CHAPTER – 1

Introduction

In modern age, media is considered the most powerful tool to tell people how to understand,

behave and communicate in their lives. It also builds public opinion. How different people

belonging to different groups will be treated all rests upon the fact what media will tell the

society. Gender identities, socio cultural norms, political attitudes and even the policies in the

power corridors all are formed as a result of interplay between media, society and people.

On the other hand, media also molds public opinion in the favor or against any political party.

During election time, many parties use this tool to grab votes or to oppose other party. Hence we

can say that, media is the part of our daily life, and whatever shown through this tool affects our

thoughts and ideologies.

The portrayal of gender identity and issues in the mass media has always remained debatable.

Many researches are conducted how women and men are portrayed in dramas, films and other

television series. As media frames public opinion as it wants, it also shapes a particular opinion

about a specific gender. In culture where women are suppressed, media portrays them in that

way. i.e. they are shown less powerful, dependent on men and having less thinking power.

Research also shows that there are a few females than males in almost all forms of media and

those who do appear are often portrayed in a stereotypical way. In everything from advertising to

print media, in comic books, novels, television programming, films and video games, women are

mostly shown as performing household jobs such as laundry, cooking, cleaning the house, as sex

1

objects to please men, as victim who needs men to protect themselves etc. in most of the

commercials women are shown just to attract consumers. This forms typical opinion about the

women that she is created to make men happy, are totally dependent on them, and to perform

household jobs like a maid. Similarly men are also stereotypically shown on the media. They are

portrayed as violent, aggressive, tempted of women and sex etc.

No doubt there has been lot of awareness campaigns regarding women rights and as a result of

these women status is changing but still women are far behind than men in the society.

Radio is considered an important medium of information. Before the advent of television,

the radio was extremely popular in urban/rural areas. It was the only source through which

message could be conveyed in audio form. Whatever the genre i.e. entertainment, news, general

knowledge, all were of interest to people.

Radio drama plays an important role in building public opinion. It has a great impact on human

lives and behaviors. The actions performed on television screen or on radio resemble the daily

life. It seems that everything is happening in reality. This technique is fully useful in shaping

public opinion on some agenda or ideology.

In Pakistan radio has always been remained an important medium of communication. Radio has

played its role both in war and peace. It has also created awareness among masses regarding

education, disease prevention and culture. Pakistan where more than 60% population still lives in

rural areas the medium has got a great importance. Villagers still use radio as a preferred

medium to be informed and entertained. The messages that are communicated via radio have

effects for political, social, economic and cultural lives of the listeners. Since the broadcast of

Halloween joke to today general elections and cultural festivals the power of radio cannot be

2

underestimated. Due to advent of FM radio, portable devices and internet technologies radio has

entered into the digital age. Radio dramas present a beautiful combination of spoken dialogues

and audio effects through which stories are told to inspire the listeners. Rich tradition of radio

drams has always affected the listeners’ moods and behaviors.(Economic survey of Pakistan,

2013)

Rationale

Gender portrayal in media has always remained a subject of investigation for media researchers.

In a Pakistani rural population where women are far less privileged than women of metropolitan

areas the way radio portray and represent women becomes an important topic of research. This is

because the style and manner in which women will be represented and portrayed in radio dramas

will inadvertently affect the way women will be treated in real life. Moreover rich tradition of

research in the area of gender and media also demands that there should be a consistent effort to

investigate various media contents regarding the gender portrayal. In addition to these women

status is changing in Pakistani society and women are becoming more and more empowered, this

shift demands that various media contents should be studied to see relationship of this shift to

media contents. As drama is the powerful tool in shaping people attitudes and opinion, it is

highly necessary to study how women are portrayed in it. For this purpose, a study is carried out

on the dramas of radio Pakistan, which can help us to examine how radio dramas are showing

women. That is why researcher has investigated radio dramas broadcasted by Pakistan

Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) for the portrayal of women.

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Theoretical framework

Theory of cultivation developed by George Gerbner in 1970s is used as a theoretical

frame work for the study. It says that media (television) creates a world view which is considered

as a reality even if it is true or not. According to this theory, media cultivated reality becomes

truth for the people because they believe in them. This reality in turn constitutes their feelings,

opinion, attitudes and believes. (Bran & Davis, 2013, p. 279). Theory essentially talks about the

medium of TV and its power to cultivate a particular world view, but it can be extended to other

medium especially to those that use sound and visuals to communicate. Therefore theory

application can be extended to radio and internet.

There are three important factors in the theory: First; mainstreaming of any (TV) medium in the

receivers lives. Second; dependency of receivers on any medium (TV) for communication.

Third; the direction of effects that is adopted by any medium to communicate messages to

receivers. (Baran & Davis, 2013, pp. 287-289)

These factors can be easily extended to radio and radio has also got the ability to cultivate the

world view and thoughts in minds of listeners.

Theory also states that Television is somewhat different from other forms of mass media because

of its presence in majority of homes and it does not require literacy like newspapers and

magazines and books. Moreover it is free of cost whereas movies bear cost to watch them. It

combines both pictures and sound. Hence, it is one of the most accessible medium of information

through which people can interact easily. (Miller, 2012). This assumption can also be extended

to radio because of free medium and no requirement of literacy to use it. Gerbner and his

colleagues also argue that TV has become a chief creator of synthetic cultural patterns in both

4

entertainment and information for the public and it is shared by common public message systems

(Hirch, 1980). This assumption can stand true to any medium that is domination or present as

ubiquitous in any social environment. In our case radio is a medium that is more in use in

Pakistani rural population.

It is argued in the theory that Medium (TV) cultivates specific attitudes and opinions as more

basic assumptions about the facts of life and standards of judgment on which conclusions are

based (Hirch, 1980). Therefore theory provides a solid academic foundation for the study of

portrayal of women in radio dramas because it offers extensions and to some extent similarity in

the patterns through which any medium can cultivate cultural patterns and world view.

Objectives of the study

Following are the objectives of study:

To research portrayal of women in the dramas of Radio Pakistan.

To identify the traits that are mostly associated with women characters in radio dramas.

To help writers, producers and policy makers of radio to access the women portrayal in

radio drams of PBC.

To develop an insight into the relationship of a shift in women status in Pakistani society

and their representation through the medium of radio.

Significance of the Study:

There is hardly any research work available on radio dramas of Pakistan. That is why this

research is a first research work of its kind.

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Outcomes of research would help to dig out other contributing factors that are affecting

the status of women in our society especially in rural areas.

Research would help writers, producers of radio to evaluate their radio dramas contents.

Outcomes of research will help to improve the representation of women in radio dramas.

Women are an important part of our society. They have been struggling for their rights

since decades. This study will help in promoting the image of women in Pakistani society

through media.

This study can assist policy makers to create media contents which can help in promoting

the image of the women in society as well as getting rid of several stereotypes.

