Sexism in the Media
sexism in the media
Karen Harper,
Oakland LMV
What comprises sexism and feminism? Do sexist images in the media have an impact on women and girls? And, what are the broader political issues here? I am hoping that we can reframe the debate around sexism and nudity in the media in a way that makes sense for socialists.
We’re all probably aware of sexist representations in the media from newspapers and magazines to the movies, TV and radio. For example, Rolling Stone magazine didn’t used to be a soft porn magazine, but it is so common now for female musicians to be in soft-porn poses on its cover. Howard Stern, the radio DJ, is always asking his female guests and callers what they are wearing. Stern focuses heavily on women’s physical attributes for the titillation of his male listeners. We also see many movies each year where the female characters are there solely to support and gratify the male characters. Magazines often show only pieces of a woman, such as her legs, or torso so that women are seen as pieces of a human being, reduced to only body parts, which are usually hyper sexualized for male stimulation.
The currently popular TV show Desperate Housewives has a predominantly female audience, but tends to appeal to male viewers with story lines involving the women in their underwear or locked out of their houses nude. Soft-core pornography is the staple of many mainstream men’s magazines such as Maxim. In the past decade the decline of the mass movement, and the capitalist’s promotion of escapism, has been at the cost of increased degradation of women in the media.
Women’s Movement
Webster’s Dictionary defines sexism as “attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles” or “discrimination or devaluation based on a person’s sex.” According to Webster’s, this word came into usage in the period of 1965-1970 and was modeled after the word racism, which itself came into use in the 1865-1870 period, during the revolutionary days of
Karen Harper,
Oakland LMV
What comprises sexism and feminism? Do sexist images in the media have an impact on women and girls? And, what are the broader political issues here? I am hoping that we can reframe the debate around sexism and nudity in the media in a way that makes sense for socialists.
We’re all probably aware of sexist representations in the media from newspapers and magazines to the movies, TV and radio. For example, Rolling Stone magazine didn’t used to be a soft porn magazine, but it is so common now for female musicians to be in soft-porn poses on its cover. Howard Stern, the radio DJ, is always asking his female guests and callers what they are wearing. Stern focuses heavily on women’s physical attributes for the titillation of his male listeners. We also see many movies each year where the female characters are there solely to support and gratify the male characters. Magazines often show only pieces of a woman, such as her legs, or torso so that women are seen as pieces of a human being, reduced to only body parts, which are usually hyper sexualized for male stimulation.
The currently popular TV show Desperate Housewives has a predominantly female audience, but tends to appeal to male viewers with story lines involving the women in their underwear or locked out of their houses nude. Soft-core pornography is the staple of many mainstream men’s magazines such as Maxim. In the past decade the decline of the mass movement, and the capitalist’s promotion of escapism, has been at the cost of increased degradation of women in the media.
Women’s Movement
Webster’s Dictionary defines sexism as “attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles” or “discrimination or devaluation based on a person’s sex.” According to Webster’s, this word came into usage in the period of 1965-1970 and was modeled after the word racism, which itself came into use in the 1865-1870 period, during the revolutionary days of
References: 1 Christine Thomas , The New Sexism, Socialism Today Issue 77 Sept 2003 2 The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex, 2002 annual averages. 3 Domestic Violence Statistics, District of Columbia Coalition Against Domestic Violence at www.dccadv.org More stats from National Domestic Violence Hotline at www.ndvh.org. 4 Kim Curtis, Murder: The leading cause of death for pregnant women. Associated Press April 23, 2003 5 National Eating Disorders Association at www.nationaleatingdisorders.org 6 American Society of Plastic Surgeons at www.plasticsurgery .org 7 National Eating Disorders Association 8 For more on this struggle see www.laborsmilitantvoice.com