Underrepresentation Of Women In The Media
Introduction
In this essay, we are going to discuss the underrepresentation of women in media, what is the effect of underrepresentation and how do it affect the people. First of all, it appeared in when we were a child. Davis (2013) indicated that we are in effect enculturating kids from the very beginning to see women and girls as not taking up half of the space.
In the section one, we will talk about the kids are instilled the concept of gender socialization through media. There are some children’s television programs and film enclosed highly gender-stereotypical messages consistent with traditional gender roles. Later on, we will discuss with an example of children’s film Sleeping Beauty which is produced by Disney. Women depicted in traditional gender roles as domestic, weak and submissive. Research and findings show that gender socialization and gender stereotype still exist. …show more content…
In the section two, we are going to find out how do gender socialization and gender stereotype exist, then how do it influenced by media.
For example, most of the media built up the image of females are younger and sexier than males. Women were described as a negative portrayal. It will exist in many of media products, such as advertising, films and television programs. Females roles in different movies are always be underrepresented, such as being a caregivers or housewives.
In the section three, we are going to figure out when women in media has been described as a negative portrayals. Will it disempowerment of women in our society? And how do it effecting our society? Some of the researcher stated that the gender stereotypes in media will affect women in the real life, such as the view and the intention to their
jobs.
People was instilled the gender socialization in the childhood by media?
According to Davis (2013), "we are in effect enculturating kids from the very beginning to see women and girls as not taking up half of the space”. While we were children, it was not uncommon to see some stories about princes and princesses. For example, folk stories, literature, and also the Disney Princesses feature films. Male characters usually described as powerful, brave and strong. In these movies, females are seems to be finding a romantic relationship and being rescued. Conversely, males are more likely to take responsibility to save the world or being a hero. These characteristics could produce the gender socialization; it will inherit to next generation for a long time.
Firstly, the construction of gender and gender roles produce the gender socialization. Gender socialization is the process of learning the social expectations and attitudes associated with one's sex. The expectations will define what it means to be masculine or feminine. As Gunter (2002) said, the more television children watched the more likely they were to hold stereotypical views about men and women.
“Male characters were more often portrayed as heroes, whereas female characters were more often depicted as dependent and weak.”(Leaper et al., 2002).In the stories, the princesses are always being rescued by the princes. Such as Sleeping Beauty from Disney, the story is talking about the princess was cursed by the witch. The Sleeping Beauty was weak and needed to be protected. In the end of the story, princess was rescued by the prince and the prince became a hero. The prince showed that male characters should be powerful, brave and masculine. Leaper et al. (2002) indicated that the children’s television movies in the United States mostly contained highly gender-stereotypical messages consistent with traditional gender roles.
As we can see, it is a kind of gender socialization which wills enculturated the kids. From watching those movies about princes and princesses, the boys and the girls may learn how to become a typically boy and a typically girl which is the mostly people think that he/she should be. The boys and girls will try to engage in their characters and play the roles as a prince or a princess to match the society expectations. Our sex is unchangeable when we were given born.
The media which contain the gender socialization messages will inherit the traditional gender roles to the new generation. The Disney princess phenomenon have a powerful influence on children’s media. They will personally identify themselves with the characters so that they will purchase the associated products (Do Rozario, 2004).
As a little conclusion, Girls likely purchase the products which are associated with the beauty, such as princess and Babies and the boys likely purchase the products which is associated with cars or brotherhoods’, such as Cars and Toys Story from Disney. We can found stereotypical portrayals of men and women in all of these films. Thompson and Zerbinos (1995) relatedly found that children who recognized more gender stereotyping in cartoons had similarly gendered expectations for themselves and others.
Portrayals of Women in the Media
The television and films usually described the female characters has a idealized body that would conform to unrealistic and unnatural beauty standards. Such as Barbie Animated Films produced by Mattel Entertainment, Barbie was identified as a perfect body shape in modern society because she is slim, sexy and has a pretty face. People used the television programme and films as a standard to define the concept of beauty.
Films usually described the female characters being slim, hot and having big breasts, etc. to attract the male audience’s attention. No matter children’s programmes or adult programmes, they are using the unnatural beauty standards. Media instil the concept of beauty in the childhood. The gender socialization and gender stereotypes are already instilled through the media in childhood and the concept will not be change easily. Females characters are seem to be younger and sexier than male characters.
The models those in the media are often unusually thin and attractive. “The skinnier, the prettier” is the most common idea that most of people think what a beautiful girl should looks like. Media drew an equal sign to females, thin and beauty. “The unrealistic beauty standards and body images portrayed in the media can lead to dissatisfaction with one’s body and unhealthy diet behaviours” (Fung & Yao, 2012).
