UNAIR NEWS – A few days ago, there was a lot of commotion among UNAIR students on Instagram social media from a controversial content by an Instagram account called @ unair.story . Increasing criticism was directed at the account because it reposted a photo of a new UNAIR student with a caption that considered objectification and harassment of women.
This problem even got bigger when BEM FISIP UNAIR and Cakrawala Sanubari (sexual violence advocating unit for UNAIR students under Ministry of Movement and Gender Equality BEM FISIP UNAIR) discussed and condemned the post @ unair.story on their Instagram account. From the incident, the victim claimed very afraid because at the beginning of her college life, she got obscene comments related to her photo and received messages from some people she did not know. Until now, the post has not been deleted from the account.
In this regard, the editorial team interviewed Professor of Communication Studies, Prof. Rachmah Ida, Ph.D., on Wednesday, May 13, 2020. She responded that the incident showed how vulnerable women became victims of objectification in social media.
“In media studies, we know the theory called male gaze. The theory states that in the media, stereotypes emerge against women, where women are displayed based on masculine perspectives to be represented as male sexual objects. This incident is often found when seeing advertisements of a product. Motorcycle or bed advertisements must be accompanied by women with sensual gestures, “said the expert of Media Studies.
Applying the theory to social media, Prof. Rachmah explained that the victim’s physical appearance was shown as a commodity and an advantage for UNAIR. In this case victims also get comments that lead to Online Based Gender Violence (KGBO). She added that things like this certainly cannot be tolerated, given that the fact that women in the public sphere are very vulnerable to becoming victims of sexual harassment and victims can be very traumatized.
“Even though social media has a feature to ‘choose’ an audience who can see uploaded content, Instagram users cannot avoid unwanted reactions from the wider public, the treatment received by the victim remains unjustified. “Sexual predation cannot be justified under any circumstances,” said the Curtin University of Technology alumna.
Finally, Prof. Rachmah Ida explained that it is time for more awareness on feminism to avoid more sexual harassment. She also revealed that legal action must also be made to repress these incidents and the rights of victims are well protected.
“There is often a misunderstanding that feminism wants the supremacy of women, but it is wrong. Feminism only wants equality in the protection of women’s rights. I as a feminist is certainly sad to see events like this happen and hope that the perpetrators to be punished for the harassment that they did in the digital world,” she concluded.
Author: Pradnya Wicaksana
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
