Abstract This paper compares the way that female and male characters or individuals speak in films or on T.V. The writer uses examples and statistics to support the fact that the difference not only exists but possibly perpetuates gender stereotypes. Examples including male and female voice overs and the choice of language are used in this paper. The writer contends that the media wants to keep women in a powerless role.
From the Paper "The portrayal of gender in media especially in films and on television has received considerable interest in the past two decades by people from academics to parents, hoping to encourage their sons and daughters to prepare for a more egalitarian world. Although great strides have been made from the stereotypical housewives, Lucy Ethel and Donna it is still clear that traces of sexism in the language provided by scriptwriters in advertising and films remain. The purpose of this paper is to compare the way ... "
Abstract Public media provides a channel for people to communicate among each other. This communication takes on various forms. Advertising is one area where meaning is intentionally created. Newspapers and magazines report both news and opinions. Even music is a means of communicating to a mass audience. All of these forms of communication create meaning and one of the underlying factors present in all is gender. Each of these forms of media create certain ideas about masculinity and femininity. Some authors argue that the end result of this is that men become objectified as masculine and women become objectified as feminine. The emphasis is often especially on the dehumanization and stereotyping of women via their physical body and class status. For example, women are seen as objects of desire, valued for their attractiveness but with little else to offer, while men are seen as superior to women. The paper discusses three authors whos consider these meanings and how they are created - Susan Faludi, Joan Morgan, and Jean Kilbourne. Each of these authors look at how gender is created in a certain form of media and each suggest that the media creates an exaggerated and misconfigured view of the role of gender. The paper shows, however, that what these authors fail to recognize is that the media as a whole is communicating a range of ideas on gender roles and that those ideas generated have their basis in society itself. The paper argues that these authors seem to generalize themselves, suggesting that the media is responsible for exaggerated roles of gender. In contrast, by taking a closer look, this paper illustrates that the media only represents the general views of people and that the media does not really offer only one view of gender.
Paper Outline:
Introduction
1. Media as Communication
2. Argument that Media Creates Ideas on Gender 3. Focus on Gender Ideas about Women
4. Introduce Three Authors with Ideas on Gender Creation in the Media 5. Argument: The Media only Represents the General Views of People and the Media does not really offer only one View of Gender
From the Paper "Each of these articles expresses the view that the media creates a certain image of women. In each case, it is also expressed that this is an exaggerated view of women. Kilbourne offers advertisements where the sexuality of women is taken to an extreme, such as by including bondage and violent images in addition to sexual ones. Morgan describes hip-hop music where the lyrics represent an exaggerated view of women. Faludi shows how a group of boys with behavior that can be described as extreme in the way they view women, came to represent the general view of the young male's view of women. In each case, the views expressed are exaggerated claims. For example, the young boys in Faludi's articles do not likely represent the views of the average young male. However, their coverage in the media may have created the impression that their views are closer to the norm than they really are. In summary, each of the articles are correct in saying that the examples they represent create exaggerated views."
Abstract This paper discusses, through example, the differences between communication in men and women in casual circumstances and within relationships. It highlights eye contact, decision making and emotions. The paper also explores gender specific communication within the media, using "Judging Amy" as its example.
Table of Contents:
Why I Broke Up with Philip (Relational Communication)
Gender and Media Communication
Bibliography
From the Paper "Amy can be very assertive when it comes to defending children. In one scene I watched she was being interviewed on a television news talk show. She debated a corrupt politician who was running for office on the issue of trying children as adults for their crimes. The male politician was pictured as exploiting the issue in order to make a name for himself and get elected. He didn't care about children at all. Amy talks about her knowledge of children as human beings whom she relates to every day eye-to-eye. She tells off the politician and calls him a "self-seeking demagogue." "
Abstract This six page undergraduate paper examines representations of social class, gender, ethnicity, race, and/or age in the media. It seems evident that the best way to accomplish this is to examine television ads, radio ads, billboard ads, newspaper ads, magazine ads, and Internet ads. The writer points out that since ads are trying to sell a certain product or service, their content represents people who buy their product as extremely attractive, friendly, popular and happy people.
From the Paper "In conducting a content analysis of representations of social class, gender, ethnicity, race, and/or age in the media, it seemed evident that the best way to accomplish this would be to examine television ads, radio ads, billboard ads, newspaper ads, magazine ads, and Internet ads. Since ads are trying to sell a certain product or service, their content represents people who buy their product as extremely attractive, friendly, popular, and happy people. These representations in media ads may differ in specific content, but they all reach out to their target audience in the same way by appealing to the social instincts and values of people."
Abstract This paper discusses gender issues in management and the role of women in media. The paper uses three examples from the media including discussion surrounding the television show "Desperate Housewives" and how women have a choice in what role they play in society today, meaning that women can choose to stay at home or go to work, or both.