There are other example of gender stereotypes and gender socialization in the movie. The Wolf of Wall Street is an example that underrepresentation of women. Women were materializing in the movie. The female characters are only revolves around the successful men. Men are proud of their cars, drugs and women to express their success. In this movie, women depicted as sex objects because the female characters are willing to have sex with the male characters with money.
In the traditional Chinese culture, women were subjectivity and lack of knowledge. Due to the ingrained of the traditional culture, nowadays, there still have underrepresentation of women in the society, especially China and Hong Kong.
There is a prevalence of viewing online pornography; it is another media of depreciating women.
Pornography is mostly made for men by men. MacKinnon (1987) stated that pornography contains scenes in which women are dominated, coerced, humiliated, or even sexual assaulted. It shows that women in pornography are described as a sex object. Men are more likely to vent their sexual desire to females.
Women are disempowerment of women in our society
There is a great example of depreciating women called The Wolf of Wall Street. In this films, the females are only revolves around the successful men. There are the portrayals of women in the media and it contributed to the disempowerment of women in our society. In fact, there are more males were placed in an important job positions than females. For example, most of the presidents in different countries are men instead of women.
Gender stereotype in media will affect the attitudes and beliefs of viewers about different types of job. People are more likely to believe that some jobs are more appropriate for men while others are more appropriate for women. For example, construction industry’s job positions are for men. Teachers or nurses for women. This view might affect the career decisions of individuals. Maybe some of the male are want to be nurse, they will step back while the gender stereotypes are existing.
Gender stereotype not exist in job selection but job opportunity. There is another example in U.S., Women Media Center(2014) stated that From January through December, 2013, men accounted for roughly 74 percent of elected of!cials, candidates and journalists appearing on weekly political round-ups broadcast on the ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC networks.
We considered Furnham, Mak, and Tanidjojo’s work in 2000; they analyzed the contents of 175 commercials television advertisements in Hong Kong and found out something interesting things. Specifically, men were more likely to be the central figures in these 175 commercial television advertisements. It is more than 68% of the total. In other side, women were pictured as product user (78.5%) more often than men (23.6%). However, men were more often to present as authority figures. It is more than 76% of the total. (Fung & Yao, 2012) This example told us there still have gender socialization in Hong Kong media. It wills disempowerment of women in our society.
Working mothers in Hong Kong are prone to stress resulting from the need to balance work and family responsibilities (Choi & Cheung, 2012). Mary Barra is the Chief Executive Officer of General Motors, when she held on that job, the journalist Matt Lauer interviewed her and asked her about the difficulties of balancing work and being a mother. Also, Matt Lauer asked her whether she get the job because she is a woman. Matt was punished with sexism. That seems to be a problem that women will counter while they are being more important than man in workplace.
Conclusion
This essay discussed the underrepresentation of women in media, what is the effect of underrepresentation and how do it affect the people around us.
The discussion has been developed into three sections. In section one, it is talking about the media are affecting us when we were a child. We based on Davis(2013)’s statement, “we are in effect enculturating kids from the very beginning to see women and girls as not taking up half of the space” to start our discussion.
Section two, we found out how to gender socialization and gender stereotype exist and how do it influenced by media. Women were designed as a negative portrayal in many types of media products and it is always influence most of people.
Section three, we found out that women are disempowerment of women in our society. As the negative portrayals of women, there would be less job opportunity for women. Besides that, the intention of boys and girls are affected.
In conclusion, we figure out that the media are affecting us when we were a child, then when we grew up, the gender socialization and gender stereotype are still exist, it will affect us on the view of women. Also, it will affect women for choosing their jobs. However, there seems to be fewer jobs the women can choose in the society because of the gender stereotype.
References list
Chan, K., Tufte, B., Cappello, G., & Williams, R. B. (2011). Tween girls’ perception of gender roles and gender identities: A qualitative study. Young Consumer, 12, 66–81.
Chu, D., & McIntyre, B. T. (1995). Sex role stereotypes on children's TV in Asia a content analysis of gender role portrayals in children's cartoons in Hong Kong. Communication Research Reports, 12, 206-219.
Do Rozario, R. C. (2004). The princess and the magic kingdom: Beyond nostalgia, the function of the Disney Princess. Women’s Studies in Communication, 27, 34–59.
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-Meek, M. A. (2011). Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses. Sex Roles, 64, 555-567. Equal Opportunities Commission. (2009). Study on public perception of portrayal of female gender in the Hong Kong media. Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/Upload/UserFiles/File/Repor_Eng.pdf
WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER. (2014). The Status of Women in the U. S. Media 2014. Retrieved from http://wmc.3cdn.net/6dd3de8ca65852dbd4_fjm6yck9o.pdf
In this essay, we are going to discuss the underrepresentation of women in media, what is the effect of underrepresentation and how do it affect the people. First of all, it appeared in when we were a child. Davis (2013) indicated that we are in effect enculturating kids from the very beginning to see women and girls as not taking up half of the space.
