Category: Gender Roles in Media

Often when we see in advertisements, movies, or the media in general we see gender stereotypes. Where men are shown as tough, show no emotions, messy and unclean, lazy, like to take risk, and are predominantly dominate. Women are shown as more domestic and don’t play sports, love to sing and dance, are nurses instead of doctors, suppose to look pretty, and are quieter. The media plays a huge role in this because we are around media all the time, it usually starts at a young age it can shape our gender roles manipulating how we act, dress, and think. But is this a negative or positive thing?

Usually we think of gender to be natural and biological, but in fact its not we actually construct with all these fixed ideas about what should be censored “masculine” and “feminine” which is all influenced by gender expectations and the medias influence. This can be harmful for ones mental and physical health. Some think that gender roles are important to society, as men are biologically stronger in most cases they are the protectors, and how women are the child-bearers they will have the care-giving material instinct.

A researcher from the university of Warwick went to a school to observe the behaviours of both boys and girls, she noticed show some girls who enjoyed sports often avoided physical activity at school because they assumed it wouldn’t be a feminine thing to do, they were worried that they would look unattractive while running, or they were being mocked by their peers for not being good enough. The girls also put themselves on diets as they thought desirable women had to be skinny. The males who were also studied were all under intense pressure to demonstrate the extent of their manliness. This shows how gender expectations can produce anxiety, insecurity, stress and low self-esteem.

There are some who think that gender roles are important to society, each and every person is born with a specific purpose. Gender roles as males and females are very important as each have responsibilities of their own. Without gender roles there would be chaos all around not knowing what to do and what is their responsibility. With men as the protectors because in most cases men are biologically stronger, and women as the more domestic one as they often have the care-giving material instinct. There are expectations of course, as there is to everything. Society doesn’t have to recommend a boy to become a nurse, if he wants too, however no one is stopping him.

In conclusion, they are generally neither positive or negative instead they are simply inaccurate generalizations of a males and females attributes. Gender expectations and the medias influence can affect the sexual behaviours and sexuality of people. Men are shown are tough and risk takers, and women are shown as the domestic ones. Since each person has individual desires, thoughts, and feelings regardless of gender, these stereotypes are simplistic and do not describe the attributes of every person of each gender.

Disney Animation and their films are a huge part of the entertainment industry in America. Their influence and reach on children stretches throughout years and has many avenues to influence not just with movies but through clothing, games, and toys. Disney has been around for over 80 years, and during that time, they have played a role in how society displays gender roles. As modern culture goes through changes, Disney can also be seen making changes in the way they represent their characters, especially females. Through different researches and literature reviews, including the movies themselves, Disney can be seen slowly making strides along with the surrounding culture and changing times in America. Disney has for many years been at battle with the public and their audience for being accused of portraying their characters, specifically females, in stereotypical ways. Gender roles and their connotations are a huge part of society, and can impact viewers in the way they compare themselves to the others around them. Media already has a substantial influence, portraying what is expected from society and social norms. Disney was chosen because through its history, the roles of men and women pictured in their films have mirrored the cultural perspective and beliefs of social norms and expectations on gender roles and identity. Disney, therefore, becomes a great illustration and representation of following cultural trends and developments. Also with that, Disney is a great way to follow the influence of views and expectations of behavioral norms linked with males and females.

Disney has been around for many decades, and they still seem to remain a leader in the entertainment industry. The culture that surrounds Disney is ever-changing, and going through different challenges with each era. If they are to please audiences from decade to decade, do their values and depictions change in order to appease the viewers? In order to determine the significance of the change of Disney, the influences of media and gender roles in general need to be researched and described. Although it is already known that Disney is a monumental leader in the entertainment industry, it is unknown if and how they have adapted to the changing values and beliefs on social norms and gender roles. In Disney films, gender roles of both male and female are very prominent. The major change throughout the history of Disney has taken place in the portrayal of female characters. The depiction of females and their gender roles can be described in at least one of three ways.

One, the original portrayal of Disney princesses is the stereotypical damsel-in-distress, and very domestic. This can be seen through Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. A second portrayal arose and shifted the roles of female characters to be seen as rebellious and ambitious. This picture can be seen through the characters of Ariel, Mulan, and Rapunzel. Lastly, a final shift has taken place and the female characters are portrayed as independent and free spirited. This type of depiction can be seen through seen through Merida, Anna and Elsa. These different types of portrayals of women through the various films can be seen lining up with the cultural aspects of what was happening around that same time frame. The social expectations and standards for female gender roles have changed and evolved over time. With that, the media becomes a visual representation of those social norms that are expected in the surrounding culture and society.

