Missing in media: women's voices

quote:Dear Ms. Communicate,
I am still perplexed (but mostly angered) with what is termed “women's issues”. Childcare has been deemed the most essential concern for all women. Equality, especially where pay equity is concerned, is another. When I even hear the term, I almost shudder because of the exclusivity it infers. Are young people to adopt it into their mindsets? If so, girls and women may feel that childcare and so on is to remain at the top of their list and that the environment, politics in general et al, should not be of great concern.
Equally worrisome is how young men will or do interpret things categorized as women's issues, in that they need not concern themselves with childcare and the like.

We are doing this generation a disservice and essentially proliferating sexism.

I emailed CBC NewsWorld concerning the ratio of women to men on camera as well as the ratio of women asked for their opinion during their election coverage within communities. I did the math and found that women only represent 17 to 21 per cent of the Canadian population, depending on which article you viewed. (The reporter's gender was left out of the equation). It became obvious that men's opinions were highly valued and sought after.

Sexism in the media is so widespread that I have grave concerns for the young women whose voice is collectively being quelled at all angles. Just look at parliamentary representation – that further underscores my remarks.

Thanks for listening.

L. Graham

Ms Communicate responds.

I was at the dentist, mouth occupied by flouride trays, when the assistant asked if I wanted something to read and then went to the shelf on the wall and flipped through Time, Macleans, and a few other news magazines, before presenting me with Glamour or some such. She was nice and I didn't want make her feel uncomfortable but I was actually quite offended.

Oh, I notice this all the time.  Take any news story, whether it is about seniors, or children or anything and everything in between, if it is a mixed group, the story will show interviews with an uneven # of people 3 or 5, and without exception, the majority of the voices heard will be male.  2 out of 3, or 3 out of 5, it does not change.   Now take a look at any television show that isn't obviously a woman's show, and you will see the same sort of breakdown.  A show about doctors, lawyers or criminal investigation will have an uneven number of characters, and the overwhelming majority of them will be male.   Most girls learn to keep their mouths shut about what it important to them because, clearly, no one cares to hear from them. 

And, more on topic, I am always deeply offended when it is assumed that the concerns of children are necessarily or obviously my concerns.  I have no children, and aren't going to have any.  I like them just fine, but there is more to my personal concerns and issues than children.  Also, being lumped together with them in a "women & children" sort of way is offensive, as the inference is that women need to be taken care of in some way.

The link to Ms. Communicate didn't work so I don't know what the response to this was but here's mine.

I would hope that young people would adopt the concept of "pay equity" in their minds. It is just the opposite of exclusivity. 

If men want to deprive themselves of the rewards that come with childcare and the like it is their loss. The woman's movement has done a great deal to improve the lives of men even as many men fought them tooth and nail. A country that fails to recognize that it's most important resource is the quality of its people will not thrive as it could have. It is not up to women to continue to drag men along.

 The above is a little like deeming affirmative action "reverse racism". Ignoring the continued existence of sexism and the reality that women continue to carry most of the burden of child care won't make it go away. 

Oooh, the "women and children" thing drives me nuts too, fortunate.  I've always hated it when news reports lump "women and children" together, usually when talking about civilian deaths.

Women are not children.  Women are not equivalent to children!  Gah!