Role of New-Media in Influencing Economic, Social and Political Identity of Muslim Women in Shivamogga City

Rumana Tanveer S, Faculty Member, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Kuvempu University, JnanaSahyadri,  KuvempuUniversity,  Shankaraghatta, srumanatanveer@gmail.com, ph:9900619192

Abstract

Women is considered as an independent group constituting about 48% of the country's population as per the 2001 census. The constitution of India recognised importance of women by amending certain law in protection of the women in the country. Especially in the traditional communities like Muslim community the women are still facing many social evils but at the same time even some of the orthodox families are coming out of these evils and providing empowerment to women. Technological development is one of the factors which contribute to the empowerment of women in the community. New media is one of the evidence of the technology development. Therefore, the present study is undertaken with a view of identifying the role of new media in providing identity to the Muslim women in the study area.

Key Words: Muslim Women, New Media, Identity of Women, Technological Development

1.     Introduction:

Women is considered as an independent group comprising about 48% of the country's population as per the 2001 census. The constitution of India recognised importance of women by amending certain law in protection of the women in the country. The rules and regulations not only protect the women in the country but also their positive discrimination for the development and participation in different fields. The empowerment of women is the national context which is determined by three important factors which includes her Economic, Social and Political identity in the Society. Since ages muslim community has been one of the traditional community in Indian history. In present scenario, many Muslim families are in traditional lifestyle; especially the status of the women is tagged to such orthodox lifestyle. However, development in mass media influences the progress and empowerment of the status of Muslim women within the country.

1.1 Concept of the study:

Economic Identity: Economic identity of women relates to the capacity of women to participate & contribute and also benefit from the growth processes in such a way that they recognise the value of their contributions, respect their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth of their dependents and the country in whole.

Social Identity: Social identity of Muslim women is the process of developing a sense of autonomy and self - confidence and acting individually and collectively to take major decisions in their life. Further raising the status of women through education, raising awareness, literacy and training. It also refers to equipping and allowing women to make life determining decisions regarding different problems in the society.

Political Identity: Political Empowerment of Muslim women refers to the enhancement of women’s leadership through individual leadership skills development. Further motivating women to actively participate in government and politics in order to maintain democracy.

2.     Review of Earlier Works:

Lakshmi Devi (2014) in one of her study identified the reasons for lack of education in the community in both urban and rural areas of the country. And also the study identified that the socio economic development of the working class of the Muslim community and its impact on the development of education of the rural poor. And also the study reveals that the new media is also one of the impacts of development of the socio-economic status of Muslim women in the study area.

Seema Khaize (1999), in her study report published by Minority Rights groups describes the status of Muslim women from the period of post-independence to till date of the report and says that the status of Muslim women is drastically changing from day to day. The study also describes the milestones of development of Muslim community and its Women through different communal organizations.

Dr. B.E George Dimitrov and Mrs.NobelelyneNongkynrin (2017), in one of their study have discussed that Women are the most vulnerable categories in the field of social, political, economic, and cultural and in other development activities. They have also highlighted that empowering women from the various forms of social evils is a very big challenge in front of the policy makers and activists. Study also discussed the participation of Muslim women in political leaderships like (MLA, MP) all over the country. Finally, study manifested positive development in the political participation of Muslim Women by the statistical analysis of the available data.

3.     Objectives of the Study

The present study is intended,

1. To analyse the socio-economic profile of the Muslim women in the study area, and

2. To know the role of new media in developing Economic, Social and Political identity of Muslim women in the study area

4. Hypothesis of the Study:

H₀: New media is not an effective tool for influencing Economic identity of Muslim Women

H₀: New media is not an effective tool for influencing Social identity of Muslim Women

H₀: New media is not an effective tool for influencing Political identity of Muslim Women

5. Research Methodology

The respondents of the study were limited to 30 Muslim women of different categories like Home makers, Private employees, Government employees and Students in Shivamogga city. The researcher made sure that the respondents belonged to various ages, profession, and economic background. The researcher used a questionnaire based survey on the role of new media in influencing the identity of women in different factors were observed and taken note during the survey. Socio-economic profile such as age, education qualification, occupation, family income, marital status and family structure were gathered. In order to analyse the descriptive data simple percentage analysis have been done and to test the set hypothesis one sample t-test has been adopted and the analysis has been done with the help of SPSS 21 software.

6. Results and Discussion

6.1. Descriptive analysis of the data:

Table: 6.1:  Socio- Economic Profile of the Respondents

Socio-Economic Profile	Total
Age	20-25	25-30	30-35	35-40	Above 40
4(13%)	15(50%)	5(16%)	3(0.001%)	3(0.001%))	30
Marital Status	Married	Unmarried	Widow
20(66%)	5(16%))	5(16%))			30
Education Qualification	Below SSLC	PUC	Degree	Post-Graduation	Professional Courses
4(13.33%)	4(13.33%)	10(33.33%)	10(33.33%)	2(6.66%)	30
Profession	Govt Employee	Private Employee	Self Employed	House Wives	Student
5(16%)	10(33.33%)	10(33.33%)	5(16%)	0	30
Monthly Income	Below 10000	10000-20000	20000-30000	30000-40000	Above 40000
5(16%)	10(33.33%)	10(33.33%)	5(16%)	0	30
Status of Women	Rural	Semi-Urban	Urban
10(33.33%)	10(33.33%)	10(33.33%)			30

Source: Primary Data

Inference:

1.     From the above table one can be clear that out of 30 respondents, 13% of the Respondents are belonging to the age group of 20 to 25. 50 % of the respondents belong to the age group of 25-30. 16% of the respondents belong to the age group of 30-35 only 0.001% of the respondents belongs to the age group of 35 -40 and 40 -45 years.

