In the United States, gender has always been a dichotomous, discriminatory system. The men are privileged and the women oppressed. The media, especially film and television, reflect this. From a purely quantitative standpoint, women are perpetually underrepresented. For the qualitative, men receive complex story lines where explanations are given for all behaviors, negative and positive, and women are lucky to receive story lines. Of the women who are in film and television, they usually serve as a sexual object to supposedly attract audiences or as side characters designed to further the character development of a male protagonist. This lack of diversity harmfully affects female audiences and to lesser extent, male audiences. Female …show more content…
In television, “several decades of research indicates that media portrayals typically construct rather narrow and stereotypical portraits of women and of femininity” (Ward and Harrison 3). For 12 TV shows that were on major broadcast networks from 7:00 and 11:00 pm on weekdays, otherwise known as prime time, and on the top 100 most watched shows according to the Nielsen ratings, verbal aggression, “hostile barbs and malicious attributions”, and indirect aggression, “backbiting, negative rumors, exclusions, and sly rejections”, are shown as distinctly female character traits (Feshbach 159, 161). This is worrisome because “without realizing it, adolescents repeat the expressions and ideas they hear on TV”, so there is a very real worry girls internalize this model of femininity and believe that to be a woman is to be verbally and indirectly aggressive (Zuckerman and Dubowitz 60). The effects of the narrow representation of women is a serious and real concern. After all, people learn, partially, through observation and “the media provides daily cues and information about what it means to be a boy or a girl” (Holtzman 55). Numerous studies have linked exposure to the media 's portrayal of women with worse health, and for girls still forming an idea what it means to be a woman, “media images … are virtually unavoidable” (Ward and Harrison 14). The media 's sexualization of women has a very real effect on women. …show more content…
However, observing the gender imbalances is unavoidable. “From the cradle to the grave, entertainment media … offers images that are often repeated over and over” (Holtzman 31). Constant repetition is a part of learning In addition, social learning theory states people learn by observing, and the learned behavior is reinforced because “being consistent with expectations is [its own] reward … [and] violations of the boundaries of these roles or ideologies can be met with punishment, denigration, and even violence” (Zurbriggen et al. 19). The repetitive portrayal of females as sex objects – young, pretty, and thin – who are to be seen and not heard, teaches girls who grow up to be women that this is the only way to be a feminine woman and teaches boys who grow up to be men that this is what they should expect from the women in their lives. Furthermore, the unavoidability of the media in conjunction with its sexist portrayals teach females to self-objectify themselves, evident in the study where they constantly compare themselves to an impossible ideal. The problems of self-objectification also manifest in the physical performance of females. Increased self-objectification “limits the form and effectiveness of girls ' physical movements” (21). To throw like a girl is to throw as society dictates a girl must throw
The documentary Miss Representation identifies the numerous ways women are misrepresented in the media, including in news, advertisements, movies, and television. The title Miss Representation emphasizes that the way we portray women in the media is a misrepresentation, as in it does not do women justice and oftentimes, has a negative impact on the perception of women. Frequently in the media, women lack leading roles and complexity, are held to an unrealistic standard of beauty, and are subject to objectification and beautification (Newsom, 2011). These misrepresentations lay the groundwork for gender socialization, and therefore, shape how women perceive themselves and are perceived by others.
In American culture today, women continue the struggle of identifying what their roles in society are supposed to be. Our culture has been sending mixed messages to the modern day female, creating a sense of uneasiness to an already confusing and stressful world. Although women today are encouraged more than ever to be independent, educated, and successful, they are often times shamed for having done just that. Career driven females are frequently at risk of being labeled as bossy, unfeminine, or selfish for competing in many career paths that were once dominated by men. A popular medium in our culture such as television continues to have significant influences as to how people should aspire to live their lives. Viewers develop connections with relatable characters and to relationship dynamics displayed within their favorite shows. Fictional characters and relationships can ultimately influence a viewer’s fashion sense, social and political opinion, and attitude towards gender norms. Since the days of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie, where women were commonly portrayed as being the endearing mischievous housewife, television shows have evolved in order to reflect real life women who were becoming increasingly more independent, educated, and career oriented throughout the subsequent decades. New genres of television are introduced, such as the workplace comedy, where women are not only career oriented, but eventually transition into positions of power.
