Challenges of the Media in Representing Gender

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Background Information
Challenges the Media Faces in Representing Gender
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The issue of gender and equality has been a subject of discussion for a long time in many parts of the world. Since gender is an outcome of socialization, various factors and agents of socialization contribute greatly to the heated debate of gender identity. Studies of Eschholz & Bufkin (2001) record that media can be described as a site where the battle concerning gender related issues is fought.

This is due to the fact that media is not only popular but also but also wide as it includes, print, audio, visual and audio visual. It is not easy to underestimate various roles played by the media. Nonetheless, scholars have raised a major concern concerning representation of gender in the media.

Even through all media is affected by the challenge of gender representation, film and movie industries are greatly affected by same. Several studies which have been conducted illustrate that movies and films are characterized by gender stereotype and violence. Before raising an accusing finger at the industry, it is important to note that the main aim of the industry is to make profit which is only achievable by meeting demands of the audience.

However, that does not imply that the industry does not have a great role of ensuring that gender representation is done adequately. Nonetheless, with the current challenges that affect gender like people’s perception and lack of fixed gender identity, movies are challenged to represent gender accurately and balance between making profit and pleasing the audience. With that background in mind, this paper shall focus on various challenges experienced media in representing gender and ensuring that their targets are met.

Background Information

It is important to research on the trend of gender representation in various films to be in a position to understand various challenges that may have contributed to the situation.

Various studies have been conducted to research on roles played by female characters in various movies and films. It is true that movies and films contain both female and male characters and they do play different and various roles. According to the studies of Gilpatric (2010), some people have been having a problem by roles played by women characters the action movies.

Further studies indicated that in various action movies, it is rare to have female characters playing as hero and in case they appear, it is only in a romantic relationship. Worse still, even in a romantic relationship, there is usually a strong male character in control of everything. Results in a content analysis illustrated that even in films featuring male dominated professionals, women usually take lesser roles and more often that not, they are usually involved with love affairs.

Many films illustrate women as more feminine since they are displayed as sensitive, easy to manipulate and romantic. On the other hand, men are more masculine as they are illustrated as risk takers, athletic and more aggressive. Such results are clear indications that most of the movies are characterized by gender stereotype since most of the character traits displayed are masculine and feminine stereotypes.

Challenges the Media Faces in Representing Gender

People’s Perception on Gender

The issue of gender is a controversial issue in all sectors. Therefore, it becomes a major challenge for the media to deal with an already controversial topic. In the current world, people have got their own understanding of gender roles. For instance, in many societies, men are viewed as superior to women and are associated with various masculine stereotype character traits.

Likewise, women are also viewed as inferior to men and more often than not, they are associated with feminine stereotype character traits like submissiveness and sensitivity. Moreover, the issue of gender stereotypes is a mater of concern not only to feminists but also to other people in the society.

Therefore, people are always sensitive to any advert, film or movie that touches on gender issues. Given that people have their own perception of gender, they end up using the same in interpretation of various movies and films. This issue was well illustrated in the studies of Lee (2008) after carrying out a study to research on the interpretation of people on various marriages that are featured in Disney Films.

The results of the study indicated that most of informants viewed marriages in the film in relation to their perception towards gender. For example, to the majority, men usually accomplish their goals without many hindrances while women have got a lot of obstacles to overcome. Although some were able to point out that there are some personal preferences that hinder marriage, some we are still more focused on roles of women in the traditional set up as well as the unfair treatment of women.

The issue of gender being a sensitive and controversial requires no emphasis. Moreover, the research has indicated that people have their own perception on gender and other same is prone to change.

This is due to the fact that some women who were interviewed made their interpretations in relation to the traditional gender roles while others based their argument on the views present in the contemporary society.

In such a situation, it is a big challenge for the media and the film industry to adequately represent both genders when people have their own perception. Worse still, perceptions are not only diverse, but do change with time. It is clear that there is no satisfactory position that media can take even if it is expected to represent gender appropriately.

Balancing Between Making Profits and Pleasing the Audience

The foremost aim of the movie industry is making profits and it can only be achieved by making sure that the needs of the audience are met. To begin with, the audience comprises both males and females and all do posses different views concerning gender. Men enjoy most when they watch films that display women who are more submissive and less independent.

On the contrary, women especially in the current world are more pleased when they watch films featuring independent women. The current era is characterized by transition from the traditional outlook of gender where women were inferior to men to the modern outlook where equality is emphasized. However, it is important to note that there are still some people in the society whose view on gender is determined by traditional beliefs and values.

For instance, the study which was conducted in Disney marriages indicated that although some people in the society are more realistic when interpreting films, there are others who are guided by the traditional outlook of gender and gender roles (Lee 2008). Since there a lot of changes concerning the issues related to gender, the movie industry is expected to change accordingly which is a major challenge.

