Visakhapatnam: Think twice before calling the television an idiot box as its informative and educative responsibilities still hold true, at least for the rural people of Andhra Pradesh.
A recent study by Andhra University revealed how the TV programmes had changed the lifestyle of the rural women in Srikakulam district towards their autonomy and improvement in their role in the decision-making process at household level.
Titled as ‘Impact of television channels on the lifestyle of rural women: A case study of Veeraghattam mandal of Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh’, the study carried out by Dr. G. Balakrishna explored how the heavy anklets, reverse smoking and sari draping without blouse gave way to women empowerment in all spheres of life.
Dr. G. Balakrishna, who was awarded a Ph.D for the study under the guidance of a senior faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication Department of Andhra University, Dr. Challa Ramakrishna, explained the findings; “The manifold penetration of television sets in rural Andhra Pradesh has triggered a change in the social fabric of the society – which we took as the research area of our study.
We had carried out our study in four villages of Veeraghattam mandal. Earlier, the women (of the research area) used to wear heavy jewellery like thick pendants and anklets. It was a common scene women indulging in reverse-smoking and draping a sari without blouse but all the above mentioned characteristics are now hardly found in the region, thanks to their exposure to the life outside their village as well as information on the television.
It had also empowered them to vote a political party of their choice. There was a clear-cut change in their dressing style, way of speaking, their behaviour and even food habits due to them coming across other ways of life on the television.”
To arrive at these conclusions, the researcher applied two research methodologies- namely survey method as well as focused group discussions. The study had also shed some light on the negative impacts of television viewing on the women and how it impacts the relationships in the neighbourhood.
“Some messages can teach them positive while some make them aggressive and stubborn, said Mr Balakrishna.The study further suggested measures to check the negative effects of TV which can be done by limiting viewing hours and also restricting content that would instigate them to be bad.
