The True Image Of Women Essay

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.

     During the colonial period, granted the role of homemaker and mother, a woman was the center of the household. A woman was to immerse herself into the home and subordinate herself to her husband. However, as time progresses and the nineteenth century opens, the woman begins to work outside the home and emerges to breathe the air of freedom and self-determination.

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.

The Simpsons is a TV show that airs on the Fox network. During the fifth season, in an episode called Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy, Lisa challenges the makers of the Malibu Stacy doll to create a less sexist doll. The original creator of Malibu Stacy teams up with Lisa to create Lisa Lionheart to create a positive influence for young girls. This episode raised a lot of questions regarding gender roles and stereotypes. Gender stereotypes are prominent in today’s life style. Per gender stereotypes, girls like princesses and boys like cars. These gender roles, however, do not just apply to children. These roles are still very prominent in “grown up” society. The pay gap between men and women Gender roles are a big part of humankind society.

Question: “Women received the vote based on their contribution to the war effort”. How accurate is this view that women gained the vote based solely on war work? 20 marks

Reporters portray female and male candidates differently when covering campaigns for political office. In order to counteract the biased coverage in the papers the women of the 1992 Senate race used 30-second advertising spots to assert their key issue stances and strengths. Though this was not the sole purpose of their ads, they were very much geared toward compensating for the lack of fair coverage they were receiving in the news. Ultimately they persevered. Through verbal and nonverbal content, as defined by Lynda Lee Kaid, women designed their ads to portray a high level of competence. 1992 is widely known as 'The Year of the Woman,' when 5 women won Senate seats and 24 new women were elected to the House. "All

housewife, to stay at home. This is my explanation of the essay, "The Cult of

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. However there is a well known, well discussed, universal definition of perfection for all women. One that is consistent throughout different areas of the world and different allotments of the human culture. This standard of the ideal woman is based off of not only physical but intellectual standards predominantly in advertising.

Shifting away from a traditional feminine image is a concept woven throughout The Yellow Wallpaper, specifically exploring the balance of power between the masculine and feminine. As the narrator begins her descent into madness, her fascination with the wallpaper continues and the narrator becomes “the exemplary subject of power/knowledge” (Crewe 274). The narrator is stripping that power away from the masculine figure. When she first requested to change the wallpaper John refuses on the grounds of “nothing was worse for a nervous patient to give way to such fancies” (28), John wants to dismiss her fanciful feminine imagination as it threatens his sense of control, and “fear can masquerade as calm authority when…embodied in ‘the weaker sex’” (Shumaker 593). However, we see this alter as both he and Jennie become increasingly fascinated with her behaviour and the wallpaper itself, “I’ve caught him several times looking at the paper!” (35) conveying that as the narrator becomes more involved with the paper she is regaining her power over the household. Gilman may also be suggesting that this break away from performing roles can manifest shame or uneasiness, Jennie after being caught staring, reacts “as if she had been caught stealing” (35). She is described as looking “angry” (35) at the prospect of being caught observing the object of the ‘mad woman’ of the house’s obsession. Jennie recognising herself being a part of this power shift becomes uneasy, just as Girlie feels

Annette Bair and Marilyn Friedman have opposing views on whether women have distinct moral perspectives. Like Friedman, I believe that women have no different moral perspectives than men. Some people, like Bair, think that women base their moral perspectives on merely trust and love and men base theirs on justice. Friedman points out that care and justice coincide . People use justice to decide what is appropriate in caring relationships and care is brought into account when determining what is just. Since these two moral perspectives correspond, gender does not distinguish different moral perspectives.

"For most of history, anonymous was a woman", quotes Virginia Woolf. (1) Throughout history, women’s lives were restricted to domesticity and family, and they were left oppressed and without political voice. Over the decades the roles of women have dramatically changed from chattels belonging to their husbands to gaining independence. Women became famous activists, thinkers, writers, and artists, like Frida Kahlo who was an important figure for women’s independence. The price women paid in their fight for equality was to die or be imprisoned along with men, and they were largely forgotten in written history. However, the roles they took on were wide-ranging which included working in factories, tending the troops, taking care of children

Throughout history and today, we women are constant victims of stereotyping from our society. Certain “rules” have to be followed and certain “ideal” women images have to be kept. We are raised in a way to fill certain position where the society wants us to be and as a result, the opportunities are always limited for us and ideas of our importance in the society are diminishing. Even though women gained some independence, where women can work and take various position in society, the society’s idea of typical role of women never seem to change.

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

In the words of pop singer and ardent feminist P!nk, “Women have fought so long and hard for our rights and equality, and now all our attention is put on being a size 0.” P!nk’s hit song “Stupid Girls”, released with her 2006 album I’m Not Dead, provides a commentary on society’s perception of a woman’s role and how women respond to that perception. She rejects the foundations of the stereotype that women exist as subordinate to men, while challenging the behavior of women who conform to these societal expectations in order to please men. Although she composed the piece to encourage women to take pride in intelligence, the song has come under critique for “slut-shaming” by stereotyping women who focus on external appearance, labeling them as “stupid”. The piece simultaneously demeans and empowers women, demonstrating just one of the many flaws in the feminist movement that exist today.

Many female writers see themselves as advocates for other creative females to help find their voice as a woman. Although this may be true, writer Virginia Woolf made her life mission to help women find their voice as a writer, no gender attached. She believed women had the creativity and power to write, not better than men, but as equals. Yet throughout history, women have been neglected in a sense, and Woolf attempted to find them. In her essay, A Room of One’s Own, she focuses on what is meant by connecting the terms, women and fiction. Woolf divided this thought into three categories: what women are like throughout history, women and the fiction they write, and women and the fiction written about them. When one thinks of women and