The Role of the Media in Women’s Empowerment

For the problem of underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women to be solved, the film uses many avenues to advocate for women empowerment. By giving real-life stories from women all across the social divide and mind opening statistics, it hopes to pass the message to both men and women that something needs to be done. In addition to this, it focuses on how women should mentor, encourage and support each other. It also has a website that provides various avenues for spreading the message.

Question 2,3

Women are depicted in a way that is unfair and sexist, and most people do not realize this. For instance, the film has shown that only twenty percent of the House of Representatives of the United States is women and that actresses who are talented are not accorded the same amount of respect as their male counterparts. This leads to many ethical concerns. The fact that women are underrepresented has led to the many talented women losing out on opportunities and their talents going to waste.

Question 4

The media have a very significant role to play with regards to influencing rights that are equal between men and women. However, mass media today contributes to the degradation of women by portraying them as objects of sex, and characters that have no roles to play. This results in various ethical issues arising as discussed above.

Ethics has a role to play in trying to resolve this issue. Media houses should always strive to be fair with regards to both genders, just like they pay attention to honesty, fairness, and accuracy.

Question 5

The media has blindfolded people into believing that everything is okay. We have failed to see that even in a country like the United States, the percentage of representation of women in the government is very small; more than sixty percent of women have eating disorders that are as a result of the negative effects of media. Additionally, we have not realized that in the past decade, the number of cosmetic surgeries and girls with depression has doubled.

Question 6

There are a lot of ethical issues that are brought up by these not so impressive statistics. The misrepresentation and underrepresentation of women, as evidenced by statistics is morally wrong (Usta, Farver and Hamieh 420). Many girls and women of great potential are denied the opportunity to achieve their targets just because of the preexisting stereotypes. It is therefore ethically wrong for women to be denied their rightful place in the society.

Question 7

The film puts across facts that clearly show the society and media do not accord women the rights they deserve. Through laying this out clearly, the film hopes to reach as many people as possible and make a change. They have also included their website to make this possible. To the ideas I can develop, I personally think more women should be given leadership and other roles that are traditionally thought to be masculine and serve as an example to the rest of the world that they can also do it (Zunic 50).

Question 8

Just like girls and women, other people and communities in the society such as the LGBT and people of color also go through similar struggles. The media, similarly, has a great role to play in ensuring these people’s rights are respected since a lot of people spend significant time on mass media (Wahl 820). As expected, ethical issues arise. Why should people who subscribe to different ways of life be discriminated against? It is unfair and unjust. By looking at it from an ethical perspective, this problem could be solved. All people should be given equal opportunities regardless of their life choices.

Works Cited

Usta, Jinan, JoAnn M. Farver, and Christine Sylva Hamieh. “Effects Of Socialization On Gender Discrimination And Violence Against Women In Lebanon.” Violence Against Women 22.4 (2015): 415-431. Web.

Wahl, Rachel. ”No Justice, No Peace?: The Police, People Of Color, And The Paradox Of Protecting Human Rights.” Human Rights Quarterly 39.4 (2017): 811-831. Web.

Zunic, Natalija. ”Discrimination Against Women And The Human Rights Of Women.” Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta, Nis 67 (2014): 45-58. Web.