In 1937, Disney released their first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This story was based off of an original gruesome tale created by the Grimm Brothers, but was changed to create more entertainment to a generation that needed it. Although Disney took away the gore, violence, and unpleasant realities, he created a story that talked of romance with cheerful music and a happy ending. Through the cheerful music, funny characters, and happy ending, the character Snow White starts the Disney trend of a domestic woman who becomes a damsel-indistress relying on a prince to come and save her. This young, pretty, sweet-natured princess portrays the societal views of what was expected of females and their gender roles. The domestic work that viewers can see Snow White doing does not faze her at all. These tasks consist of doing the dishes, cooking, cleaning, and being a mother figure for those seven dwarfs. This picture that Snow White was portraying was only to reinforce the expectations of women being homemakers, especially during the post Great Depression Era.

Snow White could have been a story about a young girl making her discoveries of who she is, but instead creates a representation to other women and young girls the idea of domesticity. During World War II, many women entered into the workforce. With many men entering into the war to serve military demands, several women went into manufacturing jobs to help the economy. Many women for the first time were working outside of the home, and for the first time experienced a sense of freedom from the roles that society had pressed on them for so long. This type of mentality and the encouragement for women to work was only allowed while America was still in war. Afterwards, all was to return to normal with women in their traditional homemaker roles with their paying jobs being replaced with men. America in the 1950s is showcased as a happier time leading out of World War II, with families moving into suburbs and fostering a happy life with the American Dream. Family was huge during this time, and was often pictured in the advertising and media. With men returning from war and women supposedly returning to the kitchens, came a sense of the reconstructivism of gender roles once again. Men were supposed to be the bread-winners for the family, while women were domestic caregivers caring solely for the children and the home. The media created the ideal woman who was always portrayed the same way time after time baking or cleaning, to imitate the proper roles that women were to have in society.

The purpose of this presentation is to show the portrayal of powerful women in the media and to gain a perspective of different ways the media tend to elaborate and focus on gender issues than the public may think. I agree that powerful women are often portrayed unfairly in the media and that this could affect the progress they make in their careers. I think that although women are making strides in the right direction, the often-negative portrayal of powerful women in the media can be unwarranted and lead to the unfair perception of women in powerful positions.

Nowadays, there are many men and women who argue that the movement to treat women equally in the corporate world is going along well and they have no complaints. Kristin Milligan in her article about the protyle of powerful women through media said there are many women who are making strides in the corporate world and beyond, and there is a lot to be said of their success. Women are also starting to get more promotions than they have in the past and are starting to be recognized for their talents more often in the corporate world than ever before. Recent studies have demonstrated that women continue to add value to companies when they are part of executive management.

The media can play a significant role in either preserve or challenging social norms. I read article called Media’s Influence on Social Norms for Sabrina Lea that the gender bias means that women are extremely underrepresented in politics, and when they are, the emphasis is placed on what or who they are wearing and not on their policies. Erika Falk, author of “Women for President: Media Bias in Nine Campaigns” discovered that female candidates were subjected to quadruple the amount of appearance-based coverage in comparison to their male counterparts.

The portrayal of women in media is often misrepresentative. If men are portrayed in the media as being weak or feminine for showing emotion, then teenager males will assume that is a sign of weakness and try to suppress an entirely normal biological function. If women are represented in the media as being a ‘Bad women’ for being assertive in the workplace, then people assume confident women in leadership roles are bossy or dictator.

Heather Cumberledge the author of the representation of women in media needs to change said women have struggled to break through into male-dominated careers for decades due to stereotypes fostered by the media’s influence. Jean Kilbourne in her presentation of the dangerous ways ads see women explain that as women are being sexualized in ads they are being objectified and treated differently than they should. Photoshop has a huge effect on this whole process. Also, in the Ted talk showed a picture of girls that didn’t look the same in real life after all change and retouch.

Gender roles unremarkably have deadly ramifications for people that battle to fill their allotted generalization. The Mask You Reside In, that spotlights on anyway society’s skinny which means of masculinity can cause further hurt than wise. The picture show Depicts a good exhibit of the inconveniences looked by young boys and men’s as they battle to explore the domain of masculinity.

A regular subject was the order “be a man” and during this method the social things that accompanies living up to that excellent. To “be a man” implies that to not cry, to not be delicate, to not offer folks an opportunity to upset you, to counter with cruelness, to be furious, to drink, to womanize. One of the additional shaking and fascinating clasps incased within the film was the discourse correspondence between an interview pioneer and a pack of prisoners. Everything concerning detained men ruminated on anyway their impression of being male or sentiments of weakening could have added to their criminal action. One man admitted that he thought what had sent him to murder associate degree other human was half the ambiance of barrenness and feeling committed to an alternate individual. There was what is more associate degree intense worry throughout the picture show on the association among dads and youngsters, and during this manner the sanely kid rearing conduct that will intensify negative social affair wishes for men and young men. Fluctuated men throughout the film such that anyway their association with their dads or the nonattendance of their dads, has influenced their sentiments of vanity.