It is a fact that women and men may have conflicting views on gender and gender roles. In addition the movie industry must meet the needs of both in order to make any profit. More often than not, movies that meet the needs of men may not end up meeting the needs of women.

For instance, films like Tomb Raider featuring Lara Croft and the Kill Bill show that feature empowered women may evoke negative views from men whose perception on gender is defined by traditional outlook. On the other hand, the same movie may become very important to women of the post modernism era.

Therefore, in such a situation, movie industry and movie makers are usually at a loss when deciding which position to take. Although it is argued that such films and movies are still making, either position taken just displays inappropriate gender representation. However, a critical analysis of the situation and issues present in the society concerning gender explain how hard it is to arrive at an appropriate representation (Smelik, 2010).

There is no Fixed Gender Identity

Gender identity refers to an individual’s perception in relation to either being male or female and the same may be different from the biological sex. However, to many people, gender identity is defined by the biological sex. It is important to note that currently there are some people who may be biologically females but do identify themselves as males. Similarly, there are other biological males who identify themselves as females. Such a situation is defined by studying various characteristics that define gender like gender roles.

Apart from that, there are other people who are in between male and females and are usually referred to as transsexual. Although the situation may have been there before, it is more prevalent currently since as highlighted earlier, there is a change in gender roles and other characteristics that define gender. Therefore, when focusing about gender representation, it is not clear which gender is being focused on.

Initially, there was a major problem in representing males and females as the only options of gender. Although studies of Gilpatric (2010) indicate that there has been an issue of gender misrepresentation in the movie industry, the worst hit is the advertisement industry. This is attributed to the fact that gender representation in advertising is characterized by sexism as most advertisements contain behaviours and attitudes that favour one gender. In most advertisements, women are usually illustrated as sexual objects.

Studies of Cortese (2008) illustrate that most advertisements do not only help in bringing out the difference between men and women but also in illustrating the cultural assumption of most people that men are superior to women. The situation becomes worse when advertising beauty products since a beautiful woman is usually illustrated as tall, smooth and slender. Although masculinity is also displayed in the mass media through various advertisements, women are usually illustrated sex objects.

The world is also characterized by violence towards women and the advertising industry plays a very big role in the same. This is usually due to the advertisement of alcoholic beverages that promote violence against women. In addition, most of the advertisements contain pictures illustrating sexual violence. Studies of Eschholz & Bufkin (2001) also illustrate that even other films and movies are characterized by violence.

The case on advertising just illustrates how hard it has been to represent both males and females, no matter the necessity. It is explicit that dealing with males and females is a major problem. Therefore, lack of fixed gender identity complicates the issue even further. This is due to the fact that it is not obvious for a man to take the gender identifying of males and the same case applies to women.

More to that the gender identity may change as a result of exposure to various factors that affect gender like the issue of culture which is not only dynamic but also prone to change. Such factors make gender representation not only difficult, but also a complicated issue due to the fact that with the changing gender roles, it is difficult to mark appropriate gender representation.

Conclusion

The challenge of media in representing gender needs no emphasis although some believe that the media is not doing enough. This due to the fact that the issue of gender and gender roles is heavily affected by culture which is not only dynamic, but also prone to change. It is easier to conclude that media should embrace change especially in relation to gender roles in the society (Gauntlett, 2008). On the other hand, it bears noting that societies are very diverse.

For example, in places like United States, a woman is viewed as independent and less submissive. In places like Asia as illustrated in the film ‘No Joy, No Luck’, the issue of submissiveness is not a stereotype but a fact (Hegedorn 1994). Therefore, it is questionable how the Asian movies can fulfil the expectation of the audience and at the same time promote narcissism amongst women. In addition, in advertisement, studies of Cortese (2008) indicate that people are currently complaining against the advertisements which are offensive and the same was unheard of some years back.

Bent on that, it is important to recognize that media has got many challenges in representing gender due to many factors like lack of fixed gender identity, peoples perception on culture as well as balancing between making profit and meeting the needs of the audience. Therefore, as much as there should be appropriate gender representation, there many hindrances which ought not to be overlooked

References

Cortese, A. J. (2008). Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

Eschholz, S. & Bufkin, J. (2001). Crime in the Movies: Investigating the Efficacy of Measures of Both Sex and Gender for Predicting Victimization and Offending in Film. Sociological Forum, 16 (4), 655-676.

Gauntlett, D. (2008). Media, gender and identity: an introduction. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis.

Gilpatric, K. (2010). Violent Female Action Characters in Contemporary American Cinema. Sex Roles, 62, 734–746.

Hagedorn, J. (1994). Asian Women in Film, No Joy, No Luck. Academic Research Library, 4 (4), 74-80.

Lee, L. (2008). Understanding Gender through Disney’s Marriages: A Study of Young Korean Immigrant Girls. Early Childhood Educ (36), 11-18.

Smelik, A. (2010). Lara Croft: Kill Bill and the Battle for Theory in Feminists Film Studies. Singapore Management University.

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