From the Paper "Television programming in the 21st Century has evolved over the past fifty years. This is not to say that gender issues in the media are not apparent in some programs, it means that society has taken steps towards a more accurate perception of the role that women play at home and at work. Though there are some countries in the world that continue to view women as second-class citizens (i.e. Afghanistan), the Western world has made some progress in the liberation of women and the crucial role we play in society."
Abstract This paper looks at the way in which the media serves as a messenger of socio-cultural pressures and the ambivalence of gender based role changes.
From the paper:
"Today, women in the media offer us completely ambivalent images of perfection. We have warrior-babes like Xena, the Princess-Warrior, a popular t.v. series whose heroine is gorgeous, scantily clad, and who sets out to right society's wrongs without the help of men. We have another riff on the warrior-babe with the mega pop-star Britney Spears, who has the fit, sculpted body of an Amazon, but the sexy, baby blondness of a modern-day Marilyn Monroe?a woman who flaunts her body and sexuality on the stage and in commercials, yet maintains that she is still a virgin."
Abstract The negative portrayal of gender roles in the media can be seen in television, movies, music and advertising and the repercussions of such are exhibited in actions and thoughts of individuals within that society. The paper contends that this mania, this explosion in glorification and objectification of women's bodies, promotes unreal images of women, distorts physical reality, creates an obsession with visual stimulation and trivializes all other natural features of a healthy psychosexual relationship. Furthermore, the paper argues that the media overload of degrading and objectifying women is the cause of society thinking that this practice is acceptable and right, when it, in reality, is an outdated practice that needs to be corrected.
From the Paper "A myth is something everyone thinks is true, but in reality, is not. In "The Beauty Myth" by Naomi Wolf, she defines the beauty myth as the thought that beauty is universal, time transcending, and that women have to be beautiful to be socially accepted. The reality is, though, that beauty does not transcend time. From the voluptuous Marilyn Monroe to the famished-looking Kate Moss, American ideas of beauty have changed with media influence. In the mid-twentieth century, Monroe was a full-figured size 16, while models today, like Moss, are thought to be overweight if they are not bone thin and their cheekbones are not protruding from their faces. In addition, this trend has so widely spread that "In New York, you go to a cocktail party and they'll tell you where they had surgery. In L.A, you go to a party and they'll show you where they had the surgery" (Gerhart 404)."
This paper examines the negative impact of the media on both women and young girls, as well as the correlation between the media's definition of beauty and eating disorders.
Abstract This paper explores the power of the media in creating cultural definitions of beauty and attractiveness and its impact on women and young girls. The writer of this paper contends that the media depicts an unattainable image of beauty which negatively affects women who are already conditioned to feel insecure with their bodies. This paper examines the correlation between the media's perception of beauty and eating disorders. While media messages screaming "thin is in" may not directly cause eating disorders, they do create the context within which young women learn to place a value on the size and shape of their body. The media has been and continues to be a dominant source of self-image as it relates to gender socialization. This paper also contains relevant studies and statistics regarding this particular topic.
From the Paper "These images are not only insulting but also frightening. Women are already conditioned to feel insecure about their bodies and media images such as this only serve to perpetuate negative stereotypes. As Willis states, the experiences of an individual are a function of processes and institutions that extend far beyond, and exist independently of, individuals. Thus simply telling women "not to worry" about what other people think and to feel good about themselves no matter how greatly the media thwarts this task, is not sufficient. The changes in body image need to be made within the media, not within the women themselves."
Tags: women, perception, health, eating, disorder, media
Abstract This paper considers how mass media texts are encoded with many levels of meaning, all of which are consciously constructed, and how these representations of meaning are understood in various ways by audiences. It does so by examining how gender is represented in the context of the protagonist of the show Family Guy and his interactions with those around him.
From the Paper "The text which I have chosen to discuss is Fox-Tv's series "Family Guy" which aired from April 1999 to about February 2002. It is essentially an animated Sit-Com depicting white middle class American suburbia in contemporary times. The forcus of the show is on one man, the "head" of a family, and his interactions with himself, his family, his neighbors, and the world around him."
Argues that the images of perfection that are disseminated by society are generally stereotypical images that reinforce gender roles of dominance and submission.
Abstract The way in which society defines the structures and strictures of gender has developed in the last century into a field in which there is an abundance of textual dissertation concerning gender, identity, body image, and other issuances of definitional standards that often defy the status quo and change the way in which we think about what it is to be a man or woman. The paper shows that these essential qualities that define gender are harder to determine the more we explore the boundaries that have been set up, in many cases, as no more than cultural myths that represent the continuance of a socio-economic class system. One of these myths is the idea of the mythical body image, or the ideal physiological representation of a society in which gender lines are clearly defined in terms of male and female. This paper explores the idea of this image in terms of its contrivance, ramifications, social constructionism, and its support of gender stereotypes to provide an understanding of how our culture defines male and female images of perfection.
