Investigating the representation of women in radio programs (content analysis of TV series)

MA Master's Thesis

Department of Social Communication Sciences

Abstract:

This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the rate of attitudes towards women in television series and investigated the amount of presence of women in television series, the gender discourse presented at the individual, structural and symbolic level and the rate of verbal and non-verbal gender relations between male and female actors in television series.

It was carried out in the field and with the method of content analysis and discourse analysis of television series that were randomly selected from among the Iranian series that were first broadcasted in 2011.

In terms of the number of women, the research showed that in terms of the number of roles, men are more present than women. They have mature ages (middle age and old age).

In the field of gender discourse at the individual level, independent women have a lower presence than dependent women and independent men in terms of the number of roles and show time.

In the field of gender discourse at the structural level, in the component of gender division of labor, women are described more in the domestic space, and in the component of power, women are less likely to make decisions and act independently, despite the opposition of men.

On the symbolic level, women are generally shown in feminine mystical spaces.

In the context of verbal and non-verbal gender relations, in all four aspects of ritualization of behavior, work ranking, feminine touch and acceptable withdrawal, women have a lesser role than men. it is possible, the main condition is the existence and continuation of collective life; Because the collective life of humans has no meaning without the existence of values, norms, goals and even conflicts that arise through communication. In addition, the discovery and maintenance of group values, norms, cultural content, as well as social learning processes, and at the same time social conflicts, only come about through communication. In order to live a collective life, people must be informed about the goals, purposes, awareness, and also the thinking and perception of others in order to be able to respond to them. Therefore, the media, as one of the social institutions, is responsible for the transfer of the cultural and social heritage and the values ??of the societies, and sometimes they try to introduce new models to the society as needed. In this situation, the media is projected as a factor of maintaining or changing social values ??and norms.

On the other hand, one of the unique features of today's world is the existence of extensive human communication, in such a way that the present age is called the age of communication and today's society is called the information society. In such a society, media and mass communication tools play an important role as a key element in communication. If the acceleration of the progress of information and communication technology is the center of gravity of cultural developments in recent years, mass media, among all new tools and techniques, have the greatest cultural impact. These media have a great contribution in maintaining the status quo, the emergence of new habits, and the change in people's beliefs, moods, and behavior. Of course, the extent of the impact of the media and the acceptance of them by everyone is not the same in all societies, it depends on the changing cultural, economic and social development of each society, but there is a general view about the function of the media that the mass media should help protect the environment and solidarity between the various components of the society in response to environmental needs (Motamanjad, 1375: 18). Curiosity has given the media the power to create ideas and shape public opinion. As the best sources of shaping our thoughts and ideas about the surrounding environment, the media play an important and outstanding role, especially regarding events that are beyond our reach, vision and direct experience.

Today, the media has such influence, scope and power that it can be said that they determine our mental and behavioral priorities and if they do not teach us how to think, at least they teach us what to think about. In a way, it can be said that the mass communication media are considered the most important feature of modern society and in fact, they induce all cultural norms.

The media, by publishing information, shapes the thoughts, mentalities and culture of the society. Based on this, message selectors and compilers (media managers and programming agents) play a very important role in how culture is formed and its evolution. Meanwhile, visual media, especially television, play a much more prominent role, so that it can be said that television is one of the main factors in the process of socialization and the transfer of cultural concepts.

Television, due to the use of two senses of sight and hearing at the same time, the speed of news transmission, the multitude of audiences and the ability to broadcast audio and video at the same time, has become a powerful means of information in today's world. In terms of the features of this media, it can be said:

Television affects the two senses of sight and hearing at the same time, and this feature puts it in a superior position over radio and the press.

TV programs do not need an intermediary to reach the opinion of the audience. put it (ibid., 146).

Therefore, television, as a national and comprehensive media, acts as one of the most important agents of socialization. All television programs contain messages and intentionally or unintentionally instill certain meanings and emotions in the audience (Raudrad, 1382: 168).

Television helps to provide frameworks of experience and general cultural attitudes within which people, in today's societies, interpret and organize information. Television is as important as books, magazines and newspapers in expanding indirect forms of communication in the present age. Television shapes the ways in which people interpret social life and react to it, by helping to organize our experience of social life (Giddens, 1376; 479).

By addressing the viewer's sense instead of his mind, television creates conditions that can communicate with any viewer, with any level of literacy and understanding, and contribute to cultural education and reproduction. to pay A reproduction that is based on providing shared experiences from the external environment and easy and effective visual learning. This reproduction leads to the formation of social culture.

In this context, the show has a special place and role. During the last decade, the cultural industries have multiplied the media show in new spaces and bases, and the show itself has become one of the organizing principles for the economy, politics, society and daily life. Media culture, in order to attract more audiences and increase its power, influence and profit, every day uses more complex and new technical perspectives and display methods, in such a way that the image culture of information entertainment has an increasing appeal.

Seductive shows, under the influence of multimedia culture, attract citizens and media audiences and the entire consumer society, involved in a meaningful network of entertainment, information and consumption. does; A pattern that has a deep effect on individual and social actions and thoughts. When the real world is transformed into simple images, the simple images become real beings and the cues that create hypnotic behavior. When the image, using various media tools, forces a person to see the world, it is no longer possible to understand the world in a real way, and it is natural that the privileged human sense becomes the sense of sight; Just as in the past, the sense of touch was superior.

With the growth and development of new information and multimedia technologies, technological display has had an undeniable effect on the formation of the main and secondary lines and paths of today's societies and cultures, in such a way that media display has become one of the main characteristics and representative of the phenomenon of globalization (Kellner, 2015: 162-164).

In the meantime, women, as half of the society's audience, find a special importance and role. With the help of display tools, on the one hand, television tries to instill a special image of women in the society to the viewer and define and define an acceptable image of women, and on the other hand, to form specific behavior patterns of women. Also, by showing a special image of women and how other sections of society interact with them, television sets a model for different sections of society in dealing with women.