Princess and the Maldita Viewers: A Reception Study on the Representations of Women in the Teleserye, ‘Princess and I’
ABSTRACT
Media is a powerful medium in creating representations of various groups in society. These representations influence the way people perceive certain groups or sectors in society. The most common in the Philippines is the representations of women in television dramas.
This study focused on the reception of women television viewers of the representations of women in the teleserye, ‘Princess and I.’ The researcher employed Stuart Hall’s Reception Analysis in understanding the cultural values among readers and it’s relationship with their understanding of the text, and Post - Feminism in understanding their awareness and actions against gender inequality. Results of this study revealed that women audiences received the drama in several ways. Some women said that a character embodies the characteristics of a woman in reality, which agrees to the producers of the program. Most of the subjects however thought that the villains in the drama are more representative of their characteristics as women, since the villains are more empowered than the heroine. Thus, being a woman is someone who is accommodating, yet knows how to show her pagkamaldita side when the situation tells so. This implies that submissiveness is already unacceptable among female viewers.
The researcher recommends for television writers to have a deeper understanding of their audiences. Viewers no longer see kind characters as ideal, yet media are still feeding them with the idea of what is good and bad.
Afable, D.A.G. Princess and the Maldita Viewers: A Reception Study on the Representations of Women in the Teleserye, ‘Princess and I,’ Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, 2013.
Keywords: Drama, Representation, Woman, Maldita