Competent Women and Caring Men Rabia: "You are a selfish man, Amir. You care only for yourself." Amir: "I don't like to hear this rubbish." Rabia: "This is not rubbish. It's a matter of me and my children's life. I won't let them be ruined.... I still have enough strength to take my children and myself away from you." In this pivotal scene from the Pakistani television drama Aahat (An Approaching Sound), the heroine Rabia argues with her husband Amir for the first time. He has neglected his daughters and demanded that his wife have repeated pregnancies so that he can have a son. Standing up for herself, Rabia presents a new, more powerful image of women. By portraying new role models of women and men, the mass media can create awareness, generate discussion, and suggest new ways for men and women to behave. Such images are particularly powerful when they are presented in programs that entertain. Popular performers and gripping stories attract large audiences, and viewers can emulate the behavior of attractive male and female characters (170). Productions such as Aahat, designed to encourage communication about reproductive health issues, use the mass media to promote contraception and, at the same time, to present new images of women and men. Throughout the world television, radio, and advertisements in all media continually present images of men and women. Usually, these images reinforce stereotypes. For example, Egyptian television serials and dramas present central male characters as attractive because they are mature and successful. In contrast, women are presented as attractive because they are young and pretty (81). Similarly, in India television programming portrays the ideal woman as a submissive wife who sacrifices herself for her family and helps men achieve their goals. The ideal man on India television is one who is diligent, fights for just causes, and protects and controls his home (180). Stereotypes are commonly depicted in broadcasting in the US and other developed countries as well (70, 112). New Images Instead of reinforcing society's stereotypes, script writers and producers can present new images of men and women. Materials produced to promote reproductive health services bear a special responsibility to present male and female characters who are positive role models. Images of competent women. The mass media can promote the image that women are competent in whatever they choose to do, whether they are strong mothers in the village or glamorous urban entrepreneurs. For example, in Peru a multimedia campaign promotes women as "las tromes," a popular expression for people who are resourceful and capable. The campaign features women who skillfully manage their family and work situations. They get the information that they need to solve their problems, including accurate information about contraceptive methods. These women are depicted in television spots and in posters promoting reproductive health services. By showing women who overcome fear, mass-media presentations can help women in the audience learn to overcome their own fears. The 6-part drama Aahat depicts growing tension between Rabia and Amin. Their early romance fades. Within six years the couple has four daughters. But Amir wants sons, and Rabia becomes depressed by her husband's disappointment and her mother-in-law's nagging. Increasingly, Amir blames Rabia until she, supported by a strong female friend, demands respect for herself and her daughters. Surveyed audiences in Pakistan reported great sympathy for Rabia. Of 2,000 survey respondents, 9% visited a family planning clinic, and 12% said they had taken action to space their children as a result of seeing the film. About 87% of viewers said they were likely or very likely to improve communication with their spouses, and 5% said that they had already done so (199). Mass-media portraits are most powerful when they portray women struggling with situations that viewers understand. Examples vary from place to place. Consequences, a film made in Zimbabwe to discourage teenage pregnancy, focuses on a young woman who becomes pregnant and must leave school, nearly dies in childbirth, and must struggle to support her child. Another dramatic film from Zimbabwe, Neria, tells the story of a widow who at first accepts poor treatment from her husband's family but then begins to fight for herself and her children. Documentary films, too, depict competent women and show others how they achieved success. Some focus on women who find strength in collective action. The Indian film Kamala and Raji shows how poor women formed the Self-Employed Women's Association to provide themselves with services they wanted. A video, Women Speak Out in East Africa, interviews professional women and also describes the efforts of women's groups to gain more rights for women. A video from Bangladesh, Jiggasha, focuses on a family planning field worker who helps women in village groups discuss their reproductive health needs (see side-bar Family Planning Field Worker Helps Create New Roles for Women). Images of women at work. Mass-media presentations of women working outside the home help people accept women in such roles. As in all dramas, these stories are most compelling when the characters must overcome difficulties to establish their new roles. A television film about a Turkish midwife, Umut Hep Vardi (Hope Was Always There), depicts an idealistic young woman on her first assignment as a village midwife. To help women and children, she struggles against harsh living conditions and opposition from local male leaders. In the Pakistan television serial drama Nijaat (Deliverance), a rural nurse attempts to persuade a man to use contraception to protect his wife's health. He agrees after the family endures a series of disasters. Informational films and programs, too, can portray women as leaders with authority. Egyptian television spots, for example, have featured the popular actress Karima Moukhtar as a hardworking doctor explaining contraceptive methods. The Indonesian Blue Circle campaign urges people to get information about contraceptive methods from a pleasant, smiling female midwife. Images of caring men. Attractive mass-media images of couples who cooperate can show men and women how to support each other. A cartoon drama made in Mexico, Los Mejores Deseos (Best Wishes), tells the story of a young couple. Gaspar dreams of getting a better job so that he can marry Sara and provide a home. They begin to quarrel when it is Sara who finds a job. Gaspar is jealous of the men she meets at work. In the end, however, they accommodate each other so that they can reach their common goals of a home and family. The video helps young people communicate with each other, see women as equal partners, and plan their children. The film Dangerous Numbers, made in Ghana, shows that couples who cooperate can solve their problems. The tire repairman Kwame and his wife Akua discuss the pressures in their lives and find solutions together. Despite criticism from Kwame's mother, they use contraception and plan their family. Their small family gives both of them time to earn money so that they can send their two children to school. The Egyptian television serial drama And the Nile Flows On showed a female doctor and a progressive religious leader working together to bring peace to the village.
