People might think gender stereotypes are passé and that gender-prejudice issues are a thing of the past. This is far removed from the truth, keeping in mind that Malta is a Mediterranean island with close social links to neighbouring Sicily.

A “Challenging Stereotypes for the Media” seminar was held for journalists and newspersons last Tuesday at the Radisson Hotel, St Julian’s. It was organised by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC), the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE), and University of Malta lecturer Dr Brenda Murphy.

A presentation on the different gender stereotypes was followed by a discussion. The Global Media Monitoring Project 2005 was also revised.

Results from this project conducted by World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), with the participation of the Malta Broadcasting Authority and the University of Malta, concluded that in 2005, only 17 per cent of new subjects represented across all news media were female in contrast to the 83 per cent that were male.

Apart from this, the gender profile of reporters across all media demonstrates the inequitable profile that exists across gender. TV, radio, and newspapers all have a greater presence of male reporters, while females are dominant in the role of presenter on TV and radio.

Female reporters were least likely to report on “politics and government”. Women reporters only covered 0.4 per cent of government and politics reports while 50 per cent were related to science and health.

Only 0.7 per cent of news stories challenge gender stereotypes in the media while 2.2 per cent reinforce these stereotypes. Most of the media are stereotypical, depicting women as victims and helpless figures.

According to the project, 99 per cent of news stories monitored in the media do not highlight the issue of gender equality or inequality. Stories that do focus on gender equality or inequality make up less than one per cent of the news stories monitored.

The elimination of gender stereotypes in the media is one of the priority areas outlined by the EU action on gender equality for 2006–2010.

According to the EU Roadmap 2006–2010, there are six priority areas for EU action on gender equality – the equal economic independence for women and men; reconciliation of private and professional life; equal representation in decision-making, eradication of all forms of gender-based violence, elimination of gender stereotypes, and promotion of gender equality in external and development policies.

The core concerns outlined at the seminar, which relate to gender stereotypes in the media are: the absence of women or the silencing of women taking part in a programme with a male; narrow, rigid occupational portrayals; showing young boys as “active” and young girls as “passive”; and the use and misuse of stereotyping.

A prime example of gender discrimination is very evident in certain Maltese television programmes, which promote and exploit scantily clad girls “dancing” or rather prancing about, and who contribute nothing of value to the programme.

While this is a glaring example, other examples of gender stereotypes may be much more subtle yet equally harmful.

Another common assumption people tend to take for granted is that this kind of stereotyping is only directed at women, but advertisements, which also portray the dismemberment of men, are also becoming highly popular. This kind of dismemberment of the body in adverts that show just a pair of legs, lips, or the male torso, reduces the human body to a mere object.

Even though the fashion industry went to hell and back when confronted with the ‘size-zero’ dilemma last year, with Madrid catwalks refusing to employ models with a mass body index below that of 22, the notion of “the ideal body” as the size zero is still very much alive, especially in other international fashion shows and Hollywood TV series and films. However, commercial campaigns such as Dove have used their own adverts to promote the “real bodies” of women and the (mis)use of photo-shop. Such adverts are making the rounds through e-mails and television and even certain magazines.

Ageism is another issue that needs to be dealt with by the media. As women start growing older they disappear from Medialand, unlike their male counterparts.

There is also the dilemma of the sexualisation of girls who, from the tender age of 14, are made to model clothes that barely cover their bodies and pose for sexy pictures.

The infantilisation of women is also a very serious concern that has long been at the core of media. This is when women are constantly pressured to look younger and threatened with the sack unless they resort to certain measures, such as cosmetic surgery, which will make them look 10 to 15 years younger.

In one of her latest music videos, international pop star Madonna, made fun of it herself when she was shot having a “botox” injection in her face.

The trivialisation of power is another issue and this occurs when prestigious jobs previously the dominion of men are devalued once women start occupying these positions.

Unfortunately this has not only affected the media but other jobs as well such as lecturers at Arts faculties in universities, and even certain medical posts.