Gender Roles Of Men And Women

Representation in media is hugely important as it influences, both consciously and subconsciously, culture and society. Gender representation is especially important in this day and age because more and more media is being consumed by younger audiences. In G-rated animated movies and televisions shows targeted for young girls, the female characters are hyper-sexualized and, 9 out of 10 times, their stories revolve around finding a man to love them, facilitating our cultures obsession with heteronormativity. Boys are encouraged to watch male dominated action movies, full of violence, sexy, scantily-clad women, and heteronormative, hyper-masculine stereotypes. Boys who are interested in any media designated “for girls” is seen as less masculine and may face bullies and pressure from all walks of life, at home and in school. Society begins teaching boys and girls how to gender immediately, what is appropriate, tolerated, encouraged, and what is unacceptable. As we grow up our media becomes more violent, more sexualized, and even more gendered. I will be exploring gender representation in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, and The 100, discussing the problematic and the progressive representations of gender, starting with Gilmore Girls.

As previously mentioned, Renzetti and Curran, make several claims about the kind of gendered messages that we as a society receive via our favorite television shows. I selected three other claims to see whether or not they held true for “Malcolm in the Middle.” The first claim is that “female characters are more likely than men to use sex or romantic charm to get what they want. Men, in contrast, are more likely than women to use physical force.” I recorded each instance of use or threat of physical force and whether it was a man or woman who did so. Each instance of sex or romantic charm was also recorded according to which sex used that technique. Another claim was “only 28% of women are shown on the job compared to 41% of male characters.” I kept a tally of characters that were shown on the job or made any reference to their jobs. The last claim I chose to analyze was that men on television are rarely shown doing housework (one to three percent compared to twenty to twenty-seven percent of women). I kept a tally of each instance that a household chore was done and whether it was a man or woman who took care of the task.

Equally important would be to stop reinforcing negative stereotypes of women on television. Television still represents traditional views of society. Women are often still generally represented as inferior to men on television. Television shows have to stop representing women as being neurotic like Monica on Friends, or difficult and bossy like Amanda on Melrose Place, or ditsy like Phoebe on Friends. Women should be represented as more than the standard stereotypical negative and simplified character viewers generally see.

It is very well known to all that media is a big part of society today. It influenced how we see ourselves and the world to some extent. There are different types of media that is offered today, for example: TV, movies, radio, and newspapers. Within the different forms of media, women and men are represented in a certain way, all with different characteristics. In this essay, I will argue that there is similar gender stereotypes presented in the shows Modern Family and Every Body Loves Raymond, and how they differ from the show Full House.

Children television programs have been around for decades, designed to entertain and educate the targeted audience. These programs are extremely popular among children, typically last twenty to thirty minutes, are scheduled between the hours of 7:00 a.m. – 10: 00 p.m., and are aired daily on a weekly basis. The commercials that air in-between the breaks of each program are also marketed towards and specifically made for children. Even though the main purpose of children television programs is to entertain, inform, and educate, there are a variety of stereotypes that can be found within some of these children shows. Some of these stereotypes have to do with ethnicity and gender. After carefully watching and analyzing a few of these children

Modern media has a massive audience with more than 115 million American household families owning a television (NewsWire). Everyday viewers devote time to watching programs and are intrigued by the attractive actors and the situations they encounter. Although these characters and their lives seem to be unbelievably attractive, many of the shows have stereotypical gender qualities. Regina George in Mean Girls frequently portrays qualities that are often seen as ideal ways for women to live, though a closer look reveals the limitations with these ideas.

Gender stereotypes are everywhere. Even before we can understand what this means, people are constantly exposed to them through advertisements, toys, clothes, and the media including television shows and movies. To evaluate the prevalence of gender stereotypes in television programs targeted towards young children, I chose to watch four different shows called Phineas and Ferb, Little Einsteins, Horrid Henry, and Sofia the First. When picking what shows to watch, I intentionally selected at least one that looked targeted towards boys, another that appeared to be targeted towards girls, and finally one that seemed gender neutral. I also made sure to watch at least two episodes of each program to determine whether the themes I observed were

With the shift of gender roles in American culture, comes the shift in how Americans portray characters in certain television and media shows. While the cultural norms and beliefs change as a country, so do the way people perceive the roles of males and females. In the 1950’s, it was normal for a female to be working on and at the home, taking care of the kids, and doing the tedious chores around the house. All while the male is at work, making the money to support the family. In today’s time, with many advances in women’s rights and cultural acceptance, these roles are not so specific to a gender.

In their pieces on the Smurfette principle, Pollitt and Ellis both discuss the idea that gender representations have intense effects on the children who absorb certain types of popular entertainment. Although we are hesitant to accept it, we are all influenced by the media in a very powerful way. Whether it be through TV shows, billboards, movies or the news. One thing that we commonly wonder about is if the adult female population is as influenced by the stereotyped gender roles present on TV or are we shaped at a young age and carry that perspective with us throughout our lives. This Smurfette principle has been around for almost two decades. It was introduced by Katha Pollitt and is unfortunately still present in our current 21st

Katha Pollitt, a poet and essayist, published an essay entitled “Hers; The Smurfette Principle,” which is written from a mother's perspective. Katha's daughter grew up watching Disney princesses needing to be saved by men, and doing nothing for themselves. She then goes on to draw attention to the fact that the majority of children's television programs feature males as the lead characters. Also, when a female character is present, outnumbered as she may be, the character almost always plays an unimportant role. Katha named this the Smurfette Principle: a group of male characters accented by one female, who is always stereotypically defined (Pollitt 1). This principle was based on the show, “The Smurfs,” where every single Smurf in town is a boy, except Smurfette, a pretty blonde in a dress. However, it doesn't stop at television programs. Children's books also center around male characters and stereotype female characters. Part of the blame also falls on parents for not monitoring what their children are viewing as much as they sometimes should. Television programs and books that exemplify the “Smurfette Principle” teach young girls that they are inferior and exist only in relation to

The evolution of today’s tv shows is greatly reflecting the way society views themselves. While the main character in the past would have most likely always been a man, relating to the importance of having a father figure in the family, and the importance of masculinity, nowadays, it has become a much more psychological connection. As a person with low social skills, it has been rather difficult to understand the world around and ultimately the world inside me. Growing up with little to no friends, I found sanction in the characters that would appear on the screen of our family television. Gradually, I began to understand the similarities I shared with many of the “people” I grew up with.

The molds of gender norms have softened in the last couple decades with the acceptance of formerly radical identities such as cross dressing, drag, but these norms are difficult to break because genders are assigned to individuals at birth and complying to the norms associated with that sex is deemed as socially acceptable. Another reason these norms may be hard to break is that they provide comfort towards those who already been accepted into society. This provides a little insight as to why there is a restriction of genderqueer identities in television. Especially when accustomed to writing for an audience that has grown up with only the female/ male binaries, expanding past and between is a frightful risk for the television market (Killermann 51-52).

Recent sitcoms have challenged and broadened the idea of traditional stereotypes. For example, Gencarella (2005,394) argues that the four main characters of Seinfeld represent four distinct political stereotypes: the individualist, the hierarchical, the egalitarian, and the fatalist. The way these political stereotypes interact with each other and their community have no doubt contributed to the comicality and thus the success of the show.

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

T.V is very popular form of media. Its very accessible and affordable, therefor making it common. Although, is has a great impact on gender roles. Both female and male roles are constantly displayed with characters, acts, scenes, skits, movies, and music videos. For example, advertisements that advertise household