INTRODUCTION

Television is the most powerful form of mass medium. The characters and ideas presented in movies and documentaries deeply affect the beliefs, lifestyles, behavior and needs of the viewers. So is the case of TV commercials, which offer ready-made patterns to imitate and imprint them on people's minds. Barbara Pietkiewicz writes in her book entitled "Portraits of Men and Women" (edited by R. Siemienska), "[s]ociety perceives women the way they are portrayed on television. Today, however, in the era of unbridled commercialism, they are portrayed in a way, which is to increase the number of viewers or buyers of the advertised products.

Women are the main target audience for manufacturers; commercials are designed to sell products particularly to women. Two reasons exist for this gender-bias: first, most commercials advertise food and household chemicals, products used in the women-dominated domestic realm; second, most products, including the ones for men, continue to be bought by women, since they do shopping for the entire family (despite the movement toward equal rights). Advertising specialists are of the opinion that the easiest way to gain customers is to refer to the stereotypical order and hierarchy that are reflected in everyday behaviors, the division of household chores, and the rituals of social life. In fact, as many as two-thirds of commercials featuring women relate to caring about the home and family; the others typically present women as sexual objects. Women are featured in commercials three times as often as men and they are almost always shown in the stereotyped roles. As a result, despite the opinions such as Joanna Mizieliñska's claim, that "advertisements do not create these stereotypes; they are only used to sell the products best", commercials reinforce the old, culturally imprinted stereotypes and create the new ones.

Two styles in advertising may be defined: one relates to tradition and is based on the stereotypes created by this tradition. The modern style, however, imitates reality and the elements considered being modern, extravagant, and highly popular at any given time (such as the liberated and independent woman). Joanna Bator, an expert on women's image in TV commercials, wrote, "[the type of advertised product is the main criterion that influences the choice of a given image."Both types seem relevant as the picture of Polish society is ambiguous: On the one hand, many believe that traditional family should consist of at least two children and two adults, with the man, as the head of family and responsible for breadwinning, and a woman who either does not work or works for pleasure, but is first of all involved domestic chores. On the other hand, the reality, in which 70% of women are employed, is far from this picture. The viewers (both women and men) realize that the world depicted in commercials is unreal and they mostly find it irritating, 74%, or boring, 70% (CBOS 1997). When subjects participating in the Demoskop's survey were asked which advertisements they found most irritating, they indicated commercials advertising laundry detergents, margarine, and sanitary napkins, the ones that mainly feature women in their traditional roles.

Another study shows that both women and men think that women are the most suitable in advertisements of laundry detergents, shampoos, and soups, while men are considered fit for advertising beer, computers, and cars. It seems that the results of such surveys are culturally conditioned, and that they stem from cultural and social stereotypes of women and men.

Surveys conducted by the Public Opinion Research Center indicate that women and men place the highest value on happy family life and satisfaction with children. Commercials create an illusion of such happiness. They depict an ideal world, where everything is clear, simple, and requires no effort. They glamorize every day life, making a woman's domestic chores look more beautiful than they really are. It is particularly visible in commercials portraying a vision of a happy family, where the audience is presented with a model couple, surrounded by children and animals, living in a beautiful house. Women filling traditional gender roles find a symbolic, and often only symbolic, gratification in such images. Another risk caused by commercials is that they give a false dimension to a hierarchy of values. Women, to whom commercials are directed, are attacked with spots promoting newer and newer laundry detergents and household cleaning chemicals. Commercials aim to sell new products that hardly differ from others. In a consumer society with a vast array of goods, commercials create needs. Creating the need among the members of a target group becomes the method for a company to reach their objective. Thus, the commercial stimulates not only the need to possess certain things, but also a particular lifestyle. In a patriarchal society, women face a two-folded attack. First, advertisements target women's feeling of responsibility; second, they appeal to women's traditional mission to guard cleanliness, just as they should guard their homes. Only a sterile bathroom and kitchen prove their fulfillment of the socially accepted roles of mother and housewife.

WHICH ROLES ARE WE PLAYING?

