Mass Media and the Production of Meanings : Gender in Malaysia (2)

This paper discusses the Mass Media and Gender in Malaysia. While Allen and Rush (1989), Brown (1990), Carter and Spitzack (1989), Daly (1984), Gamman and Marshmount (1989) and Pribram (1988) have delved deeply into communications in the west and propounded various feminist theories for their observations, not much has been done on the subject in Malaysia. The media play a central ideological role in that their practices and products are both a source and confirmation of the structural inequality of women in society. Being subordinate to men is a role generally accepted by women as a fait accompli in life (possibly, as Gramsci wrote in Prison Notebooks, as a \u27subordinate group\u27). In the re-production of meanings in society, we cannot ignore the role of the media. Indeed, their role should be discussed with that of culture in the \u27process of production of meanings\u27 (Gallagher, 1981). Malaysia is a developing country that has experienced rapid economic growth since the 1980\u27s. Although the country is majority Muslim, women are encouraged to work, in contrast to many other Muslim countries which prefer their women at home. In Malaysia, there are female ministers who are often in the news. In this society, it is important to re-evaluate the mass media and its role with respect to gender. The paper discusses the role of the Malaysian mass media and the images of gender in them. It briefly deals with the cases of TV, Films, Magazines, Advertisements, etc. And it examines the newspapers and gender in Malaysia, newspapers in Malaysia, participation of women (as journalists, newspaper staff, etc.) and management, \u27Women\u27s Sections\u27 in newspapers, newspaper coverage of women\u27s activities and images of women, cases of effective reporting of women, and the treatment of gender in the newspapers. The discussion includes the creation of gender images in \u27the production of messages\u27, as well as the role of the mass media in gender issues. It also analyses the results of a content analysis of newspaper articles in 1999-2001, including interviews with journalists mainly from the newspapers