Book Review: Media and Gender Justice (a Reader), Student Christian Movement of India. 2006.

The ‘Media and Gender Justice’ Reader was published by the Student Christian Movement (India) in the context of the WACC-supported project ‘Christian youth initiative to re-read the media’.

The Reader neatly demystifies the gender dimensions of media in an easy-to-read yet comprehensive format.

The Reader is a compilation of short, thought-provoking, multi-dimensional essays on gender in and through media. Discussed are the pervasiveness of modern media, its power and reach, and its related impact on gender. The essays employ illustrative examples from the Indian news media to expose the nature and possible consequences of gender imbalances in media structures and content.

Citing analyses of ownership patterns, decision making and representation within the media, disparities in both caste and gender are documented.

For instance Hindu men occupy 71% of the top positions in the media even though they comprise just 8% of the population. By comparison, only 4% of Other Backward Castes (OBC) can be found in top level media jobs even though they make up 40% of the country’s population. Women account for 32% of the top jobs within the English language electronic mediaand 14% in Hindi print media respectively. However, no women from OBC are found in top level media positions in either electronic or print media. The potential consequence of such unequal gender presence within media organisations is not only the projection of men’s views as the norm, but the invisibility of women’s voices, the stereotyped portrayal of women in media content and a narrow definition of media audiences.

Whilst contending that the convergence of media technology has blurred the boundaries between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, as well as of ‘mainstream’ and ‘alternative’ media, the Reader suggests that an increasing concentration of ownership and the globalization of media distribution systems has equally contributed to a homogeneity in media content.

Chapters 7, 8 and 9 highlight multiple ways in which the portrayal of women in the media reproduce and reinforce particular stereotypes of women in India. For example: fair skinned, upper class, and upper caste women under 40-years old and fluent in English, are dominantly featured in Indian media news and advertisements. Much of the national news in India’s mainstream media remains Delhi focused, leaving out the majority of the country’s rural population.

The argument is made that audience judgment is essential in media consumption: “we need to be responsible in what is sent out, and have maturity and discrimination in believing and acting upon what is received” (p. 28).

The Reader concludes with a discussion at the ways in which citizens can critically engage the media as a means of checking against media bias. These include the constitution of media watch groups, the continuous monitoring of media content and the systemic use of media spaces, amongst others.

The Reader will be a useful resource to gender and media literacy advocates who are interested in raising critical awareness among media audiences.