calling to a friend, liking or commenting, chatting with them. They hardly use social media for activities such as Blogging or Micro Blogging. Therefore, it can say that social media activities of young adults are aimed towards having healthy and strong relationships with their Peers. Yet, they have not identified well the other use of social media.

Fortunately, these young peer relationships are not limited to cyber space. Most young adults are meeting their friends outside often. Therefore, still Colombo Sri Lanka has not reached a level that people only maintain virtual relationships. This is a good sign since meeting your friends and interacting in person is highly important for healthy socialization. Male peers are meeting their friends more frequently than female respondents. Cultural barriers to girls on hanging out, house responsibilities and work were having limited female hanging out with friends. Though the society is rapidly changing still some traditional barriers for girls are still valid. This has made female peers to have more social media relationships than meeting in person. However, this was not highly conservative situation but a quite notable state.

According to the study Social Media is extremely important for maintain young peer relationships and they often plan Peer Gatherings through Social Media. But, use of social media has become a barrier to verbal communication when peers are gathered. Significantly, when peers are gathering most of them are busy with their Mobile Social Media which ultimately become an interrupt to face to face verbal communication.

Therefore, as social media are bringing peers together it also distracts the face to face communication. This is a negative impact of Social Media Networking on Peer Communication.

Coffee shops and Restaurants culture, hangouts are popular among young Peers. This is an indirect benefit for the business industry. Many of them have favorite and usual spots of hanging out. Also, other than current issues or news young peers are often discuss about latest Social Media Trends. That means Social Media has an ability to form Social Discussions. But these trends only survive for few weeks. Young peers often gather to sit and talk or to go on trips. Again, cultural barriers have limited female peers to involve in these activities. But however, significantly today young peers do not involve in psychical activities such as sports much which is very essential to build team work and harmony among peers.

However, to build and maintain peer relationship Social Media plays an important role. Sometimes it become an enthusiast to maintain peer relationships and sometimes it also becomes an obstacle to peer relationships by distracting verbal face to face communication.

3 Do young people affect by Social Media Peer Victimization?

Adding unknown people to social media accounts has increased than before. This shows the urge to build new relationships and get to know people. This is a healthy aspect for modern socialization since social media is an ideal place to find new people and build relationships. But this task is risk attached. Adding unknown people has often led to the social media peer victimization. However, whoever use the social media have experienced some kind of bad experience. Mostly, using someone’s comments/messages/photos for negative purposes, flaming/harassment/threats/Hate speeches/Over aggressive Language, social media trolling, use of photos or videos unknowingly for negative purposes, Stereo typing are negative experience devoted with social media. Women are mostly facing Misogyny and body shaming in social media. Gay bullying, personal information disclosure, social media account hacking, social media stalking is also among bad experiences attached with social media.

Generally, most female face negative peer activities on social media than men. Even a considerable amount of male also has victimized by negative peer activities on social media. Therefore, being mistreated on social media is an obvious practice experienced by anyone who is using social media. This can be something serious or something not at all very serious.

Other than unknown people, young peers often face social media peer victimization by ex-lovers. That means social media is using as a weapon of revenge. Surprisingly an extensive number of young also experience social media peer victimization done by their peers. Most of the time peers have done these for entertainment purposes but sometimes upon jealousy and other hatred reasons.

Facing social media peer victimization have affected young peers to suffer from negative mental situations such as stress which delayed their daily works, got scared and frustrated, been angry and irritated, depression, anxiety and other psychological difficulties. Even some of them have got suicidal thoughts. This is an alarming situation on negative impact of social media. Mostly, female face these harassments. Facebook is the pioneer place that peers face social media peer victimization.

As a conclusion Social media has become a platform where people often peer victimization and this has become a threat to their daily works and an extra mental health which can lead to a suicidal thought even. This ultimately can halt the healthy peer communication.

4 Does Social Media Networking contribute to Consumer Socialization among young peers?

In modern society everyone aware of Social Media Marketing and E - commerce. Especially young adults are mostly exposed to this since they are heavy users of internet, new media and social media. Interestingly online shopping has not reached a level compared to other Asian countries. It has a longer way to go. It has not earned a larger believability or usability among young adults in Colombo due to frauds.