Definition of Terms:

Portrayal:

Merriam Webster Online dictionary defines Portrayal, “The act of showing or describing

someone or something especially in a painting, book, etc. It is also referred to the way in which

an actor plays a character”. It is referred to the way by which characters are presented in the

media.”(Webster, 2015) 

Radio Pakistan:

Radio Pakistan is official radio channel of Pakistan. It is operated by Pakistan Broadcasting

Corporation.

Drama:

Merriam Webster Online dictionary defines drama as “a composition in verse or prose intended

to portray life or character or to tell a story usually involving conflicts and emotions through

action and dialogue and typically designed for theatrical performance.”(Webster, 2015) 

6

Limitations:

Following are the limitations in the study:

Research is exploratory in its dimension and is conducted to know the women portrayal

in radio dramas.

Study cannot be related to feminism tradition of media research.

Rather than making a large number of hypotheses study has remained more in focus to

identify the traits that has been remained associated with women in radio dramas.

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CHAPTER - 2

Literature Review

Media today with its hegemony over the lives and monopoly on the minds has become more than

an entity or even an institution. Media tends to influence people to orient their thinking patterns

in a specific desired manner for which various techniques are employed. Since media merely is a

depiction of the society it represents, only in a designed and technically planned manner, it tends

to explain why and how certain trends prevail in the society.

Gender inequality and its portrayal in the media are as old as the media itself. It dates back to the

times of first-wave feminism when the women (the feminists) first began to demand legal

advances and full citizenship during 1880 and 1920s and through second-wave feminism during

the 1960s. The second-wave acknowledging the oppression of women in private and personal

spheres left a huge mark on the Western society, and thus on the media where gender roles began

to appear accordingly. (Shaughnessey & Stadler, 2008, p. 363)

Just as in the society the character of women has been struggling in the media, let alone to get the

fair share of the time and exposure on the media, justified representation remains a far cry. The

absence of women in news stories the world over, objectification of women, absence from

serious and influential productions of media and under-employment of women in media by

media houses all account to the symbolic annihilation of women (Da Silva, 2008).

This conforms to the general unstated idea that women are not considered strong enough-

intellectually and physically to carry out a job that demands responsibility and influences people

at large.

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Gerbner (1986) has defined annihilation as the opposite of representation on the media. Just as

representation of women on the media signifies their presence in the society and the importance

of their social roles, so does annihilation, which signifies the role of women as a liability towards

the society and more of an object appointed to play the supporting role.

An NGO becoming a better woman in its report (2011) highlighted that women have been

presented on the media as objects of mere pleasure. The objectification of women in the media

has been a permanent feature since its inception, and is still being practiced today when freedom

and liberty are loud sounding cries.

The following piece of writing shows women as a commodity that is being presented to some

potential audience or buyers and so the qualities are being advertised. Moreover the content itself

shows the women being talked about as something of no intellectual standing and subservient to

the dominant figure of the family. The idea is wrong because living humans are not talked about

in such a way.

The concept of male gaze also surfaced during the earlier days of television media’s prime and

the emergence of feminism. The term referred to the way women were presented on the media as

if being watched through the lustful eye of a man. The women were presented merely as the

objects of sex there to please the men sitting in front of their television sets in their cozy homes.

(streeter, et.al. 2002).

The society we live in is patriarchal to its roots. The way a boy is socialized into a man and a girl

is denigrated into a typical women is characteristic of the society of this kind which is dominated

by men literally in all areas of social life. Our culture tends to validate male characteristics while

denigrating femininity at the same time. (Shaughnessey & Stadler, 2002, p. 348)

9

Talking about Pakistani society in particular where the major chunk of the population comprises

of rural communities, radio turns out to be a popular medium. The print medium does not hold

good for the majority because of the illiteracy and television turns out to be the expensive mode

for the low socio-income parts of the society. The trends have been changing for a while now

with people belonging even to lower middle class groups now prefer and manage to afford a

television set in the household. During this time radio, however, has marked its place in the

society which people turn to not only because of the socio economic status but also because of

the content that is presented and the way it connects gracefully with the lives of common people.

Radio drama is one of the finest genres for the purpose. The radio drama in Pakistan is usually

very closely related to the cultural roots and traditions that people connect to it at once. For the

same reason, the way gender is portrayed in the popular media shapes the public orientation

towards gender roles in the society.

Generally the narratives on the media largely depict men and women in the roles bifurcated on

the stereotypical basis. The narratives largely show women as weak, the investigated,

constrained within homes or restricted to private life, and objectified with emphasis lying on the

secondary characters-all of which is antagonistic to how men are portrayed. Moreover, woman

presence is largely employed in the melodramas or musicals unlike men that are opted for more

serious narratives and thrillers. (Shaughnessey & Stadler, 2002, p. 246)

Representation of objects, ideas, and living being is considered a question in media. How poor

are represented, elite class is shown, women are portrayed are all the part of research. Several

studies are conducted which show how different things are portrayed and what idea is promoted

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from this. Several researches have been conducted to find out how empowered women are

portrayed in different dramas telecast on television.

Inam ul Haq et.al. (2013) while conducting a research on the soap opera of Hum TV “Bilqees

Kaur” highlighted the dramatized representation of middle class working women and their

problems at large. It also focused on the dominant authoritative role of woman acting as the head

of the family as well.

This paper concludes that drama offers a platform to judge and question the idea of women

empowerment. This research was basically done on a particular drama in which women

empowerment was shown symbolically in the character of Bilqees Kaur. This research was

limited to a single drama. But this paper suggests that future researcher can use drama to

highlight similar gender concerns or women issues in society, by using audience perception.

These types of researches can help in formulating policies which can reduce this type of concern.

This paper suggests that there is need for novel investigation turfs especially for the

entertainment sector of Pakistan. The study conducted by Inam Ul Haq et al. (2013) focused on

the contemporary view of the local media and the direction it has taken over the past few years.

A wider aspect of the global situation as undertaken by Seggar and Wheeler (1973) in the

research on 1971 television seasons showed that women from all ethnic backgrounds were not

shown in proportion to the US population of that time. Using the samples used in that research,

they found that women characterization were only 18% of the whole characters analyzed. This

research was echoed down by Downing (1974)) who found that women were over represented in

professional role when compared with the statistics of general population. It was balanced with

the fact, that men were over represented (58%) in daytime television series as professional roles.

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In the same year, Tedesco (1974) found that in prime time series, television portrayed a higher

proportion of unemployed women than the unemployed men. But while measuring success she

found that men had higher rate of non-achievements than women. She also found that women

were more portrayed in non-serious roles in prime television series (pp.120-123).

The notion that men were represented on the media as dominant and in powerful roles was

further strengthened by Turow (1974) who studied the prime television series of 1974 and found

that men were more dominant in those series and portrayed as advising and commanding

women. They were seen advising on traditional masculine subject while women representation

was low in comparison with men (ppp.138-141).

