Gender discrimination manifests in the ways we see, think, write and even imagine. Gender discrimination is hidden in our arts too. Media is also not untouched by this.
One thing that plays a silent yet important role in media reporting on rape and violence is the imagery, the artwork, and the graphics accompanying it. Today, they are increasingly visible and convey emotions better than the written word. The whole essence of an article can be grasped just by looking at the accompanying picture.
Often these pictures show a scared, crying, fearful and nervous woman or a girl. Her clothes are torn and she is sobbing, sitting alone in the shadows. A man or a shadow of men will be seen, sometimes with a raised hand or several raised hands signalling suppression, threat or attack. Sometimes another hand emerges in such drawings to indicate a stop or protest.
These traits are often visible in images accompanying articles in newspapers, digital media or even news channels.
A cursory glance automatically gives us an idea of what the news would be about. Looking at the image, it would appear that a young woman has been subjected to cruelty. Sometimes tears or wounds can be found on the face of the young woman or the girl. Some compassion may arise in the mind of the viewer, who may even feel pity. But the man or the shadow of a man can also cause a feeling of fear and dread.
Why is it only a young woman’s face that is drawn in these images? Why are the rapists or attackers hidden behind the shadows? Why is the young woman made to sit like a helpless person? Why don’t these images expose the misdeeds of the rapist? The abuser’s strength is visible in these images but why not his crime?
There is a need to give some thought to these five questions. You can also see that the woman in the images is young and well-dressed, or sometimes, a child. Yet gender crimes occur across ages.
The Supreme Court has spoken about precautions that should be taken while reporting such cases. Of course, the face of a particular victim is not drawn. Yet the media simplifies and generalises these images so much that they seem completely disconnected from reality.
Why do we represent the rapists only by shadows? Does our media have sympathy for rapists? It is understandable that they may not want to draw a face that resembles someone, but why is the face of the attacker hidden behind shadows? Are we afraid that we may see our faces in it or have we vowed to avoid depiction of rapists? Is it the media’s negligence behind this, or incompetence, or lack of creativity?
The statistics of our country clearly show that about 40% of rapes take place at homes and are committed by people close to survivors and victims. So why are the perpetrators made so abstract?
Also read: How Not to Discuss Rape
The third question is why the young woman is almost always shown as sitting helplessly. When the images show helpless victims, they are an insult to her struggle for self-defence. In many real life incidents, efforts of self-defence have been described, then why is this conflict not getting its due place in the images. Can no one imagine how much effort a survivor or victim must have made to protect herself?
There is no place where there is no rapist – bus, train, home or school – yet it is always a dark corner that is depicted in these images. The media refuses the need to create different images for different incidents.
Next, it does not take a genius to realise that making the men look like ghosts cannot bring any awareness in the society, criticism can be developed only by exposing their gestures, gaze, and actions. Media may not be sympathetic to the rapists, yet it is doing a great service to them by hiding their crimes.
That brings us to the last question, the rapist in the images is shown to be powerful, yet his crime remains hidden. The fact is, at that moment of the incident he was successful in using his strength. But the bigger truth is that he has committed a terrible crime. Power and crime are not the same. I am not saying that the crime needs to be shown exactly, but the point is – why is the crime hidden completely? When his strengths can be shown, show his offence as well. Showing power without crime will only create attraction towards the powerful. It’s almost like appreciating or worshipping the powerful and his power.
The images used in sexual crimes against women, are aimed at creating sensation and mystery. They also arouse our compassion to some extent. But they do not give any space to the anger of the common people and their desire for justice. A discussion is present around how to sensitively portray sexual assault cases in the media in terms of writing. But there is not much talk of images, pictures, drawings, and sketches used with reports.
The gender discourse in the world has moved ahead a lot, and it is not reflected in the images used by most of our media today.
Naresh Prerna is a poet and playwright.
