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 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 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."
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
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 ... "
Abstract The paper studies the role that the media plays in perpetuating prejudice. It looks at the prejudice prevalent in the marketing strategies of television and then moves on to suggestions for improving equality in television's marketing strategies.
From the Paper "The media has become an educational tool and source and the society has unconsciously grown dependent upon it for development and understanding of one self. Media has become a part of our culture and plays a pivotal role in societal norms."
Abstract The paper examines the function of gossip and media in the works of Jessica Hagedorn. The paper focuses on how gossip among women represents an alternative avenue of definition of self and expression in an oppressive patriarchal culture.
From the Paper "The literature of Jessica Hagedorn, a Philippine American who emigrated to the US in ? at age twelve often illustrates the difficulty in forging individual identity in a culture whose mainstream images often disenfranchise, based on ethnicity, sex and sexuality. The media and other social institutions often provide an official definition or label of events, categories that seldom portray the whole story when pitted against reality."
Tags: feminism, Philippines, Filipina, gender, sex, power, control
Abstract This paper analyzes the predictions and views of media guru Marshall McLuhan, who argued that all forms of media exert a compelling influence on humanity and society and not necessarily for the benefit of man. In one of his more well-known books, "The Medium is the Massage," McLuhan contends that people consume both medium and message as a total experience. The writer of this paper details the rapidly advancing technologies of the 21st century while examining their impact on humanity and society. This paper discusses the views of McLuhan, one of the founders of media ecology, who voiced his concerns that the media, especially television, brought the brutalities of war into our living rooms, while making the viewer numb to the negative happenings of the world. The author had many strong opinions regarding modern forms of media and communication, such as the telephone. McLuhan was concerned that phones made it possible for people to talk with one another without actually being together. This paper also delves into the various predictions and concerns McLuhan had regarding the emergence of electronic media, in which the author often stated that man's dependence on electronic forms of media would eventually spell the end of humanity as it it now known.
From the Paper "Of more concern, technology continues to expand the gap between the haves and have-nots. According to the International Telecommunication Union, 90 percent of Internet users come from industrialized countries and only 25 percent of people in developing countries have Internet access. A computer in Bangladesh costs eight years the country's annual salary. Similarly, in the United States, for example, technology, especially the Internet, is a class issue. Compare the number of the technology budget and wired PCs and laptops in the suburbs to that of the inner-cities and other poorer areas of the country. Information is power, and the power is located in similar pockets as the money."
Tags:media, society, technology, computers, internet, literature, communication
