Gender

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Gender

• Grocotts Policy in the making

2
Definitions

• Sex either one of the two main groups (female
  and male) into which living things are placed
  according to their reproductive functions, the
  fact of belonging to one of these - OED

• Gender the grammatical categories of masculine
  and feminine

In a nutshell Where sex makes reference to
biological categories, gender refers to social or
cultural categories.
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R Morris states

• Gender is a grammatical distinction and applies
  to words only sex is a natural distinction and
  applies to living objects

4
However

• Morris statement fails to recognise the
  implication of words only and the impact that
  words have on the perpetuation of gender codes
  within society!

5
Thinking local

• Grahamstown is a multi-cultural community with a
  diverse range of expectations about what
  femininity and masculinity entail. Grocotts
  must recognise this and respond in a journalistic
  manner that doesnt take preference to a
  particular set of values.

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What the critics say

• To treat gender as sexual difference rather than
  sexual hierarchy obscures and legitimizes the way
  gender is imposed by force MacKinnon 1989

• In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure
  in looking has been split between active/male and
  passive/female Laura Mulvey 1989

The challenge to Grocotts is to acknowledge the
gender imbalance within society and make a
conscious effort to report in a mindful way.
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What you say

• Students who read Grocotts observed that current
  reporting reinforces outdated and inaccurate
  stereotypes of women. This can be countered by
• showcase more successful businesswomen in the
  community
• showcase more inspirational female figures
• Front page coverage of events like beauty
  pageants subscribes to the notion of
  objectification, decrease this.

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Grocotts Current Gender Policy

• At present there is no structured policy and any
  semblance of policy is ad hoc according to Louise
  Vale
• In terms of employment equity, most of the staff
  at Grocotts are female.
• They use the term Ms in most cases to refer to
  women.

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What Grocotts would like to see in their gender
policy.

• A policy that promotes equal understanding
  between the genders in a Grahamstown context.
• A focus on content that deals with gender ie.
  Womens day.
• Issues that relate to women eg. Vale argues that
  AIDS affects women more than men (at higher risk
  of contraction).
• Issues that relate to men eg. The pressure put on
  them to be the bread winners in societies.

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Photographs

• Front page ? equal representation
• Strong men ? Pg. 1
• Strong women ? Pg.2
• Women ? passive caregivers
• Men ? active and assertive

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Language

• Large no. of starry eyed girls
• Large no. of starry eyed boys?
• Women ? appearance
• Men ? factual/ability

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GMBS Study

• The SA Gender and Media Baseline Study (GMBS)
  created by Gender Links (non-govt org) and the
  Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
  released their findings on the 7 August 2003

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Findings

• 1)      Mens voices predominate in the media
  (womens voices constitute only 19 of news
  sources in South Africa), however the Sunday
  Times is making progress in this area since 29
  of its news sources are women.
• 2)      Black women constitute 45 of the
  population but only constitute 5 of news
  sources.
• 3)      Old women are virtually invisible as far
  as representation goes.

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Findings (cont)

• 4)      Women predominate as news sources in the
  occupational categories of beauty contestants,
  sex workers and homemakers. They are least
  sourced in sports and mining categories where men
  account for 100 of news sources.
• 5) Though 31 of the members of parliament
  and cabinet are women, they constitute only 8 of
  news sources.

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So

• Gender Links and the Media Institute of Southern
  Africa have used the findings to bring that
  message to mainstream media. In June and August,
  they held two-day workshops in each of the 12
  countries included in the study, targeting media
  owners, editors and reporters as well as media
  associations, regulatory agencies and women's
  organizations.
• Sources
• http//www.biz-community.com/Article/196/15/2262.h
  tml
• http//www.genderlinks.org.za/docs/2003.html

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New Policy

• To maintain a sensitive approach to all
  individuals in Grahamstown, regardless of their
  gender or culture.
• To avoid perpetuating the objectification of
  women in both text and pictures
• To have voices of authority and to use lay
  sources from both genders
• To continually invest in public opinion ie be
  open to criticism and comment regarding the
  representation of both genders and encourage
  debate thereof