When Joanna Mizieliñska writes about the objectification of women in commercials, she uses the division suggested by a director, Juliusz Machulski, in his movie entitled: " Mothers, Wives and Lovers." Joanna Bator, however, makes another distinction between the traditional woman and the modern woman, or in other words, the super housewife and the narcissistic consumer. The "mirror of stereotypes" reflects: "wives and mothers whose actions directly introduce us to advantages of a given product, housewives who, following an expert's advice, successfully try out a new detergent, friends as a "champion" in whiter washing, cleaner floors, or children with better washed blouses, who shares her method of success with others. As an esthetical or sexual objects, women become more beautiful, thanks to beauty products they have just used or more professional because of her choice in deodorants or refreshing mints. She is capable of demonstrating sexual desire openly, and successfully, due to her beauty and charm achieved by using the advertised product. Ms. Bator sadly wonders why women have found their emancipation only in the context of consumption.

The typology that divides women into mothers, wives, and lovers will most likely persist for a considerable amount of time. Moreover, each of these conceptions is seldom blended with each other. Women who find fulfillment in a professional career and women presented as sexual beings are never seen in laundry detergent or margarine commercials. "Traditional" women are usually filmed without make-up, dressed in baggy clothes in pastel colors, and typically at home (in a kitchen or bathroom), or in exceptional cases, in shops. The principle of "identifying with the commercial's character" is employed in such cases. Commercial characters must not "be better than we are." On the other hand, modern women wear make-up and sexy clothes, they are dynamic and shown in non-domestic settings. Commercials highlight particular differences between men and women:

1. Location and placement often differentiate the sexes in commercials. Women are stereotypically placed in areas "appropriate" for a wife: a closed kitchen door, bathroom, children's room, or a shop. Men, however, are found on the couch, in an office, or in a open space. In addition, women are often presented in abnormally large rooms, artificially creating a space to make the woman's social role look more significant. Bathrooms and kitchens are typically twice as large as normal.
2. Relationships with people are another category of sex differentiation in commercials. In opposition to men, women are always shown as emotional, open, talkative, and prone to feelings of envy. Authors of detergent commercials often employ the use of envy: if a woman performs her chores better than other women, it upgrades her in the eyes of her female friends, her mother-in-law, and, of course, her husband. Such an image is quite controversial and female audiences often oppose it. At present, fewer commercials utilize this type of scenario. Gender roles are also distinguished in presentment of groups and communities. In commercials, men and women gather in different circles. For example, in the Winiary (instant food) advertisement, viewers are presented with a group of female friends preparing meals together. In beer commercials, men are shown as group members most often.

3. Commercials also distinguish gender in professional activities. For example, one commercial advertises a vitamin formula to "increase intellectual activity" by presenting a man sitting at a computer. Women are hardly ever shown as being professionally active, and they are seldom associated with intellectual activity; only 7% of commercials portray women in this manner. Moreover, women hardly act in their professional capacity - a toothpaste commercial show a teacher who simply has yellow teeth. Women as doctors or flight attendants only advertise sweets. Sometimes their depictions as professionals are deceiving: for instance, an Intensive Vaseline Care balm's advertisement shows two women, one of them apparently a dermatologist able to understand the new cosmetic's formula, and her sister who has yet to graduate from the Medical University, and thus, understands nothing. Glasses are viewed as a symbol of a woman's intellect. Promoting a product, however, may only be achieved by having it presented by a well-know woman (an actress, journalist, or singer).

MOTHER AND WIFE - THE MOST IMPORTANT ROLES TO PLAY

Women as mothers and wives, the guardians of hearth and home, seem to be the most difficult stereotypes to break. A woman's most important function in both real life and commercial is that of the mother. Joanna Bator draws our attention to the "patriarchal sentimentalization of motherhood" conveyed in Polish commercials. Even the mother from a sweets commercial "loves her child more than anything," and thus, must buy the child some sweets. Joanna Mizieliñska argues, "Commercials depicting a woman as a mother mainly focus on her duties of feeding and caring." It is she who reacts when other members of the family do not want to eat their meals.

Commercials presenting food preparation particularly highlight the traditional, and still valid, division of family duties. The mother has a duty to continually act on behalf of her family's welfare. Children shown in Tang, a new drink, commercials ask each other the question,"where is it from? From mummy." When a new Danone dessert is sold in shops, a son wonders, "does my Mummy know it?" Women also often treat their husbands as children when buying a new product; one says, "this is for my little Mark."

