Language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing. It is considered as an art because when used it able to help a person develop or create a certain picture in the mind. Language being an artifact of culture means that it is an interesting thing that is created by the people. It is an aspect of their way of life of the people. It also helps in development of the people as writers and intellects. As a culture it is a people’s way of life and therefore the impact it has to human beings cannot be under looked.
In this paper we shall examine how language in media has influenced the perception of women in different aspects of their life. It has influenced young women writers and intellects both positively and negative, but both have led to their development either directly or indirectly. Areas to be covered include the political, social dimensions. The discussion will feature how language as an art and artifact is related to perception of women in media. Its impact on personal development as writers and intellects will also be examined. By the end of the paper the reader should be in a position to change their perception towards their thinking of women and their life in general. (Tebbel,2000)
A woman is an adult female human being. A perception is a way of thinking about or an impression towards it. Media includes television, radio, newspapers and magazines or any other form of electronic or print system that passes information. Women can hold some opinions towards the media due to the language used. This is based on matters affecting them. It is evident that whenever a woman holds a position of powe...
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...has an impact on the perception of women. It influences decisions and their choices. The impact felt changes them in a way. Whichever part it has changed the end product is a lesson which causes a difference to their life. Therefore young women writers and intellects should aim to achieve positively from the media
Works Cited
Conor, Liz. The Spectacular Modern Woman: Feminine Visibility in the 1920s. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004. Print.
Howell, Georgina. Vogue Women. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2000. Print.
Lazarus, Margaret, Renner Wunderlich, Carol Gilligan, Catherine Steiner-Adair, Gail Dines, Gloria Steinem, Amy Richards, and Valerie Batts. Beyond Killing Us Softly: The Impact of Media Images on Women and Girls. Cambridge, Mass N.p., n.d. Print.
Tebbel, Cyndi. The Body Snatchers: How the Media Shapes Women. Sydney: Finch Pub, 2000. Print.
Firstly, Newsom provided a handful of statistics that show how the media has affect women negatively. Girls are exposed to the idea of having the “perfect body” at a very young age due to television. This causes them to become unhappy with their bodies. According to “Miss Representation,” fifty three percent of thirteen year old are unsatisfied by the look of their bodies and as they reach the age of seventeen, that percentage increases to seventy eight percent. This causes eating disorders because women are taught to look a certain way. The characters on tv shows and
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.
Instead, women are being discriminated and treated as inferior due to the stereotypes that are portrayed in the media. The media creates and reproduces ways of seeing that at a minimum reflect and shape our culture. We can look at the media to understand more about a culture’s values and norms, if we realize the limitations of looking at the media. For example, one may ask, does the news based in the United Sates represent what the American culture is like, or only what stands out from everyday American culture? The answer to that is no. Instead, the media represents what it thinks it will be able to sell and is supported by advertisements. This includes violent acts, the sensationally and inappropriate. Jhally reminds us that “it is this male, heterosexual, pornographic imagination based on the degradation and control of women that has colonized commercial culture in general, although it is more clearly articulated in music videos” (Jhally 2007). Therefore, “media content is a symbolic rather than a literal representation of society and that to be represented in the media is in itself a form of power—social groups that are powerless can be relatively easily ignored, allowing the media to focus on the social groups that ‘really matter’” (Gerbner,
Topics which relate to the subjects in the article can be found in chapter 5 of textbook Social Psychology, Second Canadian Edition (Kassin, Fein, Markus & Burke, 2013). This chapter contains information on ambivalent sexism and effects on media on gender. These topics help to gain an advanced understanding on the effects of hypersexualizing or of objectifying the female body
Miss Representation is a documentary based on women in the media and how the media has affected women today. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” This quote is from Alice Walker, a female, who realized that they e...
