Analysis Of The Media Representation Of Women

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The documentary MissRepresentation focuses on the ways the media represents women falsely, strictly, and limitedly and how these misrepresentations lead to an underrepresentation of women in political positions. As shown in the documentary, the portrayal of women in film from the 1920s to 1940s is quite different from the depictions of them in the past decade or so, as their roles have grown to be increasingly less substantive and varied. Women characters were allowed to be more intricate and multifaceted, embodying different characteristics and having distinctive personalities. There were various types of women on screen, ranging from the femme fatale, to the mother, to the seductress, to the saint – they were complex beings. Over time, women …show more content…

Women who are high self-objectifiers have lower political efficacy. There is also a lack of women in powerful positions on television. If girls are not able to see themselves in such positions, they are less likely to believe they can hold those positions themselves. Representations of women in film and on television are largely negative, centered around …show more content…

Another important component is the way how women who do hold positions of power are portrayed by the media. The media bias Roberson 4 lies in favor of men, using more negative verbs to describe women (“she complained”) versus men (“he said”) even when they complete the same actions. Women in power are often depicted as adverse things, especially when certain characteristics (ex: ambition) are depicted as negative in women versus positive in men. None of these representations are positively conducive to women’s desire or ability to participate in the political process. Ultimately, there is a variety of components that contribute to the underrepresentation of women in political positions. The media promotes and perpetuates overwhelmingly negative conceptions and depictions of women in various media outlets, which discourages young girls and women from running for such positions and negatively influences the ways in women in public office are perceived. This is partially due to the media’s intense connection to capitalism and focus on the “bottom

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