However, before buying something online or offline (go and buy) young people often obtain product information through various way. This product research is done mostly with the interaction with internet or peers. Interestingly no one is satisfied with given information. They seek more information through friends, users, social media pages, review and other internet-based activities. Family or adults do not play a major role on influencing social media buying. But Social Media Peer communication actively play a role in buying products and services since they often participate social media promotional activities with their peers. As a Conclusion Social Media Peer communication has a great influence on Consumer Socialization among the young adults.

5 Do Social Media Peer Communication contribute to formation of Social Movements?

There is no assurance of Young Peers that Social Media Movement can make any impact in reality. This is an important finding that in many countries social media movements made huge impact by gathering people. But in Sri Lanka social media users still have not reach that level of maturity on Social Media Movements. They have not understood well or have not used social media correctly to form an important social movement. Though social issues are discussed in social media platform widely there is no further step taken to form it as a social movement. Moreover, these discussions have become a trend for one or two weeks which fade gradually.

Other than posting something supportive to a social issue as a hobby or an entertainment young peers do not psychically involve in social movements in an offline environment. They are more “trend followers” than acting wisely to participate on a social movement which can bring a real social change. However, during the flood disaster 2017 the “Pray for Sri Lanka” social media campaigns have acted a major role of facilitating needy people. Along with other mass media, Social Media has done a great job-sharing quick updates on help needed places. Most of young social media users have actively participated in this national disaster campaign by sharing government announcements, collecting donation, weather alerts, road assistance and other related information. One of the special things noticed during this situation was there were a distinct service launched by especially young peer social media groups to “rescue animals”.

Also, in cases like collecting fund for PET SCAN MACHINE for cancer hospital, 2015 Presidential election social media has played an evolutional role by bringing a real social change. But some important current issues such as “Vilpattu” national forest deforestation, Killing elephants for “IVORY”, Breast Cancer awareness, or Adopt a Dog have not get much social media support as they required to form a real social movement. These are the real issues that should be addressed and discussed publicly to raise public voice against it or supporting it. But, unfortunately these campaigns have not get the massive support they required in Social Media by young peers to form an impactful Social Movements.

But, negative campaigns such as “Sinhale” and “Community violence in 2018 March” have received some unnecessary Social Media support by young peers. The results were that the government decided to block social media in Sri Lanka for a one week during “Kandy Riots 2018 March”.

In a conclusion, young adults of Sri Lanka still have not identified the real power of social media to form an impactful social movement which can bring evolutional solutions for most of contemporary social, economic, religious, cultural, or political issues. Moreover, they use social media as a leisure activity. They have formed mild social movements especially for negative reasons such as community violence but not for real social problems. Overall conclusion is, there is no significant relationship between forming impactful social movements through social media peer activities in a massive way.

6 The actual impact of social media networking on early adulthood peer communication in Colombo.

The actual impact of social media communication on early adult hood peer communication is significant in the forms of building, maintaining relationships. It is the prime way of building new relationships and maintaining existing relationships. It also has some positive impact on consumer socialization. In opposite social media networking also leads to negative impacts such as breaking peer relationships, peer victimizations. There is no significant impact of social media peer networking on forming social movements. Social media networking has a significant impact on peer communication from the way they build relationships to how they socialize. Therefore, in conclusion social media networking has a distinguished impact on peer communication in both positive and negative way.

