Stereotypes Of Women In Media Essay

Under society’s customs for decades, young women have found themselves immersed in the pressure and anticipation to have exemplary bodies. Nearly every young woman prefers to be slim, have a perfectly shaped body, that is beautified by applying pounds of makeup to their face but does not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these measures imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model on the cover of Vogue being called flawless, naturally it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the that model. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough, our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a surging subject for young girls. Advertisements and pictures of lean female models are all over. Young women are measured and perplexed by their physical appearances with attire intended to raise their physical structures; social media, magazines, the society, marketing campaigns, advertisements, and the fashion gurus add to a strand of excellence.

That status of women in television programs is grossly misrepresented. Female sexuality on broadcast television is, in most cases, exaggerated and has set an unrealistic standard that real women are attempting to reach. Not only this, but it has created new expectations for men. With my personal project, I wrote letters to television executives—Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment; Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment Group; Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment; Dana Walden and Gary Newman, co-chairpersons of FOX Broadcasting—demanding that promote a better representation of female sexuality. As well as have a better representation of all sexualities, meaning more accurate depictions of lesbian women, bisexual women, and trans women.

Female Stereotypes In The Media In the media the most common female stereotypes, are the housewife and the blonde bimbo. The Housewife.

Under society’s norms for decades, young women have been put under the pressure and anticipation to have perfect bodies. That is, thin and curved, beautified by applying pounds of the makeup to their face but not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these standards imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model along the cover of Vogue being called flawless, it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the photocopy. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a pressing issue for young women. Advertisements and posters of skinny female models are all over. Young girls not only could be better but need to be more upright and feel driven to throw the perfect figure. Moreover, girls are evaluated and oppressed by their physical appearances. With supplements and apparel designed to enhance a facial expression; social media, magazines, and marketing campaigns and advertisements add to the burden of perfection. The fashion industry is a prime object of body image issues, as they believe clothes look better on tall and svelte women. Established on a survey participated by 13 to 17-year-old in the U.S., 90% “felt pressured by fashion and media industries to be skinny”, with more than 60% routinely compares themselves to models, while 46%

When Victoria’s Secret is allowed to have models prance around on screen but Lane Bryant Ads (lingerie for plus size women) is banned then there’s a problem. The media is portraying these models who are thin to the point where it is unhealthy. And the media is feeding society lies. A perfect example is of Gerran Tyler. Tyler was a 12 year old supermodel. She walks the run way for clients like Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, and Betsey Johnson. She’s tall, thin, the perfect model because she hasn’t hit puberty yet. She walked during New York Fashion Week and posed for these designer brands advertisements. This body type is unachievable for almost all adult women (Roberts). Somebody in their twenties or thirties doesn’t have the ability to look like a twelve year old girl, but this is how these designers are telling us to look. Tyler had an amazing career and high expectations but the fame didn’t last long. As she got older and hit puberty she began to develop boobs, hips, and curves. She began getting less and less bookings. Her supermodel career was virtually over. “Eighty percent of 10-year-old American girls say they have been on a diet” and the, “Number one magic wish for young girls 11-17 is to be thinner” (Missrepresentation). This self-esteem problem with young girls is a result of these unobtainable ideas of beauty. Jennifer Siebel, creator of the documentary Missrepresentation, says

Miss Representation conveys that media is derogative to the most powerful women in the United States. People learn more from the media than any other source because it is the message and messenger. Americans devote about 10 hours and 39 minutes daily to consuming media (Howard). The media’s misrepresentation of women in movies, television shows, and advertisements negatively shapes politics, our national discourse, children’s inquisitive minds, and ultimately society. The danger behind these stereotyped images of women is that their effect is subconscious, meaning we slowly become accustomed to a sexist portrayal of women without even immediately realizing it. To cease our unrealistic, prejudiced expectations of women, a culture change is necessary.

The misrepresentation of women in the media has been at its highest. Reality shows such as Love and Hip Hop, have degraded and exploited women where they are only seen as objects who compete over men. They are not able to have a identity that is positive. I wanted to create a platform where you can see the true side of women. Having them tell their stories and accomplishments. Where they are seen past their physical features and given a voice. The issues discussed through the interviews are also expressed through my poetry. As women they are taking their identities back and showing who they really are, regardless of how they are depicted through the media.

