Evolution of the image of women on the newspaper pages: a gender aspect

Abstract

The democratic media should reflect the reality of men and women in all its diversity. Inequality in society is reproduced in the media. According to UNESCO, the global picture shows a lack of gender balance in the representation of women in modern media content. The situation in Ukraine only confirms the global picture, and statistics show its deterioration (under the annual Global Gender Gap Index, in 2021, Ukraine's position decreased by 15 points compared to 2020). Regular monitoring shows that the Ukrainian national and regional mass media are increasingly publishing materials with signs of sexism and gender stereotypes. This emphasizes the relevance of the problem and the urgent need for its comprehensive study. The purpose of the article is to analyze the peculiarities of the representations of women in contemporary Ukrainian media, to trace the evolution of the image of women in the columns of the newspaper "Vechirniy Kyiv". The study uses methods of analysis of all-Ukrainian monitoring statistical data to determine the features of the representations of the women image in the mass media and analysis of archival materials to study the evolution of the image of women in the columns of Ukrainian newspapers. As a result of the study, it was found that image of a woman in the media: working woman, housewife, doll, etc. changes according to the stage of development of society. According to the results of the Ukrainian media monitoring conducted by the Volyn Press Club "Gender-Sensitive Space of Modern Journalism" in April 2022, the representation of women in print media is higher than in online publications: in a third cases women are experts, and in a quarter heroines of materials about the war. The key themes of the general military theme, involving women, were: volunteering, politics and support for displaced persons.  We can say that in 2022 a new woman image – a national citizen of Ukraine – appeared in the media. This is a complex image that integrates different incarnations: wife, mother, lover, worker, housewife, volunteer, defender and others, but not identical to everyone. It is not equal to the sum of stereotypes, but is a new integrated image, the key element in the construction of which is national identity. A woman appears as a citizen of a democratic society, a conscious and active voice of national interests and national spirit, who along with men contributes to the common cause, expresses readiness and will to achieve the national goal – the victory over the enemy and liberation of the motherland.