Impact of Media on Gender
Annie Hernandez
Keiser University
August 13, 2014
Abstract
Boys and girls have for long spans of time considered themselves to be different. The media and advertising has played a significant role to make sure that they influence the way that boys and girls view themselves. Society has always had a main focus on getting people to behave in certain ways, the media has been magnificent at causing each gender to classify themselves in particular ways that makes genders feel certain types of pressures to conform to what is expected of them. Gender representations in the media have become such a problem that there are oversight agencies that are being put together to help monitor the media.
For a number of years there has been a significant impact by the media on the way that genders interpret themselves. There is a countless level of effort that the media puts in to ensure that people abide by the gender roles that they created. In turn there is societal pressure to keep girls and boys in the roles that are considered to be normal. The sense of what is normal for each gender gets interpreted by the programming that the media offers. The way that genders are shown on television and in media are increasingly becoming important in the way that the media business functions.
It is evident that the media has a great deal of influence when it comes to the way that genders are perceived. The images that are placed in
Gender stereotypes in the media are an example of some of the negative stereotypes the media pushes on society. They use advertisements targeting males and stereotyped female parts is in movies and shows to constantly reinforce the message “that a woman’s value lies in her appearance and sexuality”(Berland). This is detrimental to our society because all
Gender is a sociological idea, in which it is not based on biology. While there is some biological differences between the sexes, the “meaning” of being male or female is based on social norms. Like race, these “biological” differences provided a system of enabling inequality between the sexes. History offers many examples of the gender norms over time. Women, for centuries, are few as the homemakers and often viewed as intelligent. Despite living in the twentieth century with greater equality, one does not need to go far to see how society and media influence our perception of gender. Advertisements in various media persuade its audience to buying their products. However, the means of attracting and persuading the audience can have underlying messages. Even in entertainment for young girls these underlying messages are prevalent. One example is the popular film, The Little Mermaid, in which the main protagonist is a young female. The protagonist gave up her identity to satisfy her lover. Even traditional gender roles are at work; the film showed young girls that to be happy and successful one had to find a husband and must relinquished one’s identity (Wood 1994). The generalized perception of male and female are polar opposites. Males are viewed as masculine, strong, authoritative, powerful, and devoid of emotions. Females are viewed as beauty, fragile, nurturing, emotional and sole purpose is to please men. These ideas can lead to sexism, which can have negative effects on
According to the European institute for gender equality, “Gender roles refer to social and behavioural norms which, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex.” In our culture, this tends to mean that women are supposed to be passive while men are supposed to be assertive. As pointed out by both Kristin Lieb and Jean Kilbourne in their TED Talks, the media plays a huge role in shaping our gender expectations and norms. Children watch many hours of television everyday. This has a large impact on how they view gender roles even from an early age. Unfortunately, many, if not most children's shows only reinforced negative stereotypes about gender until recently. While over the past
The division of gender roles is deeply rooted in society. Throughout history men have taken upon the role of independent financial providers plus of course protectors, whereas women have been portrayed as loving wives and mothers, responsible for raising the children as well as housework. Although females and males are far from being equals, the differences between genders are incredibly smaller than in the past. Unfortunately, mass media still use gender stereotypes believing they are well known to their viewers and help them understand the content of the message they are trying to get across.
Everyday kids are growing up to believe that one gender is better than the other. We live in a world where males are supposedly better than women. This day in age, the media is one of the biggest factors that go into shaping our societies views on gender. Which is why the influence caused from the media on our society is creating a negative effect on the views of gender.
The mass media is another source that has contributed to changes in the identities of gender; especially among the younger generations; teenagers. In the media over the last 50 years, certain images have been portrayed as the ‘correct’ image to have; more
Our society seems to have a lot of very stereotypical misconceptions about boys and girls and the role they are expected to play. Media has a pivotal role to play in this front concerning the idea of defining and framing gender. Media consumers transform the messages in that and make demeanors with
Educators need to be aware of the gender stereotypes that their students are exposed to. The articles and book chapters that were assigned, give the reader an insight to how the media shapes the views of gender and how they can influence children as young as six.
The media does affects and influenced gender identity. For instance children are constantly bombarded with shows depicting gender stereotype models from toys marketed as for boys or girls, to children’s TV programmes and shows. It is common for children’s programmes to emphasize the role of the make “hero” who saves the weak female. Children interpret these messages as “real life” which shapes their reality, behaviour and expectations of their gender role. However, the social construction of gender does not happen only, it continues
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
We are constantly surrounded by media in many forms, ones that which constantly tell us who we ought to be. Media has an influence on society’s way of thinking because every message you see or hear will have some impact on you. Since stereotypes are in everyday life many commercials will use the reality of that as one of the most popular techniques of persuasion. Genders roles is engrained in society and the media helps to reinforce institutional discrimination when they put media out there that is stereotyped. As a society we need to end the conflict between the inequality difference from men and
Media affects how we shape the way we view and understand the gender constructs. It gives us an outlet that we are surrounded with during our everyday lives. Whether, it is on film, in a song, or through the radio. They are all able to construct this mold of what society wants us to believe about gender. You will notice things like ads directly targeted certain genders, and in movies girls being unable to do what men can, men needing to be a hero, women looking for the affection of a man, or even the girl needing to be saved by the male character. A way to view media’s use of normalized gender roles is through Feminist media criticism. The piece of media I wanted to take a look at a movie that I had grown up watching called She’s the Man. A movie about a girl named Viola who’s High School women’s soccer team gets cut and she was not allowed to join the men’s because girl’s are not as good as boys. Viola then decides to take her brother’s spot at his boarding
This source is about the gender roles in America. It discusses the different ways that the media influences gender stereotypes in women. It compares the present to the future. According to this paper, women are often sexualized and put in proactive clothing. Women are portrayed as nonprofessionals, homemakers, wives, and parents. This benefits my paper because this shows how the media has a negative effect on the stereotypes of women. It supports the theory that the media is one of the main causes of the negative stereotype and traditional gender roles.
Studies regarding gender roles in media show that the feminine essence tends to be depicted as inferior, with women often being marginalized, disempowered and humiliated through a status that is based on their youth and looks; whilst men tend to be portrayed as superior with higher and longer lasting careers
As a Communication major, I spend a lot of time studying the human communication process, which is the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages between a receiver and sender. This communication process does not only apply to face-to-face interactions but also includes mass media, rhetorical, and technological communication. Through these various forms of communication, the sender not only expresses his/her message but also expresses power hierarchies about race, gender, and sexuality that are present in society. Mass media has a significant impact on socializing gender roles and perpetuating gender stereotypes, and to prove that, I am analyzing mass media messages, such as television shows, movies, and advertisements.