Recommendations

1. This the study is based on Colombo Sri Lanka, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The findings cannot apply for the whole country since there is significant social media communication imbalance between urban, semi-urban and rural areas of the country. Lack of infrastructures, lack of technological knowledge has made rural areas little backward. The behavior, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs can be different in rural young adults than urban young adults. However, researcher do not expect very significant difference from rural areas since nowadays due to the popularity of smart phones social media is not something new to people. Still, a complete study is required to test the impact of social media networking on early adulthood peer communication in rural areas.
2. There is a rising tendency of using social media for business which has not reach the peak level but it has reached a considerable level. This is a good opportunity for young people to start a new business with the help of their social media peer communication. The study recommends young adults to think about new and innovative entrepreneur opportunities through social media.
3. Using social media for educational purposes is a much-needed change in Srilankan social setting. Still urban based young users of the country have not identified the use of social media as a better educational tool.
4. Social Media setting requires a separate set of rules, guidelines and ethics to avoid malpractices such as circulation of adult content, pornography materials, fake news and other unsuitable materials. Today, many children are entering to the social media world and this can be a very harmful for their development since social media is almost free, and barrier less.
5. A certain actions should be taken legally for making and using fake social media profiles for some harmful intentions, and using social media as an arm of revenge.
6. A definite and transparent guidelines should be taken for fund raising, charity, and donation collection in social media to make it more trustworthy and useful tool for such activities.
7. Young social media users of Srilanka have not identified the other uses of social media than using it for entertainment. They should realize the importance of using
8. social media for other numerous moral works such as, education, social mobilization, act against injustice, help to needy, integration of people on disaster situations, spread peace and harmony, political communication, wild life and nature preservation, child and women safety, women empowerment, etc…
9. Avoid using social media or smart phone during face to face conversations, meeting your peers often, involve in outdoor sports activities, keep in touch with peers via social media are highly recommended to have healthy peer relationships which is essential for personal development.
10. Building wide social media discussions on current issues and acting both on line and offline to bring a solution or a change is highly recommended for young adults of the country.
11. Young adults should be careful of adding unknown people to their personal social media accounts and keeping connection with them. It is greatly recommended to identify a person in real apart from their social media identity.
12. Online shopping, social media marketing should earn more believability among people to build an effective social media marketing process in the country. This should develop more. Marketers and business people should understand the ability of social media on consumer socialization and they should focus on using social media peer relationships more beneficial for their marketing process. First of all, they should earn trust among consumers.
13. The country need effective and impactful social changes which can bring through a mass social movement. There are issues that should be addressed by young people of the country. Other than online activities young adults should give their great participation and involvement to solve social problems actively by forcing authorities. They should identify the effective use of social media to do so.
14. Peer victimization has become an extra mental pressure to young adults as they are highly exposed to social media. It is recommended for social media users to overlook their social media activities so they will not knowingly or unknowingly involve in social media peer victimization.

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Ms. S. Haneen Raihana
M.Sc Electronic Media,
Anna University, Chennai

Dr. N. Tamilselvi
Dean – Media Studies
QuaideMilleth International Academy of Media Studies
Chennai

Dr. C. Velayutham
Assistant Professor,
Department of Media Sciences,
Anna University
Chennai
Nov - 2020

Abstract

The topic of crime is widely discussed and debated in the country with increasing number of criminal records happening around the globe. Due to the untold, cruel impact on the victim’s acid attack is considered as a serious offence in India, which is the fourth largest dangerous place for women in the case of acid attacks. Reforms for this crime were made only recently in the legislation. Due to the easy availability of acid the market and also being inexpensive, perpetrators find it an easy weapon to commit their crimes instantly with ease. According to the statistics shared by civil society, more than 85% of the acid attack victims are women. The reasons behind their attack are completely baseless like rejection for marriage or love, rejection for sexual advance, domestic violence, land dispute, property inheritance and much more. The sole aim of the perpetrator is to disfigure the woman completely and satisfy his hunger for revenge. The effects of the attacks are gruesome and the difficulties faced by the women victims are so heart-wrenching that it cannot be described in words. This study aims to explore how the crimes of acid attacks are conveyed to the people through newspapers.

Key words

Acid Attack, Crime, Gender Violence, ASFI

1.1 Introduction

Acid attack is considered a serious offence only in the recent years and judiciary reforms have made in the year 2013, making it recognizable as a punishable offence. During the initial years, there are situations where hundreds of incidents occur every year which go unreported. The perpetrators roamed freely devoid of strict rules in our country and the victims suffered all forms of difficulties for survival. According to the statistics shared by the civil society (ASFI – Acid Survivors Foundation India) for acid attack victims, around 200-500 cases are reported every year and more than 85% are women victims of which 78% are attacked for rejecting love or marriage proposal.