Leaper, Breed, Hoffman, and Perlman (2002) reiterates Junn (1997) findings that compared to women, men are overrepresented (Leaper, Breed, Hoffman, & Perlman, 2002). Leaper et al. conducted a time-based structured observational study by evaluating a total of 12 different child target television shows. They selected 3 shows from each of the following categories: traditional adventure, nontraditional adventure, comedy, and educational/family (Leaper et al, 2002). In addition, Leaper et al examined the number of characters in each film while also looking at the amount of time each character exhibited predetermined behaviors (talking fear, negative, physical aggression, victim, romantic, directive, politeness, and support) throughout the show (Leaper et al., 2002). At the conclusion of the study, Leaper et al. reaffirmed that female characters are underrepresented. In addition, however, Leaper et al. found that one genre, traditional adventure (“emphasizing a central male hero”) was more likely to contain gender stereotypical behaviors (Leaper et al., 2002, p. 1655). Ultimately, Leaper et al.’s conclusion can suggest to children that male characters’ overrepresentation in child-targeted media is because men are at the top of the hierarchy and are more important in society than women (Leaper et al.,
The media is a fascinating tool; it can deliver entertainment, self-help, intellectual knowledge, information, and a variety of other positive influences; however, despite its advances for the good of our society is has a particular blemish in its physique that targets young women. This blemish is seen in the unrealistic body images that it presents, and the inconsiderate method of delivery that forces its audience into interest and attendance. Women are bombarded with messages from every media source to change their bodies, buy specific products and redefine their opinion of beauty to the point where it becomes not only a psychological disease, but a physical one as well.
According to Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity 's gender role is a “learned role by observing behaviors of their parents, peers and media” (Rathus, Nevid, & Fichner-Rathus, 2014, p. 25). Research shows how gender roles in America have evolved and have changed over the last centuries, although there could be many reasons for this change I will examine some causes for the change in gender stereotypes. The following topics were studied during my research: Increased technology and access to internet, violence and explicit content in video games, movies and television shows resulting in gender stereotypes. In addition, the media can have a large influence on societies perception on how women and men are should look like which are sometimes
Throughout the century, the ideal image of a woman has changed drastically, which can be directly attributed to the powerful persuasion of media. This ideal image has transformed from a voluptuous, size 14, 1950’s Marilyn Monroe to a 5’9, 100 pound, 1990’s Kate Moss. The most shocking aspect is specifically what young girls are now doing to achieve this “Kate Moss” image. Through the utilization of advertisements and stars on the big screen, this female portrayal directly targets the physical and mental well-being of females in cultures across the globe.
The media, through its many outlets, has a lasting effect on the values and social structure evident in modern day society. Television, in particular, has the ability to influence the social structure of society with its subjective content. As Dwight E. Brooks and Lisa P. Hébert write in their article, “GENDER, RACE, AND MEDIA REPRESENTATION”, the basis of our accepted social identities is heavily controlled by the media we consume. One of the social identities that is heavily influenced is gender: Brooks and Hébert conclude, “While sex differences are rooted in biology, how we come to understand and perform gender is based on culture” (Brooks, Hébert 297). With gender being shaped so profusely by our culture, it is important to be aware of how social identities, such as gender, are being constructed in the media.
Recently, a lot of controversy has been in the news about the increase in negative body image among women. This negative body image can lead to a number of different problems in individuals including low self-esteem, eating disorders, and depression. Some factors that can influence this increase in negative body image include age, gender peer influence, and family influence. One of the main factors that has been an influence on the way people view themselves is the media. According to Aubrey (2006), “a primary way that an objectifying culture is propagated is through the media” (p. 159). Everything from magazines, television, and celebrities can have an affect on the way people view themselves. The population that is most affected by this problem in our society is young women. Social comparison, which is when someone compares their own body to other’s bodies, is a common factor for thin-ideal internalization and dissatisfaction of their body (Bessenoff, 2006, p. 239).
The media’s unattainable standards have created a generation of females that are dissatisfied with their bodies at a young age. According to an article on WebMD about body image, the average teen girl gets about 180 minutes of media exposure daily and that females who reported greater exposure to television programming were more likely
Media representations of women remain wrong. However, the status of women has changed significantly. Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following: beauty (within narrow conventions), size/physique, sexuality, emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings and relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom).
Another major factor that influences millions of impressionable females and males is television. Not only does the television teach each sex how to act, it also shows how one sex should expect the other sex to act. In the current television broadcasting, stereotypical behavior goes from programming for the very small to adult audiences. In this broadcasting range, females are portrayed as motherly, passive and innocent, sex objects, or they are overlooked completely or seen as unimportant entities. Stereotyping women is not only rampant in the adult world; it also flourishes in the kiddie universe as well.
One thing that I have learned throughout my college career is that woman has always been given the short end of the stick in films. Women have always been objectified and the male gaze has always been the prominent way of viewing and creating films. Usually women’s place in a film is always thought to be pleasurable for the male viewers. The introduction of the term “the male gaze” can be traced back to Laura Mulvey’s essay called “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Mulvey states that in film, women are usually the objects because the camera is focuses on the assumption of heterosexual men as the default target audience for most film genres.
Women and girls seem to be more affected by the mass media than do men and boys. Females frequently compare themselves to others, finding the negative rather than looking at the positive aspects of their own body. The media’s portrayal of the ideal body type impacts the female population far more than males, however, it is not only the mass media that affects women, but also influence of male population has on the female silhouette too.
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.
As females are often sexualized in the media, the media has a strong influence upon very young girls and boys exposed to such with regards to gender role stereotypes and