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Representations of women as victims in media
Violence in the media
Television violence in society
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Recommended: Representations of women as victims in media
Violence has made a home in American society. Since TV shows and movies provide a large source of entertainment for Americans, networks and Hollywood find themselves constantly competing for viewers. As the competitions heat up, so does the content shown on the screen, but some of that content as struck a nerve with people. The large amount of violence, and more specifically violence against women, portrayed on TV and in movies has people taking action to clean up the screen.
Violence: The Facts and Figures
Americans have experienced a great increase of violence on TV and in movies throughout the years; unfortunately, violence against women has escalated more. A study conducted by the Parents Television Council in the time span from 2004-2009 concluded that instances of violence against women increased over 120 percent. The study compared the number of instances of violence against women shown on each of the four largest broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX), during their two sweeps periods of the years 2004 and 2009. The study showed that the networks had a combined 195 instances of violence against women in 2004. The number jumped to 429 in 2009. The network with the highest increase was CBS. In 2004, the council counted 96 acts of violence against women. In 2009, the number skyrocketed to 180. The network with the lowest number of acts of violence against women in both years remained ABC. In 2004, the council counted 26 acts of violence against women on the network. In 2009, the number had only increased by seven to 33 (Parents Television Council 1-2).
Another problem that arises when studying the violence against women on TV and in movies is that of how the incidents occur. In the same study conducted by the Parents Te...
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...ch Annual Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women, Offering Women and Families Lifesaving Information and Resources. New York: Lifetime Television. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.
MPAA. 2009 Theatrical Market Statistics. Motion Picture Association of America. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.
NOW. Media Hall of Shame. National Organization for Women. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.
Parents Television Council. Women in Peril: A look at TV’s disturbing new storyline trend October 2009. Parents Television Council. 2009. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
Sapolsky, Barry S., and Fred Molitor. Sex and Violence in Slasher Films. Mass Media and Society. Greenwich: Ablex Publishing, 1997. Print.
Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company 2008 Corporate Responsibility Report. Walt Disney Company. 2008. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.
Whipp, Glenn. Scandal-Prone Star Raises Sitcom Salary Bar. Variety. 2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.
For a long time now the debate has been, and continues to be, as to whether or not violence on television makes children more violent. As with all contentious issues there are both proponents and detractors. This argument has been resurrected in the wake of school shootings, most notably Columbine and Erfurt, Germany; and acts of random violence by teenagers, the murders of two Dartmouth professors. Parents, teachers, pediatricians, child psychiatrists, and FCC Chairmen William Kennard and former Vice President Al Gore say violent TV programming contribute in large part to in violence in young people today. However, broadcasters and major cable TV providers like Cox Communication say that it is the parent’s fault for not making it clear to their kids as what they may or may not watch on TV. The major TV networks and cable providers also state it is the TV industry’s fault as well for not regulating what is shown on TV. So who is the guilty party in this argument of whether or not TV violence influences of the behavior young people in today’s society?
In a world in which acts of heinous violence, murder or crude and shocking behavior seem to be a normal occurrence, it may lead one to wonder what has put society onto this slippery slope. How did this type of behavior come to be so acceptable and in some cases glorifiable? A careful study of society may lead to multi media as being the main cause in this changing of ideals. The modern world has become desensitized to the acts shown on television, movies, video games or printed in newspapers and magazines. Censorship must be employed if morals and decency are to be preserved.
Centerwall, B. S. (1992). Television and violence: the scale of the problem and where to
addition the average American child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television including 16,000 murders before the age of 18 (DuRant, 445). Polls show that three-quarters of the public find television entertainment too violent. When asked to select measures that would reduce violent crime “a lot”, Americans chose restrictions on television violence more often than gun control. Media shows too much violence that is corrupting the minds children, future leaders of our society. In a study of population data for various countries sh...