The stereotype of women who mother their husbands is facilitated by showing men in laundry detergents' commercials, in particular, together with their sons as rascals wearing filthy clothes. Discrete use of another stereotype is achieved in the "Bryza" laundry detergent commercial: a man's voice is heard singing a merry tune about "children and stains being an ordinary thing" and then the same voice communicates the message, "now you have Bryza." This commercial evidently implies that washing is the mother's or the wife's duty.

One yogurt commercial shows a boy shopping for yogurt. Then, he decides to buy flowers for his mother. The last word belongs to the father, "we will always buy it now." A "final decision," or an evaluation of the mother's actions, is often presented in food commercials. As specialists on the topic have emphasized, males, both real ones and cartoon characters, such as Superman or Mr. Proper, continually perform critiques or evaluations. Off-camera voices are also generally of a man. Thus, women may not even act as an expert in their so-called specialties. Men, however, verbally berate women, ask tricky questions to reveal their incompetence, patronize them, and provide intellectual advice.

Although men are occasionally presented in washing machine ads, they are hardly ever shown in those on laundry detergents. Thus far, only two men have been shown in this type of commercial, in an ad for Dosia laundry detergents. Commercials for washing detergents and equipment are mainly produced according to traditional scenarios adopted from the German market, which usually is the place of origin of these products. For example, Vizir laundry detergent commercial shows a male reporter visiting housewives and asking them to show him the results of their last wash. The loads typically include husbands' shirts.

Commercials promoting detergent are quite often adaptations taken directly from the German market, and German ads are usually more biased in relation to sex differences than Polish ads. However, female characters are increasingly speaking their own minds. For instance, the woman in the Vanish stain remover ad says the product offers her mental comfort. Although discrete and slow, some changes are taking place.

We are taught social roles in early childhood. Much work on this subject highlights the fact that stereotypical behaviors are enforced according to the same, unchanging ritual: fathers and sons get dirty together, and together, they avoid entering the kitchen, a space reserved for the grandmother, mother, and daughter. Mothers are never shown as those who explain things about the world or influence their children's intellectual development. Their role has been limited to feeding and supplying the family with clean clothes. There are no women's games, unless washing clothes or baking a cake are considered games. Ms. Mizieliñska writes that, "advertising initiates stereotypes of men and women at a very young age. . . The image of a little girl in commercials is an image of her miniaturized mother."

BODY - OBJECT OF CULT AND DESIRE

Z. Melosik writes in her "Body, Identity, and Power" "beauty is one of the main platforms for social construction and maintaining sex differences." Commercials advertising beauty products present women that do not fall under any of the above categories. These are phenomenal women, who wander along beaches, meadows, and other mysterious locations; they are neither feminists nor priestesses of the family hearth. They are only concerned with their bodies. Apparently, the world of advertising only consists of those under the age of thirty. Thus far, no producer has employed mature women for beauty product commercials, not even in ads for anti-wrinkle creams. They are excluded from the group of official recipients of such products, although they are the customers who use them most often. The message communicated to this target group has been worded categorically: you must use these products, as they are the only hope for your skin. Beauty ads most often use mysterious names of cream or incomprehensible formulas, attacking us with an image, which only one woman in a thousand may have. Commercials force women to become prisoners of our home and our body.

Man's body is not evaluated as severely as women, and in real terms, has been completely excluded from any evaluation process. People discuss esthetic discrimination and feminization of the body. No one-notice appearances, the skin's aging process, or excessive weight on men. "The culturally conditioned pressure of being beautiful does not apply to men. Man's body as an esthetic object (often presented side by side with woman's body) is shown only in unisex commercials or in ads of perfumes most often purchased by women. These feature the sexy bodies of young boys and girls and tend to target younger audiences. American advertisers, who are a little braver than Europeans, usually produce these types of commercials. A woman's body is used equally as often in commercials that target men. Sylwia Borowska wrote in her MA dissertation entitled "Mother, Wife, Object of Desire: Model Images of Women in TV Advertising" that, "when a man [in a commercial] wants to confirm or prove his masculinity, he treats women as objects."

