Gender In American Culture
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Americans are exposed to an estimated total of 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements each day, therefore; the media play a significant role in our lives on a daily basis (Marshall 2015). The social construction of gender in American culture is predominantly molded through the media. Gender stereotyping has been a major part of society for a long time. Boys and girls are taught from a young age to act and even a dress a certain way solely based on their gender. Women are expected to be feminine, thin, and are often not supposed to think for themselves whereas men are expected to be very masculine and tough. The media perpetuate this by further promoting the idea that being male or female means a person needs to look and behave in a specific …show more content…
Vintage weight gain advertisements show that there were products specifically created to help women gain weight, not lose it. For example, in the 1960’s an advertisement for Wate-On, a product that helped women gain weight, was all the rage. The headline read, “Don’t Let Them Call You Skinny” (Krupnick, 2011). Other ads featured similar products and messages such as, “If you want to be popular...you can’t afford to be skinny”. Fifty years ago women weren’t expected to be thin like they are now. However, they were still expected to be a certain body type. The media play a role in the social construction of gender by sending out the message that to be popular or to be beautiful as a female, you need to look a like …show more content…
Things are changing, but every too slowly. 50 years ago the media told women they needed to be curvy to be popular and adored. It’s 2016 and the media is telling women they need to be super thin to meet the ideal standards of beauty. It’s time for the media to start telling women that it is okay to look however you want and to encourage women to be mind and body positive. The media also needs to show men that they don’t have to be muscular and tough to get someone to like them. Male and females are equal and should be treated as such. The media perpetuate the social construction of gender in American culture by projecting the idea that we have to look and behave a particular way solely based on what chromosomes you
Americans are exposed to an estimated total of 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements each day, therefore; the media play a significant role in our lives on a daily basis (Marshall 2015). The social construction of gender in American culture is predominantly molded through the media. Gender stereotyping has been a major part of society for a long time. Boys and girls are taught from a young age to act and even a dress a certain way solely based on their gender. Women are expected to be feminine, thin, and are often not supposed to think for themselves whereas men are expected to be very masculine and tough. The media perpetuate this by further promoting the idea that being male or female means a person needs to look and behave in a specific …show more content…
Vintage weight gain advertisements show that there were products specifically created to help women gain weight, not lose it. For example, in the 1960’s an advertisement for Wate-On, a product that helped women gain weight, was all the rage. The headline read, “Don’t Let Them Call You Skinny” (Krupnick, 2011). Other ads featured similar products and messages such as, “If you want to be popular...you can’t afford to be skinny”. Fifty years ago women weren’t expected to be thin like they are now. However, they were still expected to be a certain body type. The media play a role in the social construction of gender by sending out the message that to be popular or to be beautiful as a female, you need to look a like …show more content…
Things are changing, but every too slowly. 50 years ago the media told women they needed to be curvy to be popular and adored. It’s 2016 and the media is telling women they need to be super thin to meet the ideal standards of beauty. It’s time for the media to start telling women that it is okay to look however you want and to encourage women to be mind and body positive. The media also needs to show men that they don’t have to be muscular and tough to get someone to like them. Male and females are equal and should be treated as such. The media perpetuate the social construction of gender in American culture by projecting the idea that we have to look and behave a particular way solely based on what chromosomes you