In one moving scene, a person talked regarding anyway his kid had disclosed to his pa that he was a fragile child, that raising him jointly pa from that time forward has created him encourage him further into contact aboard his terribly own sentiments. Week once week they place notes or letters to every distinctive in associate degree exceptionally box at that time filter them on Sundays. The notes unremarkably contain emotions, musings, and exhibitions of kindness. Immature young men zone unit further presumably to drop out of personnel, be removed, or even murder than their feminine companions. Specialists in logical order and social science utilized these insights as a hopping off reason to debate misuse and melancholy among high schooler young men, and the route carrying on is often not thought-about necessary. Rather than creating by removal into the clarifications, contemplation, and sentiments behind a young fellow’s activities, unremarkably folks and network people simply discount them as “a bad kids. “

The film centered on the need to seem on the way facet venturous conduct for underlying drivers and manners by that of finding a national pestilence of underachieving young men. A bunch of lyceum young men operating with a teacher to assist break of the “manly” cowl. They had sheets of paper, which they were surmised to talk to the within and thus the skin of themselves. On one viewpoint they composed the faces they are blessing every day: cheerful, senseless, fun, extreme. once returning in and taking a seat, and composing on the paper, the youths were all humorous around and heavy one another and rain tight wasn’t until they tossed their papers into the center and got somebody Else’s, and see the other side: furious, tragic, hurt. At that time, it developed calm. They began reclining within the seats or collapsing up internal on themselves. Some of them place arms around one another. “That’s not a coincidence that all of you wrote something like pain or sadness on that paper, ” the teacher antecedently mentioned.

This minute extraordinarily influenced Maine, due to it basically coordinate with my center faculty. It isn’t usually approved for people to open up and have “frail” feelings or to be ineffective. They need to suit into either the “solid and quiet” generalization or the “man-youngster” world organization workplace never grows up. Neither one among those has territory for shut bonds and shared inclination. I felt tears and addressed if this was the time within the interest of ME to go away the territory, as we’ve a bent to be were told within the start that it fully was alright to try to. At that time, I recognized that I should not be shamefaced of crying.

Women account for about 51% of our population, so why is it that we are consistently dehumanized (Miss Representation)? Women are pressured to live up to the expectations of the media. Tall and skinny with the perfect, clear skin and long, straight hair is being set as the ideal for girls and women around the country. With almost eleven hours a day of media a day, teens are constantly surrounded by what they should be and what the expectations are. A growing number of women, about 65%, have an eating disorder and an astonishing 17% of teen girls partake in self-harm behaviours (Miss Representation). It is a sad truth that this is what it has come to in our country. The movie, Miss Representation, is a documentary that shows how mainstream media influences the dehumanizing of women in many ways that I viewed after this project was assigned. Advertisements, films, social media, the news, and everyday people help to support director, Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s’, claim that it is difficult to make the average women see herself as a powerful individual.

When you think of advertisements you may think of television commercials. A commercial is created by a company or organization in order to promote a product or to relay a message. 60% of high school students spend about 20 hours a week in front of a screen, either the computer or a television (American Heart Association). In these hours, the students may be watching television shows and have the commercial breaks. During these commercial breaks, a student may see anything from Bounty Paper Towels to a stripper hotline. In one of every ten television shows, sexual intercourse is shown or depicted. This rate has nearly doubled since the late 1900’s (Bongiorno, Bain, & Haslam, 2013). With only 16% of the protagonist in films, Women are shown as the ones who chase after the man and may lose a few friends in the process (Miss Representation). As seen in many movies, when females are depicted as the protagonist they usually have sexually revealing clothing on, such as Superwoman. This is objecting women by using them as a sex appeal. The increase of sexual intercourse in films is said to have greatly increased the over 20% of teens having sexual intercourse before 14.

As I remember, when I was 14 I was still riding my bike around town with my friends and didn’t have any sexual desire. The images being shown in films has been setting a new standard for teens. With only half of the sexual intercourse being shown online and based off of a relationship, Teenagers are learning that one night stands are a normal thing and that it is okay to meet and have sex with them in the same night, about 10% involve this. The idea of women putting themselves out there more than one is shown greatly in social media. Social media can be a blessing and a curse. You can either be gorgeous and have a line of men complimenting you or have a few flaws and being picked on because of them.