Damean, D, 2006, Media and gender: Constructing feminine Identities in a postmodern culture. Journal for the Studies of Religions and Ideologies, Vol. 14
I chose these four journal writings because I believe they are the strongest pieces I have written from the second half of the semester. The main focus of these journals was based on readings under the women as objects topic. The oppression of women has led to females being objectified and used as gratification for men. A woman’s body and appearance have become a commodity, especially in the media. Films, television shows, music and advertisements use women’s bodies to attract their audience and sell products. The movie watched in class “Killing Us Softly 4,” highlights this fact while presenting how women are represented throughout the media. The media has set and perpetuated a particular standard of beauty that is restrictive, but for some many women completely unattainable. The women represented in the media are young, thin and have western or European characteristics. Where does that leave the majority of women that do not fall under this category? This leads to women developing eating disorders to achieve an ideal body image that is manufactured through Photoshop and other picture editing systems. Women of color, women with disabilities or any woman that does not follow this standard is not represented within the media. When a few women do break this mold and become famous, they are set at a different standard. These women’s differences become the highlighted feature of their fame. However, the one constant in the media when it comes to women is the objectification and sexualization of women. This sexualization can lead to aggression or violence against women and the perpetuation of rape culture. The images viewed in the media directly impact how women view themselves and how others view women. By examining the issues women f...
Douglas, Susan J. Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. New York: Random House Publishing, 1994, 278.
The audience can clearly see the relationship between feminism and the mass media, which has been established over the years. Feminism has benefited from this liaison in a number of different of ways; the most evident advantage being the sheer fact that the media is a vast medium, which can clearly present the ideas and concepts of feminists all over the world. However, feminism has also been shunned by the media the most current example of this in the media are the “This is what feminism looks like” t-shirts, it has been alleged that these t-shirts are being made in Mauritian sweatshops by women on just 62 pence an hour. The mass media has worked against the message itself, by trying to poke fun at feminism, to a certain degree. However, some may argue that this mass media exploitation in fact highlights why the feminist fight is such an imperative one –the real enemy is fashion, and need for
Throughout society, men and women have been expected to live by guidelines consisting of media generated ideas and ways of living out life. Both men and women’s thinking process are being altered the negative effects of society’s mass media. For both sexes, this repeating negative exposure causes a constant downfall in self-image and creates media influenced decisions that lead to unhealthy lifestyles. The media effects the thinking process of both men and women in negative ways therefore media needs to be heavily regulated.
The two essays, ‘Media and the Women Image: A Feminist Discourse,’ Sarkar Sumita and 'Has Celebrity Feminism Failed?' Zeisler Andi, focus on celebrity feminism. The first essay focus’ on two main points; The self serving nature of Celebrity Feminism; and, the failure of feminist values in a patriarchally dominated industry. The second essay also focus’ on two points; the use of the female body in media; and the resulting Commodification and Exploitation. Neither essay has the same writing style, and each essays technique and composition appeals to their respective audiences. Their purpose is reflected in the points made, and the way in which they're constructed and portrayed.
In conclusion, all five articles related to women in the media. Although, women have made many strides in the United States within the media there is a lack of new stories that relate to women. Also, the women depicted in the media represent an ideal that is not necessarily found in the real world. The lack of women on television has not gone unnoticed, Margaretha Geertsema believes that the news media should include women more and take into account the culture of women around the world.
Gender stereotypes and biasses exist in media. In most situations, women are associated with more negative stereotypes and their portrayals can “undermine their presence by being “hyper-attractive” or “hyper-sexual” and/or passive” (Smith, 2008). In The Wolf of Wall Street women are objectified. They are treated
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.
Even though media studies is still new, it is important, as it has a high potential of being at the centre of essential changes in our thoughts about what we should learn and if they are worthwhile (Bazalgette, 2000). Since this subject is still new there are a lot of disagreements on how media should be interpreted and it is also a hybrid subject as the idea that it came about comes from a variety of sources (Bazalgette, 2000). Media studies is also considered an academic discipline as it binds the different types of hybrid disciplines such as semiotics, structuralism, sociolinguistics and a lot more and there are no limits to an individual as how to analyze the media. The analysis of media is very important for this particular subject. Educators today realized that students need to be involved in practical work to understand the subject better. Media studies are normally associated with the English subject. However the difference is rather apparent and media studies courses uses economic and political perspectives are their main ways to understand the media as well as it requires a person to consider texts from different contrasting perspectives. The English subject on the other hand, deals with reading and writing skills as well as analyzing critically. It also involves individual students’ responses (Bazalgette, 2000).