Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on the portrayal of women in mass media
Gender based stereotypes in media
Essay on the portrayal of women in mass media
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay on the portrayal of women in mass media
The title Miss Representation garners its power and significance through the play on words of “misrepresentation.” It gives context to the documentary as whole, and primes the viewer with the underlying position that the media holds women back when it misrepresents them. The media’s portrayal of women creates a chain reaction of gender socialization that has lasting effects on the way women are treated and how they treat themselves. Misrepresentation in the media-be it oversexualization of women, negative depictions of high aspirations, or public backlash against the progress of the women’s movement-has very tangible consequences that begin with self-objectification and end with a lack of political efficacy. In between lie compromised mental …show more content…
While this under-representation is at a full head in the political realm, it begins in the home. One of the striking statistics that flash across the screen states that American teenagers spend thirty one hours a week watching television. There wasn’t enough programming even created the 1920s-1940s to fill that many hours, and by examining the content of television then and now it is clear that amount is not the only attribute of television that has changed. In the 20s- 40s, women were allowed to play multi-dimensional characters in complex roles; women were allowed the full experience of what it means to be human. However, as television and cinema have progressed, woman have been further and further reduced to caricatures of humans, filling only broad character tropes revolving around the much more interesting and complex life of a man, whom is usually a would-be romantic partner. With women as only a grand total of sixteen Erin Wagner WST 3015 Miss Representation Application Paper percent of all protagonists, the misrepresentation of women on screen teaches all
The documentary, “Miss Representation,” is a film about how women are perceived in the media. It is written, directed, and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. She is an actress and a film maker who advocates for women. In the beginning of the documentary, Newsom discusses her struggles as a young woman surrounded by the pressures of looking a certain way. This film is targeting mainly women of all age that has experienced her struggles. Jennifer Siebel Newsom effectively convinces the audience of “Miss Representation” that the media has molded women in a negative way through statistics, celebrities’ and younger generation’s testimonies, and clips from the media.
Led by Laura Mulvey, feminist film critics have discussed the difficulty presented to female spectators by the controlling male gaze and narrative generally found in mainstream film, creating for female spectators a position that forces them into limited choices: "bisexual" identification with active male characters; identification with the passive, often victimized, female characters; or on occasion, identification with a "masculinized" active female character, who is generally punished for her unhealthy behavior. Before discussing recent improvements, it is important to note that a group of Classic Hollywood films regularly offered female spectators positive, female characters who were active in controlling narrative, gazing and desiring: the screwball comedy.
Miss Representation, a documentary film produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom released in 2011, presents a contemporary issue which is the misrepresentation of women’s portrayal in mass media. The media is powerful in shaping audience’s belief in how to be feminine. Women are expected to be beautiful, attractive, and even sexual on the media to attract audience’s attention. Also, the film points out the existence of social system in which men are considered more powerful and dominant than women. Finally, the film tries to increase the awareness of female real value including capability, educational achievement, and leadership. Consuming the media wisely to eliminate gendered stereotypes can help young women build their confidence and be successful.
Today’s culture sees a gap between the male and female gender. This is evident in everything from the films we watch, music we listen to, and even in our everyday lives. Historically, this issue has seen an even larger gap, and can be observed in the films that were made during that time. Vertigo and Citizen Kane both show the objectification of women by controlling them, writing them in supportive roles, and placing their value in the way that they look.
On September 20, 1984 a show aired that changed the way we view gender roles on television. Television still perpetuates traditional gender stereotypes and in reflecting them TV reinforces them by presenting them as the norm (Chandler, 1). The Cosby Show, challenged the typical gender stereotyping of television, daring to go against the dominant social values of its time period. In its challenge of the dominant social view, the show redefined the portrayal of male and female roles in television. It redefined the gender role in the work place, in social expectations, and in household responsibilities. The Cosby Show supported Freidan in her view of “castigating the phony happy housewife heroine of the women’s magazines” (Douglas 136).
Mainstream movies are about men’s lives, and the few movies about women’s lives, at their core, still also revolve around men (Newsom, 2011). These female leads often have male love interests, looking to get married or get pregnant. Strong independent female leads are still exist for the male view, as they are hypersexualized, or the “fighting fuck toy,” (Newsom, 2011). This depiction has created a culture where women are insecure and waiting for a knight on a horse to come rescue and provide for her as well as the acceptance of women
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...
Some people might say that these movies provide entertainment and transport families into the lives of princes and princesses. Many critics have said that the films have amazing soundtracks and have detailed and interesting plots. Still, however entertaining the films may be, the way women are viewed and treated outweigh any enjoyment that a viewer could have. The subliminal lessons young women learn from these films have lifelong repercussions and negatively affect the female
Gender and the portrayal of gender roles in a film is an intriguing topic. It is interesting to uncover the way women have been idealized in our films, which mirrors the sentiments of the society of that period in time. Consequently, the thesis of this essay is a feminist approach that seeks to compare and contrast the gender roles of two films. The selected films are A few Good Men and Some Like it Hot.
At the point when a lady is depicted in films, she is either pursuing adoration, sexualized or delineated as a housewife. Contrary to popular belief, today’s society has developed the media to become a source of great influence in our everyday lives.
According to the film, Miss Representation, the media “are shaping our society and delivering contents, but shaping children’s brains and minds (Newsom, 2011). Brooks and Hebert (2006) also discuss that “Much of what audiences know and care about is based on the images, symbols, and narratives in radio, television, film, music, and other media” (p. 297). The media is mostly governed by white men. “Women own only 5.8% of all television station and 6% of radio stations” (Newsom, 2011). “The limited employment of women in decision-making roles is the key element in understanding how gender inequality is woven into the media industry” (Watkins & Emerson, 2000, p. 155). Collins (1999) points out that elite groups manipulate controlling images that marginalize specific groups. As a result, girls and women are encouraged to achieve men’s ideals, impossible beauty standards; young men who are used to such models are judgmental toward real women (Newsom, 2011). Moreover, advertisers and marketers have had “dictated cultural norms and values” since the establishment of the Advertizing First Amendment Protection in 1976 (Newsom,
The film Missrepresentation, by Jennifer Newsom, is about the underrepresentation of women by the media (2011). The film challenges the viewpoints of media that are constantly depicting females as to being dependent on males. Furthermore, even when females are displayed as lead characters, the plot will ensure that their life’s will surround the life of a male. Examples of these include, a lead female falling in love with her “prince charming” as he saved her from great dangers. We rarely see a female character saving a male in the media (2011). According to the film the media continues to encourage the ideology that a women’s power is associated with her youth, beauty and sexuality, instead of her knowledge and intelligence (2011). The film also provides starling statistics, for instance by the age to 18 78% of females are unhappy with how the look. Also of the 8 million people with eating disord...
Have you ever noticed how women are degraded and seen as a piece of meat? The film Miss Representation by Jennifer Siebel Newson, says how women’s values as seen in the eyes of others come from their body, beauty, and sexuality. According to Miss Representation 53% of 13-year-old girls are unhappy with their bodies. The media is a huge influence on these young girl’s unhappiness.
The introduction of photography and filmography has put women in the spotlights. Books and studies are filled with the way women are influenced by the way they are portrayed in films and photos and how positions and actions of women influence the way they are pictured and how they are stereotyped. One traditional and stereotypical view of a woman is the “honey I’m home” wife who stays in the kitchen doing the cooking and cleaning while wearing the perfect outfit. While this particular view is more centered on the 1950’s the basic ideas of the woman’s role has been the same for hundreds of years. Animated films form a special genre in which the protagonists vary from animals and fantasy figures to human figures.
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.