Thus, female images are frequently used in car commercials. Z. Melosik writes, "fragmentation of a woman's body is one of the most objectifying phenomena in our modern culture." The role of these women is to disappear, to lose the battle with a new candy, soft drink, or beer, which is just being tested by a real man. Women who act in commercials targeting a male audience are sexually dissatisfied, think of nothing but sex, and use a specific and limited range of associations. A discrete, but quite telling allusion is provided in a Renault Clio commercial: size and dimension are important.

Another important message communicated by Polish TV commercials is the increasing tendency for men to leave women. An EB beer commercial is an example of this tendency: competing with women, the beer succeeds to seduce the men, who then leave the women on their own. The men are then shown in pubs, cuddling cold bottles of beer.

Strangely, ad producers often use erotic themes in ice cream and chips commercials. Women eating ice cream are always presented in the state of utmost excitement, as if they are very close to reaching an orgasm. The men in ice-cream commercials are shown in a fancy car with a seductive woman eating ice cream. The producers' erotic imagination has no limits, despite the fact that teenagers and children are the main group of ice-cream consumers. Potato chip ads are very similar. The latest, featuring Pamela Anderson, is not only vulgar, but includes the use of humiliation. In order to get a new brand chips, Anderson is prepared to scrub the deck and eat from someone's hand. The theme of eating chips from someone's hand is often repeated in these ads. Z. Melosik claims that, "contemporary advertising increasingly uses conventions used in "soft porn." Ice cream and beer ads in particular use this phenomenon intensely. The images of bottle and female shapes often intermingle. Ms. Melosik argues that by eroticizing a product, women become a commodity.

ANY CHANGES AHEAD?

Commercials occasionally present women and men in situations atypical for their sex. Women have begun to advertise cars (Citroen, Renault Clio), pension schemes, and mobile telephones and men are now involved in housework. Women also act in roles which, as in the case of sexual activity, until now have been reserved only for men,. The ERA's (a mobile phone operator) latest commercial is fully feminized. It features four young women who represent various lifestyles, but all are equally active. Unfortunately, nearly all four speeches highlight the element of security ("I can call for a taxi and help", "I feel safer"). The stereotypical attributes of women are used yet again.

The commercial for OB tampons should be definitely considered a novelty. The so-called "menstruation taboo" still functions in many societies; thus, commercials advertising sanitary napkins and tampons often employ a number of circumlocutions, and a male's voice is hardly ever used. The latest OB ad features a naked woman and invites the audience to enter the erotic and sensual atmosphere. A woman's voice informs the audience that a woman gynecologist has designed the tampons. This commercial is original and esthetic, although it has undoubtedly falsified reality: menstruation does not only occur in teenagers and young women, the actresses featured in all commercials promoting this product.

The WC Picker ad is a breakthrough in the fossilized structure of cleaning detergents' commercials. The audience is presented with an image of a young wife and mother who is having an evening out. On her departure, she gives instructions to her husband. These few words mark the first time a man enters a woman's territory. His wife is so satisfied with the job he did that she decides to make it his regular chore. The husband is not happy, but does not protest. The chore of doing laundry, which until now has been reserved for the woman has become a man's duty. Thus far, the work informally considered a women's duty, has been done by men only in exceptional circumstances, when the men know the effects will be evaluated leniently and thus, view the job as casual entertainment.

Men who clean and do laundry in commercials are usually young, and thus, they probably live the typical lifestyle of single men. Many will assume that their domestic duties will end when they get married. If not, the commercials should be viewed as an omen of change. More often, however, we are presented with an image of men who cannot cope with domestic chores.

Producers of pension scheme ads have not entrusted many significant roles to women. In one commercial, a woman praises the pension schemes, speaking in a way typical for men; she promotes the product, speaking slowly, and in low voice. In another, Edyta Górniak (Polish pop star) in advertising for Commercial Union services is presented only as an attractive "gadget."

Women also advertise products, which are not typical for their sex, such as adhesives and home heating systems. Interestingly, the woman acting in the latter commercial is single; she has neither a husband nor children.

