Section J: A Women’s Revolution

These two revolutions have also changed relations between countries, peoples, communities, governments and forms of politics, and continue to do so today. Our world has come to be marked by globalisation and true diversity. Politically, we now talk of global governance. Culturally we are all now subject to multi-cultural influences. And the revolutions I refer to? They are the rapid advance of new communication technologies and the struggles of women all over the globe.

Women journalists at the WACC-supported workshop discuss gender and communication issues over breakfast.

The revolution led by women was fought from the nuclear family to the public arena. It produced profound changes, both personal and collective, changes that were an assault on a culture and its institutions, which for more than 4000 years had been built upon male power. Our incursion, as women, into the public sphere has thrown everything into question, from the institution of marriage to motherhood, from political structures to knowledge and science.

These changes, brought about by women themselves, have been accompanied by drastic changes in the composition of society. Urbanisation, technological progress and the two world wars have all changed women’s position. The 20th century saw a change in values stemming from a questioning of beliefs that had been accepted for thousands of years. From a feminist perspective, what this means is a new system of relations between men and women, a reinterpretation of what constitutes democracy and politics and a redistribution of power and income. The media, however, have been slow to reflect these changes with women still portrayed as passive recipients of change, rather than the active participants that they are – the media have ignored history. Because of this, it has been of vital importance that the UN World Conferences on Women and particularly UNESCO have set a number of goals necessary to produce changes in the structure of the media.

At Comunicacion e Informacion de la Mujer (CIMAC), we have been involved in a process of reflection and action on these issues for 15 years. With the enactment of Section J of the Beijing Platform for Action we have set up networks to collectively reflect on the role of journalists as channels for the voices of women working for change.
In the last year we have also begun a critical review of Section J in conjunction with our partners who belong to networks of journalists throughout the 32 states of Mexico.

This critical review, which began with a workshop recently held in Cancun, has highlighted the urgency of making it clear that democracy cannot progress if women are absent as news subjects and workers in the media. The workshop, supported by WACC, has allowed us to put forward various proposals to the democratic community in Mexico to deepen the promotion and recognition of women’s rights. It has been agreed that the review process must begin with an analysis of the role of male and female journalists in a global society, the theoretical and practical resources available for journalists’ new professional responsibilities, and how to establish the principles of freedom of expression and the right to information from a gender perspective.

With the overall aim of revolutionising the media, CIMAC and the journalists’ networks will start by applying the recommendations of Section J. Participating in and aiding the programme is the CIMAC news agency (www.cimacnoticias .com) and the networks of journalists who are committed to addressing the social conditions of women and have a vital wealth of accumulated information on the interests of women. In addition, 10% of the women in the networks are in positions of decision-making in magazines, daily newspapers, radio and television stations, which will give us a strong base from which to work. We know from experience that having more women working in the media has not in itself changed the image of women in the media. However this critical mass of women will allow us to quickly demonstrate that we are capable of changing the content of the media and promoting real democratisation of the media. Ultimately this is the aim, not only of CIMAC, but also of its partners and supporters, including WACC.

From the Spanish by Sara Lovera, journalist and Executive Secretary of CIMAC.