Female Sterotypes in the Media

1738 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Media influence on politics

A major modern problem with the media is the sublimation of, and reaffirmation of, stereotypical female gender roles. “The media treats women like shit” (Cho). Which is a serious issue because of Marshall McLuhan’s famous words, “The Medium is the Message” (Warwick). The medium up for discussion is the media, which can be fundamentally defined as the most significant “single source of information that people have today (Katz). Therefore, in order to understand “what’s going on in our society” (Katz) it is “absolutely imperative to “understand media” (Katz). Media and technology are “shaping our politics, our national discourse and most of all, they’re shaping our children’s brains, lives and emotions” (Steyer). Caroline Heldman, PhD, and specialist in presidency, media, gender and race in the American context, stated that of seven year old boys and girls, an equal number “want to be president of the united states when they grow up” (Heldman). However, she notes that once this same question is asked at the age of fifteen, a “massive gap” (Heldman) between males and females is apparent (Heldman). Girls seem to be receiving the message from the media that their value and their worth depends on solely on how they look. Conversely, boys receive a similar message, namely, that this is what’s important about girls (Kilbourne). The purpose of this essay is to explore how the North American media’s projection of a female value system is superficial and “derogatory” (Popner), and how the media does so effectively. This exploration will focus on two different kinds of media: visual advertisement, and video games.

There is a common misconception that “media companies” (Popner) give the public “what it wants” (Popner) with sexually suggestiv...

... middle of paper ...

...-97. Web.

Maddow, Rachel. “Miss Representation.” Miss Representation. By J. Siebel Newsom: 2011. Netflix.

Miss Representation. Dir. Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Kimberlee Acquaro. Perf. Christina Aguilera and Michele Bachmann. 2011. Netflix.

Popner, Jennifer. “Miss Representation.” Miss Representation. By J. Siebel Newsom: 2011. Netflix.

Steyer, Jim. “Miss Representation.” Miss Representation. By J. Siebel Newsom: 2011. Netflix.

Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright (2009). Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford. Print.

Straubharr, Joseph, Robert LaRose and Lucinda Davenport (2010). Media Now:
Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology. Sixth Edition. Boston:
Wadsworth. Print
Warwick, Henry. "Communication Theory." Lecture.

Yanehiro, Jan. “Miss Representation.” Miss Representation. By J. Siebel Newsom: 2011. Netflix.

Show More
Related

  • The Media And Gender Stereotypes In The Media

    2330 Words  | 5 Pages

    The media, through its many outlets, has a lasting effect on the values and social structure evident in modern day society. Television, in particular, has the ability to influence the social structure of society with its subjective content. As Dwight E. Brooks and Lisa P. Hébert write in their article, “GENDER, RACE, AND MEDIA REPRESENTATION”, the basis of our accepted social identities is heavily controlled by the media we consume. One of the social identities that is heavily influenced is gender: Brooks and Hébert conclude, “While sex differences are rooted in biology, how we come to understand and perform gender is based on culture” (Brooks, Hébert 297). With gender being shaped so profusely by our culture, it is important to be aware of how social identities, such as gender, are being constructed in the media.

    Read More

  • Media Portrayal of Gender and Cultural Stereotypes During World War II and Current Times

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    Miss Representation. Dir. Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Perf. Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow. Girls Club Entertainment, 2011. DVD.

    Read More

  • Self Objectification In Miss Representation

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    While they rarely admit as much, the main stream media often takes for granted the power they possess to shape our society. The advent of the internet has granted the media unfettered access to our children and young people. The images of women are more and more often extremely sexual in nature. This has created an environment where women have no value beyond appearance. In the documentary “Miss Representation” Dr. Kilbourne informs us, ‘Girls get the message from very early on that what's most important is how they look, that their value, their worth, depends on that. Boys get the message that this is what's important about girls.’ This is the frightening reality of how our young people are being taught to view the world. Considering, how much information is at our disposal, a controversial issue has been continually overlooked, the devaluation of women.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Documentary Film: Miss Representation

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    Miss Representation, a documentary film produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom released in 2011, presents a contemporary issue which is the misrepresentation of women’s portrayal in mass media. The media is powerful in shaping audience’s belief in how to be feminine. Women are expected to be beautiful, attractive, and even sexual on the media to attract audience’s attention. Also, the film points out the existence of social system in which men are considered more powerful and dominant than women. Finally, the film tries to increase the awareness of female real value including capability, educational achievement, and leadership. Consuming the media wisely to eliminate gendered stereotypes can help young women build their confidence and be successful.

    Read More

  • Female Body Image In Media

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mass media is designed to reach large audiences through the use of technology. Its purpose is

    Read More

  • Gendered Media: The Journey to Gender Identity

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ouellette, Laurie. "Inventing the Cosmo Girl." Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Critical Reader. By Gail Dines and Jean McMahon Humez. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2011. 228-29. Print.