Sometimes, however, breaking gender norms leads to questionable results. In an ad for Braun's hair remover, a man asks a woman, "have you shaved your legs?" Thus far, commercials of hair-removal devices employed circumlocutions and never before has woman been presented. "Shaving" was a male activity, similarly to the initiative in sex. However, although Braun's commercials has caused certain stereotypes to crumble, it does so in a negative way: a man telling women to shave (implying that it is necessary for a woman to be attractive) is derogatory and inappropriate.

Another characteristic phenomenon is that a new character, the active and confident woman, does not find her partner among the stereotypical men. In a Rexona's commercial, a young woman drives with much bravado during her driving test and a frightened instructor gives her a pass mark.

Women's activity is also used in commercials relating to pleasures, such as sweets. An active woman feels like having toffee Eclairs. In a commercial for Fantasia yogurt, a young girl wants a man with imagination. Ultimately the yogurt will do. She can give up on the man, breaking another stereotype. L'Oreal Company has contracted the controversial actress Mila Jovovich, to act in its new mascara commercial, where she utters the statement "straight is boring."

WOMEN ON TV

Polish Television, fortunately, does not lack in female employees; more than half is women ("Portraits of Women and Men" by Barbara Pietkiewicz). News programs employ female reporters with different personalities. Nevertheless, stereotypes are still binding in the assignments given to male and female reporters. Women, who are considered to be more sensitive and emotional, deal with health and social issues, whereas men discuss politics, cars, and sports. However, some exceptions exist: women update the public with information about the Seym's work, a woman is Poland's USA correspondent, and one woman reports on sports. Channel Two has undergone complete feminization; most of its anchors are females.

Nevertheless, following the stereotypical view of men's intellectual superiority, males usually host game shows. Only Stanis³awa Ryster, who has hosted the "Great Game" contest for years, is an exception. Long-legged assistants whose job is to "decorate" their programs almost always accompany men.

Women on TV are dressed in typically feminine outfits. Stricter rules are required for informative programs, where the hosts must wear suits. The color requirement is not incredibly rigid, and next to white, black, navy blue, and gray, women may also wear brighter shades. Only Barbara Czajkowska, presenter of the "Special Line" program, has always worn the same type of clothing which resembles a typical man's outfit: a dark jacket, white blouse, and bow tie.

Ms. Pietkiewicz claims that the vision of the world depicted on TV is unrealistic, as it shows too many women. Information programs, however, present men and their achievements more often than those of women.

Although Polish Television employs more women than men, they are awarded little authentic promotion. Unfortunately, gender still helps determine the worth of characteristics, behaviors, and activities.

Despite the frequency women are presented, they are still shown as the wives of their husbands, embarrassed with their success. Thus far, the media has not created a true "fashion" for active women. In addition, when successful women are shown on TV, they are usually asked about their families, homes, children, and in particular, how they manage to fit work within their family responsibilities. Men are never asked such questions and are considered not to have any family duties.

TELEVISION SERIES: MAKES EVERYONE HAPPY

Soap operas are similar to commercials in that they use stereotypes to construct easily identifiable characters and to structure a clear scenario. They are produced in a convention to make them easy to understand and acceptable to as many spectators as possible. Soap operas present characters who represent clearly defined characteristics, allowing viewers to foresee and then estimate the actions they would undertake themselves in the same situation. However, Polish productions do not divide women into typical categories such as good blondes and evil brunettes.

Traditional characters predominate in soap operas, however, and the stereotypes have the best and clearest construction: Polish women have strong personality, for example, for who the family, home, and particularly the children forever remain of primary importance. Women, who, by their own choice are childless and single, never appear in soaps. "Clan" and "The Z³otopolskis" are the two most popular Polish soap operas, with "Clan" top-ranked in popularity and number of viewers.

The female characters in "Clan" find fulfillment in traditional roles, irrespective of their jobs and economic situation, which perhaps makes the series so popular. The model of two parents and two children dominates. It presents a perfect couple (he is a doctor; she is an academic) with the wife often presented doing chores (vacuuming, folding laundry, cooking, and serving food). Although the family's financial status is apparently very good, the lady of the house always does everything herself. If she were to hire a professional cleaner, the audience might resent her for not being able to cope with housework, and thus, stray from the ideal. She never protests, and is gentle, understanding, and nearly always in a good mood. Although she is undoubtedly intelligent and modern, every morning she goes out to buy rolls.

