Representation of Women in Contemporary Bangladeshi Print Media

Abstract

Media plays a vital role in our lives. We can hardly imagine life now without newspapers, television, radio, and magazines. But because media is an umbrella term and lots of things come under it, this paper will deal with only the Bangladeshi print media, especially newspapers and magazines. Fashion magazines such as Mirror, Canvas and Splash will be used here to analyze the portrayal of women in the media. Weekly sublets (Lifestyle and Korcha) that come out every Tuesday with Daily Star and Ittefaq will also be analyzed. Whenever we glance at a newspaper or a magazine we see how women are projected in these advertisements. Most women are viewed as sex objects and are used by the media for the consumption of products. This may seem to be a harmless way of promoting a certain product but these sexually provocative advertisements impact on society. The chapter, “Theories Used for Magazine and Newspaper Analysis” will discuss literary theories that can be used to analyze ads in the print media. The next chapter titled, “Content Analysis and Portrayal of Women in Contemporary Bangladeshi Magazines and Newspapers” will discuss in detail how women are being objectified and stereotyped. That chapter will also deal with readers’ reactions to these ads. Through threads the print media sets standards for women and decide how a woman should look, dress or behave. Earlier women who possessed a good figure and were fleshy was considered beautiful but now we see that the slim women with ‘size-zero’ figure are considered hot and pretty, revealing how the definition of feminine beauty have changed over the years. However, the portrayal of women in the print media is quite degrading as they are being depicted as a commercial commodity in the process.