Gender Roles In The Media

Almost every person in the world has some access to media. Whether it is through electronics like social media or the internet, or through printed media, it shapes a person’s view on many aspects of society. Media represents a vast array of societal issues. “Media representation is a way in which the media portrays groups, communities, experiences, ideas or topics from a particular ideological or vale perspective” (Beach). One of the bigger issues media portrays is gender. In today’s culture the issue of the difference between men and women can be seen heavily in media. In roles actors and actresses play on television, and through songs gender representation is an issue that is present. Most of the representations however are negative. It plays off of the stereotypes that are associated with men and women. In this ever-changing society media, through various forms of entertainment, plays a negative role in the representation of gender.

Gender roles are the set of characteristics a gender role should have. Every gender should act like their own "kind." A man should have masculine attributes and a female should have feminine attributes; at least that's what the media tells us. They influence ideas that a man should act like one and a woman like a woman. Huffington Post writer, Warren J. Blumenfeld, discusses the ways gender roles affect society. He recognizes how these gender roles are presented before us and we don't take them into consideration. Commercials created by the La Quinta Inns and Depend Shields and Guards for Men influence the ideas of gender roles. Media has a huge role in creating social standards, on the grounds that different types of media are available all over in society. Gender roles, for instance, exist singularly on the grounds that society accepts them, yet sustained by the media constantly. Media has infiltrated society with the mentality that everyone should follow their gender role.

It’s not a shock to anyone who used social media before or seen magazines, tv shows or billboards and noticed that media represents gender in a stereotypical way. Of the many influences on how we view men and women, media are the most pervasive and one of the most powerful.

Women should be submissive and be ruled by Men, according to some people. It is a known fact that women have been oppressed greatly by the generally patriarchal structure of the society. However, it is also evident that women have fought for equality. However, the female portrayal in the media has halted this advancement and even reversed it in some ways. Additionally, the media has deteriorating effects on females. The media of today makes women seem less desirable while also objectifying, over sexualizing and stereotyping them on a great level. This, in turn, has a very negative influence on females of all ages and forces younger girls to conform to the media’s marketed female ideal. Ultimately, the female portrayal in the media has too

Gender representation in the media is a big issue when it comes to African American man committing crimes on the news, but rarely hear about other ethnicity in the media. The media try to persuade other ethnic groups that African American males are aggressive towards others. They label black people as being violent and lazy, but in society that is based off of physical characteristics and our skin color. Racism played a big part in society and caused others to judge African American by their skin tones. We should all be treated with compassion and not hatred.

AP) The paper explores the vast distinction in the qualities of men and women as dictated in the media. Media has always portrayed the sexes in very diverse manners. Men, the chosen dominate gender, per Feminity and Masculinity “our society is made up of many false fineries and is [Consistently] described as masculine and have qualities, including being dependent, Males are described as masculine and have qualities, including being independent, strong, self-confident and aggressive, while females are described […] with words such as dependent, weak, self-critical and passive’. This bias and largely unsupported view of gender has played a significant role in the way society views gender and the way women view themselves. Media’s obvious unequal

Media plays a significant role in today’s society when it comes to gender roles. “Gender roles, as an example, exist solely because society as a whole chooses to accept them, but they are perpetuated by the media” (Lantagne). While watching television, many people fail to recognize the gender roles that are being illustrated throughout the show. Society shapes gender roles, and the media reinforces this ideology. In sitcoms, women are naturally the housewife, while the men determinedly enter the workforce. In reality, intimate relationships in today’s generation are fairly balanced, and it is almost expected that both individuals work diligently to provide for the household. Gender roles are also evident in a variety of other television shows. For example, in adventure and crime shows it is common to see men depicted as powerful and women as weak. With stereotypes like this, it shows women that they should keep their heads down and remain dependent on their significant other, and that men need to be influential and powerful.