Mc Neel (1973) working at the same time found contrasting results to Seggar and Wheeler while

analyzing prime time series of 1973 which showed that 32% of all characters comprised of

women, 44% of which were working. In contrast with the findings of Seggar and Wheeler (1973)

however women were found to have more occupations than men but they were less authoritative

or having lower positions than those of men. The study further revealed that only 21% of married

women were employed and most of them were depicted in comic roles supporting the study of

Tedesco (1973) which had produced similar results.

The 1970s saw many studies conducted on the prime time television specifically focused on the

women representation which was the era covering and followed closely by the movements of

feminism.

Dominic (1979) gave overview how gender role had evolved in prime time television. But his

findings were mixed, showing roles in specific areas. The percentage of women roles remained

25% in primetime series of 1956. But he found that the areas, in which men and women were

12

shown, were not representative of the general society. But he found that women role were more

increased, and fewer women were portrayed as housewives. Others were shown as working in

some field or industries. Holand Pevers (1979) claimed that gender stereotyping were more

prominent in men. He found 85% of men shown as typical male characteristics, and only 44% of

women portrayed as typical female housewives (pp. 405-4011).

Signoreli in the same course of time studied prime TV programs from 1965-1985. Her results

were similar to studies of 1970’s. In 1980’s, studies found few differences in gender

stereotyping. Another researcher Atkin (1991) studied TV programs of 1966-1990 specifically

looking at women trends found that women were more seen in managerial roles, and trend of

portraying them as assistance and secretaries was decreased (pp.517-520).

Unlike the research on women portrayal in different western dramas and prime time television,

there are very few which are conducted on Arabic dramas and soap operas. However the research

conducted on this subject shows that conservative Arab countries have more sex type portrayal

than the liberal Arab countries whereas Turkish programs had similar portrayals to Arabic

programs produced in the Arab liberal states. Existing studies also indicate that women portrayal

in Arab television varies by genre, yet are restricted to some stereotypical roles. In music videos,

semiotic analysis of 45 videos concluded that Arab music videos are divided in to two groups

one that exploit sexualized female images with seductive poses and other that maintained

traditional gender images of a woman longing for a lover (Ismail, 2005).

Advertising has emerged in the modern media as a lucrative branch and is a powerful means in

formulating general attitude of the society.

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In TV commercials Nasaf and Gunter (2008) analyzed commercials of a national Saudi

television in which he found that male and females were both presented in lead characters but

male voice over dominated. It also found that women were more portrayed as traditional and

promoting products like body care. Women were presented as more dependent, whereas men

were shown as experts in information sources (pp.752-757).

Kallinyet and his colleagues (Kallinyet.al. 2008) analyzed advertising programs of four Arab

countries Lebanon, Egypt, U.A.E and Saudi Arabia and compared them with advertising

programs of U.S. They found that Egypt and Lebanon portrayed women less modestly than

Saudi Arabia and UAE. In Egyptian and Lebanese women were portrayed as belly dancing,

wearing short clothes and not wearing veil, whereas Saudi Arabia a high percentage of women

were portrayed as traditional and in veil. As far as occupation is concerned, theirs was totally

different case. In Lebanon and UAE women were shown in roles of working women more than

in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. (Kalliny et al., 2008, pp. 215-223)

Overall the literature regarding gender representation in Arab television is limited to qualitative

research. Only few researches are conducted on quantitative method. The available literature

suggests that there is a vast gap in research especially in quantitative field, which can help more

in exploring Arab television dramas. Summarizing above findings, it can thus be concluded that

male and female both are portrayed as stereotyped in Arab television series.

Tamara & Weaver (2014) analyzed 15 Arabic and 3 Turkish dramas on transnational Arab

television and examined gender portrayal of characters. The analysis of 743 characters found that

women were underrepresented, less likely to have good jobs, and more portrayed in sex type

occupations and activities than men. It also revealed that programs written by female writers

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were less stereotyped. Moreover it found differences in portrayal of women in different Arab

television. Conservative countries have more sex typed portrayal than the liberal Arab countries,

whereas Turkish programs had similar portrayal to Arabic programs produced in liberal Arab

states. The findings are discussed in comparison to U.S. contents and in the light of selective

exposure, identification with characters, and potential effects on Arab viewers’ gender role

beliefs. The study finds that the portrayal of women in Arab television is similar to portrayal in

U.S prime time series, and other television programs worldwide. However, this pattern is

alarming especially in Arab world. In Arab countries, although women have made many national

and international contributions in various fields of life, yet many remained victim of legalization

and male dominancy. As media is considered an opinion builder, study suggests that

transnational Arab television may contribute to perpetuating traditional stereotypes instead of

changing them (pp.179-195)

Talking about women portrayal and the reflection of the place of women in the society in the

media also highlights the depiction of women’s health on media as important aspect of the

research.

Jo Shugga & Liamputtong (2002) conducted a research on portrayal of women health issues in

two Melbourne print newspapers (Australia) i.e. the age and the herald sun. The research was

conducted over a three month period i.e. May/July 1998. Women are the victim of another

stereotype i.e. nurturing, reproduction and motherhood. This study finds that articles published in

the newspapers were filled with those subjects and their other health issues were not talked

about. Media helped to reinforce this stereotype. The research found that the predominant issues

in women health articles were of motherhood and pregnancy. In all, 157 articles (34%) of 470

women health articles were related to motherhood and children. The other issue was pregnancy

15

107 articles (22.7%.) and last was court ruling with 57 articles (12.2%.) this paper found that

mother dominated on women health articles, and even it was suggested that a woman is

incomplete without her children. Even if an article consisted of another women health issue,

motherhood was a part of it i.e. if there was a story of dying woman; mention was also given to

her children.

The findings of this article concluded that an ideal woman is a kind mother, who marries and will

have children later on. She would rely on medical technology to survive. She is the victim of

men dominancy because she cannot protect herself. She will be worried about her reputations all

the time. A women living in rural areas of Australia is not likely to receive attention from

Melbourne print media. Same case would happen if she is a lesbian or old. This paper raises a

question that what happens to a woman who does not fall in this ideal framework? Eventually,

their health issues are not discussed in Melbourne newspapers. The study also signifies how even

motherhood or reproduction is objectified and fancied by the media again making women an

object of mere pleasure and reinvigorating the concept of the male gaze (pp.715-728).

Moving from television dramas and advertising through radio broadcasts, children programs

have over time became quite powerful a niche for the communicators and thus for the

researchers.

