Impact of Television on Women in India

abhishreshthaa

New member
TV programs as liberating for housewives, in rural India, television is becoming more and more common and TV's are found in more households than ever before. A new study conducted by by Robert Jensen of Brown University and Emily Ouster of the University of Chicago delved into the growth of television in rural India and the percentage of women whose opinions became more empowered after watching it.


Tradition

A woman's place in the Indian culture doesn't often leave her with the freedom to make her own choices. Many cannot go out shopping or visit friends without permission from their husbands. 62% of women believe that spousal beating is acceptable and the majority of husbands agree.
Acceptable reasons for physical abuse are for a meal not being cooked well, if she neglected the children, if she was disrespectful and if she went out without permission.


Infiltration of the Tube The last 10 years have seen television programming reach rural villages in India. The commercial programming mostly contains game shows and Indian soap operas. For women in the villages, this has usually been the first time they've seen females with lives outside of the home.


Roles on television show their peers with jobs, dating multiple men, wearing fashionable and sexy clothing and being financially independent. For someone who only knows the customs of her culture, this must be quite shocking.The Study The research was taken in Indian villages in four states (Bihar, Goa, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu) and the capital, Delhi, during 2001 to 2003. It included 2,700 households in 180 villages.- 65 villages already had cable in 2001- By 2003, 21 more had access- 80% of people watched weekly television after cable had been hooked up


Criteria

Autonomy: whether females have a choice to make their own decisions regarding friends, going out, shopping and health Spousal Abuse: whether the wives believe that beating is acceptable Male Children: whether women prefer to have male children rather than female


The Results

In areas where the villages already had cable, views of women stayed relatively the same. But in villages where cable was introduced, women's thoughts about themselves and their role changed quite dramatically.
For these villages, women's autonomy rose as if they had been educated for 5.5 years; their acceptance of spousal abuse fell by 10%; their hope for a male child instead of a girl dropped by 12 percent.


Outcome

The research studied women's attitude rather than their action, so it has yet to been seen what lasting effect TV will have on tradition. It was noted that after cable, girls between 6 and 10 years old were 10% more likely to go to school.


Also, for women who were under 35 years old, birth rates fell by half in a given year. Television certainly isn't going to change hundreds of years of customs by itself but it is interesting that it has played such a large role in modern rural India.


This study was conducted to determine how women in the India of where both regional and national network television are available for viewing--perceive the role of television in helping the cause of women. A television content analysis was done for two subsequent weeks, focusing on the portrayal of women in the programs, and the cumulative findings of this analysis were then compared with the views of the respondents.
 
It is like questioning what is the use of water and what does it do. well, women is India are highly addicted to serials. usually, we as boys have to sacrifice in front of their serials and i just hate that. They are so much in it that sometime or near about most of the time burn dinner and we have to sacrifice.Watching is good but they start implementing it in real life, now they need diamond ring, gold is old and consider it as veteran causing hole in our pockets.
 
TV programs as liberating for housewives, in rural India, television is becoming more and more common and TV's are found in more households than ever before. A new study conducted by by Robert Jensen of Brown University and Emily Ouster of the University of Chicago delved into the growth of television in rural India and the percentage of women whose opinions became more empowered after watching it.


Tradition

A woman's place in the Indian culture doesn't often leave her with the freedom to make her own choices. Many cannot go out shopping or visit friends without permission from their husbands. 62% of women believe that spousal beating is acceptable and the majority of husbands agree.
Acceptable reasons for physical abuse are for a meal not being cooked well, if she neglected the children, if she was disrespectful and if she went out without permission.


Infiltration of the Tube The last 10 years have seen television programming reach rural villages in India. The commercial programming mostly contains game shows and Indian soap operas. For women in the villages, this has usually been the first time they've seen females with lives outside of the home.


Roles on television show their peers with jobs, dating multiple men, wearing fashionable and sexy clothing and being financially independent. For someone who only knows the customs of her culture, this must be quite shocking.The Study The research was taken in Indian villages in four states (Bihar, Goa, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu) and the capital, Delhi, during 2001 to 2003. It included 2,700 households in 180 villages.- 65 villages already had cable in 2001- By 2003, 21 more had access- 80% of people watched weekly television after cable had been hooked up


Criteria

Autonomy: whether females have a choice to make their own decisions regarding friends, going out, shopping and health Spousal Abuse: whether the wives believe that beating is acceptable Male Children: whether women prefer to have male children rather than female


The Results

In areas where the villages already had cable, views of women stayed relatively the same. But in villages where cable was introduced, women's thoughts about themselves and their role changed quite dramatically.
For these villages, women's autonomy rose as if they had been educated for 5.5 years; their acceptance of spousal abuse fell by 10%; their hope for a male child instead of a girl dropped by 12 percent.


Outcome

The research studied women's attitude rather than their action, so it has yet to been seen what lasting effect TV will have on tradition. It was noted that after cable, girls between 6 and 10 years old were 10% more likely to go to school.


Also, for women who were under 35 years old, birth rates fell by half in a given year. Television certainly isn't going to change hundreds of years of customs by itself but it is interesting that it has played such a large role in modern rural India.


This study was conducted to determine how women in the India of where both regional and national network television are available for viewing--perceive the role of television in helping the cause of women. A television content analysis was done for two subsequent weeks, focusing on the portrayal of women in the programs, and the cumulative findings of this analysis were then compared with the views of the respondents.

Hey abhi, i am really impressed by your effort and very thankful for sharing such a nice thought. I am also uploading a document which will explain how Indian woman are influenced by Indian television dramas and other programs.
 

Attachments

  • Impact of Television on Women in India.pdf
    256.2 KB · Views: 0
Top