In the section one, we will talk about the kids are instilled the concept of gender socialization through media. There are some children’s television programs and film enclosed highly gender-stereotypical messages consistent with traditional gender roles. Later on, we will discuss with an example of children’s film Sleeping Beauty which is produced by Disney. Women depicted in traditional gender roles as domestic, weak and submissive. Research and findings show that gender socialization and gender stereotype still exist. …show more content…
In the section two, we are going to find out how do gender socialization and gender stereotype exist, then how do it influenced by media.
For example, most of the media built up the image of females are younger and sexier than males. Women were described as a negative portrayal. It will exist in many of media products, such as advertising, films and television programs. Females roles in different movies are always be underrepresented, such as being a caregivers or housewives.
In the section three, we are going to figure out when women in media has been described as a negative portrayals. Will it disempowerment of women in our society? And how do it effecting our society? Some of the researcher stated that the gender stereotypes in media will affect women in the real life, such as the view and the intention to their
jobs.
People was instilled the gender socialization in the childhood by media?
According to Davis (2013), "we are in effect enculturating kids from the very beginning to see women and girls as not taking up half of the space”. While we were children, it was not uncommon to see some stories about princes and princesses. For example, folk stories, literature, and also the Disney Princesses feature films. Male characters usually described as powerful, brave and strong. In these movies, females are seems to be finding a romantic relationship and being rescued. Conversely, males are more likely to take responsibility to save the world or being a hero. These characteristics could produce the gender socialization; it will inherit to next generation for a long time.
Firstly, the construction of gender and gender roles produce the gender socialization. Gender socialization is the process of learning the social expectations and attitudes associated with one's sex. The expectations will define what it means to be masculine or feminine. As Gunter (2002) said, the more television children watched the more likely they were to hold stereotypical views about men and women.
“Male characters were more often portrayed as heroes, whereas female characters were more often depicted as dependent and weak.”(Leaper et al., 2002).In the stories, the princesses are always being rescued by the princes. Such as Sleeping Beauty from Disney, the story is talking about the princess was cursed by the witch. The Sleeping Beauty was weak and needed to be protected. In the end of the story, princess was rescued by the prince and the prince became a hero. The prince showed that male characters should be powerful, brave and masculine. Leaper et al. (2002) indicated that the children’s television movies in the United States mostly contained highly gender-stereotypical messages consistent with traditional gender roles.
As we can see, it is a kind of gender socialization which wills enculturated the kids. From watching those movies about princes and princesses, the boys and the girls may learn how to become a typically boy and a typically girl which is the mostly people think that he/she should be. The boys and girls will try to engage in their characters and play the roles as a prince or a princess to match the society expectations. Our sex is unchangeable when we were given born.
The media which contain the gender socialization messages will inherit the traditional gender roles to the new generation. The Disney princess phenomenon have a powerful influence on children’s media. They will personally identify themselves with the characters so that they will purchase the associated products (Do Rozario, 2004).
As a little conclusion, Girls likely purchase the products which are associated with the beauty, such as princess and Babies and the boys likely purchase the products which is associated with cars or brotherhoods’, such as Cars and Toys Story from Disney. We can found stereotypical portrayals of men and women in all of these films. Thompson and Zerbinos (1995) relatedly found that children who recognized more gender stereotyping in cartoons had similarly gendered expectations for themselves and others.
Portrayals of Women in the Media
The television and films usually described the female characters has a idealized body that would conform to unrealistic and unnatural beauty standards. Such as Barbie Animated Films produced by Mattel Entertainment, Barbie was identified as a perfect body shape in modern society because she is slim, sexy and has a pretty face. People used the television programme and films as a standard to define the concept of beauty.
Films usually described the female characters being slim, hot and having big breasts, etc. to attract the male audience’s attention. No matter children’s programmes or adult programmes, they are using the unnatural beauty standards. Media instil the concept of beauty in the childhood. The gender socialization and gender stereotypes are already instilled through the media in childhood and the concept will not be change easily. Females characters are seem to be younger and sexier than male characters.
The models those in the media are often unusually thin and attractive. “The skinnier, the prettier” is the most common idea that most of people think what a beautiful girl should looks like. Media drew an equal sign to females, thin and beauty. “The unrealistic beauty standards and body images portrayed in the media can lead to dissatisfaction with one’s body and unhealthy diet behaviours” (Fung & Yao, 2012).