As in commercials, everyone is happy with the state of affairs. Marriages are "ideal" because no one does anything outside her or his social role. No soap character argues about sharing chores, and fights between the two sexes never occur. Women are often shown in the kitchen doing their chores, or cleaning the house. Men do not perform housework typical for women, although such circumstances may be sporadically shown.

Other characters behave in a similar way, and irrespective of the situation, women are always looking after their homes. When under stress, they water flowers, seldom shown sitting and doing nothing.

The older women have strong personalities and represent a specific and never-changing system of values. Middle-aged women are the ones that most frequently stray from the norm. However, if they have love affairs, they end them and return to their husbands, firmly believing that the family is the most important aspect of life. A majority of female characters keep looking for a place in both a professional and private life, making decisions that surprise even themselves and their families. Such women are neither traditional nor modern, because they cannot find themselves in their new reality. One of them is fed up with her husband being a homemaker. She wants to fulfill herself, but when she discovers she is incapable of doing this, she is full of remorse and returns to her family life. When the male representative of this family summarizes the event, he talks about women's ambitions, forcing the viewer to draw the conclusion that woman's place is at home. Although relations among generations are very strong (three generations live under the same roof in both the soaps) the mother-grandmother relation significantly influences the lives of both grown-up sons and daughters. The middle generation mothers, however, do not wield this kind of influence individually, and they seldom see their busy children despite the fact that they have good contact with them. Children, however, often treat parents as "out of date." Daughters are very "independent," but they often entrust their secrets to mothers and almost always participate in the kitchen ritual of food preparation. The youngest characters portrayed in soaps mainly make divorces and other irresponsible decisions. The so-called "successful women" are often divorced and are presented in a manner characteristic of this type of series. Their traits include heavy make-up, abundance of jewelry, and provocative outfits, often in bright colors.

Single businesswomen, who have experienced some kind of ordeal in the past, are usually portrayed to elicit negative emotions from the audience. The opposition of business success and failure in private lives has functioned as a consistent them in soap operas. The Polish variety, however, never presents truly dark characters: all females are converted in the end; they always love their children.

Although soaps introduce themes of unfaithfulness and "common-law" relationships, which never or hardly ever may be approved of by older members of the society, the subject of abortion remains a taboo.

Polish soaps do not show sex and the characters do not discuss it. Eroticism is seldom presented and middle-aged characters look embarrassed when their husbands discretely allude to the subject. The classic use of sex appears, similar to the "getting to a man's heart through his stomach" attitude, which takes place at times of marital crisis.

WOMEN'S IMAGE IN DAILY PRESS

The woman-official and the woman carrying a load of every-day problems are the two images of women most frequently presented in Polish dailies (such as "Rzeczpospolita", "Gazeta Wyborcza", and, "Trybuna"). In real terms, the woman-official is sexless. In 1999, Hanna Gronkiewicz Waltz, the President of the National Bank of Poland; Alicja Grzeœkowiak, The Marshal of the Senate; Hanna Suchocka, Minister of Justice; Ewa Lewicka, Vice Minister of Labor responsible for successful implementation of the Pension Scheme Reform; Franciszka Cegielska, Vice Minister of Health; and Anna Knysok, Vice Minister of Health responsible for implementation of National Insurance Reform, were regarded as such women.

Women-officials, in a manner similar to their male counterparts, make decisions important to all members of the Polish society and both the press and readers perceive them basically in the context of their offices. In 1992, newspapers could not get over the fact that for the first time in Polish history, a woman, Hanna Suchocka, became Prime Minister.

The image of woman carrying a load of every-day problems is much more complex. In the mid-1999, the nurses protesting against low wages and feminists insisting on having access to pre-natal exams fell under this category. The protest of nurses made public aware of how little the most feminized professional groups earn. The second issue, access to pre-natal exams, brought to light such facts as the lack of knowledge on this subject (there are twenty times fewer pre-natal tests performed in Poland than needed; the low figure results from the fact that women either did not want to have them done, did not know that they should have had them done, or did not know how to exercise their legal rights).

