ABSTRACT
Since its rebirth in the 1960s, the women’s movement has singled out
advertising as one of society’s most disturbing cultural products (Zoonen
1994; Dines and Humez 2003). This is generally because people have less
and less time to take anything seriously and commercial pressures feed into
that. Another disturbing aspect of mass cultural media products is the
popularity of soap operas (Scodari 2003), as illustrated in the case of
Indonesia. But since 2000, celebrity news shows, popularly known as ‘info-
tainment’ in Indonesia, have surpassed advertisements and also soap operas as the most influential, and for some, disturbing media product in Indonesia.
This new genre of female-oriented television shows have restricted women’s
role in Indonesian society. As a form of mass culture entertainment, this
new genre of television product provides a point of entry for an analysis of
Indonesian social and cultural dynamics. This chapter is not a comprehen-
sive study. Its modest aim is to demonstrate the range of discourses and
practices in which the ‘infotainment’ industry has meaning, particularly in
relation to women.
