Degradation of Women In Media Today

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Degradation of Women In Media Today

The media has degraded women by portraying them in negative ways. The media has allowed women to be looked at as weak, vulnerable, powerless, sexual beings, and etc.. In our society today perspectives are based off of messages seen in mass media. In the past media was used for supporting and promoting consumerism. Also, in our society today people are allowing the messages of media to influence their judgement and perspectives. Mass media mainly harms and effects women because it creates negative perceptions of women that can be seen daily. This paper will show how the media has degraded the portrayal of women and the effects it has on society.

Mass media is a method of communication used to influence an audience in several different ways. Many people believe that they aren't influenced by the media, but media is almost everywhere. The reason why some people believe this is because “advertising’s influence is quick, it’s cumulative, and for the most part, it’s subconscious” (Killing Us Softly, NP). The way that women are portrayed in advertisements greatly affect women and is almost impossible to ignore. According to Rosalind Gill, “we live in an era of 360 degree branding” (75). There are various types of media from television to the newspaper. Advertisements are used in every type of media. Advertisements are found on televisions, radios, newspapers, internet, cars, magazines, buildings, and etc... Gill also said that she “was concerned with the ‘currency’ of adverts- the way in which they permit the meaning of one thing to be expressed in terms of another,” because it suggested a direct correlation between someone’s worth as a person and that of owning a specific prod...

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Overall, I believe that the media has degraded women by creating false images of how women should be. If this continues then women will no longer have identity which in time could lead to dehumanization.

Bibliography work cited

Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are used against Women. New York: Harper Collins, 2002. Print.

Killing Us Softly. Dir. Jhally, Sut. Perf. Jean Kilbourne. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, 2010. DVD.

Raymond, Diane Christine. Sexual Politics and Popular Culture. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State U Popular P, 1990. Print.

Gill, Rosalind. Gender and the Media. Malden, MA: Polity, 2007. Print.

Murray, Samantha. “(Un/Be)Coming Out? Rethinking Fat Politics.” Social Semiotics 15.2 (2005):154-155. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Feb 2011.

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