1.2 Aim

The aim of this study is to analyze the portrayal of acid attack incidents on women and related news in popular newspapers in Chennai

1.3 Objectives

• To analyze the significance given to the news related to acid attack in the newspapers.
• To study the construction of the victim’s survival stories in the newspapers.
• To investigate the legal and ethical orientation of the coverage in terms of gender violence

1.4 Need for the study

According to the recent data provided by National Crime Bureau, there are nearly 500 cases reported every year on an average basis. This issue is still not eradicated completely from our society mainly due to lack of awareness and lack of strict legislation to demolish this cruel form of crime. The incidents started getting exposed to media only after 2000 and almost every media portrays information related to acid attacks nowadays. This study is necessary to understand the significance given to acid attack related incidents and also to analyse the coverage carried out by media. This study also aims at understanding the construction of news stories and also the priority given to acid attack related legislation and other forms of ethical reforms in our national media.

1.5 Limitations of the study

This research study aims only at understanding the importance given by the print media with regard to acid attack incidents on women and the way of portrayal of news stories but not on a mission to create awareness among common public. The sole aim of the study is to analyse the content of print media and investigate information regarding legal legislative procedures and won’t imply any positive or negative stand on this issue.

1.6 Media Portrayal of Women Crimes

Ever since the first light of human evolution, crime has been a perplexing problem. There is hardly any society today which is not beleaguered with the problem of crime. Rising levels of insecurity, aggression, danger of public disorder, rioting, household robbery, bomb blasts in the metro cities, mafia dominance, mindless acts of hooligans and an overall growth of anti-social behaviour are but a few of the lasting images that typify a society that apparently is moving further and further into lawlessness. With regard to acid attacks, cases were reported only after 2000. Hence, media contribution in the exposure of acid attacks is less but it’s growing as our national media at present tries to focus on every issue (Jonjua 2014) .The need of the hour is that the print and television media should be put under scrutiny for the way in which they report the news items (Jonjua 2014).

1.7 Legislation in India

There was no specified law for ‘acid attack’ offence as it was not considered as a criminal offence in our Indian judiciary system. The amendment was brought only after continuous struggles by many civil societies. A new ray of hope was given to the struggle movement based on the recommendation of Verma Committee Report to include acid attack in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013. The existing Section 326A and 326B of the Indian Penal Code was amalgamated around February 3, 2013. (Menon and Vashishtha 2013) It states that – ‘Whoever causes permanent or partial damage or deformity to, or burns or maims or disfigures or disables, any part or parts of the body of a person or causes grievous hurt by throwing acid on or by administering acid to that person, or by using any other means with the intention of causing or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause such injury or hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and with fine: Provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses of the treatment of the victim: Provided further that any fine imposed under this section shall be paid to the victim.’ (Verma 2012)

It states-. Furthermore, Section 326B also penalises the attempt to throw acid. It states whoever throws or attempts to throw acid on any person or attempts to administer acid to any person, or attempts to use any other means, with the intention of causing permanent or partial damage or deformity or burns or maiming or disfigurement or disability or grievous hurt to that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. Another milestone step taken with this regard is the integration of Section 357C to the Code of Criminal Procedure which also came into effect on February 3, 2013. The Section states that all hospitals, public or private, whether run by the Central Government, the State Government, local bodies or any other person, shall immediately, provide the first-aid or medical treatment, free of cost, to the victims of any offence covered under section 326A, 376, 376A, 376B, 376C, 376D or section 376E of the Indian Penal Code, and shall immediately inform the police of such incident." (Sagar 2012). The United Nations had already passed a Declaration on this burning issue on the Elimination of Violence against Women in 1993. India has ratified this Convention and obliges to implement the same. Article 4(f) of this declaration recommends member states to develop preventive measures for violence against women by legal measures (Jiburum 2008)

1.8 Methodology

The study adopts ‘Descriptive Research Method’. This form of method design answers the question ‘What’ and ‘How’. Descriptive research can be either quantitative or qualitative news related to acid attacks published in Chennai edition newspapers (Jan 1, 2014 – Feb 1, 2017) has been taken for content analysis. The content of the newspapers were examined and analysed using various parameters, which contribute to overall readability of the materials. Three English newspapers - The Hindu, The Times of India, Deccan Chronicle and three vernacular newspapers - Dinathanthi, The Hindu (Tamil), and Dinamalar were selected for examination. These newspapers were selected based on the Indian readership survey.

