Women Portrayal in the Media

Through spreading and disseminating knowledge, the media has recently become one of the most powerful platforms for bringing about social change. The media’s content reflects society’s mindset toward women. The media, whether intentionally or unintentionally, depicts women unrealistically and stereotypically, with many of them portraying women as sex objects who are reliant on society. This paper would look at how the media promotes gender roles by depicting women as sex objects that depend on others. Though the prime purpose of the media is to bring social change in the society, its policy and especially in displaying women image has somehow distorted society’s view of the value of women. In the current days, media depicts women a sexual object with minimal attributes. As a result, people get negative messages on how to treat women which have degraded their status continuously in the society. In general, the media continues to display women in a more conventional way which limits their perceptions of human possibilities. Commonly, the media image men as adventurous, powerful, sexually aggressive and less involved in human relationships as compared to women. Consistent with cultural beliefs of gender, the society depicts women as sex objects commonly portrayed as slim, beautiful, less aggressive, and more dependent on men and the general community (Jean 56). In most cases, female characters spend their time improving on their appearances and carrying out home chores. Thus, the media is seen to distort our perception of women as valuable, capable and desirable members of the society.

The role of women in print Medias has been a prime target of scrutiny with the way they feature female characters to be hyper-sexualized. In most instances, the media displays women’s value as the desire rather than the reality. For example, the media tend to show spectacular images of women with a goal of targeting a broader audience. Besides, newspapers are known for giving special editions on women’s fashion, lifestyle and other luxurious news. Erotic photographs of female models often accompany these items which have changed the perception of perfection, especially on adolescents (Jean, 63). According to the current society, having a skinny body accompanied by a dazzling beauty characterizes fulfillment in women. Therefore, the issue of identity with these models especially among the adolescents has led to increasing rate of eating disorders.

The most glaring example where the media displays women as a social object and men a sexual is on music videos commonly played on the media stations. Typically, women are presented in scant clothes dancing provocatively to appease the men. In most cases on these videos, men are seen driving women into sexual activities while others abuse them. Furthermore, many films also condone violence against women. According to Warshal a news reporter, rape films incidences should not only be presented as gender violation but should be viewed as strictly sexual encounters on women (Van, 986). It is therefore evident that most current films commonly regard the women sexual exploitation and male dominance theme. Thus, the recent media image has continually supported the long-standing culture belief which considers female as passive while considering males as aggressive and dominant over the female.

The serial aired daily on television typically exaggerates what real life circumstances should be when portraying female characters. These programs have imparted negative thoughts on the society on how we should perceive women. They have represented women in the way men would like to depict them. In most cases, women are portrayed as beautiful creatures, submissive wives, housekeepers while they have not shown women as an enthusiastic human being who are focused on their careers other more significant things.

Thus the damaging portrayal, have resulted in male ego whereby they get hurt and webbed into insecurities if their female counterparts possess power and excel in professions. Gallant argues that the present scenario displayed by the media on the role of women in the society have led to damaging of stereotype. He further continues to say that if we want to improve on the situation, then women should take the initiative of presenting a positive ideal of their values on the media (Bharti & Kamlesh, 546). Women positive deeds, therefore, don’t get a good chance of appreciation on these media, and in most cases, attributes their male counterparts. For example, in the news related to women, they are depicted as passive contributors to public duties.

The print media and particularly the newspaper and the newsletter are known for fearless criticism on the current issues in the society. However, in most cases, issues regarding women don’t get a prevalence of appearing on the front page. Special occasions that newspaper features women on the front page include rape cases, sexual abuse, crime and other atrocities. The only time the visibility of women in the media is highly recognized is during specific days like mothers and women’s day. Therefore, the media has contributed in displaying women as sexual objects because, in most of the female’s coverage, the stories the media covers stories with exciting tales of sex, domestic violence, and glamour.

Films provide for a more complicated way of communication and hence are more preferred when you compare them to other Medias such as newspapers. Therefore, in the current days, it has become very influencing, and thus any wrong interpretation of its message can lead to a tremendous negative impact on the society. We cannot deny the fact that, films have led to the community having different views on various issues, but they have not adequately educated the society on the real status of women. There has been a bias on how these media display women roles in their stories such as making love with men and behaving like ideal daughter in laws. The kind of display shows the stereotypical mindset of the society where the media does not depict women holding higher positions or in careers not unless situations compel them to do so (Anderson et al., 113). Moreover, working women are also seen to encounter sexual harassment at the workplace, necessitating the working women to have a man hero around her.

Media advertisements always exploit women by use of the female body as a mere decoration to attract more viewers. As a result, women’s potential is undermined by just concentrating on a woman’s body and ignoring other important aspects. These advertisements have a detrimental effect on the children and also on the male-female relationship which often affects the social sense of value. Dispenza argues that the purpose of using female bodies on the advertisements is to attract both men and women to buy the products (Haskell, 23). Thus the media in these publications impart a view that the ultimate purpose of a woman is to attain attraction from males. What’s more is that man –oriented advertisements feature sexy and beautiful females who come as the ultimate result of using the advertised product.

The media has continued to show the widening stereotypical difference between men and women. According to Doyle, a film analyst, the press typically indicates males as aggressive, dominant and always engages in exciting events where they get rewarded because of their masculinity (Van et al., 988). For example, Television Programming for all ages displays men as focused, have high-status ranks and competent. Thus, the male character is redrawn from the feminine reinforcing the long-standing cultural belief that men are better than female. Moreover, the requirement of beauty and attractiveness influence news show where female anchors are expected to be beautiful, younger and less outspoken as compared to their male colleagues. The media have also imparted negative beliefs in the society that a woman needs a man for identity. For example, Walt Disney’s film The Little Mermaid shows the necessity of a man in female’s life for identity.

Apparently, the shortage of women in the media has led to a further negative portrayal of women. According to the current data; there are only 15%of female television writers and producers. What’s interesting is that, while female journalists are graduating add up to two third of the total graduates, only 2% gets recruited in corporate management of newspapers and other media (Anderson et al., 112). Furthermore, female film directors are even rare thus it is evident that few women are behind the scenes during the airing of these films. Media analyst argues that more women should be incorporated to executive level in management role because that way the media will display the actual image of women.

In conclusion, it is evident that there is a relationship between how the media portrays women and the society view on the role of women. However, optimism that this negative perception of women by the society will change depends on the media responsibility on airing materials representing the real life of the females.

Works Cited

Anderson, Breana, et al. “Sex Sells: Exploring the Portrayal of Women in Media.” (2016)

Bharti, Geeta, and Kamlesh Kumar. “Portrayal of Women in Indian Cinema and Print Media: Socio-Psychological Perspective.” IJAR 2.6 (2016): 545-552.

Haskell, Molly. From reverence to rape: The treatment of women in the movies. University of Chicago Press, 2016.

Jean Kilbourne, eds. Sex in advertising: Perspectives on the erotic appeal. Routledge, 2014.

Van Oosten, Johanna MF, Jochen Peter, and Patti M. Valkenburg. “The influence of sexual music videos on adolescents’ misogynistic beliefs: The role of video content, gender, and affective engagement.” Communication Research42.7 (2015): 986-1008.