Representation Of Women And Gender

The sexualisation of women in advertising has become a very prominent and controversial issue in today’s society. Many brands, products and campaigns we are presented with portray women as being available and willing sexual objects, who exist to cater to the male gender. Gucci is one such brand that does this, focusing on emphasizing the sexual appeal of the female gender in order to sell their products, because as advertisers know: ‘sex sells.’ This new cultural shift can however, be seen as politically regressive for women, as the ideology it brings negatively impacts how women are viewed by society and how they view themselves.

Throughout history women have been depicted and treated as an inferior to the male all aspects of life. It is without debate, that to this day, like many other countries, the United States of America is a patriarchal society, valuing men over women and using various tactics to oppress women by constructing gender roles. These gender roles are thrust upon people before birth and are reinforced through society within the media. This object here is to provide an overview of the portrayal of women in magazines from the late 1800’s to present day. As the years progress, so do the number of women’s rights. While women are still fighting for equality, the birth of feminism has done much to close the gender gap. Mass media, magazines in particular, facilitated in fostering a stereotype which became the standard, and continues to be, used by society. A society that continues to oppress and suppress its women. However, as the mass media has the capability to demystify, or to bring down and/or destroy a particular group or person, they also have the ability of mystification, or emulating a person or group into society’s graces. I plan to review how women were portrayed since this country’s inception with an analysis of how gender equality might be possible today.

Women are humans, humans with emotions and the need for self expression. The men, throughout history, have degraded the female sex, they have always seen women as objects and a machine that helps reproduce and carry on their blood. Society formed the ‘perfect’ role for women and it was expected that they follow it. They were expected to be the loving, responsible, obedient, stay at home wives. Due to such an inequitable lifestyle given to women, they decided to fight for equality and defend their gender. They will later be known as feminists. According to Literary and Cultural Theory by Donald Hall, feminists focal point is to investigate the various ways women have been limited to social power and the liberty to self

During early thirties and forties which was right after the depression, government and corporate felt the necessity to revive the market. At that time, people thought women were the ones with dominating consumption powers. As Kenon Breazeale quoted in his article, “Women are indeed the shoppers of the world.” (Breazeale, 231). However, some people such as those in journalism fraternity regarded women’s buying power as “gullible vulnerability to consumerism’s trashy faddishness” (Breazeale, 232). Those people spread wide hostility toward women’s taste and argued that men should be the ones with

The term ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ first started to gain popularity in the 1970s. Starting in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, continued into the 1960s and 1970s, then followed by the 1990s to the twentieth century, feminism and feminist grown across the nation. From clubs and organizations, to readings and speeches, feminist all across the nation, and world, have influenced aspects of our daily lives, including our literature. “Feminist criticism examines the ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the economic, political., social, and psychological oppression of woman” (Tyson 83). In simpler terms, feminist criticism is critiquing literary readings, through the mind of a woman’s opinion of structure and being.

Feminist criticism is a method of analyzing literature to exhibit how women are oppressed in society. The article “Feminist Criticism” written by Lois Tyson, explains the terminology and ideas associated with a feminist lens. The “patriarchy, which can be defined, in short, as any culture that privileges men by promoting traditional gender roles” (Tyson 1). A patriarchy is a male-dominated society, which automatically sets women below men in society’s standards. Also, traditional gender roles “cast men as rational, strong, protective, and decisive; they cast women as emotional (irrational), weak, nurturing, and submissive” (1).

The word gender can be described as the state of being male or female and is typically used to describe cultural differences as opposed to biological ones. Additionally, the definition of gender has continuously been a controversial issue due to its lack of clarity in regards to battling complicated social injustices. Furthermore, the construction of gender as a social category has recently been criticized for the lack of inclusiveness to women of color and the consistent habit to view both gender and race as restrictive divisions of experience and reasoning. Seeing those criticisms has led to the development of the term intersectionality which deals with various layers of subjection that women live with and addresses more than just the

