Can the "curse" of the media be solved? December 23, 20:02

The heroine of the anime who became obsessed with her childhood was a mini skirt with excellent style and underwear. However, when I became an adult, I realized that the character was a junior high school student and felt a little uncomfortable. Meanwhile, I was surprised by the casual words of a colleague. "I think there are more male performers in our programs." I myself thought that I hadn't watched the program from that point of view, and I thought I might have had a stereotype unconsciously. started. (Rep. Ito, International Department Reporter)

"Flame on" successively over how women are drawn

Recently, a video ad from an American health appliance maker “burned”.

A woman given her exercise bike by her husband shoots a year-long training session, and watches the record with her husband.

Although it was an advertisement aimed at Christmas sales, criticism on SNS such as "Forced diet is forced by thin dominant wife" and "sex discrimination", the stock price of this company temporarily dropped 15% It became a situation to do.

Last year (2018), the research firm Ipsos conducted a survey on 14,700 people in 28 countries, including Japan, on advertising.

As a result, 76% of respondents said that advertising had a significant impact on shaping people's values, and 64% felt that more fixed expression about the role of men and women should be eliminated. I understand that there is.

Experts familiar with media and gender issues have begun to move away from stereotypical expressions in the United States and Europe in the 1960s, and in Japan in the mid-1970s there was an activity to depict women in the media. It is called.

`` The reason that the expressions that fix the roles of men and women are not lost is that even though the generational change of the media creator side has progressed, the reflections that once flare up have not been sufficiently inherited, and the same thing is repeated I guess it is. "

Academy Awards actors get up

There are laboratories in the US that analyze how women and men are depicted in the media.

He looks at the length of time and the length of dialogue in movies and TV shows and advertisements around the world, and calls for eliminating stereotypes that promote gender discrimination based on objective data.

The founder is Gina Davis, an Academy Award-winning actor known for such films as Thelma & Louise. Davis says that while watching her children's TV show with her daughter, she noticed the difference between how female and male characters were drawn.

Davis suggests that if the number of female characters is smaller than the males, and if the time the females are shown and the length of the dialogue is short, they may send a message that "girls are not as important as boys". Thought.

However, there was no data or research to support Davis's idea, so he launched his own laboratory 15 years ago.

Women are "half" of men

In December, the director of the institute, Madeline di Nono, came to Japan.

Di Nono, who spoke at a seminar hosted by the National Women's Education Center, complained that despite the fact that women are about half the world's population, there is limited opportunity for women to appear in entertainment and the media.

Last year, in collaboration with an international NGO, he introduced the results of analyzing 1859 characters in 56 top performing films in 20 countries, including Japan and the United States.

比 べ Comparing the characters and the length of the dialogue between men and women, women are 33%, almost half of 67% of men.

女性 Of the characters, 27% of women represent women as leaders, such as politicians and managers, significantly less than 42% of men, and women who appear as leaders are more exposed It turns out that they tend to emphasize clothes and sexual objects.

On the other hand, what about advertising?

Last year (2018), an analysis of 133 ads from 23 countries around the world showed that, among the characters who appeared, 40% of the total were women, and three times more people dressed in exposed clothes than men. Had become.

Di Nono is concerned that sexually portraying women can reduce the self-esteem of girls who see them.

"The depiction of women's independence is 'harmful stereotypes'. Men are nervous about the emphasis on gender inequality, which is why they show data and facts I think that we can discuss without being prepared. ''

Who is behind the camera?

So how do we achieve gender equality in the media and eliminate expressions that fix the image and role of men and women?

Di Nono pointed out that it should first change from the creator.

"It's important to have the right to make decisions in the production. If the ratio of men and women behind the camera (the production side) is 5: 1, fewer women will appear on the screen. The way is to create more women for writers, writers and decision makers. ''

The media about to change

Under these circumstances, there is a movement that the media is changing in the world.

Since June, the British Advertising Standards Council has banned the use of stereotypes and sexually emphasized expressions on genders and roles on television, the Internet, and SNS.

In addition, the British public broadcaster BBC introduced the “50:50 Project” last April in an attempt to equalize the proportion of men and women who appear in programs.

Of the 66 programs that have been participating in the project from the outset, the percentage of women who accounted for half was from 27% at first, but increased to 74% a year later.

“Self-reflection”

In this interview, the words of a specialist were impressive.

The expert cited a scene in which Disney movie princesses, such as Cinderella and Snow White, asked a man for help in a movie that was shown last year and questioned how they believed they were alive. And pointed out:

Musashi University, Professor Emeritus Yoko Kunihiro "The creators are critically looking at their past ways of drawing princesses. Human values ​​change with the times, and the media are the values ​​of each era Isn't it necessary to look at the expressions and expressions in a self-reflective manner and use them in future transmissions? "

It was an interview to ask if what I send reflects the diversity of the times. And this applies not only to gender issues, but also to how race, disability and sexual minorities are depicted.

As a member of the media, I felt that I had to be sensitive to the changing values ​​of the times and use them in my own communication.

Joined in 2015 after working as a reporter for the International Affairs Division, Remin Ito. Moved from the Morioka bureau to the International Department, in charge of Asia and Oceania.