2.     Above table clears that the 66% of the respondents are married and 16% respondents are unmarried and widow in the study area. From the above table it is identified that 33.33% respondents have the qualification of Degree and post-graduation, 13.33%respondents have the qualification of below SSLC and PUC, 0nly 6.66% of the respondents have done their professional courses.

3.     Above table depicts that 33.33% of the respondents are self-employed and working for private organizations, 16% respondents are government employees only 16% of the respondents are housewives.

4.     It can also be identified by the above table that 33.33% of the respondents have the income of 10 to 20 thousand and 20 to 30 thousand; only 16% respondents have the income of below 10 thousand and 30 to 40 thousand.

5.     Above table depicts that 33.33% of the respondents belongs to the urban, and 33.33% of the respondents belongs to semi-urban and 33.33% of the respondents belongs to the rural area.

6.2 Testing of Hypothesis:

1. H₀: New media is not an effective tool for influencing Economic identity of Muslim Women

Table 6.2 Economic Identity of Women through New Media

One-Sample Test
ECONOMIC IDENTITY	Test Value = 0
t	df	Sig.            (2-tailed)	Mean Difference	95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
Lower	Upper
Identifying Entrepreneurial Opportunities	15.389	29	.000	1.40000	1.2139	1.5861
Getting training to start new business	16.155	29	.000	1.50000	1.3101	1.6899
Educated about financial assistance provided by different financial institution	15.389	29	.000	1.40000	1.2139	1.5861
Gathered information about online selling of the products	15.272	29	.000	1.36667	1.1836	1.5497
Information’s about meals organized by the government to create market place for the products	15.577	29	.000	1.43333	1.2451	1.6215
Educating about saving schemes and investment schemes offered by financial institutions	15.389	29	.000	1.40000	1.2139	1.5861

Source: SPSS Output

Inference: From the above calculations it is clear that the null hypothesis is rejected and alternative hypothesis is accepted. Hence it is proved that the new media is an effective tool for influencing Economic identity of Muslim Women. In the technologically developed world irrespective of caste, age and gender discriminations, people are using new media as it is available in their fingertips. Especially in the study area, the Muslim women are exposed to the new media in identifying the opportunities in getting economic independence. They are also getting education regarding entrepreneurial opportunities available in the market which gives them the economic identity to help them to earn their livelihood.

2. H₀: New media is not an effective tool for influencing Social identity of Muslim Women

Table 6.3 Social Identity of Women through New Media

One-Sample Test
SOCIAL IDENTITY	Test Value = 0
t	df	Sig.      (2-tailed)	Mean Difference	95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
Lower	Upper
Social relationship is developed	16.155	29	.000	1.50000	1.3101	1.6899
Educated regarding importance of children education	15.272	29	.000	1.36667	1.1836	1.5497
Scholarships provided by the government and other institutions	15.277	29	.000	1.30000	1.1260	1.4740
Getting information about health and sanitation	15.232	29	.000	1.33333	1.1543	1.5124
Educating regarding women rights	15.832	29	.000	1.46667	1.2772	1.6561
Getting information regarding opportunities to showcase talents	15.577	29	.000	1.43333	1.2451	1.6215
Educating regarding Entertainment programmes	15.389	29	.000	1.40000	1.2139	1.5861
Punishments for sexual harassment and other rules and law regarding	15.703	29	.000	1.23333	1.0727	1.3940

Source: SPSS Output

Inference: Above table demonstrates the calculation of values which also proves that the null hypothesis is rejected and alternative hypothesis is accepted. Hence it can be proved that New media is an effective tool for influencing Social identity of Muslim Women. In India new media is developing in a very faster phase and people have adopted in their life, and they have depended on new media for gathering information very speedily. In the present study it is proved that the Muslim women are using new media in order to collect the information’s regarding importance of children education and their scholarships, entertainment and also it has enabled them to have regular contact with their family and friends who stay in different parts of the globe through which they are getting the social identity. 

3.     H₀: New media is not an effective tool for influencing Political identity of Muslim Women

Table 6:3 Political Identity of Women through New Media

One-Sample Test
POLITICAL IDENTITY	Test Value = 0
t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)	Mean Difference	95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
Lower	Upper
Educated on voting powers	15.389	29	0	1.4	1.2139	1.5861
Information on political reservations for participating in elections	16.155	29	0	1.5	1.3101	1.6899
Information’s gathered regarding benefits of participating in election campaigns	17.026	29	0	1.56667	1.3785	1.7549
Got education on opportunities to Muslim women in election and political parties	15.272	29	0	1.36667	1.1836	1.5497
Leadership skills are developed	15.389	29	0	1.4	1.2139	1.5861

Source: SPSS Output

Inference: Above table shows that the null hypothesis is rejected and alternative hypothesis is accepted hence it is proved from the above calculations that the new media is an effective tool for influencing Political identity of Muslim Women. Muslim community is one of the traditional communities in India which is still following traditional practices in treating women. But after development of new media, the Muslim women are using it in order to get political identity and also they are educated in terms of voting powers and participating in different election campaigns and they also identify the opportunities to develop their leadership skills.

Conclusion:

In India Muslim community is considered as one of the orthodox and traditional community.  Till date the women in the community have been suffering from the evils like gender discrimination and lack of prominence in participation, in decision making activities of their families. A number of articles of the constitution specially reiterated the commitment of the constitution towards the socio economic development of women and upholding their political rights and participation in decision making. However, if the woman is considered as empowered, the three factors like socio; Economic and Political participations of Muslim women should be simultaneously addressed and made compliance with each other and thereafter can be truly empowered. In this parlance the role of New media in providing identity for Muslim women in above said factors are being immense in technologically developed society. And the study proved that Muslim women are positively opined on the role of new media in getting Socio- Economic and Political identity.

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