The Media's Role in How Women are Viewed

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Recommended: Dehumanizing characteristics of women in the media

Media within our society constantly degrades women and sends negative messages about the ways in which women should be treated; women are becoming objectified in the sense they are viewed as objects with little value. The media, which seems to endlessly show women as sexual objects, has the capability of limiting a woman’s potential and damaging their self worth.

More often than not the media depicts the way people go about their daily life. People look at the media to determine how they should dress, act and in some cases even how they should perform sexually.

“…there are the fashion magazines that focus on beauty, attracting and satisfying men, self-improvement, and (occasionally) work and politics. Examples are Vogue (emphasizing fashion and makeup), Cosmopolitan (emphasizing sexuality and relationships with men), and Self (emphasizing self-improvement and employment) …” (Shaw and Lee, p509)

Not only are most magazines directed at women, but the ones that are directed towards men are about work and politics, not about how to improve your looks or please your woman. It is because of the media women are portrayed as objects that need to be controlled by men. Music, especially hip-hop and rap, has one of the biggest influences on our younger culture. The lyrics from some artists are degrading towards women and the effect is almost obvious. For example, in the song Sexy Bitch, Akon states “I’m trying to find the words to describe this girl without being disrespectful.” Many men today have the same problem. Instead of men complimenting women with appropriate statements such as beautiful, gorgeous or lovely, they tell a woman they are hot, sexy or smoking. This is illustrated once again in Akon’s song when his whole chorus is...

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...media and social institutions but men are too. Seeing as society is very accepting to the fact that women are just sexual objects who should be controlled by men, men are becoming very accepting to this as well. They are beginning to fulfill that role of the controlling male figure, and in doing so are contributing to the deterioration of women’s self-worth and future potential.

In conclusion, the media along with other social institutions plays a large role in how women are viewed. A horrible example is being set for today’s youth, and men are taking the degradation of women in the media to the extremes, thinking that they can degrade women in everyday life as well. With the constant representation of women being viewed as nothing more than sexual objects, women themselves are beginning to feel as though they have little or no potential, as well as no self worth.

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