"සුරූපිනියක්" ද? "තරුණියක්" ද?

Abstract

On May 12, 2023, Lankadeepa and Dinamina newspapers reported on an incident where a young woman was arrested for stealing from beauty salons. Lankadeepa used the term "surupiniya" (සුරූපිනිය) to describe this woman in the headline when irrelevant to the context of the news, whereas Dinamina used the appropriate term "tharuniya" (තරුණිය) in the headline. Media guidelines advise against the use of such terms which highlight the external appearance of women and can contribute towards sexual objectification.