Essay on The Media Should NOT Define our Self-Image

What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be for a certain age, race, and sometimes even a certain gender. Pop culture has influenced the minority groups and shed light to women 's rights or so it was thought. Lisa Shaffer a fellow student feels otherwise and believes that Pop culture has only defended traditional values and does little to challenge those who already have power . Commercials bring in gender norms and in Steve Craig’s article, “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” he speaks on four particular TV ads directed towards a particular gender. What is interesting is it shows a false image of the opposite sex to the audience being portrayed toward their preferences. It is the image the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell their products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows commercials brings gender norms that produce the ideas of what a man’s man and a woman’s woman which is why he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.

Contemporary visual media contributes to the social construction of gender in that the way that men and women are portrayed in advertising is vastly different.

What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be aimed toward certain age, race, along with certain gender groups. Pop culture has influenced minority groups and shed light on women 's rights or so it may seem. Lisa Shaffer a fellow student feels otherwise and believes that Pop culture has only defended traditional values and does little to challenge those who already have power . Commercials bring in gender norms and in Steve Craig’s article, “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” he speaks on four particular TV ads directed towards male and female audiences. Interestingly enough these tv ads deliver a false image of the opposite sex to the audience catering to their preferences. It is the image of what the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows how commercials bring gender norms that produce the stigmas of a man’s man and a woman’s woman, which makes it apparent that he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.

Psychology can be presented by the media in forms such as magazine or newspaper articles, and the most popular today is through commercials watched on TV. Psychology is presented in a form of science today compared to what it was viewed as in the late 1800s and onto the 1900s. It is more of a science nature because viewers have to think about the meaning of the article or commercial to understand the message that is being presented. Then, psychology was viewed as a form or common sense. Psychology was never really looked at as a science but rather as philosophy in the 1980s. The public was often confused with the subject of psychology because it was always

The use of sexualization also reinforces a pattern of gender roles that are currently circulating throughout advertisements. More often than not, women who are used as ploys in ads are seen doing household chores like vacuuming, changing the toilet paper, or making coffee. Females are rarely ever seen in a work place, and definitely not in a powerful position. In fact, the directors of most of these ads place women below or behind the man to show who has the power in actuality. Women are seen as skinny, fragile, and immobile in high heels, while men are strong and powerful. By setting up such a strong binary between the two different groups, it is obvious that the majority of the American society will not be able to fit into these roles, and it leaves a sense of rejection for the average person. This rejection, accepted by the viewers, manifests

First advertisement depicts a family using a garden shed. In it, the father is educating the son how to use a leaf blower, as he rides his lawnmower, while the mother takes a passive role. Advertisement acts as an agent of socialization that subconsciously trains individuals about gender roles in families. Therefore, the media contains influence over the most important agent of socialization. Teaching gender roles through media to families allows for the continuation of inequalities in society.

When turning on the TV, a car commercial appears with men justifying driving an expensive and powerful sports car by complaining about what females in their lives require. Though women slowly gain economic power, the media never represents them as leaders thus reflecting American culture’s view of women. Sexism prevails in American culture and workforce, teaching sexism while denying its presence. Americans must shift their culture to impede sexism because it oppresses women.

America’s modern society thrives on the need for personal vehicles. The desire to be an individual is evident in the choice of a car; it states personality and class, and it represents independence and freedom. However, if it was not for World War II, cars would not be what they are today.

And they’re packaging it in such a way as to make it sound like it’s our fault, and its not” (Pozner). The media uses its reach to create “consciousness” (Fonda) and a value system. Siebel-Newsom point out that woman hold “only 3%” (Newsom) of influential positions in “telecommunications, entertainment, publishing and advertising” (Newsom). As well, women represent “only 16% of all writers, directors, producers, cinematographers and educators” (Newsom) in North America. Consequently, if “what gets put out there, that creates consciousness, is determined by men, then [women] are not going to make any progress” (Fonda). Durham points out that most of the public is unaware of the “political economy of the media” (Durham) and that “most media get their revenues from advertising” (Durham). “The exploitation of woman’s bodies” in advertising” (DeKoven) appeals to a male voice, standard and desire, in the name of capitalism (DeKoven), and women reap the negative consequences of this phenomenon.