The average person has at least one form of social media and spends at least one hour a day on it. This allows time for those to hate on others based off of something they may not know the story of. When Hillary Clinton was running for President in 2016 you did not see much on social media about her plan for action and rather the drama between her husband cheating and her pantsuits (Miss Representation). This presidential election became more of a high school popularity war. Women are also usually shown on social media wearing a little less clothing. This is seen on the news; the women reporters are usually dressed in a low cut shirt, a lot of makeup, and perfect hair. The news reporters are then drawing the attention away from the news article and then on to something new. This was seen greatly in Sarah Palin’s run where she was very conservative but still received messages saying that men were masturbating to her (Miss Representation). Not only on the news but in every day Cisneros do you see women being objectified. The United States has never had a female president unlike the 67 other leaders worldwide. There have also been only 34 women governors, but 2319 men (Miss Representation). The United States looks down upon women and sexualizes them greatly. In everyday jobs, most of the CEO’s and higher level employees are men. Men are looking to be more intelligent and stronger than women when women sometimes may have better credentials.

The United States is the only country to not offer paid family leave which is another reason that females are put down upon daily. Most employers are not going to hire a middle-aged woman because they are in their “baby-making time” and may need to leave work for their family. Women also see it in aspects of sexual harassment. From a young age, females are taught on how not to get rapped but the males are not taught on how not to rape someone. It brings awareness on one side of the problem but not the side that is usually causing it. The claim that it is harder to make for a woman feel empowered is very true as proven in this essay. However, the counterclaim that women have equal rights and just as much power man is true but in reality that is not how women are treated. Most women are looked down upon as sex toys and not as intelligent human beings which is shocking since each person should have equal rights. Advertisements, films, social media, the news, and everyday people are supporting evidence to this claim. If not stopped soon, teenagers are going to continue to beat on themselves and the suicide rate will increase even more.

The media has an enormous effect on cultures, shaping social structures and influencing people across the globe. Some media platforms have grown to become dominant and have played a huge role in constructing gender and generalized norms of gender roles. Advertising, television shows, movies, even the news has formed display codes that are associated with characterizing female and male attributes. These codes help shape the way we view gender and it helps in determining what is acceptable and unacceptable for each gender roles. The media’s portrayal of gender stereotypes helps display the foundation of the way society perceives and compose gender. Gender is not a part of biology, it is a social construct, a form of self-identification created by culture through social interpretations. The media often portrays these cultural aspects of gender as the ideal for gender performances. It has become a tool to encourage individuals especially adolescences to participate within these norms and if they disobey, they will be evaluated negatively. The media creates societal standards for women and men. These standards pave the way society looks and analyzes female and male characteristics. The mass media proposes stereotypes as references for the rest of the world to follow. Men are depicted in media as dominant aggressive figures, glorifying their financial stability and control. Whereas women are projected as sexualized objects concerned about maintaining their hourglass figure, toned stomach, and luscious bottom. More often these assumptions give off negative representations and can create barriers on women and men to be themselves because they may not live up to the gender performances the media portrays which can lead them to have low self-esteems, stress, anxiety, and even depression. These ideals constrict both sexes because they are forced to live up to the media’s expectations of what gender performances look like.

Women within the media are often shown in a sexualized form that displays females as vulnerable helpless figures. However, in the recent years many artists have tried to shed light on sexism and gender norms by flipping their roles and defining what women are supposed to do. For example, in the video ‘Anaconda’ (2014) by Niki Minaj, there are two verses that briefly talks of her having sexual relations with two men, Troy and Michael, in her car. She raps about one of the guys’ large genitals using an anaconda as a metaphor. However, the video’s focus of the song is about large butts and her curvy body in comparison to ‘boney’ females, meaning models. Nicki Minaj is embracing her body in an alluring way. As she challenges the beauty ideal of extremely thin women with a size zero waist. Niki Minaj unapologetically states, “Fuck you if you skinny bitches” towards the end of the verse. The music video is set up in a jungle theme in which Niki Minaj and several other big females are shown twerking throughout the whole video. Other sexual innuendos were represented using white coconut milk and large bananas. Yet the focus remains on large butts and the sex appeal that goes with them. Thus, the artist is trying to subvert gender stereotypes. Overall, the song on its own be empowering for women with curvy, big bodies that stray away from the norm. In this video, Niki Minaj and the other women with similar body types claim their sexual agency by defining male privilege and dominance over women. More often male rappers will have models in their music videos dressed in sexual outfits dancing by them. Well, Nicki Minaj challenges the status quo and norms. The video accurately displays the way she is reversing gender roles by having her and her friends enslave men to be used for their desires and needs, instead of it always being the other way around. However, this video may not be suitable for a young person to watch due to its nudity, sexualization, and objectification of the female body as they wear sexual outfits.

