My daughter disgraced me, says Minister Magwagwa, ...
My daughter disgraced me, says Minister Magwagwa, The Swazi Observer
Date: January 1, 1970
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A government minister denies that his daughter?s attempted suicide was caused by problems at home and his refusal to nullify her traditional marriage.
A government minister denies that his daughter?s attempted suicide was caused by problems at home and his refusal to nullify her traditional marriage.
This article may be used to:
- Demonstrate subtle gender stereotypes.
- To explore when and how women make news.
Trainer’s notes
Women often make news in the following ways:
- When they step out of the traditional defined gender roles, and this leads to negative consequences;
- Deviant behaviour;
- Controversy, conflict; and
- When they are often identified in relation to a prominent man.
In the case study, ‘My daughter disgraced me, says Minister Magwagwa’, the eldest daughter of the minister has made news because of her attempted suicide and because she is the daughter of a prominent man. The Gender and Media Baseline Study of regional media found that in the 12 countries studied, a woman is more likely to be identified as a wife, daughter or mother than a man is likely to be identified as a husband, son or father. The regional average for such labeling of women was 11 percent, compared to two percent for men.
The story also is portrayed as a clash between father and daughter which led to drastic a act. The article however, centers on the father who is the only source in the story and the event is told from his perspective. The news criteria of prominence is also central to why this story has been placed on the media’s agenda.
The young woman is portrayed as a passive victim. She has no voice in the story; she is depicted as weak and unable to handle her own affairs, and as dependent on her father to end her ‘traditional marriage’. The father, on the other hand, is depicted as powerful, callous and in control.
Hidden in the story’s lack of context, depth and a diversity of sources is the other side of the story, as well as exploration of the gender power relations within the home which have led to an attempted suicide. Without the voice of the daughter and other women and men sources ( eg the mother, her husband, etc) and a probe into the gender issues which underlie this story, the young woman’s experience is trivialized.
The story is a good example of gender-insensitive reporting because it:
- Provides only one perspective;
- Gives only the views of one man;
- Gives the view only of a male who is in a powerful position;
- It trivializes the young woman marriage and subsequent suicide attempt by focusing only on the father’s perspective of the events; and
- It displays the traditional gender identities of an authoritarian father figure and an “undutiful” daughter who has not conformed to her father’s expectations.
The headline also conveys how the daughter has failed in the role expected of her.
This story shows how gender biases and prejudices can lead to shallow and unprofessional newsgathering skills by journalists. The resulting stories are often not fair and balanced in their representation of an issue or an event, and in their representation of women.
Training exercises
Exercise one: Read the case study and discuss the following:
- Who speaks in the article?
- Who does not speak?
- What perspective comes through in the article on the attempted suicide?
- How is the daughter portrayed?
- How is the father portrayed?
- Do you think the portrayal of the father is realistic? Explain answer.
Exercise two: Based on the case study, answer the following questions:
What news criteria is used for this story?
- Why does the woman make news?
- Why is her voice missing in the story?
- Does the story trivialize the woman’s experiences? Explain answer.
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