The Representation of Women in the Media Today.
With reference to your own detailed examples, explore the representation of women in the media today.
Film Snow White and Brave
Conclusion
At this point in time, there is an assumption of equality between men and women, but if you explore further into the media, a clear bias emerges. Women are very often objectified, misrepresented, exploited, distorted or even, absent. Women are represented in the media in many different ways, depending on which item of media you look at. Certainly, the representations of women in the media has significantly changed within the last 60 years, and mainly in a good way, seeing women as more independent and strong. Women are often stereotyped, and represented to an audience as that stereotype; usually a diva, a sex kitten, a fashionista, a housewife or a business woman. It is very rare that feminism is obvious within a piece of media.
An analysis on the content of a 1955 ‘Housekeeping Monthly’ article, The Good Wife’s Guide, reveals the stereotypical zeitgeist of mid 50’s women; a good mother, loyal wife and home-maker. It includes phrases such as ‘have a delicious meal ready on time for his return’, ‘be a little more gay for him’, ‘his topics of conversation are more important that yours’, ‘prepare a light fire for him to unwind behind’, ‘put a ribbon in your hair’, ‘make the evening his’ and ‘a good wife always knows her place’. These all connote the zeitgeist of the times; that a wife should be seen and not heard, a good cook, a studious cleaner of the home and should not work. They also show that men (as a man wrote the article), thought that women were not interesting enough, or happy enough to them when they got home from work, and that they thought that their own jobs were harder than a women’s (who cleaned, cooked and looked after the children all day). The whole ‘Good wife’s guide’ shows that the dominant ideology of the day was to have a perfect, prim, happy, amusing and child
Film Snow White and Brave
Conclusion
At this point in time, there is an assumption of equality between men and women, but if you explore further into the media, a clear bias emerges. Women are very often objectified, misrepresented, exploited, distorted or even, absent. Women are represented in the media in many different ways, depending on which item of media you look at. Certainly, the representations of women in the media has significantly changed within the last 60 years, and mainly in a good way, seeing women as more independent and strong. Women are often stereotyped, and represented to an audience as that stereotype; usually a diva, a sex kitten, a fashionista, a housewife or a business woman. It is very rare that feminism is obvious within a piece of media.
An analysis on the content of a 1955 ‘Housekeeping Monthly’ article, The Good Wife’s Guide, reveals the stereotypical zeitgeist of mid 50’s women; a good mother, loyal wife and home-maker. It includes phrases such as ‘have a delicious meal ready on time for his return’, ‘be a little more gay for him’, ‘his topics of conversation are more important that yours’, ‘prepare a light fire for him to unwind behind’, ‘put a ribbon in your hair’, ‘make the evening his’ and ‘a good wife always knows her place’. These all connote the zeitgeist of the times; that a wife should be seen and not heard, a good cook, a studious cleaner of the home and should not work. They also show that men (as a man wrote the article), thought that women were not interesting enough, or happy enough to them when they got home from work, and that they thought that their own jobs were harder than a women’s (who cleaned, cooked and looked after the children all day). The whole ‘Good wife’s guide’ shows that the dominant ideology of the day was to have a perfect, prim, happy, amusing and child