The Cambodian Media Mirrors Society’s View of Women

An article I read tonight brought up one issue that I haven’t considered before:  

How women are portrayed in the Cambodian media.  

The article said that:

·         80% of drawings in the Cambodian media, which feature women, are obscene

·         More than 50% of the drawings depict women as sex objects

·         women are the subjects of only 7% of stories 

So the question is:  Are women portrayed poorly because they are actually being treated poorly OR is that fact that they are being portrayed poorly add to their mistreatment? 

My guess is that both statements are true and are perpetuating each other. The inferiority of women to men has been a part of Cambodia’s culture for a very long time. Since the modernity of media hit Cambodia, this cultural aspect was being solidly reinforced by either keeping women out of the media, or by portraying them in a degrading way. I think there is a definite link between the media and the cultural acceptance of prostitution, which is directly linked to sex trafficking.  

Link to the article: http://www.catwinternational.org/factbook/Cambodia.php

Image from: http://www.cwcc.org.kh/images/gender-based.jpg

~ by shainalent on March 31, 2008.