Women have been misrepresented in the media for many years. Stereotypes have been around forever in media, but were portrayed more visibly in the earlier years. Although this misrepresentation of women is less subtle, the outcome of this issue is extensively impacting consumers and women in general. The impact of these stereotypes discourage women to pursue their goals, cause self-esteem issues, and hurt their chances at bigger roles in the business and political world. This also gives others false ideas and expectations. Some primary examples of concern include the value of women and girl’s looks over their personalities, the false imagery of the LGBT community, and society not taking women in politics and news seriously.

Over the past couple of months, there has been debate over the Caitlyn Jenner story, a media icon that has recently transitioned from being male to female. Although she is, in fact, the most famous trans person of our time, the media’s portrayal of her as a naturally glamorous trans woman, distorts the image of what it actually is like to be transgender. The trans community have expressed their opinion on the topic stating Jenner is not an accurate example of the lifestyle experienced by most trans women. The National LGBTQ Task Force states that transgender people are twice as likely to be unemployed and four times more likely to live in poverty compared to the general population and even more so for trans women of colour.

The field of science, including the professionals that work within it, is a complex structure that varies by each subfield. Not all subfields within the science field are alike, just like not all scientists within the field are alike. The media often makes science and its’ fictional scientists out be far different than actual professionals within the field. Stereotypes cause people to judge and form opinions without taking the time to research and educate themselves on how someone or something actually is. With how impressionable society is, it is doing damage to both science and scientists how misleading the media is with their portrayals.

The judgments we make about people, events or places are based on our own direct impressions. But for most of the knowledge, we rely on media. The media actually re-present the world to us. However, the media only shows us some aspects of the world, ignoring the rest. So basically, the media chooses what is to be shown and what is to be discarded (Andrew Pilkington and Alan Yeo (2009)). . In this essay, I will explain what stereotypes are and primarily give an example of a famous men’s magazine called ‘nuts’ and explain how these stereotypes are created by print and the digital media and what are their impacts on people.

Redbook magazine are devoted to selling products ranging from shoes to shampoo. The entire magazine only has only 210 pages. Approximately 6-8 min of every half hour television show is produced by ad agencies. Americans are bombarded with advertisements. We see them everyday in many different forms and through different mediums. Advertisers study America’s population through a systematic breakdown and analysis of our likes and dislikes in relation to our differences. These differences include gender, sexual orientation, economic status, location, race, ethnicity, and more. Advertisers have substantial knowledge of what appeals to each of these demographics and how these demographics will respond to

Language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing. It is considered as an art because when used it able to help a person develop or create a certain picture in the mind. Language being an artifact of culture means that it is an interesting thing that is created by the people. It is an aspect of their way of life of the people. It also helps in development of the people as writers and intellects. As a culture it is a people’s way of life and therefore the impact it has to human beings cannot be under looked.

The stereotypical images in media often affect the way females view themselves. In Indian media, women are often shown in relationship roles advertising clothing more often than men are shown in these roles (Das (2010) cited in Collins (2011)). This is a common stereotype, women are often thought of as an accessory to men. In South Korea, women are usually depicted in roles as maids while men are usually shown as business professionals (Paek et al. (2010) cited in Collins (2011)). This can have a huge effect on the way women see themselves and the careers they choose to pursue. According to Peterson et al. (2007), when women view music videos depicting women in a sexual way, they are more likely to follow this stereotype and have more sexual partners. This also ties into the body image issues some females develop. Although the stereotypes of women in media are not always as straight-forward as they were in the earlier days of media, they are still present. In a study by Sink and Mastro (2017) they stated, “Although it appears that some gender stereotypes have declined when compared to previous decades, others (e.g., dominant men, sexually provocative women) have persisted.” This could be due to the fact that many feminist groups have protested media outlets for their stereotypical images. Media is forever evolving and the way they portray certain groups should evolve as well.

The New Zealand media like many western countries in the world, has adopted the idea that to be an intelligent woman, females have to be masculine or unattractive, and the opposite of this that beautiful woman are unintelligent and only get their jobs because of their looks (18). A program such as New Zealand screened ‘Ugly Betty’ is a direct evidence of this ideal, Betty is the heroine however she is persistently demeaned about her appearance, she receives merit for her work but is not fully appreciated because of her appearance. The program chooses not to use a less fortunate looking person but takes an attractive woman, gives her glasses and braces and deems her ugly, this follows the media’s conception that only standard beautiful women are allowed on screen. A real life portrayal of this is ex New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke. Clarke was praised for her work as Prime Minister and was well known for her mismatched appearance, when the time came for the 2008 elections she was then overtly air brushed in campaign images that were placed throughout the country, this national role model was pushed by the media’s standard for the ideal instead of reality (18).