The article ‘Critical Media Literacy, Democracy and Reconstruction of Education’ by Kellner D. & Share J. states that “media literacy gives individuals power over their culture and thus enables people to create their own meanings and identities to shape and transform the material and social conditions of their culture and society” (Kellner & Share 2007). Ads marketed toward adolescents expose them to gender roles and identities. These advertisements encourage children to construct identities by displaying ads of other children confirming to the gender roles. For instance, the advertisements for Barbie dolls have always been targeted girls, and pink of the ages 4-10 years old and advertisement for action figures targeted boys and the colors blue and black of the ages 4-10 years old. These companies created and promoted product that associated with their gender norms. The Barbie doll was for feminine, domestic practices. The action figures promoted masculinity, fighting evil, and strength. Associating these toys with genders shapes the mind of children hence, constricting girls from playing with action figures and boys from playing with Barbie dolls. Children have a strong desire to fit in and feel accepted amongst peers, thus defying these gender norms would not be an option.

Furthermore, the authors state: “Students and youths are often more media savvy…Along with critical discussion, debate, and analysis, teachers ought to be guiding students in an inquiry process that deepens their critical exploration of issues that affect them and society” (Kellner & Share 2007). I agree with the authors, student and youth are more knowledgeable about the media and its content because these younger generations rely so much on the media for their knowledge and perspectives. Thus, instead of viewing the gender norms in a negative light, teachers may use this opportunity to incorporate media into their lessons and teach students the to steer away and identify biased gender norms and gender performances. If students can recognize the faults in stereotypes and the obsession of fitting into the group’s media shows, they will be able to acknowledge individual self-worth and become their own person. Kids would learn to love their bodies and they would realize that the people shown on media are not the ideal group or that everyone must be a size zero with abs. However, over the recent years I have noticed a change in music videos, speeches, advertisements, etc. Companies are now focusing on being more exclusive and breaking down barriers. The beauty industry now includes women of all different shapes, sizes, and colors, but in the near past, this was not the scenario, the beauty industry was predominately led by Caucasian females who were skinny to the bone. These women were our ideal models, and young girls had to make sure they looked like that, or else they were outliers and not pretty for being a size up or having a different skin color.

Furthermore, Kellner and Sheller also state: “Applying concepts of semiotics, feminism, multiculturalism, and post-modernism, a dialectical understanding of political economy, textual analysis… has evolved in which media culture can be analyzed…” (Kellner and Share 2007). Media education is characterized as the capacity to get to, break down, assess, and make media. Media educated young people and grown-ups are better ready to comprehend the intricate messages we get from television, radio, the Internet, papers, magazines, books, computer games, music, and any other type of social media. The pervasiveness and impact of current media make basic education a fundamental expertise. Visual messages and words can be very solid and give a lot of data. Thus, being able to break down what pictures and words mean seems like a fundamental skill everyone should have, because if we believed everything the media showed us, we would be zombies or brainwashed sheep. We are cognitive misers; we always look for the easy way of thinking because critical thinking is not a part of our evolution. We are easy to believe and judge instead of analyzing the deeper meaning of things because we only use our critical skills when needed. Which is why it is important for students to have the basic knowledge to not believe everything they see and to think for themselves.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the power the media holds on us. It has the power to influence our thoughts and behavior. This maybe done through the advertisements, television shows, movies, music, etc. There are multibillion-dollar social media industries that depend on keeping their users on their platform by tracking everything we do online, they create profiles, and then target users based on demographics and the product they want to promote with advertising and stories explicitly selected to confirm their biases. Which is dangerous because children and adults would witness these gender norms daily, and it would subconsciously change their perception about the world and themselves, thus increasing anxiety, depression, and suicide levels. Which is why it is important for influencers to send out positive messages. Per stated in the essay, Niki Minaj did get her point across about being in control, body positivity, and taking back her sexual agency. However, it could have been portrayed in a less sexual way so young viewers could really comprehend what she was trying to prove. As the authors, Keller and Share stated in their article, it is extremely important for young children to be exposed to media literacy through the education system so they can decipher the hidden messages. Especially since the newer generations rely so much on media for their news and content, being able to understand media literacy would be a valuable skill. Overall, I am extremely happy that influencers of 2019 have taken it upon themselves to break these barriers and expose the reality of beauty and gender norms. There are many male influencers in the beauty industry and many female influencers in the sports industry breaking down barriers and saying that it is okay to be different.