Regarding gender portrayal in children program, a research conducted by Shahab (2008) on

Kuwait and Egyptian television shows is one of the few. He analyzed 30 hour children programs

including cartoons, news, commercials and interviews. He found that male characters

outnumbered female characters in both Egyptian and Kuwaiti channels, but female characters

were shown less in Kuwaiti channel than the male characters. In term of traits, study found that

16

both were shown more stereotyped in Kuwaiti channel than the Egyptian one. Men were shown

stereotyped as dominant, strong, rescuer, leader, decision maker, as well as women were shown

as weak, dependent on men, mentally low, being rescued and passive. (Al-Shehab, 2008. P. 49-

53)

Conducting the study in Pakistan, however, takes into consideration the cultural and strong

traditional bounds very carefully. Radio continues to be the not just the medium for the

audiences but also an institution that tends to explain the characteristic features of the society as

well as formulates the opinion of the population concentrated in the lower socio economic region

and more closely related to the value system. In such a diverse society the radio drama tends to

explain why and how the woman is portrayed in the way it is.

In Pakistan, the major part of the population living in rural communities has offered radio a

significant place in the entertainment sector. The rapid urbanization of the society has led to the

mainstreaming of the medium further. Moreover, radio has a charisma of its own that works

without distraction offered by the visual interface and the content thus is more culturally relevant

than that of television. Everything is presented with sound effects or dialogues. A crime scene,

representation of anger, a fight in a classroom or a romantic scene, all is presented with sound

effects or dialogues. Radio drama has to play with people’s imagination and fantasies with

powerful characterization or sound effects. Music and sound effects create a typical type of

situation in radio dramas.

Dialogues have great importance in radio. If dialogues are excluded from radio dramas, it loses

everything. Sound effects and music only support the dialogue or characters and can’t do

anything alone. Powerful scripts and characterization is necessary for a successful radio drama.

17

Dialogues are helpful in representation of characters in a drama. Keeping in view the importance

of dialogues in radio dramas, a research was conducted by Dr. Nomsa Satyo a & M. W.

Jadezweni on two radio dramas presented by N-saul (1988). The dramas analyzed were

Ndixolele and ULiruluhubaa. The analysis is based on the recorded South African Broadcasting

Corporation's (SABC) Radio Xhosa broadcasts of the drama backed by the published text

Amaciko (1988) by bard publishers. The dramas analyzed in this research concentrated

specifically on the representation of the characters through dialogues with in the plot structure.

Special attention was given to the characters, their voice quality, verbal behavior,

idiolect/sociolect, dialect/register and stylistic texture. The analysis they made by looking at the

representation of characters through dialogue was the technique used by N-saul to portray

characters through dialogue were admirable. N-saul used different techniques of human

communication. In this drama the listeners expectation of the representation of characters

through dialogue have definitely been met. The impact of dialogue on plot structure was

invaluable.

An overall view of the literature however establishes the woman portrayal as unequal and

unjustified and also antagonistic to the actual picture.

A profile of the female stereotype garnered from a host of sources may be summarized by the

following: she is young and beautiful, usually found in the home-specially the bathroom or

kitchen. She is relatively helpless and requires a male authority to solve her problems and give

her advice. She often appears in an essentially decorative role as a sex object, and her primary

function in life is to nurture and care for the male (Caballero & Soloman, 1984).

18

CHAPTER - 3

Methodology

Researcher has applied quantitative methodology to investigate the topic. Content analysis was

selected as a method. Bernard Berelson (1952) defines content analysis as: “a research technique

for systematic, objective and quantitative study of a manifest content of communication.” (p.74).

Holsti (1969) defined content analysis as: “Any technique for making inferences by objectively

and systematically identifying specified characteristics of messages’ (p.14)

Content analysis cannot be applied only on textual stuff, but it can also be applied on analysis of

video tapes and sound recordings. (Wheelock, Haney, & Bebell, 2000) Content analysis has

always been remained a preferred method of research in various fields including medical science,

psychology, marketing, media studies, gender studies, political science, history and sociology.

There are two types of analysis, i.e. qualitative and quantitative; Quantitative analysis is used to

identify and count the presence of variables and allows the presentation and reporting of data

with more precision whereas qualitative analysis is applied to identify and explain the direction

of the contents.

In this research, quantitative content analysis is used to investigate the portrayal of women in the

dramas of Radio Pakistan.

Research Question:

Following are the research questions for the study:

RQ1: How women were portrayed in radio dramas of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation?

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RQ2: What are the traits that are associated with women characters in radio dramas of Pakistan

Broadcasting Corporation?

Population:

Population is radio dramas.

Sampling:

Researcher has taken a sample of selected twelve (12) drams of radio Pakistan for the study that

went on air during six months’ time period i.e. November 2013 to April 2014.

Currently Radio Pakistan is the only channel which is broadcasting radio dramas. Convenient

sampling was the method for selecting the sample because radio dramas are not easily available

from radio Pakistan.

Unit of Analysis:

Unit of analysis is dialogue.

Dialogues in the dramas were used to study portrayal of women in a particular radio drama. Only

those dialogues were considered that indicated, communicated or explained something about the

women portrayal.

A total of 323 dialogues were included in the data.

Conceptualization and Operationalization:

We divided our variables into three major categories, i.e. women portrayal in radio dramas can

be analyzed by dividing into the following three categories:

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Innate Traits:

We found that women are judged on their innate personality traits i.e. the qualities they possess

by birth. Like we say, “see, that girl is so beautiful.” “O my god! That guy is so ugly.” “That girl

is so emotional, she needs a psychiatrist.”

Acquired Traits:

Second category we included in this research is acquired traits i.e. the character which you

develop with the passage of time, due to good/bad experience or behavior of the society. We

found that women are judged from their acquired character. Like, “In my point of view, care is

everything in relationships. I like her because of her decent personality.” Or we say, “Look, she

is more hard working than you.”

Gender-oriented Traits:

The last category we made shows that women are seen in gender perspective i.e. they are

evaluated in relation to men. Like women are judged on men perspective. Such as, “girls are

more hard working than boys.” “Why are you crying like girls? Try to be a man!”

Sub Categories

These categories were further divided in to different sub-categories. In “innate” character, we

identified beautiful, ugly, active, passive, pleasant, emotional, rational, greedy, contented, rude,

wise, fool, healthy and sick. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Beautiful:

21

By beautiful we mean, when a character in a drama tells a woman that you are extremely

beautiful, you are beautiful than the stars, or (chand or taray tumhain dekh ker sharmatay hain,)

etc. this type of dialogue marks in beautiful category. Dialogues like this are considered in this

category.

Ugly:

By ugly we meant that a character in a drama telling a women that you are extremely ugly, or

“tumhara to rang hi kala hai. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Active:

If a character in a drama tells a woman that “you are a very hardworking lady.” Or “tum to har

waqt kam karti rehti ho” it falls under “active” category. Dialogues like this are considered in

this category.

Passive:

By passive we meant that If in a drama man speaks to a woman that you don’t do any work, or

“ap to khuch kartee hi nahi hainn” etc. this falls under category of “passive” Dialogues like this

are considered in this category.

Pleasant:

If a man tells a woman that you keep on smiling all the time, it would come under “pleasant”

category. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Emotional:

22

If a girl says, “I will commit suicide,” or “I cannot live without you,” or “please mujhe chor kar

na jao main mar jaungi,” it means that she is emotional and falls under “emotional” category.

Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Rational:

By rational we meant that if a woman is portrayed as wise or intelligent. Like if a character tells

a woman, “tum to bohat aqalmand nikli’. ‘Agar tum na hoti to tumhara bhai ab tak khudkashi kar

chukka hota.” This indicates that women are shown as rational or intelligent. Dialogues like this

are considered in this category.

Greedy:

If such type of sentences occur in a drama, “kia karain is ki 50 thousand ki pay main bilkul

guzara nahi hota,” “wo fulan to ap say ziada junior hai wo to itni aish karta hai ap to mujhay

khuch la kar hi nahi detay,” it would fall in greedy. Dialogues like this are considered in this

category.

Contented:

If a woman says, “am thankful to Allah that he gave me a lot” “main Allah ka shukar ada karti

hoon k bachon ki shadi khair khairat say ho gai,” it means she is contented. Dialogues like this

are considered in this category.

Rude:

If a man or woman says, “tumhain to sharam ani chahiay, apni oqat main raho,” it would mean

that a character was behaving rudely. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

23

Wise:

If a dialogue appears like, “tum to bohat hi aqalmand ho, tum na hoti to main akaila bachon ki

parwarish kaisay karta,” it would fall in wise category. Dialogues like this are considered in this

category.

Fool:

If a dialogue is shown in a drama saying: “tum to ho hi baywaqoof orat, tum nay poora ghar

barbad kar dia,” it would mark as fool. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Healthy:

“wo daikho kitni sehatmand hai masha Allah, 50 ki age main bhi poora ghar sambhala hai.” This

type of dialogues would fall in healthy category. Dialogues like this are considered in this

category.

Sick:

If a woman is shown as saying, “am having headache, I have a problem of backache since

childhood,” it would assume that she is sick. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Acquired Traits Conceptualization and Operationalization:

In the second category, acquired character researcher has placed, decent, vulgar, frugal, spender,

lazy, hardworking, concerned, irrelevant, informed, happy, anxious, coward and brave.

24

Decent:

In a drama if such type of dialogue appears like, “Look how decent she is! She remains reserve

in class, just speak when it is necessary,” It would mean that a woman is shown in decent

character. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Vulgar:

If a woman is found seducing a man in a drama, or trying to get advantage of any situation it

would assume as if she is trying to show vulgar behavior. Dialogues like this are considered in

this category.

Frugal:

If such dialogues are found in drama like, “wo orat to kittni kifait shuaar hai. Wo ghar ka

kharcha bhi chalati hai or ghareebon ko bhi daiti hai,” it would fall in “frugal” category.

Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Spender:

For spender category, we chose dialogues like, “tum to bohat hi fazol kharch ho, ghar ka kharcha

poora hota nahi tum sara paisa beauty parlor pay laga daiti ho.” Dialogues like this are

considered in this category. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Lazy:

In a drama a character is shown as doing all works late daily. She gets up late in the morning

hence cannot reach on time where supposed to be reached. And a man says to woman she says,

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“tum sey tou koi kaam waqt per nahii hotaa.” These types of dialogues are shown in lazy

category.

Hardworking:

If a dialogue appears like, “wo study bhi kar ri hai, rat ko twission bhi parhati hai or apna school

bhi chala ri hai,” it would fall in category, “hardworking.” Dialogues like this are considered in

this category.

Concerned:

“aslam k aba ap apna bilkul khial nahi rakhtay,” “u don’t take care of yourself, health is very

important,” “ap bhi zaroorat say ziada tension lay laitayy hain” all these type of dialogues would

mark in “concerned” category.

Irrelevant:

If a dialogue is like, “tum tou bohat laperwah ho,” “kuch bachon ka khiyal kia kro.” Dialogues

like this are considered in this category.

Ignorant:

If there is a dialogue in a drama like “usay khuch pata hi nahi hota k ghar main kia ho raha hai,

tumhain khuch khabar bhi hai k tumharay shher kii kia soorat e haal hai,” it would considered as

ignorant. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Informed:

The dialogues like “usay to har cheez ki khabar hoti hai, usay to har banday ka pata hota hai,”

falls in “informed” category. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

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Happy:

If a girl is found laughing everytime in a drama, it would considered that she remains happy all

the time. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Anxious:

If a dialogue says, “main apnay bachay ka bohat baytabi say intizar kar rahi hoon, pata nahi yay

fulan kam kab hoga” it would consider as anxious. Dialogues like this are considered in this

category.

Coward:

“mujhay akailay bahir jatay huay dar lagta hai,” “tum bhi meray sath chalo akailay dar lagta hai”

shows that a woman is portrayed as coward. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Brave:

If a dialogue says, “main to akaili har kaam ker laitii hoon, mujhay to bilkul dar nahi lagta,” or,

“I can face all the chalanges, I am brave,” It means that a woman is portrayed as brave.

Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Acquired Traits Conceptualization and Operationalization:

The last category we identified, gender oriented. Like, a gender is suppressed or victimized by

other, or women are categorized on these perspectives. Like, “you are brave like a man? Be a

bread winner like male” it means a woman is being portrayed on a man perspective. In this

category we placed, suppressed, dominant, victim, dependent, independent, household worker,

professional, rich, poor, leader, solution provider and problem creator.

27

Suppressed:

If a man directs a woman to remain in home, forbids her to go anywhere without his permission,

it means that a woman is suppressed. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Dominant:

If dialogues appear in a drama like “main hi sara khuch karti hoon. ap to khuch kartay hi nahi,

jaisay main kahongi wesa hi furniture ghar main aayga” shows that one gender is dominating on

others. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Tyrant:

If girls are shown in a drama talking, “wo mujhay mil to jay zara, usay to main nahi chorungi,

aao mil kar zara us ki khabar lain,” it would fall in the category of “tyrant.” Dialogues like this

are considered in this category.

Victim:

In a drama pinjra, a man asks his wife not to participate in TV program. Even then she goes

there, and receives a slap on her face along with abusive kind of language on returning home.

This shows that a woman is portrayed as victimized. Dialogues like this are considered in this

category.

Dependent:

If a dialogue appears, “I was waiting for you,” or “how can I go on shopping without you?”, “I

cannot go without my brother,” shows that a gender is portrayed as dependent. Dialogues like

this are considered in this category.

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Independent:

If a girl is shown as saying, “I have my own car, I can drive and go anywhere,” “mujhay

tumharay paison ki zaroorat nahi!” it means she is portrayed as independent. Dialogues like this

are considered in this category.

Household:

“main subha in ko office bhejti hoon, phir ghar ki safai, khana banana, or phir bachon k anay ka

time, un k sath busy,” shows that a woman is portrayed as household worker. Dialogues like this

are considered in this category.

