How Women Are Portrayed By Media

The body is often seen as something naturally given. Different types of bodies can be seen in shapes, sizes and physical build. However there is this idea of what aesthetically is socially acceptable. With women in the media industry being promoted in a certain way it is important to recognize that social construction of the body is a global issue. With this idea it could be said to have largely contributed to the fact that most if not all women are dissatisfied with their bodies. Media as an industry depicts that slenderness is preferred. This factor no doubt has impacted the rise in eating disorders and women's willingness to have cosmetic surgery in order to fit such ideal of slenderness which are depicted in magazines and television programs.

The issue of how women are portrayed in the media is always a source of irritation to me. The first magazine I analyzed was Glamour. The cover is a woman in a pair of panties, with a shirt on tied just below her breasts. The biggest headline of that magazine is "a sexier body at any size". The second magazine I analyzed was Sports Illustrated. Every Sports Illustrated magazine has a woman scantily clad, and the one that I specifically analyzed featured a woman in a nude colored string bikini pulling the bottoms down. The big headline on the cover of that one was "bikinis or nothing". The last magazine I analyzed was Cosmopolitan. The cover featured a woman turned sideways with her breast in clear view and it the headline was "Get Fit Secret for a Tight

When women are portrayed as weak and people who can just be pushed to the side to make way for men in different types of media they are just going to be constantly stereotyped as exactly those things when it isn’t true at all. Unless the way they’re portrayed changes women will also be associated with being a mother or to just be there for men’s attention. Relating back the what Barbara J. Berg said, when women are told that the most important thing about them is that they are appealing to men it’s really a slap to the face because all of a sudden all your aspirations and dreams become second in line next to a man’s. It’s sort of like when women are pulled from class because their shoulder is showing or some other dress code matter, which immediately

To begin with, the media reinforces and creates the stereotype that women are portrayed as sexual objects in order to make money

In addition to the unbelievably high beauty standards women are expected to achieve as a result of the media’s portrayal of women, they are also expected to create and maintain a perfect household. Interior design is often perceived by contemporary society as a feminine interest. As a result, a majority of publications dedicated to home decoration are targeted towards women. Whether or not it is directly stated, a magazine’s attempt to target a particular sex can be identified through both the subject matter and visual content. Livingetc magazine is one of six home and style magazines produced by the British company House to Home. Livingetc is described on its website as “the homes magazine for modern living,” “perfect for design conscious homeowners with inspiring ideas.” Although the magazine does not claim to be gendered, its appearance and contents, which not only discuss interior design, but also include segments on women’s fashion, cooking and travelling, are undeniably geared towards female readers.

It is strange how one director can convey two entirely different depictions of women. Due to the time period in which Hitchcock filmed Vertigo and Psycho, women had limited capability in regards to what they could do in a film. Women could not be action heroes; in fact they were often depicted as damsels in distress. The easiest answer to this sort of prejudice is that it was a reflection of the culture of the 50s and 60s. Although this is partially true, it does not excuse the fact that male directors made misogynistic choices that could have been remedied without being considered radical or societally unacceptable. The inconsistencies in Hitchcock’s portrayal of women reveals this much, as shown by a study in the narrative, mise-en-scėne, and cinematography of Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960).

Commercial advertising may produce the sense of low-esteem, humiliation and even inferiority in those women and men who do not look or act like the people represented in the media as having the ideal body.This negatively affects how people view how they look compared to how other people look in the media. This causes many people to have low self-esteem about their own body images which can make people do extreme dieting or go into depression because they don't look like what the media showcases. Representations of women in the media tend to highlight beauty, size and relationships. These stereotypes carry on in commercials and negatively impact women’s outlook on what’s important. This can be seen in the Inspire Her Mind by Verizon Wireless.

Gender roles has been the root of multiple mental health issues, particularly depression, and so the portrayal of both genders should be improved through media as this is how gender norms would usually form.

Even inadvertently, we absorb over 34gbs of data per day on average, according to a recent study by the University of California San Diego (Short, 2012). We spend most of our day consuming media images, whether we mean to or not. Every sign we pass, each magazine we happen to glance at the cover of, our friends’ and strangers’ Instagram posts, and Facebook ads and articles frame a structure of norms and standards that reflect society’s inherent prejudices and preferences. The commercials we watch send non-subtle cues aimed towards creating a need for consumption, based on living an ideal life, while the shows we watch on

Ignorance and obliviousness resulting in countless unhealthy conditions and will be detrimental to the quality of life of today’s women. In contrary, the situation can be improved by using mass media to raise awareness of femininity values and to promote respect for all genders. The media producers should be more aware of the fact that what appear to the public sights can influence the public belief and social norms. Therefore, the modern media producers should present women in the more creative ways or at least increase the variety of depiction of women in

W hat contemporary ideals for young women are presented and promoted by Rookie to its community of readers? To what extent do these values both disrupt and reinforce those promoted in mainstream media?

Ostensibly, I agree with Cassandra’s implication that media misrepresentations of women, and the mistreatment of female journalists, are matters of fundamental inequality and unfairness. However, I also believe issues are more extensive. North (2012, p.60) argues this viewpoint risks distracting from broader, more sinister concerns, asserting, “…women’s role as fully participating and informed citizens is at stake.” Thus, dishearteningly, media representations of women primarily conform to male-dominated hegemonic structures, which marginalise female opinions, effectively excluding women from significant public sphere debate (North 2012, p.60).

The media is everywhere; phones, televisions, magazines, so it is hard not to be exposed to

Gender is a rather interesting topic when looking into animation works and the industry itself. The representation and treatment of women in media can have quite a significant affect, and usually highlights some of society’s issues. It has always been almost like a battle throughout history when you take into account the way women in the animation studio are treated and how they are portrayed in media. There is also the idea of how some representation of female characters can have a negative affect and can be almost seen as damaging or toxic to society and also the industry

Media in today’s society is constantly degrading women and sending negative messages about the ways in which women should be treated; women are becoming objectified in the sense that they are seen as objects with little value. The media, which seems to endlessly show women as sexual objects, limits their potential and damages their sense of self worth.