B

illy K. Sarwono'€™s Saatnya Media Pro Perempuan: Perspektif Gender dalam Kajian Media (It is high time for media to be pro women: A gender perspective in media studies) begins with an important thesis: The representation of women in print media does not accurately depict women in their actual social, cultural and political roles.  

This premise is supported by the author'€™s study of Indonesia'€™s leading newspapers published in Jakarta and their analysis using a variety of theoretical frameworks.

Her thesis is that news dissemination by the print media is gender-biased and that the media is still dominated by males who tend to use the concept of '€œhousewifization'€ to diminish the role of women.

In essence, the representation of women in the media tends to position women as subordinate and inferior to their male counterparts.

Challenging the prevailing assumption that media disseminates news in a neutral and objective manner, hence the neutral journalism approach, Billy employs gender perspective journalism in her approach, pointing out the surreptitious dominance of male ideologies that have the potential to undermine and even suppress the role of women.

She suspects that there are covert, yet systematic efforts on the part of the media to shape stereotypes of women and promote gender-biased values as if these are normal and commonsensical that must therefore be accepted by the readers.

The depiction of women as subordinate to men under the patriarchal cultural system is still widespread and needs to be viewed from varied vantage points.   

While promoting the latter approach, Billy is cognizant that in reality it never occurs to a female journalist that she has '€œbeen conditioned and constructed to display her writing using male-pattern writing'€.

After all, what counts as good reporting is not an issue of gender equity, but rather the fulfillment of journalistic standards such as accuracy, dependability and codes of conduct.  Thus, gender is not deemed a vital variable in reporting.

Despite the book'€™s thesis being supported by assorted theoretical insights and philosophical traditions, the critique Billy launches of the selected print media can be said to showcase the importance of disentangling the structural power inequality between the media (and their owners) and the readers who are the regular consumers of the media.

Aligning herself with this perspective, Billy is then able to deconstruct that which is often perceived as commonsensical and normal in media reporting and to raise readers'€™ consciousness that unless every news item in the media is critically questioned, the reporting can marginalize and exploit women both politically and economically.

Yet, fully aware that politics and economics are only a couple of facets by which women are unjustly impacted, Billy tries to marry Marxism with feminism and other cultural studies, considering sociocultural factors as vital elements that must be taken into account in the discussion of gender inequity.

Partly influenced by theories of political economy, Billy invites readers to view facts the media disseminates as a mere illusion and virtual reality, which are subject to dispute and resistance.

The raison d'€™Ãªtre of this contention is that the information disseminated by the media is the by-product of a discourse created by dominant or powerful elites who attempt to reproduce and eventually sustain their ideologies.  

Quoting a feminist-oriented slogan, Billy sees the media as functioning as '€œmythical story-telling'€ and '€œnews as a myth-maker'€.

Provocative in its tone, yet incisive in its exposition, this book is a must read for those interested in issues of media studies and gender inequity. Also, the book'€™s strongly-grounded theoretical insights certainly add to the rigor of the analysis, and make it an erudite work worth of perusing.