This essay discusses the representations of women in media and advertising, including the effects they have on individuals in society. Firstly, I will review the literature on stereotypical gender roles within media and advertising. This will include traditional roles such as the housewife, and modern roles such as the sex object. Secondly, I will critically evaluate and examine the effects of these roles on women, and even men, in today’s society. Effects include body dissatisfaction, thin idealisation and, in extreme cases, violence against women. Thirdly, I will aim to make conclusions on whether gender representations and roles within media have impacts on men and women in society.

To young college aged women: The stereotypical portrayal of women in media is a problem that needs to be understood and solved. This problem is often overlooked because it is encompassing a lot to deal with. Women are used as sexual objects in the media everywhere, and we need to understand how to deal with the issue. A large source of media that is used are advertisements, which are everywhere in our daily lives. These advertisements can make women feel degraded and objectified. Young women see media of models portraying these “beautiful” standards that are unrealistic and lead to eating disorders and negative implications. Girls grow up seeing media all over and learning the stereotypical roles of women which are considered the norm. No father wants to see his little girl grow up feeling like she has to conform to the roles of women. In the article, “Two Ways a Woman can get Hurt,” Jean Kilbourne states, “sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially women… (420)” Jean Kilbourne compares advertisements to pornography which makes us realize it’s a large problem going on that needs to be solved. In the media women are also shown as typical house moms who clean, cook and stay home. This is a stereotype of women that has been around for a long time but is not true in all cases. There are some women who are stay-at-home mothers but there are also many who are in the working force. As college aged women, we can feel the pressure

In the Early days T.V. sitcoms portrayed women as housewives and men as the breadwinners (workforce). For example, Leave it to Beaver was a T.V. show were June Cleaver( the mother) stayed at home all times and never disciplined the children. Were as Ward Cleaver (the father) was the dominant one who worked and disciplined the children. Now, the sitcoms are completely different as far as the gender roles that each parent plays. For example, who’s the Boss were Angela was a successful businesswoman and provided for the family and Tony was the housekeeper. Commercials are another way that gender roles are displayed in society. When you see a car commercial for a mechanic most of the time the mechanic is a man. But when you see a commercial about cleaning products for the house normally a woman is the face you see. In other words, the media can help break the barriers on how gender roles are portrayed in society. The more that women represent strength on T.V. will also encourage them to build their self-confidence. However, not intending that traditional ways are bad, but the era has changed by who the individual is and not by their gender.

On television commercials, billboards, the radio, public transportation advertisements, planes, the internet, and almost everywhere people go there is always directed broadcasting of advertisements for companies to sell their product; a product that is never promoted for all of the general public to use, but instead to emphasize on specific categories of consumption . Whether it may be categorized in the decadent, the money saving, health, cleaning, cooking, automotive, or whatever sub category it may be; and bigger roles that play in to commercialism are gender roles . Men and women have very different lifestyles, what they buy, do, consume, and produce. As stated in Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes, “Popular conceptions of femininity

The roles of males and females in society have significantly changed, as opposed to the predominant roles in our history. In the modern culture of today, women have begun to break out of the mold that which society has placed her in. This much can’t be said when it comes to modern gender representation in mass media advertising. It can be safe to state that woman are seen as sexual, fragile, exotic—whereas men are portrayed as tough, in control, and aggressive. This trend can be one seen as an inhibitor to the advancement of our culture, because especially for women, it is hard to pull away from the stereotypes that are continuously represented. As examples of the given trend, the following

The Role of Media in the Society Media has always played a huge role in our society. For a long time media was one of the methods of controlling people and leisure. In ancient times when there was no newspapers and television, people used literature as source of information, some books like "the Iliad", and different stories about great kings, shows those people the information about them. Nowadays media is one of the main part of our lives and our society, because we use word media, to combine all sources of information. Average man is spending 4 hours a day on watching TV and reading newspapers.