TEN YEARS OF DISCUSSION ON ABORTION.

In the early 90s abortion was one of the most controversial and hotly debated issues in the Polish press. The papers reported on an extensive, Church led, campaign to ban abortion. Nineteen ninety-two was marked by the cunning introduction of the ban on abortion, on the basis of the Code of Medical Ethics, and even more by stormy discussions on women's rights. Quite a lot was also written about abortion tourism, the abortion underground, sexual education, and methods of birth control. Articles written at that time revealed an image of a woman, who knew very little about birth control, and because of this and for economic reasons, seldom used contraceptives.

In 1993, the government implemented the legal ban on abortion. The introduction of the ban initiated parliamentary debate on the implementation of the Law on Family Planning, Protection of Human Fetus, and Conditions Permitting Pregnancy Termination, which since then, have been held every year.

These discussions resulted in the liberalization of the laws on abortion. In 1997, the Seym reinstated the right to abortion for social reasons, and in the same year, rescinded it once again. A year later, the government withdrew subsidies for five out of eight contraceptives. That moves resulted in a discussion on Polish reproductive rights, including the right to decide the number of children one would like to have. The discussion on access to pre-natal tests continued in the context of the right to abortion due to severe and irreversible damage to the fetus.

THE INCIDENTAL WOMAN

Apart from abortion, Polish dailies treat other subjects rather incidentally. In the beginning of the 90s, papers published the results of a public opinion survey conducted exclusively among women. The survey results showed that Polish women would prefer their relationship with men to be based on partnership, although in practice, the women felt responsible for most chores. The papers treated the significance of the survey as rather limited, however, mainly due to the fact that there was no similar survey conducted among men, its results could not be compared between the sexes.

In 1995, the UNO organized the Women's Conference in Beijing, an event the media found very interesting. Papers reported extensively on the frequently contradictory documents drafted by the Polish government, the Conference and women's NGOs. Many frequently discussed the women's rights that should be recognized as an integral part of human rights.

In 1997, the government passed the National Action Plan for Women. The press showed a great deal of intuition by writing very little about this subject, as the program practically never got implemented.

In the early 90's, "Gazeta Wyborcza" - the largest Polish national daily - initiated a very interesting and useful series called "Humane Childbirth," which presented articles on the conditions in maternity wards. Many female readers responded to the campaign, most eager to share their own experiences with the paper's reporters. The authors of the series highlighted the fact that most maternity ward patients were treated as objects and deprived of all rights. They also wrote on the general attitude of state hospital staff towards their patients.

The Warsaw daily, "Express Wieczorny", also organized an interesting campaign, titled the Club of Women Abused by Members of Their Family which, unfortunately, was soon discontinued. Until this series of articles on the abuse of women, Polish dailies seldom dealt with the problem of domestic violence, usually only in times of the so-called "tribunals of abuse" organized at the initiative of the Warsaw based Women's Rights Center. A billboard campaign on the abuse of women attracted more attention (the billboards that showed a woman beaten by her partner only because "the soup was too salty" became a source of malicious jokes). Quite a number of press releases appeared on the Government Plenipotentiary for Family Affairs, Kazimierz Kapera, who blocked the program combating domestic violence.

WHICH CLOTHES SHOULD WE WEAR, HOW SHOULD WE LIVE OUR LIVES?

The daily press in the 90s tried to attract the attention of female readers by providing a section exclusively addressed to them. For several years, "Rzeczpospolita" was the only daily with a woman's page, entitled "Business Woman," and published relevant articles several times a week. As implied by the title, "Rzeczpospolita" mainly featured women who ran their own companies. Women entrepreneurs were provided with various types of advice. They were taught how to be assertive, how to recruit new members of staff and dismiss the old ones and which clothes to wear at work. After some time, guidance in the field of clothes and beauty products started to dominate the other subjects, and eventually the "Business Woman" section disappeared for good.

For several months, "¯ycie Warszawy" published a colorful weekly insert entitled "Femina." It mainly consisted of translations of western articles, which often covered rather insignificant women's issues. Publication of this insert was soon discontinued.

