REVISITED MEDIA HABIT OF INDONESIAN WOMEN (Qualiatitave Approach For Educated and Less Educated Woman)

Abstract

There is two perspectives to understand definition of woman in Indonesia, as perempuan and as wanita. Based on word empu (perempuan) in Sansekerta’s, women defined as master for herself, which implicated more "empowered" when compared with the meaning of women (wanita) in Javanese, wanita described as wani di-tata (in-order, on-set, as an object). However, this difference became lost meaning in practice when both perempuan and wanita in Indonesia has still struggling to actualize herself. Today the subordination of women have moved away from traditional ways, turn to the ways that intellectual and packaged more subtly, so that women unconsciously trapped in the feminine stigma constructed by the media. The mass media whose supposed to be a means of empowering the public and the emancipation of women, even neglected, or simply ignored. Women and television as inseparable. For women, consuming television as a necessity, media habits, where the habit is defined as behavior, code of conduct, or repetitive rituals that it becomes a natural part of everyday life. Media habits can be understood as a process in which the audience has been accustomed to consuming media in so it becomes a natural part of daily life. For the television industry, women are the most valuable commodity. Unnoticed by the women themselves, the television also carries the implication that it preserve oppression. However, the repressive power of the media is owned not by the violence of the all-clad physical dominance, but in more subtle forms, and hegemonic. In Indonesia, soap opera (we called sinetron in Indonesia) is always attached to the tastes of women.Rating for long, has been a standardization of television programming, the high ratings of the sinetron had been claimed as women favor program, on version of Nielsen Media Research (2011). Domination of sinetron in the prime time seemed to trap women in uniform taste and maintained stereotiping of women tastes. Then tastes beyond that would be considered deviant or even non-existent. This study was conducted to revisited media habit of Indonesian women. The main reason is the changes in Indonesian society, the first relates to the increasing number of women working in Indonesia. In general, the number of women working increased since 2002-2006 , for example in the provinces of DKI Jakarta, in 2002 there were 1,062,568 people, rose 7.32% in 2004 which is 1.11762 million inhabitants, and in 2006 returned up 3.5% be 1.13741 million inhabitants. Secondly, issues of education , increasing educational level of women in Indonesia is directly increased to the ability of media literacy, meaning that women are increasingly selective in consuming media. Third, an increase in the consumption of other media. The presence of pay tv , internet and smartphones fulfilling women's needs and satisfaction. This phenomenon straight effect on the consumption of television, and of course the consumption of sinetrons. Based on recent studies (2013) , there is a result which answered media consumption on working and nonworking women with specific criteria (minimum graduated degree, SES AB, 25-40). The studies reveals that tendency of reliance on the sinetron began to decrease drastically, especially on local production, there is saturation of the material spectacle, coupled with their choice of subscription television drama series tends to global. While the preferences of the variety shows, talk shows, documentary and news also increased. Based on the results of the study, researchers found limited differences in media consumption patterns among women working and not working, except for access time on television. Researchers propose the assumption that it is because all informants has educated women (ie graduate degree). Results of this study revisited viewing patterns (and taste) of women in Indonesia, there is differences of educated and less educated women to media habit. There is change on their media habit. Education becomes one of main factors, where is higher education tends to affect to how women treats the media, and adopt new technology. Less education women sees television as main media, and there is nothing wrong with programming and the content of media, so they tend to addicted to local programmespecially sinetron. While educated informants against and more critical to media, they become more selective, also they prefer varied and educative programm. Less educated women tend to treat new technology for limited acces of information, while educated women more explorative and seeing smartphone as most accomodative tools of communication, included acces to the massmedia.