1.9 Parameters

The overall content analysis was taken into consideration based on a set of parameters for carrying out the research effectively. The parameters are necessary in order to find out the priority of the news, the construction of survival stories, legal orientation of the real incidents and the ethical violation carried out in the Chennai edition of the respective newspapers.

1.9.1 Parameters for Analysis (Qualitative):

• Anonymity of the victim: It is important to preserve the identity of the victim and must not reveal to the outside world and most of the victims and their surroundings prefer not to reveal their identity.
• Reason of the acid attack: The main motive or the purpose behind the attack will be portrayed in the newspaper. The ‘real reason’ is what triggered the perpetrators to commit such cruel crime.
• Description of the incident: The actual narration of the incident, the way of telling how the incident happened. Expressing the incident in the form of impactful text and choosing the right words for providing relevant information.
• Perspective or the view point of the described incident: Describing the acid attack incident in the view of :
• Victim
• Narration of the happening by the victim’s parents/well-wishers
• From the view point of the law makers.
• Framing of the story: This study inducts ‘Four Frames’ and finds out how the acid attacks are framed in English and Tamil newspapers. The essence of the article (the actual incident) can be framed in various ways :
• Revenge frame - If the newspaper article/report frames the incident as Revenge, then it employs ‘Revenge frame’.
• Rejection Consequence frame - If the newspaper article/report frames the incident as Rejection Consequence, then it employs ‘Rejection Consequence frame’.
• Crime against women frame - when the newspaper article/report frames the incident as Crime against women, then it employs ‘Crime against women frame’.
• Blame frame – when the newspaper article/report frames the incident as Blame, then it employs ‘Blame frame’. It is an important parameter in this content analysis.
• Sources quoted in the story: The article or story carries information sourced from renowned experts, professionals or any piece of information provided by any credible source.
• How laws/acts pertaining to acid attacks explained: The laws or acts or any piece of official judiciary data related to acid attacks must be given prominence in the
• Sensationalism carried out in the newspapers: Any form of information is exaggerated or brought out in much hype by the media in order to attract audience instantly. Likewise, acid attack incidents are also portrayed with much sensation by some newspapers.

1.10 Theoretical Orientation

Following the literature studied, the ‘Social Responsibility Theory’ is best suited for this study as it sums up the responsible nature as well as relevant ethics one needs to pursue for the welfare of the society; in this case, the journalists are responsible in conveying the message to the public. This model was designed formally by Siebert, Peterson and Schramm in 1956. Social Responsibility theory of mass communication is relatively a new concept which started in the mid-20th century and is used mostly by developing and least developed countries. It is highly mandatory for any form of media to be conscious of what is portrayed to the audience. With regard to acid attacks, there are certain journalistic ethics to be followed for effective reporting and also handling the professionalism in making people aware of the legal orientation pertaining to acid attack incidents – laws/acts/any form of legal information. Hence, this theory lists down the ethical culture and the responsible nature to be followed for effective coverage of acid attack related incidents.

1.11 Analysis of Parameters:

1.11.1 Revealing the identity of the victim (Anonymity)

It is important to preserve the identity of the victim. If the newspapers reveal the identity and recognition of the victims, then it is a sign of ethical violation done by the news medium as well as the journalists.

NEWSPAPER	NAME	LOCATION	ACQUAINTANCE	PHOTOGRAPH
The Hindu	Woman police constable	Vellore	Realtor	No
The Times of India	Vinothini	Chennai	Victim’s Father, Jayapaul	Graphical representation
Deccan Chronicle	Rajyalakshmi	Hyderabad	Victims’ attacker, Neelu	Graphical representation
Dinathanthi	மீனா (Meena)	மதுரை (Madurai)	தந்தை –உதயசூரியன் (Father –Udhayasuriyan)
Dinamalar	ஸ்ரீவித்யா (Sri Vidya)	சென்னை (Chennai)	அண்ணன்- விஜய் (Brother – Vijay)
The Hindu (Tamil)	லாவண்யா (Lavanya)	திருப்பத்தூர் (Thirupathur)	லாரிஓட்டுனர்சுரேஷ் (Lorry Driver Suresh)

From the analysis of the content of every article, the following were concluded:

• Maximum of the identity is revealed by Times of India – among English newspapers.