There are other example of gender stereotypes and gender socialization in the movie. The Wolf of Wall Street is an example that underrepresentation of women. Women were materializing in the movie. The female characters are only revolves around the successful men. Men are proud of their cars, drugs and women to express their success. In this movie, women depicted as sex objects because the female characters are willing to have sex with the male characters with money.
In the traditional Chinese culture, women were subjectivity and lack of knowledge. Due to the ingrained of the traditional culture, nowadays, there still have underrepresentation of women in the society, especially China and Hong Kong.
There is a prevalence of viewing online pornography; it is another media of depreciating women.
Pornography is mostly made for men by men. MacKinnon (1987) stated that pornography contains scenes in which women are dominated, coerced, humiliated, or even sexual assaulted. It shows that women in pornography are described as a sex object. Men are more likely to vent their sexual desire to females.
Women are disempowerment of women in our society
There is a great example of depreciating women called The Wolf of Wall Street. In this films, the females are only revolves around the successful men. There are the portrayals of women in the media and it contributed to the disempowerment of women in our society. In fact, there are more males were placed in an important job positions than females. For example, most of the presidents in different countries are men instead of women.
Gender stereotype in media will affect the attitudes and beliefs of viewers about different types of job. People are more likely to believe that some jobs are more appropriate for men while others are more appropriate for women. For example, construction industry’s job positions are for men. Teachers or nurses for women. This view might affect the career decisions of individuals. Maybe some of the male are want to be nurse, they will step back while the gender stereotypes are existing.
Gender stereotype not exist in job selection but job opportunity. There is another example in U.S., Women Media Center(2014) stated that From January through December, 2013, men accounted for roughly 74 percent of elected of!cials, candidates and journalists appearing on weekly political round-ups broadcast on the ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC networks.
We considered Furnham, Mak, and Tanidjojo’s work in 2000; they analyzed the contents of 175 commercials television advertisements in Hong Kong and found out something interesting things. Specifically, men were more likely to be the central figures in these 175 commercial television advertisements. It is more than 68% of the total. In other side, women were pictured as product user (78.5%) more often than men (23.6%). However, men were more often to present as authority figures. It is more than 76% of the total. (Fung & Yao, 2012) This example told us there still have gender socialization in Hong Kong media. It wills disempowerment of women in our society.
Working mothers in Hong Kong are prone to stress resulting from the need to balance work and family responsibilities (Choi & Cheung, 2012). Mary Barra is the Chief Executive Officer of General Motors, when she held on that job, the journalist Matt Lauer interviewed her and asked her about the difficulties of balancing work and being a mother. Also, Matt Lauer asked her whether she get the job because she is a woman. Matt was punished with sexism. That seems to be a problem that women will counter while they are being more important than man in workplace.
Conclusion
This essay discussed the underrepresentation of women in media, what is the effect of underrepresentation and how do it affect the people around us.
The discussion has been developed into three sections. In section one, it is talking about the media are affecting us when we were a child. We based on Davis(2013)’s statement, “we are in effect enculturating kids from the very beginning to see women and girls as not taking up half of the space” to start our discussion.
Section two, we found out how to gender socialization and gender stereotype exist and how do it influenced by media. Women were designed as a negative portrayal in many types of media products and it is always influence most of people.
Section three, we found out that women are disempowerment of women in our society. As the negative portrayals of women, there would be less job opportunity for women. Besides that, the intention of boys and girls are affected.
In conclusion, we figure out that the media are affecting us when we were a child, then when we grew up, the gender socialization and gender stereotype are still exist, it will affect us on the view of women. Also, it will affect women for choosing their jobs. However, there seems to be fewer jobs the women can choose in the society because of the gender stereotype.
References list
Chan, K., Tufte, B., Cappello, G., & Williams, R. B. (2011). Tween girls’ perception of gender roles and gender identities: A qualitative study. Young Consumer, 12, 66–81.
Chu, D., & McIntyre, B. T. (1995). Sex role stereotypes on children's TV in Asia a content analysis of gender role portrayals in children's cartoons in Hong Kong. Communication Research Reports, 12, 206-219.
Do Rozario, R. C. (2004). The princess and the magic kingdom: Beyond nostalgia, the function of the Disney Princess. Women’s Studies in Communication, 27, 34–59.
England, D. E., Descartes, L., & Collier-Meek, M. A. (2011). Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses. Sex Roles, 64, 555-567. Equal Opportunities Commission. (2009). Study on public perception of portrayal of female gender in the Hong Kong media. Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/Upload/UserFiles/File/Repor_Eng.pdf
WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER. (2014). The Status of Women in the U. S. Media 2014. Retrieved from http://wmc.3cdn.net/6dd3de8ca65852dbd4_fjm6yck9o.pdf