>:%9/5:%6.>8$Q87!%-1<B%S #6?"=%= Z</5P68-"62<B%S ‘=+$=$/.%&$<"&95/6#"; $/<"&!5= =+$ *>H&43=%8-H&<#:%&?@6.>#Q; #*+/.%2A5& !/#%-@6.-1#?%S #*1#62 =+$4@-@8-H& '25-%=/5 '">A5!/5=%2/5P$>#" 87!%7@&#?%S’ Issue 4: Gender-based stereotyping is rife across the media, particularly in broadcasting. Programming content usually presents and repeats a model of an ‘ideal society’ rather than exploring a diversity of opinions and ideas. This ‘ideal society’ is defined by men, given the rarity of senior women media workers which leads men to dominate media decision making. As a result, women are often portrayed in a highly stereotypical manner, dictated by men’s expectations of women’s roles and responsibilities in a traditional society (Table 2). Women are shown without the capacity to make their own choices. Participants were concerned that women are often presented without the capacity to act independently of men or make their own free choices. Women are rarely presented as having academic qualifications or professional achievements. Young women are sometimes presented as in the movie, La yaung nam hma pwint the pan (The flower which blooms when only moonlight kisses it), as innocent to the point of gullibility, implying that they are open prey to sexual assault. Mothers whose husbands have died are generally represented facing many difficulties, or as being unable to manage their own lives and families. Participants also said that pregnancy and single motherhood is presented as a punishment for ‘modern’ women who are seen controlling their own bodies in their relationships with men. Women are presented as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ according to their acceptance of genderbased discrimination. Participants agreed that women are presented as ‘good’ if they treat their husbands and elders well and accept social conventions against women drinking alcohol or smoking tobacco. ‘Bad’ women are those that confront their husbands and elders, drink alcohol or smoke - habits which are traditionally reserved for men - instead of staying at home doing housework. One phrase frequently repeated in literature about films or television such as The Biography of Skies is the theme of Thar ko tha khin, lin ko bayar (Son is her master, husband is her god). Women’s stereotypes are defined by sex and marriage. Participants were concerned that women are generally presented either as mother, as victim, or as temptress. Often the way they are presented is dictated by their marital status. Women above marriageable age tend to be mothers or housewives without a professional job. If they do have a profession, the job is either in a ‘safe’ desk-based environment or in a caring profession, such as teaching, nursing or retail ownership. When women are shown as senior professionals, their status is usually undermined by focusing on the love story and presenting them as ‘crazy’ in love. Younger women are presented, for example in A chit lar ... lar htar (Is that love? Come on!), as symbols of beauty and virginal purity, and as potential victims protected by their fathers, brothers or uncles until they are married. Women’s programming reinforces gender-based discrimination. Programming that is targeted at women explicitly reinforces gender-based expectations, roles and responsibilities according to participants (Table 2). Whereas current affairs or interview-style programming targeted at men covers a range of issues from technology to fashion and politics, similarly ARTICLE 19 - Censored gender: Women’s right to freedom of expression and information in Myanmar - Page 44