• Maximum of the identity is revealed by Hindu (Tamil) - among Tamil newspapers.

• With a view of general comparison, Tamil newspapers reveal the victim’s actual identification at a larger extent even along with the victim’s pictures than the English newspapers.

1.11.2 Actual Reason behind The Acid Attacks

The ‘real reason’ is what triggered the perpetrators to commit such a cruel crime. The optimum percentage of the main reason behind these gruesome attacks can be analyzed through this.

Table 1.1 shows the examples of Articles that portrays the actual reason
NEWSPAPER	REASON PORTRAYED
The Hindu	She turned down his marriage proposal. (Rejection)
The Times of India	This should serve as a warning to other women who plan to cheat innocent men.(Rejection)
Deccan Chronicle	He attempted to rape her as she refused to yield to his pleasure; the enraged auto driver threw acid on her.  (Rejection)
Dinathanthi	உன்னைஎன்னசெய்கிறோம்பார் (See what we will do to you!) (Revenge)
Dinamalar	காதலுடன்ஓடிபோகமறுத்ததால், ஆசிட்வீச்சு  (Acid Attack for not eloping with boyfriend) (Rejection)
The Hindu (Tamil)	தீபாகாதலைஏற்கவில்லை (Deepa didn’t accept the love) (Rejection)

From the analysis of the content of every article, the following was concluded:

• The top reasons for acid attacks portrayed by both the newspapers are – Rejection consequence and Revenge

1.11.3 DESCRIBING THE ACID ATTACK NEWS

Expressing the incident in the form of impactful text and choosing the right words for providing relevant information. Analyzing the news story for simple description of the crime to exaggeration and creating hype.

Table 1.2 shows the examples of Articles that describes the acid attack incident

NEWSPAPER	DESCRIPTION
The Hindu	Vidya is the second victim in the city to succumb to acid attack injuries.
The Times of India	She fought for her life with the extraordinary courage she displayed when Suresh threw acid at her.
Deccan Chronicle	Acid attack on her by an auto driver, who allegedly attempted to molest her.
Dinathanthi	‘அழகாய்இருக்கிறோம்என்றஆணவத்தில்தானேஎங்களைஎடுத்தெறி்ந்துபேசுகிறாய்’ (“You talk so rude to us just because you are proud of your beauty”)
Dinamalar	‘ஆத்திரமடைந்தவிஜயபாஸ்கர்ஆசிட்டைவீசியுள்ளார்.’ (“Enraged Vijayabaskar attacked with acid”)
The Hindu (Tamil)	‘ஆசிட்பட்டதால்வலியால்துடித்தலாவண்யா.’ (Lavanya wriggled in pain due to acid attack)

From the analysis of the content of every article, the following was concluded:

• With a view of general comparison, vernacular newspapers described the incident with much exaggeration compared with the English newspapers.

1.11.4 Perspective or The Viewpoint Depicted in the News Story

Describing the acid attack incident in the viewpoint of:

• Victim
• Narration of the happening by the victim’s parents /well-wishers
• From the view point of the law makers.

Table 1.3 shows the examples of Articles that depicts the perspective/viewpoint

NEWSPAPER	PERSPECTIVE/VIEWPOINT
The Hindu	‘There is no intensive care unit. She was lying on a cot that was stained in her own pus, her uncle Rajan alleged.’ (Victim’s well-wisher)
The Times of India	‘She has been referred to the Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore," said a police official in Tirupattur.’  (Law maker)
Deccan Chronicle	‘I have been called for another phase of treatment at SankaraNethralaya. I know that the search to find an accommodation is going to be difficult.’(Victim)
Dinathanthi	‘வாழ்க்கைமுடிந்ததுஎனநினைத்தேன், ஆனால்மீண்டும்மலர்ந்துள்ளது- சோனாலிஉருகினார்.’ (“ I thought my life was over, but it has blossomed again”)  (Victim)
Dinamalar	‘உயிருக்குபோராடும்நிலைக்குதள்ளப்பட்டாள், எனஅண்ணன்விஜய்வருத்தத்துடன்தெரிவித்தார்’ (Victim’s brother Vijay sadly disclosed that she was pushed to the extremity for survival of her life)  (Victim’s well-wisher)
The Hindu (Tamil)	‘அந்தவழக்குகொலைவழக்காகமாற்றப்பட்டுள்ளது, எனபோலீசார்தெரிவித்தனர்’. (‘Police said that the case was changed to a murder case’)(Law maker)

From the analysis of the content of every article, it is found that: This parameter gives an insight on how the articles carry the essence of the message – from whose perspective and opinion.

