representation of women in the media

704 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Portrayal of gender roles in the media argument

Media essay – Representation of females
The representation of females in the media today is very complex. In some media texts such as the “asda Christmas advert” the dominant ideology of women being happily married and domesticated is reinforced. , whereas in other media texts such as “Miranda” the dominant ideology of women is challenged as they are trying to break the stereotypes people have of women
“Miranda” is a TV programme created by the BBC, one of the world’s largest public service broadcaster who aim to inform, educate and entertain. The BBC have to reflect the female audience and they have done through “Miranda” which is broadening the ideology of women. Miranda is a profile of a thirty four year old woman whose mode of address is informal and she represents herself as laid back through her casual sense of clothing. The dominant ideology is challenged through Miranda’s beliefs of having fun and being interested in the opposite sex rather than marriage and babies. During the episode there are several long-shot camera angles of Miranda and Stevie to enhance the binary opposition (Levi Strauss) of Miranda being more boyish whereas Stevie is more petite and girly as shown in the clothes she wears which are skirts, compared to Miranda who wears sweaters and jeans. The BBC has used removal of the fourth wall in order for Miranda to communicate with the audience especially during the awkward moments. The hegemonic value of “Miranda” may be that relationships and fun are more important, which would actually be challenging the hegemonic value of the female form. The polysemic readings could be that the audience might admire Miranda for being confident and keeping away from the norm, however another way the audience can take i...

... middle of paper ...

...e families and children are very happy and the woman can be seen as a role model for other mums. However some of the audience may see it as fake as the advert is full of happy faces and Christmas is one of the most stressful times of the year. The contextualization of this advert is that it is still the dominant ideology of women. Asda have chosen to represent women like this to remind society that women are in charge of the household.
In conclusion, my opinion is that the media still represents women as being self conscious and caring about beauty more. In many TV shows and movies and adverts the women used are very pretty and are exposed and sometimes the women are shown to be dependent on men too much. Although there are some rare media texts where the woman is shown to be independent and happy by herself without giving in to society.

Works Cited

levi strauss

Show More
Related

  • Miss Representation Summary

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • epq

    923 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this essay I’ll be exploring various concepts of women and will deeply criticise the way women are seen and portrayed through advertising. My primary resource I’ll be referring to throughout this essay is a book called ‘Ways of seeing’ by John Berger, which highlights the role women during the early renaissance and onwards. In addition to this I will explore the various beliefs of women from a wide range of secondary resources, and will include references from books, websites, and various images to help clarify my statements.

    Read More

  • Media Analysis of Gender

    1742 Words  | 4 Pages

    First of all, in The Simpsons, the scene where we get into the actual plot of the story opens with Marge and Lisa walking into a department store that sells dolls. The gender stereotype that girls are only interested in playing with dolls is reinforced here as a huge selection of Malibu Stacy dolls is on display with a throng of screeching, bloodthirsty girls tearing the store apart. Lisa says, “I’m warning you mom, I might get a little crazy.” and immediately knocks down a girl and snatches another in a choke-hold to be the first in line for the new Malibu Stacy doll. In the very next scene we have the whole family in the car with Homer driving. He is baking a cupcake with an easy-bake-oven that he bought from the mall. Marge advises him that he should not be doing that. The stereotype here is that men are more impulsive as demonstrated by Homer and his baking while driving without any concern of his or his family’s safety; and that women like to play it safe and think before acting as demonstrated by Marge. Another noteworthy observation is the fact that Homer completes his gender stereotype as the bread-winner of the family. He works at the Nuclear power plant while Marge plays the role of the proud homemaker who is rarely seen outside the home and who has little friends. Homer on the other hand, is not confined to his domestic role and his frequently shown at Moe’s Tavern with his friends, at work, or doing something that is stupid and dangerous. This enforces the stereotype that women have few friends and stay close to domestic life whereas men have lots of friends, are more independent, and bring home the bacon. Moreover, Bart and Lisa are in accordance with their gender stereotypes as well. For instance, in the backseat, Ba...

    Read More

  • The Negative Aspects Of Gender Roles In Modern Day Society

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gender roles are targeted towards children through countless advertisements. “The lines, text, colors and images usually lead readers to move their eyes across…”

    Read More

  • Snow White And Cinderella Gender Analysis

    1427 Words  | 3 Pages

    The media today is overflowing with idealistic representations of modern life; society’s hunger for excellence is reproduced in every detail of the media we consume. Reality, in contrast, is a poor substitute for the fairytale world of film, where good beats evil and stories end with a happily ever after. Arguably, women are often the “victims” of motion picture’s perfect perceptions, and feminism’s persistent test is to challenge these impractical representations. The female princess characters show an example of inaccurate feminine fulfillment.

    Read More

  • Stereotyping Women In The Media

    1571 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout history when we think about women in society we think of small and thin. Today's current portrayal of women stereotypes the feminine sex as being everything that most women are not. Because of this depiction, the mentality of women today is to be thin and to look a certain way. There are many challenges with women wanting to be a certain size. They go through physical and mental problems to try and overcome what they are not happy with. In the world, there are people who tell us what size we should be and if we are not that size we are not even worth anything. Because of the way women have been stereotyped in the media, there has been some controversial issues raised regarding the way the world views women. These issues are important because they affect the way we see ourselves—contributing in a negative way to how positive or negative our self image is.