A weekly insert for women published in "Gazeta Wyborcza" are the latest initiative. Every issue of "High Heels" presents the life of an unusual woman, such as Saint Kinga or Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieœlak (an actress). It also features "Monika Olejnik's Non-political Saloon," "Cultural Events," and reviews of books for women and about women. "High Heels" also serves as a guidebook, and, for instance, advises mothers on how to deal with their children in crisis situations. It offers advice on health issues, outfits, cosmetics, and home decorating. A cooking section provides various recipes (authors of women's magazines believe every woman cooks because she likes it). "Gazeta Wyborcza's" insert does not attempt to promote any specific image for women, but rather aims at meeting the needs of both its female and male readers.

SECOND CLASS INFORMATION

The daily press considers women's issues to be second-class information and thus, stories about gender issues are often pre-empted by political events. Public matters and interviews also suffer from the dominance of information on politics. Space is usually given to reports from press conferences, although it depends on the state of other political events. Information on women's issues other than current affairs are only published when little is happening in the world of politics. Papers only publish interviews with women who hold distinguished offices. Text related to general public interest are only approved of if they concern an aspects never before discussed by the press, such as a report from a meeting of feminists, or a story of a woman abused by her husband. Other types of texts on women's issues, such as discrimination on the labor market, are usually published in connection with a given event. Papers suffer from lack of text on women's initiatives, the so-called "intervention text" on discrimination against women, and educational text. Daily papers seldom highlight such subjects as work in feminized occupations, gender discrimination in the remuneration system, violation of the Labor Code (the latter two problems only exist in statistics), the problem of women returning to work after maternity leave, problems of women who want to continue to work and care for their small children (lack of child-care institutions such as nurseries, kindergartens, and facilities that would help in caring for schoolchildren during their classes), sexual abuse in the workplace, or the harm of stereotypical perceptions of gender roles.

The National Platform of Action for Women

Women and the media- selected recommendations

Objective 1. Increase women's participation in decision-making at all levels of the media and enable them to articulate their views. Adopt new and amend existing laws and procedures pertaining to the media to ensure the observance of the constitutional principle of equality between women and men;

Actions to be taken:

• support non-governmental organizations working on the protection of women's rights and facilitate their access to complimentary informational and promotional radio and television programs;
• elaborate, as appropriate, draft proposals for legislative changes and a model code of conduct for the media and advertising staff;
• develop and implement procedures to obligate the mass media to respect and promote the principles of non-discrimination and equality between women and men;
• prohibit public funding of the programs that perpetuate stereotyped roles of women and men;
• prohibit journalists employed in the mass media from using the language that perpetuate stereotyped gender roles;
• elaborate and implement procedures to monitor the content of programs broadcast by public and private television licensed by the state;
• encourage media and advertising agencies to present non-discriminatory images of women and men, to promote partnership between wife and husband and equal sharing of family responsibilities as well as equality in the workplace and other areas of social life;
• ensure that the media in their informational and educational programs promote the principles of non-discrimination and equality before the law and that they aim at raising the social status of women;
• ensure that licenses for private television and radio stations are granted or prolonged on condition that the principle of gender equality is respected in their programs;

Objective 2. Educate decision makers and other media and advertising agencies staff, including students of journalism regarding gender equality.

Actions to be taken:

• Introduce the issue of gender equality including gender-sensitivity training in the curricula of the higher schools for journalists;
• provide staff training in the media and advertising agencies and educate decision makers in the media in order to:

• increase their gender sensitivity,
• spread understanding of discriminatory, degrading and insulting nature of gender stereotypes,
• promote non-stereotyped and diversified images of women and men in the mass media,
• eliminate sexist language,
• raise awareness of the need to eliminate pornography and violence against women from the media,
• propose and broadcast informational and educational programs about gender equality, discrimination based on sex and social status of women;
• emphasize gender equality perspective in all areas of social and economic lives,
• present various images and social roles of women and different roads to women's self-actualization,
• set up a media expert group to evaluate programs and advice media professionals on the contents and the manner in which women's rights, status, achievements, needs and interests should be presented,
• support the establishment of the media audience watch groups, that can monitor the media to ensure that the principle of gender equality is respected.
  
  

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