The Ugly Truth: An Examination of Stereotypes in Media Essay examples

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

Over the past couple of decades the usage of offensive stereotypes have played a big role in popular films, TV shows, music videos, and comedy routines today. In fact one can only argue that these offensive stereotypes have increased considerably and will only continue to grow. There are many reasons as to why these stereotypes have only increased and have led to the creators of these films making millions and millions of dollars. The main reason behind this is making fun of race, color, poverty, and other cultures and using straightforward offensive words to do so is humorous to a large part of the US population. Although most of us would feel insulted if these

Stereotypes are like lice, once a person has them it is hard to get out of one’s head. Every group of people come along with specific stereotypes, a widely believed mental picture of the group. Stereotypes are based on truth, but usually tend to be exaggerated, unlike stereotypes, there are misconceptions. Misconceptions, a view that is incorrect and based on untruths, are formed from having stereotypes. Stereotypes are usually formed when one person in a particular group acts or does something causing people to think just because one person in that group is like that, the whole group is. The older generation passes down stereotypes to the younger generations and instead of getting to know the group, people just keep assuming. Movies are another

This film paints multiple stereotypes and over exaggerates them to emphasize their relevance in society in hopes of changing the audiences' viewpoint of these stereotypes set before women.

But that stereotype is meant for men, what happens when women are portrayed and stereotyped in movies for women? Think about some bitch flicks. Mean Girls and Bridesmaids are the two that come to my mind first. The three different girls in Mean Girls are portrayed as catty, stupid and arrogant. Bridesmaids emphasizes that women become jealous and insecure very easily in the presence and competition of other women.

The objectification of women does not exist in America as it does in other areas of the world. In fact, they perfect equality and prosperity of all genders in all places: Wal-mart, schools, and even Hollywood. Showing women what they need to look like gives them an image to strive for. In movies, girls always need saving but never saves. Girls here know what they have to look and act like in order to find success, unlike other countries where they have to pretend they aren’t anything at all. Being the person everybody wants is better than not being anybody at all. Hollywood allows few lucky girls to act like that person while also promoting that woman to others. Today’s Hollywood gives women an outline to not only who but where society allows them to be. In films today, there is an undeniable lack of women as main characters. Less than a third of women receives main roles out of 800 movies and 35,205 speaking characters (Smith). As in movies, it is imperative for women to hide in life. Let the men take the spotlight, and stay in the shadows. For example, in the 2016 election, a woman ran for president. Having intellectual thoughts and opinions does not make a woman more attractive, which proves why Hillary Clinton inevitably failed, especially to such a politically polished and more qualified Donald Trump. Hillary fools herself into thinking a girl stood a chance against a man if she only wore an ugly

For many decades there have been discrimination towards the gender role of woman than men. The movie Tough Guise (Jhally, Ericsson, Talreja, Katz, & Earp, 1999), shows the evolution of 'masculinity' and society's beliefs due to social construct and how the media have played a major role of gender inequality towards women.

In the media we see today, and movies that are continually coming out all have a central idea in common. They all show and represent the idealistic perspective of male versus female in society. From cartoons to chick flicks to romances and comedies we notice identifiable differences and trends represented between the two genders. In the movie I watched, “Clueless,” there are many examples illustrating male superiority over female, ideas of what femininity should be, and female appeal towards the male figures in the film.

Traditionally, the upbringing of boys and girls define the way one will act in the world as men and women. Throughout a person’s lifetime many defining factors will influence who he/she becomes and how he/she views him/herself. The films Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women, by Jean Kilbourne (2010), and Tough Guise 2: Violence, Media, and the Crisis in Masculinity, by Jason Katz (2013), have portrayed extensive knowledge on the proper way boys and girls should act according to societal norms. The videos take a standpoint on opposing the way men and women are supposed to be seen as masculine or feminine traditionally and express the need for change. The authors of these films have

“Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.”

We live in a world of technological innovation where mass media is a major part of us today. People make assumptions on what they hear. They do not try to analyze the situation to see who is right and who is wrong, and mass media is the main source of manipulating one's mind. The concept of propaganda has changed over time. Propagandists create ideas stereotypically through the use of propaganda and use media to promote it and target people's minds to have influence on their views towards a certain group of people. These ideas create negative or positive images in the intended audience's minds. However, it is notable that the information is only the one that is exemplified through media and therefore, can be

If a girl begins to demonstrate some signs of male characteristics, she is referred to as a ‘tom-boy’. It is like a taboo to show such kinds of signs in a girl. On the other hand, if a male does not have masculine features, he is seen as an outcast. All of these perceptions are obtained from the media, and especially televisions and movies. According to Mehta and Hay (2005), media houses have for a long time helped to construct and reinforce stereotypical ideas about masculinity and men. From what is portrayed in the media, it is possible for people to dismiss others on the basis of whether they have masculinity or are feminine (Ferrey, 2008).

From a young age, we are exposed to gender stereotypes. Television, the Internet, and books define what is “feminine” and “masculine” for a child. Feminine is defined as “having qualities or appearance traditionally associated with women, especially delicacy and prettiness”. Masculine is defined as “having qualities or appearance traditionally associated with men, especially strength and aggressiveness”. Media takes this a step further and dictates exactly what girls and boys can and cannot do. In television and movies, women are mainly portrayed as homemakers and damsels who need a man to reach their full potential. They are often uneducated or seen as less intelligent than their male counterparts. Oppositely, men are portrayed as breadwinners and authoritative figures. They control most aspects of their lives and have more opportunities. According to Common Sense Media, these depictions cause “false assumptions and harmful conclusions”. Little girls learn that are worth less without a man and little boys boys learn that they are above women. The media also feeds into rape culture. Rape culture is the normalization of rape in societies. Rape culture is taught to young girls and boys. Girls are taught tactics to avoid rape and boys are taught that

Our society consists of consumers that buy into stereotypes and the propaganda that is being fed by the government and the media. Stereotypes steer individual's perceptions of a group of people in a certain way, usually negative, and generalize that opinion to all members of the group. Aware of the influence stereotypes have on people's views, governments use stereotypes already imbedded in society as a propaganda tactic to persuade people's thoughts, opinions and beliefs in order to benefit their cause. The media was used for disseminating stereotypes the effect violent music has on teenager's behaviours such as in the shootings at Columbine. After the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government used the media as an outlet to emphasize

he United States has claimed for years to be a melting pot, where race or various preferences do not define our role in society. Most everyday people do not even realize or notice the amount of stereotyping that occurs in mass media. It is important to understand the different types of discrimination marginalized groups face. Stereotypes can affect everyone, whether it is based on their race, gender, or sexual preference. Media makers could easily find ways to not discriminate against people, but perhaps this would make that specific media outlet less popularly attended to.