Perspective Chapter: Subjectification and Objectification of Women in Media

Abstract

This chapter will elaborate on the objectification and subjectification of women in the media. The dilemmatic situation between the process of objectification and subjectification of women in television dramas will have implications on women and ultimately on how society sees and positions women. One of the media realities in Indonesia, soap operas, has become a television product that is very popular, especially among women. Currently, soap operas generally occupy prime time which is owned by almost all televisions, therefore the advertising revenue from these shows is very tempting. A popular soap opera can reap advertisements in one episode up to billions of rupiah. Meanwhile, television viewers to date also occupy the largest audience percentage compared to other media. The question is what are the implications on the self-development of women’s audiences and society’s view of women. Based on that, this chapter will discuss an introduction to the subjectification and objectification of women in the media as a phenomenon, both conceptually and theoretically. Various realities of objectification and subjectification that occur in several media and will also be described, the last section will describe a critical study of the existing cases and how changes were made possible and by whom.