Professional:

“I go to office early in the morning, my mother take care of kids.” “please don’t disturb me, I

have lot of office work today,” Shows that women is depicted as professional. Dialogues like this

are considered in this category.

Rich:

“mujhay to fikar karnay ki zaroorat nahi, meri to bohat bari jaidad hai,” All these type of

dialogue falls in rich category. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Poor:

“itnay say kharchay main mera guzara nahi hota.” “main to nay kapray pehnnay ko taras gai

hoon.” It shows that a woman is portrayed as poor. Dialogues like this are considered in this

category.

Leader:

29

When such dialogues appear in a drama, “we have to work for women’s progress. Hum nahi

niklaingi to kon niklay ga, hum nay society ko badal daina hai,” it would show that a woman is

depicted as a leader. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Follower:

In this category, such type of dialogue includes: “Jaisa ap kahaingay main waisa karongi, main

ap ki bat kaisay tal sakti hoon?” Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Solution provider:

There are such scenes in a drama where women are shown as problem solver or solution

provider. They help their husbands specially, in coming out of problems. And man says, “tum na

hoti to pata nahi main kaisay yay masla hal karta.” It means a woman is shown as solution

provider. Dialogues like this are considered in this category.

Problem creator:

When a dialogue is like, “ yeh to fasad kerna hii jantii hai”. Dialogues like this are considered in

this category.

Coding

For coding a coding sheet was prepared along with instructions and coding protocols. Six coders

including Mr. Faryal Sohail, Mr. Haseeb Asmat, Mr. Noor Khan, Mr. Asim Zubair, Mr. Farhan

Fani, Mr. Mudasser, Mr. Ali Hassan were asked to code the twelve radio dramas.

30

Inter-coder Reliability

For inter-coder reliability kappa was applied on the two sets of 20% data of coders that generated

the results of 0.8 and 0.7 respectively.

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CHAPTER - 4

FINDINGS

Hypothesis testing

Following are the research and null hypotheses for the study.

H1: There is a significant difference in different traits through which women are portrayed in

radio dramas.

H1o: There is not a significant difference in different traits through which women are portrayed

in radio dramas.

To test null hypothesis H1o chi square test was applied that generated the results

X2 (2, N = 323) = 3.424, p <0.108

So null hypothesis was not rejected and contrary to what was expected there was not a significant

difference between the three types of portrayal of women in radio dramas of Pakistan.

H2. Women portrayal in radio dramas are linked to gender of the character who spoke the

dialogue.

H2o. Women portrayal in radio dramas are not linked to gender of the character who spoke the

dialogue.

To test the null hypotheses chi square test was applied that generated the results

X2 (2, N = 323) = 3.204, p <0.201

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So null hypothesis was not rejected and contrary to what was expected women portrayal in radio

dramas is independent of the gender of the character who has spoken the dialogue.

Following important findings are generated:

Women are portrayed in radio drams of PBC in all three categories i.e. in innate traits, in

acquired traits and in gender oriented traits on almost equal proportion.

Following is the Portrayal of women portrayal in various categories:

Table of counts showing the frequency of representation in various categories.

Traits Frequency Percentage

1. Innate Traits Portrayal 106 32.8 %

2. Acquired Traits Portrayal 95 29.4%

3. Gender Oriented Traits Portrayal 122 37.8%

1. Innate Personality traits portrayal:

Traits Frequency Percentage

1 Beautiful 12 3.4%

2 Ugly 0 0.0%

3 Active 2 0.6%

4 Passive 3 0.9%

5 Pleasant 8 2.3%

6 Emotional 25 7.2%

7 Rational 12 3.4%

8 Greedy 6 1.7%

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9 Contented 5 1.4%

10 Rude 14 4.0%

11 Wise 12 3.4%

12 Fool 4 1.1%

13 Healthy 0 0.0

14 Sick 1 0.3%

2. Acquired traits portrayal:

Traits Frequency Percentage

1 Decent 6 1.7%

2 Vulgar 1 0.3%

3 Frugal 1 0.3%

4 Spender 1 0.3%

5 Lazy 10 0.3%

6 Hardworking 32 2.9%

7 Concerned 4 9.2%

8 Irrelevant 4 1.1%

9 Ignorant 8 1.1%

10 Informed 8 2.2%

11 Happy 7 2.2%

12 Anxious 2 2.0%

13 Coward 7 0.6%

14 Brave 10 2.0%

3. Gender oriented traits portrayal:

34

Traits Frequency Percentage

1 Suppressed 14 2.9%

2 Dominant 11 4.0%

3 Tyrant 11 3.2%

4 Victim 24 6.9%

5 Dependent 14 4.0%

6 Independent 9 2.6%

7 Household worker 4 1.1%

8 Professional 8 2.3%

9 Rich 4 1.1%

10 Poor 2 0.6%

11 Leader 0 0.0

12 Follower 5 1.4%

13 Solution Provider 16 4.6%

14 Problem Creator 4 1.1%

Following is the table for negatively associated traits and their frequency of portrayal:

1. Innate negative traits portrayal:

Traits Frequency

1 Ugly 0

2 Passive 3

3 Emotional 25

4 Greedy 6

5 Rude 14

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6 Fool 4

7 Sick 1

2. Acquired traits negative portrayal:

Traits Frequency

1 Vulgar 1

2 Spender 1

3 Lazy 10

4 Irrelevant 4

5 Ignorant 8

6 Anxious 2

7 Coward 7

3. Gender oriented negative traits portrayal:

Traits Frequency

1 Suppressed 14

2 Victim 24

3 Dependent 14

4 Household worker 4

5 Poor 2

6 Follower 5

7 Problem Creator 4

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Following is the table for positively associated traits and their frequency of portrayal:

1. Innate positive traits portrayal:

Traits Frequency

1 Beautiful 12

2 Active 2

3 Pleasant 8

4 Rational 12

5 Contented 5

6 Wise 12

7 Healthy 0

2. Acquired positive traits portrayal:

Traits Frequency

1 Decent 6

2 Frugal 1

3 Concerned 4

4 Hardworking 32

5 Informed 8

6 Happy 7

7 Brave 10

3. Gender oriented positive traits portrayal:

Traits Frequency

1 Dominant 11

2 Tyrant 11

3 Independent 9

37

4 Professional 8

5 Rich 4

6 Leader 0

7 Solution Provider 16

Following is the list of top ten traits in which women were portrayed in radio dramas:

Top ten traits of women all three categories.

Traits Frequency

1 Hardworking 32

2 Emotional 25

3 Victim 24

4 Solution provider 16

5 Rude 14

6 Suppressed 14

7 Dependent 14

8 Wise 12

9 Beautiful 12

10 Rational 12

CHAPTER - 5

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

Discussion

38

Contrary to the expected outcomes the results indicate that in radio dramas women are portrayed

on equal basis in all three equal categories i.e. innate traits portrayal, acquired traits portrayal and

gender oriented traits portrayal.