In social studies especially, children learn all about the different historical figures and leaders. The majority of time, these people that we learn about from history are men, even though there were many powerful and intelligent women at that time too. Also, many times stereotypical gender roles are enforced through pictures in books and worksheets. When children learn about these historical figures and see these pictures they automatically differentiate the roles of men and women without even realizing it. I believe that men and women should be portrayed equally in the media and

In “Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender”, Wood writes: “…media insinuate their messages into our consciousness at every turn. All forms of media communicate images of the sexes, many of which perpetuate unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting perceptions.” (1) This illustrates just how influential the media can be in American culture. Many people immediately internalize everything they hear from any source that they see as trustworthy. If the media is filled with negative gender stereotypes, then Americans are at risk of internalizing negative gender roles. In the same journal, Woods also explains the three main ways that media influences gender identity:

The portrayal of women in the media affects women and young girls but this issue can be solved. In many movies, music videos, ads, etc. we see sexism between males and females. According to Gender Issues In The Media, “There are many fewer females than males in almost all forms of mainstream media and those who do appear are often portrayed in very stereotypical ways.” This shows that if women are seen in the same position as men they are stereotyped and

In today’s media there have been numerous images portray and examples of gender either in movies, television shows and or in commercials. Viewers have their own mind and can think for themselves, but when you have the media constantly portraying a male or a female a certain way, it can be influential or stereotypically. The image is putting on stereotypes and labeling a male figure to only be a certain way, while the women figure is the opposite way. Males are presented as the strong ones, the ones that get things done. The women are presented to be the sexy and only worried about their appearance. I came across a recent article and video that indicated that “media that perpetuates rigid gender roles and stereotypes can affect children’s sense of self, relationship, and career aspirations” In module three, we discussed the media stereotypes. Men are seen as active, adventurous, powerful, sexually aggressive, and uninvolved in human relationships, while women are seen as sex objects, young, thin, beautiful, passive, dependent, sometimes incompetent, and they are either a virgin or they are label as a whore. By reading those labels that media place on women, it is ridiculous, but this is exactly what the media portrays.

According to Wood, “The media continue to present both men and women in stereotyped ways that limit our perceptions of human possibilities.” (232) Although times have changed somewhat, there are cultural norms associated with both genders. Men are often depicted as strong, bold, courageous and often are the head of the family and the breadwinner. When it comes to women, they are often stereotyped to be the keeper of their homes and families. Wood reveals that the media portrays two types of women; the good women and the bad woman. (333) Good women are displayed as the typical, submissive housewife, and bad women are displayed as the exact opposite of the good women. (Wood 333) Women feel the need to be like

A representation is when a media text such as a newspaper, magazine or film represent ideas or events to us in a distorted view. A representation is not the true picture; it is re-presented after a specific event has occurred. The representation will be opinion based and it will invite the audience to identify with them. All of the representations have a mode of address too depending on their target audience depends on how they represent the person, idea, event or issue. All texts undergo the process of mediation which is when you are only seeing a small proportion of reality. To mediate a text, you also need to construct it to form the final mediation. It will first be scripted which initially cuts down how much you see of reality. Then it will be mediated and constructed by dramatic footage, organisation and editing before it reaches the programme’s version of events. Richard Dyer (1983) constructed multiple questions when analysing a media representation. These questions include; what world is created?, what does it imply?, What does it represent? and How might we respond to the Representation?

Media is a powerful resource, reaching vast audiences by means of television, radio, press and Internet. Its purpose is to broadcast information and entertain the target audience. It plays a significant role in social and cultural interpretations because it can influence and manipulate the audience’s views by broadcasting a certain message. In order for the media to get a message across to a wide variety of cultures they use stereotypes, which evoke certain associations and are usually universally understood and accepted. Nowadays the media uses traditional gender stereotypical roles that suggest how males and females should behave in society.

The media is a well-known, influential aspect on gender roles that broadcast negative messages to society through television by the images that are mainstreamed, which has an effect on people’s thinking process. Television brainwashes both men and women to believe they are not perfect, unless they have the body image of a celebrity. Though it is just a fantasy and not reality, “81% of 10 year girls are afraid of being fat, half of those girls believe they feel better about themselves when they were on a diet” (Reed 2016). The media paints a broad spectrum of ways it is stereotypical to not only just women, but men too. Women are pictured as a walking toothpick, while men are muscular. How can someone enjoy watching television when it is manipulating people’s lifestyle? We should not support the media when it is doing no good than harm. From advertisements to commercials, “it controls social life by invisibly transferring the dominant hegemonic ideology” (Wolska 2016). The media portrays many unrealistic stereotypes about gender, which often leads to not feeling acceptable in today’s world.