    Read More

  • Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media by Susan Douglas

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    In "Where the girls are: Growing Up Female With the Mass Media," Susan Douglas analyses the effects of mass media on women of the nineteen fifties, and more importantly on the teenage girls of the baby boom era. Douglas explains why women have been torn in conflicting directions and are still struggling today to identify themselves and their roles. Douglas recounts and dissects the ambiguous messages imprinted on the feminine psyche via the media. Douglas maintains that feminism is a direct result of the realization that mass media is a deliberate and calculated aggression against women. While the media seemingly begins to acknowledge the power of women, it purposely sets out to redefine women and the qualities by which they should define themselves. The contradictory messages received by women leave women not only in a love/hate relationship with the media, but also in a love/hate relationship with themselves.

    Read More

  • Miss Representation Summary

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    The documentary Miss Representation identifies the numerous ways women are misrepresented in the media, including in news, advertisements, movies, and television. The title Miss Representation emphasizes that the way we portray women in the media is a misrepresentation, as in it does not do women justice and oftentimes, has a negative impact on the perception of women. Frequently in the media, women lack leading roles and complexity, are held to an unrealistic standard of beauty, and are subject to objectification and beautification (Newsom, 2011). These misrepresentations lay the groundwork for gender socialization, and therefore, shape how women perceive themselves and are perceived by others.

    Read More

  • Misrepresentation Of Women Essay

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    On a daily basis people are exposed to some sort of misrepresentation of gender; in the things individuals watch, and often the things that are purchased. Women are often the main target of this misrepresentation. “Women still experience actual prejudice and discrimination in terms of unequal treatment, unequal pay, and unequal value in real life, then so too do these themes continue to occur in media portraits.”(Byerly, Carolyn, Ross 35) The media has become so perverted, in especially the way it represents women, that a females can be handled and controlled by men, the individual man may not personally feel this way, but that is how men are characterized in American media. Some may say it doesn’t matter because media isn’t real life, but people are influenced by everything around them, surroundings that are part of daily routine start to change an individual’s perspective.

    Read More

  • Sexism and the Media

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    In today's world, what we see in the media dictates our world. Media, by definition, is a form of mass communication, such as television, newspapers, magazines and the internet. Since the beginning of this media phenomenon, men and women have been treated very differently, whether it be through advertisements or news stories. As women have gained more rights and social freedoms, the media has not changed their views on women. They are often viewed as objects, whether for a man's pleasure, or for as a group to sell only cleaning products to.The portrayal of women in the media has a highly negative impact on the easily shaped young women of today. Women of power are often criticized, others hypersexualized. The media also directs advertisements for household things at women.

    Read More

  • Media And Gender Roles Essay

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is almost impossible to go one whole day without encountering so form of media. As a human race we are constantly surrounded by media whether it is TV, radio, or newspapers it is everywhere we look. Being constantly surrounded by media, impacts how people think and behave because it sets an example for its viewers. A big effect of media we are seeing is how people are viewing gender roles. Media shapes gender roles by showing what each gender does in a “normal” life and a “normal” household; we see this explained in Deborah Tannen’s “Why can’t He Hear What I’m Saying”, “After the Fact” by James Davidson and Mark Lytle, also in Katha Pollitt’s “Why Don’t Boys Play with Dolls.

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotyping: The Negative Impacts Of Gender Stereotypes

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender stereotyping has been ongoing throughout history. The media has been distorting views by representing gender unrealistically and inaccurately. It created an image of what "masculinity" or "femininity" should be like and this leads to the image being "naturalized" in a way (Gail and Humez 2014). The media also attempts to shape their viewers into something ‘desirable’ to the norm. This essay will focus on the negative impacts of gender-related media stereotypes by looking at the pressures the media sets on both women and men, and also considering the impacts on children.

    Read More

  • Gender Identity In The Media

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the youngest age I can remember, everything I had seen in the media, altered my perception on gender - what it was, what it meant, and what society saw as fit. Gender has often been confused with having to do with biology, when in fact, gender is a social construct. In today’s society, gender has mixed up the construction of masculinity and femininity. This plays an important role in many individuals lives because they define themselves through gender over other identities such as sexual, ethnic, or social class. Identity is shaped by everyday communications, such as what we see through the media, therefore as society continues to evolve, so does the way we perceive identities and select our own.

    Read More

  • Media Ideology Essay

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    How mass media is using both Ideology and Popular Culture to develop societal expectations and social identities. This essay will look at how Ideology, Hegemony, and Popular Cultural Theory shape common values and expectations of society and media’s influence and compare and contrast differing approaches to understanding the relationship between media and society. The discussion will be contextualized through the use of gender roles and expectations, and how these theories develop and affect the female social identity.

    Read More

  • Portrayal of Women in the Media

    3135 Words  | 7 Pages

    Portrayal of Women in the Media Gender is the psychological characteristics and social categories that are created by human culture. Gender is the concept that humans express their gender when they interact with one another. Messages about how a male or female is supposed to act come from many different places. Schools, parents, and friends can influence a person.

    Read More

More about Female Sterotypes in the Media

Open Document