Media Images Can Inspire New Behavior	New Video Available: Competent Women, Caring Men: Images That Inspire A new video produced by Johns Hopkins Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) shows how modern mass media and effective health communication can present new images of couples who cooperate to improve reproductive health. The 10-minute video, entitled Competent Women, Caring Men: Images That Inspire, highlights media projects produced with assistance from JHU/PCS, including social dramas and serial television, music videos, animation, radio or TV documentaries, public performances, and billboards, to show how dramatic images of men and women can be a powerful tool in encouraging people to adopt new behavior. Competent Women, Caring Men: Images That Inspire will be available in late 1994 in VHS. For more information, write to: JHU/PCS, Media/Materials Collection, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA. Specify PAL, NTSC, or SECAM.
Effective Media Images How do depictions of new roles influence people? First, viewers may learn of new options. Researchers held focus-group discussions among poor women who watched the Indian TV soap opera Hum Raahi (We, the Traveling Companions). Having seen what happened to the characters, some women said that they would try to resist pressure to marry off their daughters young and would dare to go out and shop in the market. They recognized that, in the program, educated women were better able than uneducated women to express their opinions. As a result, they wanted more education for themselves and their children. Noting that they had had experiences like those of the television characters, one woman said, "People watching TV feel that they become the equals of those who can read and write" (46). Dramas can give men and women insight into each other's concerns. In And the Nile Flows On, 60% of surveyed female viewers said they identified with the heroine, Dr. Omazma and 11% said they identified with the hero, Sheikh Hashem. Among surveyed male viewers, 29% identified with the heroine and 53% with the hero (387). Social dramas speak most clearly when they portray a contrast of positive and negative characters. The Arabic-language television series Beit al'eyla (The Family House) portrays several families, including the families of a mother who was deserted by her husband and must raise her children alone and that of a competent social worker and her father, a gentle physician. In contrast to the other characters, the social worker and her father work in harmony in their clinic for the good of their neighbors. Furthermore, drama can show positive characters being rewarded for their behavior (18). India's first television soap opera promoting social themes, Hum Log (We, the People), ran in 1984 and 1985. The program intended to promote respectful treatment of women and a wider range of social roles for women. Research found, however, that many viewers missed the point. Many praised the long-suffering woman who accepted abuse from her husband. Viewers noted that she kept peace in her family and thus benefited from her self-effacing behavior (304). Analysis of theHum Log episodes indicated that the positive role models did not consistently benefit from treating women better, and the negative role models were not consistently punished for treating women poorly (28). Hum Raahi, which started in 1992, built on this lesson. The soap opera has a diverse group of male and female characters. Those with respectful attitudes toward women are rewarded (46). How do writers and producers know what works? Thoughtful planning and pre-testing help media producers design effective materials (226, 255). The Peruvian producers of the las tromes campaign portrayed a middle-class family in their television spots rather than the wealthy families usually seen in advertisements. Research had shown that the many lower- and middle-class women who need information about reproductive health issues would find the information more credible if the characters were more like them. Also, in preliminary versions of spots the male characters were washing dishes. In pre-testing focus groups, male viewers thought this was too demeaning a task for men (246). In the final spots men are painting walls or changing light bulbs and are therefore more admirable to other men. The Reach and Impact of the Mass Media Mass-media messages reach vast audiences (226). Each broadcast of Hum Raahi reaches about 100 million people (46). In Mexico over 950,000 people saw a film about young adults, Va de Nuez" (Let's Try It Again), when the Ministry of Health showed it in theaters (54). A new 10-minute radio talk show in Ecuador, Entre nosotras, (Between Us), reached about 30,000 women with each episode about health, sexuality, and contraceptive methods (286). In Egypt 75% of men and 70% of women interviewed in 1992 said that they had heard about contraceptives on television (83). Mass-media messages influence behavior, as family planning communication efforts around the world have demonstrated (255). For example, after a multimedia campaign in Zimbabwe, a survey of married men found that contraceptive use in certain areas had increased from 56% to 59%, and condom use, from 5% to 10% (254). A DHS study in Kenya found that women who had heard about contraceptive methods in the mass media were more likely to be using them (358). In a television and radio campaign in Nigeria in 1992, short public service announcements in five languages presented dramatic situations and brief messages. During the campaign use of contraceptives rose from 25% to 32% of surveyed men and women of reproductive age (174). The mass media provide a powerful way to reach many people with new images of competent women and caring men. Producers who can create well-designed images in high-quality films, videos, radio programs, and other mass media have an opportunity to help change women's lives for the better.