Experts Question Prevailing Gender Lens In Dramas

News Desk

Islamabad: Dramas have the ability to fascinate audiences and deliver crucial messages, whether they are performed on stage or on television.

They can evoke strong emotions in viewers and help them relate with the plot by presenting relevant people and events. On the other hand, if this power is misused, it may result in the glorification of harmful behaviour, the normalisation of stereotypes, and the distortion of society and culture. This is also true in Pakistani dramas.

From ‘ChupRaho’ to ‘Gul-e-Rana’, ‘Kaisa Hai Naseeban’ to ‘Dil-e-Veeran’, and ‘Muqadar’ to ‘Bashar Momin’, there are cruel examples of not only whitewashing crimes against women but also normalizing Stockholm syndrome, a psychological condition under which people develop positive feelings toward their captors or abusers over time.

Commercialisation of Drama 

The question arises here is that why in the 21st century our dramas are still treading the same path rather than diverging in the direction of something better and constructive that can advance society is raised.

Veteran actress of the Pakistani drama industry Samina Ahmed said that domestic abuse, violence against women, and other crimes against women do exist in our society and must be depicted in dramas as well, but the core of the story is what happens in the end. The act is actually reinforced in society if the fiction normalises similar behaviours without demonstrating any repercussions.

“Television has become overly commercialised, and there is a competition for viewers. TRPS, followers and million views led to businesses deciding the base of such dramas,” Samina added.

Punjab University School of Communication Studies Visiting Faculty Zulqernain Tahir stated that similar to how fake news is attacked in mainstream media, individuals begin to accept propaganda and false information as fact. The same is true for entertainment media; if unfavourable content is consistently depicted in dramas, then its audience is inclined to accept it as normal.

It is an established theory that whatever is shown in media, people perceive it as real and get emotionally attached to the actors and stories, and eventually many try to implement the scenarios seen in dramas, which is why dramas can create a lasting effect, opined University of Sargodha Communication & Media Studies Assistant Professor Abdul Rehman Qaisar.

“If entertainment media is free from the return of investment obsession then it will truly serve the definition of performing arts,”saidSenior Journalist Zulqernain Tahir.

What Can Be Done?

University of Sargodha Department of Communication & Media Studies Assistant Professor Noman Yaser stated that regulatory agencies play a crucial role throughout the world but this is not the case here for a variety of reasons, with cross-media ownerships being the most significant.

“We have conglomerates all over the media sector because there are fewer independent media which results in a lack of alternative opinions and vocalisation about many social concerns, hijacking the good material in the pursuit of profit, which needs to change,” Noman added.

There should be media literacy programs to create awareness about media content and how it can be improved. When the audience is aware, they will uprightly reject the bad content, which will mould the media industry to create good content, suggested University of Sargodha Communication & Media Studies Assistant Professor Abdul Rehman Qaisar.

National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) former Chairperson Khawar Mumtaz stated, “We can only change when we decide what it is that we actually want from our society: either we want it to stay bad by normalising crimes, discouragement, and degrading behaviour towards women, or we want to rid our society of all such ills by highlighting the repercussions of all such behaviour and laying out a path for women to bravely navigate it.”

Khawar Mumtaz further said that an idea portrayed well through the performing arts can change a person’s life. If we say that drama already depicts what is bad in society, then all we need to do is put an end to the practice of glorifying the criminal. One good example can save many Raima for ‘Muqaddar’ and several Rudaba for ‘Bashar Momin’. All it takes is the decision to do what’s right.