Tjaden, P., Thoennes, N. (2000b). Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the Violence Against Women Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
Horror movies have been part of mainstream cinema since the early 1930s when films such as Dracula and Frankenstein were created. As the horror genre evolved, so did the stories in the films. Friday the 13th (Marcus Nipsel, 2009) is a very good example of this evolution. Even though it is a remake, Friday the 13th changed the way horror movies were seen by the audience. The ideas and theory behind this slasher sub-genre of horror films can be summed up in a book. Carol Clover, an American professor of film studies, wrote a book in 1992 entitled Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film in which she described the horror film genre. In a chapter entitled “Her Body, Himself”, Clover describes how weapons play a very important role in horror movies as well as explaining her Final Girl theory. Her book’s ideas changed not only academic notions but also popular beliefs on horror films. The 2009 remake of Friday the 13th implies that Carol Clover’s ideas about 80s slasher films, including male tormentors, the importance of weapons, and the Final Girl, have stayed the same through the years.
American Life Project (27 June 2007). Rpt. in Media Violence. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San
Since the creation of man, violence has played a natural part of human nature. Throughout the millennia, it has also become a crude form of entertainment for our species, especially since the arm of technology has extended its arm’s reach so greatly. To the surprise -- and anger -- of many, the majority of today’s addictive media revolves on an axis of desperation around violence. Although this may sound like a barbaric trend, it is a majority of greater good for many logical reasons. Violence in the media prepares children for the harsh slap of reality, helps them overcome their petty or crippling fears, and eminently benefits the economy; therefore, violence should more or less be widely accepted into modern media.
Young children, starting at about age three, begin to really watch a television program designed for their age. They will begin to imitate what they have seen on the television. Children ages six through about ten often do not fully understand the difference between reality, and what they see on T.V. (Ledingham). With that in mind, consider the violent content in television programs. A recent content analysis, The National Television Violence Survey, had several interesting findings in regard to violence in television programs:
The article “Television Violence: The Power and the Peril” is an article written by George Gerbner in 1994 that covers information about television violence over a period of twenty one years. Gerbner’s purpose in this article is to address the audience about the problems that exist in television today. This article covers a very big controversy that has brewed up in our society. The controversy is that there is way too much violence on television, and therefore it could be affecting the way that we think and act on a regular basis. In this article Gerbner presents the audience with poll results and statistics about what we actually see on television.
American Psychological Association. "Violence on Television. What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?" APA Online. www.apa.org/publicinfo/violence.html. Accessed October 23, 2001.
The media has become one of the main sources where people obtain their information from. This information can be taken in knowingly, or through subliminal messages. The media includes magazines, videos, commercials, television shows, and movies. Since, media has major influence over the public; violence being portrayed in the media is causing problems. Violence against women in the media has been happening for decades. The violence has been taking shape in many forms, as in emotional and physical violence. The types of emotional violence portrayed in the media include sexualizing, degrading, and treating women as less than human. The types of physical violence used in the media include hitting, slapping, kicking, sexual assault, and strangling. For a social advocacy project, a PowerPoint and letter were made, describing how media has been using the violence of music to sell products using research and theory from a psychology of women class.
Society has been bombarded with violence from the beginning of time. These concerns about violence in the media have been around way before television was even introduced. Nevertheless, there have been numerous studies, research, and conferences done over the years on television, but the issue still remains. Researchers do acknowledge that violence portrayed on television is a potential danger. One issue is clear though, our focus on television violence should not take attention away from other significant causes of violence in our country such as: drugs, inadequate parenting, availability of weapons, unemployment, etc. It is hard to report on how violent television effects society, since television affects different people in different ways. There is a significant problem with violence on television that we as a society are going to have to acknowledge and face.
Thus, Americans are constantly exposed to violence when they turn on television and movies that are filled with shooting or other violence. Dues to majority of exposure, we change our perspectives on violence itself. We need to understand that the exposure at such young age alter our values and norms. Children thinks violence is the normal thing. However, we need to prevent this from ongoing situations by taking control of the television in our households. When children or teenagers watch their favorite actors in TV shows or movies, actors use violence as solution. It changes symbolically. Still; children begin to accept it as a solution. Children need to realize that the consequences of violent acts do exist and they are real. Those possible solutions are to limit their hours
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.