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| Number 5 | April 2000 | ||
Contents
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Yin-Yang Workshop To speak of women on television is an extremely difficult proposition despite the apparent banality of the subject. Women are present everywhere, in cultural broadcasts, game shows and even in televised news; but the world of women on television still has man as the common reference. Their identity is completely absorbed by the phallocratic expectations and mannerisms which they simply have to slip into. The intrusion of television into consciousness is such that there are few who wonder about the genesis of these scenarios where each detail is extremely coded. To understand, we have to return to the deepest source of our "actions": The Bible. Incredible idea? Not quite! In the Bible, you often find that wives and daughters serve as items of barter. Thus Abraham pawned his wife against a camel herd and Loth gave his daughters to the guest as a sign of welcome. If you closely analyse the presence of women presenters in television news, you realise that the role of barter object is still entirely present. Of course the times and civilisations are different. It is no longer a question of camels! But look at the presentation: sophisticated clothes, tutored smiles, carefully controlled speech, head at a slight incline. They are modest and as they should be, offering and offered to make an unjustly horrible image of the world banal and acceptable. They are so charming, like gift wrappings, that the enthralled and numb spectator can only subscribe to the unacceptable. They are barter in the sense that the femininity projected exudes charm and makes the ratings climb. Besides, even if women read the news, the conception remains essentially masculine. You could call it "demi-news" in which the thought processes and way of being of half of humanity is eliminated. The content and spirit of these news programmes would definitely be very different if women were free to completely conceive the programme, i.e. without fear of the father that deprives them of their most fertile inspiration. We see it, our societies that are so proud of their so-called modernity are not yet rid of archetypes inherited from barbarous patriarchal societies. In the Bible again, we see that Eve is the first creature to be created from living matter. She is the separation from God and Man, introducing the latter to socialisation. Now in the broadcasts, the news or game shows, the women presenters assume with great elegance this role that has been assigned to woman since the dark ages. These are hostesses who ensure that everything is proceeding smoothly and that each person is comfortable in his or her role. It is painful and even disagreeable to see them so restricted when you know how humorous, inventive and lively they could be if they gave free rein to their instinct. It is indeed their instinct that pushes women towards protection of life. How is it possible to not draw a striking parallel between mothers who intervene in Biblical battles to save the situation and the use television makes of women at the most dangerous fronts. Why this trend? Undoubtedly because the presence of a woman in the midst of horror makes her more poignant, even more pitiful. The courage of women journalists is not the same as male warrior confidence. It is linked to the force of life that braves all dangers to report and condemn them thus making the channel much more "human". This edifying and discouraging inventory could be pursued at length. We could believe that for as long as television is created by men, it will be little inclined to change its policy towards women. How can something else be set in motion? How can the awareness of a small minority be transformed into real change? The solution is not simple because women are still greatly shackled within the male vision and the few who manage to find a niche behave like "men" even if they enact seduction. For real change to take place, broadcasts would have to be created where women would finally be the subjects. They possess their own charisma and a sensitivity that is their very own, rich and fertile. True equality in television would offer women a reflection of their world and not a masculine vision of it. Few are ready for this change especially in Europe where seduction is still very present. But this is a fascinating research subject that calls for courage and freedom. The field of exploration is huge. We tend to too often forget that before Eve, there was a free, sensual and fiercely independent Lilith that the old theologians hurriedly packed off into limbo. Michèle Dussaut Delorme (France) (M.H.S - Brazil) M.H.S. (in Portuguese) in Physics stands for Simple Harmonic Movement, a concept for naming nature in its essence and simplicity; the revolution of the Earth around the Sun, the successive passage of the seasons, etc. Simple as night and day, male and female. Such is the Men in solidarity's Movement, simple, almost obvious, almost consensual, and it nevertheless took 30 years for it to be created, since the first feminist demonstrations in the sixties. This is why, on Sunday 8th March last year (date for the International Women's Day) a group of about hundred men and women, including Senator Eduardo Suplicy and Member of Parliament Marta Suplicy, organised a march in Sao Paulo and officially launched the Men in solidarity's Movement, which claims it will take to the streets each time it is necessary, for the cause of a more just and more egalitarian society. That Sunday, with the symbolic participation of CIVES and other institutions like Citizen's Action, the Alliance for a united and responsible world, the ECOAR Citizen's Institute, without counting innumerable feminist entities, the united men marched forth with their companions and children, distributing flowers, reciting poetry and reading the manifesto (see manifesto) of the birth of this new social activist group. Gil Palma (Brazil)
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