“There are too many faces that look the same”, South Korea government’s new broadcast guideline controversy
Controversy is spreading over the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s new guideline towards broadcast companies.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Affairs on the 19th, they have distributed “Guidelines for Producing Broadcasting Programs” to broadcasting stations and program production companies on the 13th. The guide has detailed examples to ensure that the guide, which was already distributed in 2017, will be used properly in actual broadcasting production sites.
“Although broadcasting has become deeply embedded in everyday life, it has been criticized for failing to properly capture the value of gender equality,” the ministry said. “There are many voices of concern that it is expanding and reproducing rather than breaking stereotypes about men and women or exerting influence on rectifying inequality in the reality of women,” explaining the purpose of the release of the guide.
The guidebook cited the perception of childbearing as the exclusive possession of women and the “Superman’s Return” that undermines prejudice surrounding male childbearing as examples of broadcasting that have increased the value of gender equality.
The controversial section is ‘Guidelines for Reproducing various outer-appearance on a broadcasting program’ distributed as a guidebook supplement.
The guide lists examples of directing and presenting a uniform standard of appearance. It said “Artists who appear on music programs resemble each other too much” and “Most of the cast members are idol groups, and not only the music, but also the appearance of the cast cannot be diverse”.
“Most idol groups wear dressed to be skinny, fair-skinned, similar hairstyles, revealing outfits and similar make-up,” she said. “The uniformity in appearance is the same for both men and women.”
“Let’s not let similar-looking casts appear in an excessive proportion at the same time,” the guide recommended.
This regulation of broadcasting from the government soon escalated into a controversy.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family released a press release on Tuesday, explaining that the guide suggests that people should be wary of the negative effects of excessive appearance and lookism on broadcasting and should be wary of stereotypes. They also said that some criticism of regulation or control is different from the truth.
“The Guide reflects Article 30 of the Broadcasting Review Committee’s Regulations on Broadcasting Review and proposes matters to consider in the process of planning, proposing, and organizing programs, and reflecting them autonomously at broadcasting sites,” he said.
Article 30 of the Regulations on the Review of Broadcasting Systems on Gender Equality stipulates that stereotypes that will function as gender should not be adjusted without objective evidence.
“With the social role of broadcasting and media becoming more important, we will try to use guidebooks in the process of producing broadcasting programs to create an even media environment,” the ministry said.
Source: nate