Feminism is based on the assumption that women have the same human, political and social rights as men, furthermore, that women should have the same opportunities as men in their personal choices regarding careers, politics and expression. A feminist text states the author’s agenda for women in society as they relate to oppression by a patriarchal power structure and the subsequent formation of social ‘standards’ and ‘protocols’. A feminist text will be written by a woman, and it will point out deficiencies in society regarding equal opportunity, and the reader will typically be aware of this motive. In a work of fiction, the main character, or heroine,

Feminine ideas and characters are repressed by a more dominant masculine presence. The aim of feminist criticism is to explore this repression, analyze how feminine aspects are portrayed, and expose sexism and female oppression in all types of texts. Feminist critics look to rediscover works of female writers that have been overshadowed by masculine culture. They also educate the population about the equality or

The reason I believe they represented these groups the most is because it is the easier to identify or use stereotypes with. It creates an easy subject that watchers can laugh about or identify with. I also believe it is easier to use gender because it is a topic that everyone can grasp to and know that they can relate by watching because they might know someone of that gender such as their mom, sister, neighbor or daughter who identifies to that character. Race plays a huge part in these TV shows because the race is categorized within the characters and I believe this happens because the media is used to segregating TV shows. All TV shows are mostly all Caucasians with one black character. I believe this happens because in Hollywood the character

The representation of gender in the media today is constructed and selected this is known as mediation. Moreover, the representation of women has changed due to the sociological changes. However, there are still sterotypical representation of women in this society. This is the way the women should look and behave. As, well, as, due to the changing representation of women the representation of men has changed and their has been many cries that masculinity is in crisis. This means the definition of what is to be a man. However, due to this their is a new man, which has more of a feminine side and is more caring. There are still sterotypical representation of men. This includes power and independence, sexual attraciveness and relationship with women, physical strength and body image.

Since the beginning of cinema, there has been an ongoing issue in regards to the representation of women, or in fact, the lack of representation that is authentic to real women. Women have often been reduced to token roles and sexualised for the benefit of the male gaze, thus this turbulent relationship between women and cinema was born. To this day we still have a long way to go, however, the representation of women has evolved significantly due to factors such as; the wave of feminism, changing of ideologies, and subverting hegemonic norms. In the majority of mainstream Hollywood films, we are introduced to the media-induced idea of the 'perfect woman '; beautiful, white, and thin. This is for the benefit of a presumed male audience; and despite there being a handful of rogue female heroines who subvert this idea, this idealized portrayal of women is the overwhelming consensus in most Hollywood films and forms of media we consume. Comic books have also frequently been criticized for this, as they have been guilty of consistently sexualising the female form and catering specifically to a male audience. However in recent years an influx of new heroin 's and the evolving of old characters has helped tackle this issue. The representation of women in comic books has seen steady progress, and most of the original superheroines were created during the 40s and 50s. This is a reflection of the time period they were made, and offers an insight into the ideologies of the time.

We aren’t trapped in the 1950’s. Women have the right to vote and can be the breadwinner of their families. Television shows should and do portray women as go- getters who aren’t expected to stay home to cook and clean for the families. There is not anything wrong with being a stay at home mom, but it would do women a disservice to only portray them on television as the one who provides for the family. Currently, there are shows on television that present women in various roles that teach about feminism in our society and how adversely it affects women if they do not stand up for their rightful place.

Feminist theory analyzes the gender inequality that women have faced throughout the years due to a patriarchal society. Women were expected to fit the traditional female and conform to the gender norms that society has constructed. According to A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory, “Feminism embodies a way of reading that investigates the text’s investment in or reaction to the patriarchal power structures that have dominated Western culture” (227). Patriarchal power has oppressed women economically, socially, and politically. Women were associated more with domesticity than with politics and financial situations. They were not provided the same educational opportunities as men. These issues have been addressed by people, such as Mary

The word “feminism” is still a word that gets put in the wrong category. Many people, especially the stereotypical male who believes women should not leave the house, believe that the word “feminism” means that women are superior to men. Though there are the radical women who do believe that, “feminism” holds a completely different meaning. Feminism was created to fight for women’s equality. It was around the 1940s where the word began to gain its first wave of momentum. The second wave came in the 60s and 70s, and led to the third wave in the 90s which has carried over to today’s time. Many authors, especially the few women authors, attached themselves to this label and began to write powerful pieces that fought for women’s equality.