Feminist Media Criticism

Viola is the main character in both works, who disguises herself as a male to fit into an area where men typically dominate. Duke Orsino is the main romantic interest to Viola in Twelfth Night and She’s the Man; a man who is hopelessly in love with Lady Olivia, who pays no attention to him because she is infatuated with Viola’s male identity. Next to the characters, the plot in both works are nearly identical: the female lead, Viola, wishes to conquer gender inequalities and pretends to be a male, only to gain the affections of a fairly popular woman, Olivia. Meanwhile, Viola harbors feelings for the male lead, Orsino, who desires the heart of Olivia. Both stories end with Viola and Sebastian ending up in the same place with the rest of the characters, bring a disturbing but satisfying conclusion to all the disorder. This confusing love triangle is what fuels the film and its Shakespearean source, and runs as the theme in both stories. With a female protagonist interested in a male lead, who in turn is interested in a female side character that is interested in the gender-bent identity of the protagonist, only confusion and chaos is to ensue. It is this confusion that spreads through all of the characters outside of Viola, Orsino, and Olivia, and propels the actions of many characters in both Twelfth Night and She’s the

Gender roles plays a very significant part in society and the way people are portrayed in the media. Men and women are portrayed differently in the media specifically based on how they are perceived in society. Men have a more predominant role in the media. Women are presented as delicate individuals with less predominant roles. There are stereotypes of women and men, especially those seen on television. “Virtually all groups of people suffer from stereotyping and men are no exception. Stereotypes are powerful because they affect our expectations of what men should and should not be like. They are damaging because they narrow our notions of what men can be and do.” (Femiano & Nickerson, n.d.)

Within Western culture, mass media contributes to the social construction of gender roles and has a direct effect on the social structure of society. The media uses advertising, television, and film to help facilitate these changes. This idea will be explored using theories rooting from intersectional feminism when comparing gender stereotypes, discrimination against transgender people, racial stereotypes, rape culture and reasons for these portrayals in popular culture.

From the view of the traditional feminist lens without delving too far into intersections of theory at this point, feminists broadly agree that sexism of this nature is unacceptable. Feminist theory seeks to restore balance between the genders through breaking down and eradicating the patriarchal norms that have bound society for thousands of years. One of the main examples of patriarchal norms in practice is the way in which the media, and news outlets in particular, talk about female politicians in comparison to the way that they discuss their male counterparts. In an article by the Daily Mail, Theresa May was described as “fashion forward” and “quirky” (Daily Mail, 2014) due to her taste in clothing. On this day, she spoke in Parliament

For example, “young people are being sold the concept that women’s value lies in their youth, beauty, and sexuality and not in their capacity of leaders or intelligence.” Likewise, “boys get the message that they should be violent, in control, unemotional, and that women should be treated like objects and second class citizens.” Mass media is a huge contributor to one’s daily life so it would be fairly easy to say that they have a large grasp on the mind of society. Stereotypical criticism influences us to think what a male is ought to do and what a female should do. The objective of media is to influence people for their benefit. These ways of thinking are unacceptable conditions to be living in. “In almost every role a woman has in the media, she is somehow connected to sex. Even the powerful women we look up to sometimes become an object of desire. The media needs to start creating female

Some might ask what effect do misogyny and sexism have on American media? Misogyny and mass media have made numerous examples where studies have concluded correlations between misogynous messages, both obvious and subliminal. Messages containing misogynous views have become incorporated into our society, affecting many parts of our lives. Misogyny can be found in many types of media, especially music videos that show Women being shown as just objects that are only good for abuse, sex and for the most part are just trouble for men. Also, another main form of media where misogyny is found is video games. Despite the achievements of the women 's movement over the past decades, misogyny remains a persistent force in American culture.

