NEWS FEATURE STORY

Sex desk: the perception of women in media

 The media is all about selling yourself especially as a woman. 

By SUSAN ODAWA

Grace Msalame in Nakuru[PHOTO: INSTAGRAM]

The struggle for acceptance and respect has been a battle that has been and is still happening. From racism, economical, spiritual, gender bias and sexuality are some of the major struggles that people face daily. There is a select group that suffers in whispers, women. For decades women have struggled to be seen as more than arm candy and human incubators whose greatest worth was taking care of the home and children.

“Beauty provokes harassment, the law says, but it looks through men's eyes when deciding what provokes it.” A quote by Naomi Wolf put it into perspective

 
The African woman is a strong willed spirit who has battled against all the odds she faced. She comes from a continent that is looked down upon by others, her dark skin makes her a target for racial violence and bias, her gender is treated as one of lesser value and weak but she keeps fighting so as to inspire the upcoming generation. She fought to have a voice in the male dominated society and to get educated so that she could be a provider and a valued member of the world. No matter how hard she worked to be viewed as capable and respectable she is still viewed as a sexual object.

.The Kenyan media industry has undergone a massive transformation in matters of growth. From the maiden news Kenya Broadcasting Cooperation (KBC) to more than 20 broadcasting channel. With this growth the media companies in tough competition decided to appeal to the carnal instinct. They presented the female anchors in a way that could lure many to their channel. With the simple showcasing of a cleavage, full face of makeup and above the knee dresses they got a huge demographic of youth interested.

In Kenya the perception of women in the media is not based on their academic prowess but on the physical attributes. They are rated according to their attractiveness. The society,  especially the youth have sexualized them to the point that they are nothing more than media house trophies. The media council of Kenya is trying to present them on equal grounds as the male counterparts but the society is still holding on the patriarchal system.

I sat down with Leah Akoth a journalism student at multimedia university to get her opinion. “The media is all about selling yourself especially as a woman. There’s a criteria you must fit in in order to attract more viewers. We can act naïve and lie to ourselves that we are accepted because of our education but truth is the more appealing you are, the higher your chances of being an anchor.”

The aesthetic value of a female anchor is based on a variety of things like vocal, facial and physical. There is the termed look for female anchors that is very curvy and flawless. To attain such some news anchors go the extra mile of using ‘mwitu’ enhancements which are creams and injections to increase the selected areas.

We may try to move from the male dominated society but the truth is we are not as progressed as we would like to think. Women in media are constantly judged and hurled insults at for the pettiest actions in their private lives

We have seen how top anchors lives have been put out like a public spectacle and they   receive negative feedback to the public just so that the media station can get more viewers.

This side of marketing is kept quiet but the truth is it happens. From divorce cases to family matters the women media have no control over their privacy as compared to the male colleagues who go scotch free when in the same or worse positions.

A simple online search on female anchors will give you sexualized categories with the term ‘sexiest’ and ‘voluptuous’ added on top not to mention some that give reference to bedrooms in their title. These degrading titles are also taken up by prominent media companies when they publish online content.

The objectification of women is an international problem but most people don’t realize it starts with a simple comment that may seem harmless but presents a woman as an object. The loopholes in the Media Council of Kenya should be tightened in order for there to be equality and respect of women in the media field.