There could be several ways to interpret the results:

Pakistani society is changing, old norms and traditions are undergoing metamorphosis,

social institutions are in the phase of transition and that is why gender both male and

female and other variants are also undergoing change. This transition, change and

metamorphosis are so complex that when it comes to developing the schema for any

social category we may find great variety, so is the case with women. In social life one

can easily observe that women are excelling in various social, professional and cultural

roles and this change is also affecting their behavior, mannerism, and attitude; and

consequently their importance is also changing. That is why our research findings are

indicating that women portrayal in radio drama is diverse. Unfortunately we are not

having any research data that may allow us to draw a comparison between our findings

and previous one.

Women portrayal in innate traits has always been remained there in media and several

researches have indicated that media generally portray women as of two dimensional

characters and more of a commodity rather than a rational human being capable of

thinking and performing important social and cultural roles. This representation is still

common in radio dramas of PBC i.e. 32.8% of portrayal of female characters fall in this

category. In this category mostly women are represented as being emotional (25), rude

(14), wise (12), beautiful (12), rational (12).

39

The category of acquired characters added a new dimension into the research on gender

and media because acquired characters are essentially those traits that a human being may

get or may not get through the journey of its life. That is why these characters indicate

more power and autonomy and adds up more human factor into the portrayal of gender.

This category has least representation as compared to other two categories i.e. 29.4%.

This category essentially represents the changing status of women in Pakistani society.

Women are making progress in all fields and even in some fields women have begun to

lead. Therefore women changing status is also well indicated in the radio dramas. It

should be noted that mostly women are portrayed as being hardworking (32), lazy (10)

and brave (10).

Media has been remained male dominated and women representation is always been seen

from the perspective of men. This gender oriented representation is not only prevalent in

media but also in the society. It is a male perspective that defines constructs and frames

through which women would be portrayed and perceived and then treated in the society.

This notion is also seen in the dramas researcher has analyzed. It appears as if men are

the bench mark against which women are evaluated and analyzed. This category is

present in the highest percentage i.e. 37.8 % representation showed women in this

category. The representation is mostly seen in the following categories i.e. victim (24),

solution provider (16), tyrant (14) and dependent (14).

Another possible explanation to these results could be found within media organizational

sociology that describes the interplay between media organizational factors and external

variables. Media wants to induce changes in the society but within media institutions

there are factors that tend to cause resistance to those changes i.e. organization structure,

40

process of media content production, mind set of media professionals. In that scenario

when there is any effort, planned or unplanned, to introduce new norms to the society

through media it may be countered by the factors mentioned above. The obvious

outcomes are media representation that is diverse and showing depth and width among

different patterns of representation.

It is also pertinent to note that both negative and positive aspects of three categories of

traits are also not having large differences that also indicate a positive trend in the radio

dramas. This finding indicate that women are still stereotyped as results show that a large

number of women are presented either hardworking, victim or emotional. This

hardworking trait is also debatable because in several dramas hard work was related to

either household work or working under the influence of in laws or husband.

Findings also show that women representation is not affected by gender of the character

who has spoken a particular dialogue. This finding shows that women portrayal either

stereotyped or not is also affected not only by males but also by other females.

Conclusion:

It is concluded from the study that women are represented in almost on an equal basis in all three

major traits i.e. innate personality traits, acquired personality traits and gender oriented traits in

the radio dramas investigated for this study. It is also found that due to change in the status of

women in the society all the different shades and nuances of traits and personality characters that

could be found in the society are present in radio dramas. It is also found that other than men

women are also contributing toward representation of other women in radio dramas. It can also

be concluded that to some extent radio drama as a medium of communication is reflecting the

41

social change in the status of women in their drams, but women are still stereotyped and mostly

accessed as an object and in comparison to men.

Suggestions for further research:

For the future research following are the suggestions:

There should also be qualitative investigation of radio dramas to study portrayal of

women in them.

Other than women representation, men portrayal should also be studied.

For research a data comprising of several years can be studied to draw a comparison for

the women portrayal over the years.

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46

APPENDIX- I

A Brief Description of Sample Radio Dramas

The research is based on 12 radio dramas, broadcasted on radio Pakistan from November 2013 to

April 2014. These dramas were used to judge women portrayal in Pakistani radio dramas.

1). KOI AAYE:

This drama is based on harsh rituals of feudal society, how women are suppressed and not

allowed to get married out of family even they have to remain bachelor for the whole life. The

feudal lords think that if their daughters would marry out of family, they would have to distribute

the land to her, hence their property would go out of the family. A girl is shown suppressed by

this culture, she is 29 but her family did not get her married just because there was no one

available for marriage in the family. This drama criticizes the feudal culture, where women are

not get married just because land would be divided. She falls in love with a man, plans to run

away with him and gives him a huge amount which could help them after running away from

home. But that greedy man deceives her and run away with the money. She becomes more

depressed and commits suicide.

2). FAISLON KA BOJ:

This drama is based on the same theme shown in previous drama. But characters and scene are

different. A man is shown having one son and a daughter. He makes his son marry but reluctant

to marry her daughter just because the inheritance can go out of family, and even rejects her

marriage proposal. His wife and son tries to convince him yet they fail. Then one day both

brother and sister are not found in their rooms. The whole village becomes in panic condition.

47

When they comes back home, son tells his father that he gave his wife’s land to his sister with

her permission. In this way, your land was also secured and his sister was not empty handed.

First man gets angry then realizes his mistake and appreciates his son for showing the right path.

3). PINJRA:

This drama is based on women’s struggle who wants to work in a society, the hardships they

face, yet don’t lose hope. This story is based on a woman’s struggle, who wants to write

novels/articles in the newspaper, but her husband dislike this activity. She sends her articles to be

published in magazine. His husband dislikes this activity and starts torturing her. Ultimately she

has to leave home. She gets a job in another city with the support of a journalist who helped in

publishing her articles. Later on, that man tries to get advantage of her loneliness, but she does

not let her to do so. Her husband realizes his mistake at the end and takes her back at home.

4). SARAAB MUSAFATAIN

Drama “Saraab musafatain” highlights the issue of class difference in the society. According to

elite class, things like moral values, good character, and moral ethics have no importance in the

society. According to them to be good in society, you must have money, good clothes, branded

stuff etc. they believe money to be everything. These class differences also become hurdle in

relationships. In this drama, a man marries a rich and broadminded woman, but their relationship

does not become successful. Ultimately it ends in divorce.

On the other hand, this drama throws light on the behavior of immature and emotional young. A

girl wish is to marry the same man who got divorced from rich women. But that experienced

man thinks that like class conflict, this age difference will also create hurdles in relationship

which might end in divorce. Ultimately, that man refuses to marry her.

