The image of women in mass media is constantly under discussion and always changing. Mass media have been known to represent women in various ways; for example page 3 of the sun makes women appear to be some sort of sexual object and James Bond films also portray most women in this way. Many shows portray women as simple housewives and mothers and nothing more but many would argue that in the last twenty years this representation has changed for example the series Suits is about a law firm owned by a well-established black woman.
Many sociologists would agree that the media represents women stereotypically, proof of this would be sexist adverts, for example 90% of advert narrators are male and the adverts that women dominate are either cleaning products or children’s toys thereby portraying women as mothers and cleaners nothing more where ass men are shown in adverts for new cars, new shows and much more similarly in newspapers women sports are extremely under-represented for example men’s tennis has much more coverage but women’s tennis coverage usually refers to how they looked rather than how they played. It is mostly men that own the media and therefore they represent themselves well rather than women or black people. Another stereotype is that all women are skinny, wear lots of makeup and have flawless tanned skin; in our society many famous women have had plastic surgery and breast implants and bum inserts and cheek inserts and Botox and more to look flawless as well as this many magazines and photo companies use Photoshop to make models look thinner and more ‘beautiful’ making people think all women should look this way.
On the other hand some sociologists would argue that if people thought the images of women were unrealistic they wouldn’t buy or watch the media products but they do. They would also stress that in many soaps and dramas there are strong independent female characters that go against the stereotype.
In conclusion most sociologists would agree that the media represents women stereotypically rather than realistically.
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