1.11.5 Framing of the News Story

The essence of the article (the actual incident) can be framed in various ways

• Revenge frame
• Rejection consequence frame
• Crime against women frame
• Blame frame

It is an important parameter in this type of content analysis. Each newspaper frames the story majorly depending on their motive to convey the message to the public in their specified tone.

Table 1.4 shows the examples of Articles that employs different frames

ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS	TAMIL NEWSPAPERS
The Hindu: Headline - 21-year-old acid attack victim succumbs to wounds in Chennai Lead - Vidya is the second victim in the city to succumb to acid attack injuries. The family donated her corneas to SankaraNethralaya Whole article: Yes (Crime against women Frame)	Dinamalar: Headline-‘காதலுடன்ஓடிபோகமறுத்ததால், ஆசிட்வீச்சுக்குஆளானார்’. (Attacked with acid for not agreeing to elope with boyfriend) Lead – காதலுடன்ஓடிபோகமறுத்ததால், ஆசிட்வீச்சுக்குஆளானபெண், மருத்துவமனையில்கவலைக்கிடமாகஉள்ளார்.  (Victim attacked with acid for not agreeing to elope with boyfriend; hospitalised in critical condition) Whole article: Yes (Rejection frame)
Times of India: Headline - Tirupattur woman constable suffers injuries after acid attack Lead – A 29year old Police constable attached to the Armed Reserve Police suffered injuries on her face and hand after unidentified persons attacked her with acid. Whole article: Yes (Crime against women Frame)	Dinathanthi: Headline–பெண்முகத்தில்ஆசிட்வீச்சு: தொழிலாளிகைது (Woman attacked with acid; Labour arrested) Lead –பெண்முகத்தில்ஆசிட்வீசிதாக்கியதொழிலாளிகைதுசெய்யப்பட்டார். (Labour who attacked woman with acid arrested). Whole article: Yes (Rejection frame)
Deccan Chronicle: Headline - Acid attack victim woman constable suffers vision impairment. Lead - A woman constable has suffered vision impairment in her right eye. Whole article: Yes (Crime against women Frame)	Hindu (Tamil): Headline – ‘ஒருதலைகாதலால்விபரீதம்.’ (Peril of one sided love) Lead –வினோதினிமீதுஆசிட்வீசிகொலைசெய்தசுரேஷ்குமாருக்குஆயுள்தண்டனை. (Life sentence to Sureshkumar who killed Vinothini with acid attack) Whole article: Yes (Rejection frame)

From the analysis of the content of every article, it is found that:

The framing of the news story varies accordingly for each newspaper as there is different form of description of the actual incident. The frame of ‘crime against women’ is at a higher level among English newspapers. But, Tamil newspapers frame the story more on ‘rejection’. The frame of ‘Blame on women’ is at a very low percentage among all the newspapers.

1.11.6 Sensationalism Carried Out In The Newspapers

Any form of information is exaggerated or brought out in much hype by the media in order to attract audience instantly. Likewise, acid attack incidents are also portrayed with much sensation by some newspapers. The description, word usage or even picture portrayal and such elements create much sensation among the readers to have a look at the article.