Before taking feminist perspectives I had awareness towards the influences of media. I did not however implement a lot of concentrated or critical thinking towards the impacts media provides to all people of society. Personally I fell into the trap of wanting the “white picket fence”. I also fell into and still currently do strive for the media portrayals of normal for success of women. This includes the desire to thin, and attractive. I criticize myself and lack self confidence as I perceive myself as not fitting the normal. I don’t fit the normal that media perceives, and I act as they direct me to of needing to change to fit this normal. Media shapes our perception, but does so by providing

Growing up as a child with parents that were both fairly busy with work I often found myself sat in front of a television either waiting for the day to begin or to end. I remember watching shows and seeing how the boys always seemed to be more outspoken, hyper-masculine and the leader in a given situation while the girls were always the passive ones who were depicted as shy followers. Now that I am older I find myself watching even more television, allowing me to see how the media depicts men and women in society. For example, The Big Bang Theory, in its earlier seasons, it only had one female lead, Penny. Her character was very stereotypical in the sense that she was the scattebrained neighbor. The way that men and women are portrayed has

The gender and feminist representations conveyed by the media are as harmful as any other kind of representations; they are easily depicted whether directly or indirectly. Their effect starts with little children and goes on to reach adults. Many film studios are devoted especially for children films, and this is the place where the magic happens, portrayals that might seem very innocent and harmless, but in fact are indirectly extremely vicious. Children grow with these assumptions portrayed by the movies, so as full gown adults they will find the motion picture representations as very normal and very acceptable, whatever they might hold in them, because of the background and the platform that was laid before them when they were kids.

As feminism has emerged in popular media in recent years, another gender movement has similarly become visible. This movement is called Men’s Rights Activism (MRA), also commonly known as meninism. Feminism and meninism have both been given a strong negative connotation by the media, often representing them with the image of an outspoken, somewhat radical, advocate. Gender and Women’s Studies classes have shined a light on how this does not fully encompass what feminism represents. In present day, feminism can be seen as positive and uplifting by many people, not just women, yet meninism has barely been mentioned other than in an unfavorable manner. Is MRA really such a negative movement, founded on hate? Analysis of its creation and how

My analysis of major themes and how the media participate in the construction of attitudes about gender and sexual orientation is predicated upon 16 articles drawn from three major news sources: Newsweek, The New York Times, and The Advocate. The articles were published in the months of January, February, and March. The selection of the articles was not random; I specifically chose articles whose titles and introductions were of particular interest. The three news sources, particularly the Times and The Advocate, published many articles related to LGBT issues—typically greater than a dozen for each weekly search—from which I selected only two per week. In sifting through the 16 articles, I identified three important

They present viewers with assumptions about the way men and women are supposed to act. By repeatedly showing viewers how men and women are supposed to act, they manipulate society’s way of thinking about gender stereotype. Each of the three media I examined I believe are excellent examples of how gender stereotypes are being

The stereotyping of things is not only in evidence all around us today but is almost a necessity. When the average person is looking for clothes they have to find the section that will likely have the items that they are looking for. Men go to the men’s section, women to the women’s section, girls to the girl’s and boys to the boy’s. This stereotyping of gender is also found on TV and is displayed by the roles that men/boys and Women/girls occupy. One has to ask themselves why this is and where do these stereotypical ideas come from. The unfortunate truth is that it begins at birth and continues on through the informative years of children in today’s society.

I have to start and apologize for my cynical view. It is difficult for me to separate emotional stimulus from a purely analytical approach. Without using Carl Sagens Baloney Detection Kit at my side I easily diverge from logical analysis approach and immerse myself in my emotional defense. What I want to do is pull two separate and different works together and focus on the impact of gender in media and film. First I will summarize my position then address the two selected works. One work is from noted Marxist Louis Althusser where he points out eight different Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) of which I will focus on two for this writing, the family ISA and the culture ISA. The second is from noted Canadian activist and trans-gender

Skinny, blond, ditzy, annoying, un-educated, easy, and considered a typical women. If you’re a women and you hear these words, does it make you think of who you are, or your mother or sisters? I think not…but I do think about the people I see on television and in magazines or in movies. What I want to know is who is writing the scripts for some of the television shows that I watch. I would like to hope that it’s not women putting these stereotypes on their fellow “sisters”.