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5). TALASH:

This drama is about the boy whose father is “kabab wala, who despite of low income, is living a

happy contented life and even brought up his son and educate him in limited resources. But his

son is not happy with this status. He is even reluctant to tell his friends that his father is a bar b q

seller. He wants his father to open a big restaurant so they could earn lot of money. After a lot of

debate, he convinces him and starts planning with his friend “faizi.” He decides to marry a rich

girl his friend’s cousin, and breaks previous engagement. His parents cries, yet he does not agree.

Eventually he gets punishment in shape of a fraud by his friend, who after opening the restaurant

kicks him off. Then he realizes that nothing can be achieved by disregarding our parents, and

nothing can prosper without good character, honesty, and good intentions. This drama gives

three lessons. Firstly, don’t disrespect your parents, without making them happy one cannot

achieve anything. Secondly, does not trust everyone, people just thinks of their interest and when

it is complete they kicks you off. Lastly, don’t rush for money; try to get it through hard work

and with sincerity. This drama is a moral lesson for everyone.

6). POORA CHAND:

This drama is written by Muhammad Javed Pasha highlights the dilemma of our society, which

becomes unhappy on the birth of a daughter. In this play, woman is highly criticized by her in-

laws for giving birth of two daughters who could not survive. Even her parents desire that she

should have a son. Her husband dies and she gives birth to a girl. She is forced to leave home and

returns to her parents’ house. She decides to get a job for upbringing her daughter. There, she

faces severe criticism from her parents and brother. This drama highlights another issue; women

are deprived of her due share in family’s property. And a woman, who talks about her share, is

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considered as impotent, unrighteous and rude. In this drama a woman whose husband died, fight

for her rights and ultimately get her share in property. Similarly, she educates her daughter and

sends her abroad for higher studies.

7). ZAMEER DA QAIDI:

This play is a Punjabi serial, written by Muhammad Iqbal Umer. In this play, there is a man who

has been given a job on the request of his wife’s brother. He use to come office late as well

involves in bribery. Once, huge case of bribery is caught from his office, yet he manages to hide

that amount in the drawer of his wife’s brother. Police arrests that man, and he is safe. Yet his

conscience always used to blame him. After knowing the reality, his wife also leaves him and he

remains alone. On the other hand, his conscience used to blame him of his mistake. At the end he

goes to jail and realizes his mistake. The drama concludes on a dialogue: “insan jail ka qaidi ho

jay par zameer ka qaidi kabhi na banay.”

8). MUSAFAT:

Written by Musarrat kalanchwi, this story is about two young, passionate and patriotic boy and

girl who are involved in a relationship. A boy named Arbaz belongs to elite class family while

girl Sehrish is from lower middle class. Arbaz father is a manager in a firm, while Sehrish and

her mother look after the house after the death of her father. Sehrish gets a job in Arbaz father’s

firm, yet soon she discovers that this firm does not pay taxes and also not show its current

income to the government. Despite being aware of the consequences, she decides to collect

evidences and send it to concerned government officials. Ultimately she sacrifices her

relationship but does not give up. After the arrest of his father, Arbaz realizes that Sehrish was

right and feel sorry for cutting off relations. He meets her, and both resume their relations.

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9). RAH-E-MOHABBAT:

Written by Dr. Nasir Baloch, this drama is about the people who after falling in love destroy

their lives. No matter how much they get love from others, they always complain that they could

not get real love. They do not want to adjust with someone other than they loved before,

ultimately destroy that relationship as well. Umair is a man with a wife and two children, yet he

ruins his relationship just because he did not marry to the girl he liked. He always complains

with his sister that his wife maira could not show that love which Savera could give him. Same

complained he did with Maira before, who at last forced to leave him because of this weird

attitude.

Then Umair falls in love with his neighbor girl 15 years younger than him. He expresses his

feelings with her father, who is fully aware of umair’s attitude with his previous wife. Umair’s

sister Atiqa tells him everything before he meets Umair. He is an experienced old man, who

sacrificed all his relatives including his beloved wife in 1947 crisis. He narrates his story and

tries to explain that he had lost everything yet he was leading a healthy life with her adopted

daughter, so why Umair was destroying his life just for the sake of one love? Umair realizes his

mistake and feels sorry from his sister and the old man.

10). UJALON KA SAFAR:

Written by Sheikh rafique ahmed and produced by Khaula Arshad, This story is about a young,

educated and talented boy Ejaz, who lives in middle class family, and striving for a good job, as

his father is a retired officer. On the other hand, he have to marry his sister, whose in-laws

demand a house and a car in dowry otherwise threatens to break the ties. Ejaz suggests her

mother to marry his sister kiran to the guy she loves. But she refuses saying that he have no job

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and cannot afford kiran. Meanwhile Ejaz applies for (youth lone scheme, a government

program,) so that he could setup his business. He has a relationship with a girl belonging from

elite class family. She helps him in completing formalities of the scheme through her father.

Ultimately, Kiran’s friend gets a good job, and Ejaz applies for youth lone program to fulfil his

dreams. He is thankful for his friend’s father, who helped him in getting guarantor for the

relevant program. If someone strives for something through hard work and devotion, surely he

can get what he wants.

11). GHAR DEY RAKHEY:

In this Punjabi drama, story revolves around the labors who are striving hard to earn their wages.

They are offered huge amount of money to perform a terrorist activity, yet they sacrifice those

money for the sake of their country, and kill those terrorists with their own bombs. The role of

women in this drama is marginalized.

12). SITARON BHARA RASTA:

This drama is written by Musarrat Kalanchwi revolves around two stories. A girl Ujala who have

just joined college life, she gets trapped in by a boy who shows that he loves her, but shockingly

she comes to know that he asks the same thing with another girl. Ultimately she loses hope and

gets in to depression. Other story is about a woman, who is physically handicapped. Her husband

left her when she got her legs broken in an incident. But she successfully recovered from

depression and continued her studies, eventually she became a successful doctor. It was a

coincidence, that when Ujala went in depression, she was taken to that particular doctor. The

doctor narrated her story, and comforted Ujala. Ultimately Ujala too came out of depression and

pledge to start a new life with new zeal of hope.

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Appendix-II

Coding Sheet:

Drama Name: _________________________________________

1. Dialogue spoken by:

Male

Female

2. Innate Personality traits: Traits

1 Beautiful

2 Ugly

3 Active

4 Passive

5 Pleasant

6 Emotional

7 Rational

8 Greedy

9 Contented

10 Rude

11 Wise

12 Fool

13 Healthy

14 Sick

3. Acquired traits: Traits Very High

1 Decent

2 Vulgar

3 Frugal

4 Spender

5 Lazy

6 Hardworking

7 Concerned

8 Irrelevant

9 Ignorant

10 Informed

11 Happy

12 Anxious

13 Coward

14 Brave

4. Gender oriented traits:Traits Very High

1 Suppressed

2 Dominant

3 Tyrant

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4 Victim

5 Dependent

6 Independent

7 Household worker

8 Professional

9 Rich

10 Poor

11 Leader

12 Follower

13 Solution Provider

14 Problem Creator

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