    Read More

  • Portrayal Of Women In The Media

    1274 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we see women on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or even magazine ads, what do we see them as? What does the media usually depict women to be like? Most of the times when I see women on these forms of media, I do not see them as being much of a positive figure. I also do not see these women demonstrating positive behavior. With all of the negativity of women in the media, the perception of women has changed tremendously. The media often makes women out to be depreciated as well as being seen as inferior. The media does not make women out to be smart women who are eligible to accomplish things on their own. Since the beginning of media, women have been portrayed as being submissive, dependent, as well as sexually misrepresented.

    Read More

  • Sexism in the Media

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    One thousand years go by and an abundant amount of people still view women in a stereotypical type of way. On the opposing view, if women did not overstretch the slightest of things, this wouldn’t be such an enormous issue. Women may be overreacting to what the media has to say about them. It is not affecting everybody but a vast majority of successful women from continuing to moving forward said Marianne Schnall. Important to realize, women are capable of doing jobs men can do. Such jobs as being an engineer, physician, mechanic, lawyer and even top notch business women! Up to the present time there is an ongoing public debate on women suffering from double standards. If it makes a female feel threatened or belittled than it may be sexist. A very interesting article this came to be because the writer had numerous accountants to keep her argument steady. A worthy writer brings up present time activities, statistics, and people being affected by the scenario and provides the reader some closure. With a devastatingly crucial issue such as women being shunned by the media, it’s not okay to have the ideas of other people in your work. In the article, “Controversial Hillary Cover of Time Illuminates Sexism in the Media” by Marianne Schnall, implies that the media is negatively affecting the chances of women becoming successful with all the sexism it is portraying. Marianne Schnall is a published writer and professional interviewer with many influential credentials that she in not afraid to use.

    Read More

  • The Marginality of Women in the Media

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    When one thinks of the decades of feminist mobility, there is a definite degree of gratitude. In the past 40 years the roles of women have changed dramatically, thanks in part to activists, lobbyists, and women everywhere. However, there is a definite need for change in the world of advertisement. As one of the largest media outlets, it connects to millions of women daily, most being young women. In being our next generation, the idea of equality in sex needs to be instilled early to counteract the stereotypes of the media. According to Jean Kilbourne in her book, Deadly Persuasion, the media has "made possible a kind of national peer pressure that erodes private and individual values and standards" (Kilbourne, 1999: 129). These new values are destroying a young woman's authentic self, in a sense she is selling herself into the media's stereotype. Women have become objectified in advertising at a very young age.

    Read More

  • Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Critics

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).

    Read More

  • The Media And Gender Stereotypes In The Media

    2330 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Representation of Men and Women in the Media

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    I will analyse these sources in my main body. In the past fifty years women have been marginalised and were represented as the weaker sex. The woman in the Kenzo advert is represented stereotypically as a weak human. For example, this can be seen when the woman is bare footed, full of laughter, innocence and leaning on an object, a slam. The woman leaning on the object signifies that the woman cannot live without this perfume.

    Read More

  • Essay On Miss Representation

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the video “Miss Representation,” the author, Jennifer Siebel Newsom highlights women’s image in modern society. The author shows different viewpoint of how media impact the way that society perceives women in general. Women are suffering what media portrays their body images. Nowadays, social media is used widely in the world. There is a lot of useful information in the world from social media; however, some advertising also presents negative images of women. The advertising from some companies such as Dove’, and Victoria Secret communicate wrong messages about women to people. Young children usually focus on women’s sexy body instead of focusing on another outlook of women. Perhaps the advertising will

    Read More

  • Portrayal of Women in the Media

    3135 Words  | 7 Pages

    The media and television broadcasting of women is not all negative. But current culture is constantly taking the easy way out. It refuses to explore different ways in which women can be represented. That is why for years to come women will still be seen as motherly, passive and innocent, sex objects, or they are overlooked or seen as unimportant entities. Whether it’s motherly birds on kids TV shows or scantily clad dancers on Monday Night Football, the portrayal of women has yet to catch up with what real life women are like. There are single women, obese women, and smart women. Women who are single mom’s, lesbians, or don’t have any children at all. Women are able to do the same type of work as men without being manly. The day that women are treated as equals on television will whole new level of success for feminism.

    Read More

  • Objectification Of Women In Media

    125 Words  | 1 Pages

    The groups of people that will be affected by the increase or worsening of this issue are the general public, especially the young female athletes who strive to become pro-athletes. Objectification of women in media is a blemish on the whole society because it leads to inequality in the sexes. All the women in any career whether it is related to sports or not, feel downgraded when they have to face sexist comments. Objectification is a defect in the media, because it is due to the encouragements of the media, that the women have to suffer as much sexism as they do. Media has the ability to influence the opinion of public, but if they continue encouraging such sexist behaviour, the problem may never end.

    Read More

More about representation of women in the media

Open Document