Impact of Television on Rural Women: A Sociological Study

Abstract

Television in India started with the experimental telecast starting in Delhi on 15 September 1959 with a small transmitter and a makeshift studio. The regular daily transmitter started in 1965 as a part of All India Radio. The television service was extended to Bombay (now Mumbai) and Amritsar in 1972. Up until 1975, only seven Indian cities had a television service and Doordarshan remained the sole provider of television in India. Television services were separated from radio in 1976. Each office all India Radio and Doordarshan were placed under the management of General in New Delhi. Rural women in spite of being one of the most important segments of the society, still remain least benefited by this medium. But as is well known, women in rural areas are always busy in agriculture and household tasks. They work 16 hours a day bearing the double burden, that too for unequal wages. Therefore, they are left with no time for utilization of mass media.In male terms the women tend to see themselves not as persons responsible and responsible but as sexual being exiting for someone else. Marriage is a socially imposed on her and she has a chance in the matter. A girl is a cause of anxiety for her parents and she has to be ‘knotted’ as soon as possible. Nowadays television is giving a lot of importance in empowering women by telecasting goodprograms to empowering them in the area of social, cultural, economical, educational, legal, decision making, health technological, equal rights, freedom of expression, gender sensitization etc