From the Paper "Myths traditionally focus on the superhuman or divine while providing a model of behavior for their consumer, who is more often than not encouraged by them to accept a sort of socio-economic status quo, along with a sense of diversion and the illusion that in escaping reality, the person buying into the myth is escaping the status-quo of an
economically oriented social class system. This particular diversion is carried on through time and changed, if slightly, by successive generations as the gradations of society change with time (although the continuance of myth is often retrogressive concerning the continuance of the society). Although the theme may only change slightly, the
presentation of a new myth within this traditional trope suggests other changes that are more important."
Abstract The paper examines the essays "I Won. I'm Sorry," by Maria Burton Nelson, "Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes" by Aaron Devor and "The Gender Blur" by Deborah Blum that explore whether gender identity is primarily biological or largely socially constructed. The paper discusses how women and men continually receive messages, from advertising to their nurseries, that indicate the roles they should assume in society. The paper then discusses those who struggle with their identities from a young age, whose gender identity is all about their own unique biology. The paper therefore comes to the conclusion that gender identity is a blend of social constructs and each person's own unique biological makeup.
From the Paper "Gender identity is most certainly socially constructed in our country, and it begins at the time of birth. Little baby boys come home from the hospital to blue, yellow, red, or green rooms (never pink), decorated with sailboats, jungle animals, or trains, while little girls come home to frilly pink rooms decorated with ruffles, fairies, princesses, and stuffed animals. From then on, the gender roles for little boys and girls become even clearer, and they point children down the "right" paths that little boys and little girls should always follow at a very young age. Little boys grow up learning they do not play with dolls, cook, or care about what they wear, while little girls grow up learning they do not get dirty, do not play competitive sports, and never outshine the boys on the playground or in the classroom."
Abstract This essay looks at advertising and the way race and gender are represented in today's ads. The essay argues that gender and racial inequality and stereotyping are very much present in advertising today and that this furthermore serves the advertising needs. The essay also looks at how advertising directly influences what we see in the media and how advertisers only goal is profit making which is best served by the consumerist culture we live in today.
From the Paper "Advertising is very important in today's society and have been for over 30 years, if only simply because it cannot be avoided. Ads are a major part of mass media and the mass media has a great advantage of being able to reach a large number of people in a very short time. In large industrial societies media takes on a mass scale so that television, radio, newspapers, magazines and now the Internet link tens of millions of people, and influence the way they think and spend their time and money."
Abstract This paper examines how both male and female children in our society are socialized from a very young age to behave in specific, predefined ways that are considered to be appropriate for their genders. It looks at how, beginning with the parents of children and then including many other influential factors in society, many sources define what type of behavior is to be expected from children of each gender. Male and female children of all ages are given guidelines to follow regarding proper interaction with others and acceptable behavior in social situations.
From the Paper "A reflection of how gender roles are determined and enforced in society can be seen in a number of sources. For one example, research has shown that children's literature is influenced by gender role definitions, as well as helping to make and encourage those definitions. ? In children's literature, males typically are portrayed as competent and achievement oriented, while the image of females is that they are limited in what they do, and less competent in their ability to accomplish things. Female characters are involved in few of the activities and assigned few of the characteristics or goals that are accorded prestige and esteem in our society.? (Kortenhaus) This separation of the abilities of boys versus girls in something as influential as children's literature creates something of a self-fulfilling prophecy."
Abstract This paper offers a summary and an analysis of Julia T. Wood's book "Gendered Lives." The summary provides an analysis of each half of the book, including important concepts and theories illustrated by the author.
From the Paper "In the first six chapters of Julia Wood's "Gendered Lives" the author illustrates the main concepts that form the foundation of the book. Definitions of gender, culture and communication. Wood maintains that reading this book will enlarge your awareness of gender - how it is shaped and expressed in contexts ranging from the political arena to intimate relationships. Through social institutions like the judicial system and the media, Wood argues that cultural marginalization occurs for some groups like women, homosexuals and minorities."
Abstract This ten page paper examines Andrew Greeley's contention that American society has become increasingly permissive and saturated with sexuality. The writer maintains that his contention can be confirmed by anyone who watches television for ten minutes or walks down a city street, for positive concepts of gender roles and attitudes about family are being undermined by pervasive sexual content in the mass media and by a prevailing unwillingness to acknowledge the implications of sexual permissiveness.
From the Paper "Andrew Greeley's contention that American society has become increasingly permissive and saturated with sexuality can be confirmed by anyone who watches television for ten minutes or walks down a city street. Positive concepts of gender roles and attitudes about family are being undermined by pervasive sexual content in the mass media and by a prevailing unwillingness to acknowledge the implications of sexual permissiveness. The writer agrees with Greeley about the pervasiveness of sexuality and shares his perspective that society has become increasingly permissive. The writer also agrees with Gudorf, for ... "