Table 1.5 shows the examples of Articles that carries sensational content

NEWSPAPER	SENSATIONALISM
The Hindu	Eg: One day his mother accosted me and slapped me. She began accusing me for her son being in this condition.
The Times of India	Eg: The story of Vinodhini shall be at least a lesson and deterrence for those who may have a semblance of feeling to commit such gruesome acts against Women.
Deccan Chronicle	Eg: The unrelenting branding and stigma that she faces from the society hurts her much more than the scars.
Dinathanthi	Eg: ‘அழகாய்இருக்கிறோம்என்றஆணவத்தில்தானேஎங்களைஎடுத்தெறி்ந்துபேசுகிறாய்’. (“You talk so rude to us just because you are proud of your beauty”)
Dinamalar	Eg: ‘காதல்மொழிபேசிதொல்லைதந்தான்’.  (He gave trouble by luring)
The Hindu (Tamil)	Eg: தன்னுடன்ஆசைவார்த்தைபேசமறுத்ததால், கோபம்அடைந்தான்.  (“He was enraged since I did not indulge in sweet talks with him”)

From the analysis of the content of every article, it is found that:

Times of India newspaper carries more hyped content, among English newspapers. Tamil newspaper Dinathanthi carries much higher effective sensational content, compared with the Tamil newspapers. Usually, newspapers follow this tactic to attract the readers instantly towards the news story and acid attack news also falls under that section to make people read the news. The Hindu (both English and Tamil) newspaper carries lesser sensational content compared with other newspapers. On an average, Maximum form of sensationalism is depicted by Tamil newspapers comparatively with the English newspapers.

1.12 Results and Discussion

• Significance given to acid attack related news: With a detailed analysis on the coverage of acid attack related news and information, taking into account of three English newspapers – The Hindu, The Times of India, Deccan Chronicle and Tamil newspapers – Dinathanthi, Dinamalar, The Hindu (Tamil), it is determined that both the set of newspapers give almost equal importance to acid attack related news. English newspapers account to 45% whereas Tamil newspapers account to 55%, a slight higher percentage than the Tamil newspapers. With regard to the placement of the article in the newspaper, the space allotment and even the size of the respective article – the prominence is clearly analysed concluding the above results.
• Ethical violation: With the analysis of the collected data, it is found that Tamil newspapers violate journalistic ethics to a greater extent by 60% whereas English newspapers account to 40%. The identity of the victim along with the picture is portrayed largely by the Tamil newspapers which are against the news ethics and in several cases, it might cause trouble to the victims and journalists must be responsible enough in handling this critical issue.
• Sensationalism surrounding the story: With every media creating much sensation and hype for any news, news media also depicts sensation through story narration style and impactful words. Tamil newspapers are at a higher percentage (75%) in creating hype for a news story especially through their effective headline and ‘words’ which makes the reader look onto the news insantly. English newspapers follow a decent style in depicting hype and they don’t bother much about that accounting to 25%. Much hype is not needed for serious issues like acid attack cases.
• Importance of judicial acts/laws: Most of the English newspapers depict news stories backed by official judicial information or any factual laws/acts passed on pertaining to acid attacks and it’s around 65% whereas Tamil newspapers account about 35% which is pretty much lower compared with the English newspapers. Every acid attack news story should be supported by governmental laws/acts for better understanding and awareness on this cruel issue.
• Construction of victim’s survival stories: Among the various articles analysed for this research study, it is determined that news story related to victim’s survival is not given much importance and hence English newspapers cover about 35% whereas Tamil newspapers cover around 10%, which is relatively low percentage. Much prominence must be given to survival stories of victims in order to create awareness among women on how to fight back on the issue and with the analysis of those articles; it is found that English newspapers depict the narration with true impactful words, in a way inspiring other woman.
• Regarded as a ‘serious crime’: Acid attack was considered a serious crime only in the recent years and abiding to that, newspapers carry news in the framing of the issue as ‘Crime against women’. English newspapers depict acid attack majorly as a critical crime against women with accounting to 60% while Tamil newspapers cover about 40% percentage on stating it as crime on women. With the horrifying statistics of acid attacks on women (85%), it is mandatory for every newspaper to cover majorly on this issue.

1.13 Conclusion

With the rise of cases related to acid attacks, it is mandatory to be aware of the Indian statistics. As a matter of surprise, there is no statistical record for acid violence cases in India till early 2013 because ‘acid attack’ was not considered a serious offence until then. Only after the amendment in Indian Penal Code around February 2013, cases were filed and recorded legally. Newspapers should also report such heinous crimes by protecting the identity of the victims as well as voicing out their sufferings.

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