Media and gender
[1] Feminist writers, largely gaining prominence in the 1960s during second wave feminism, began examining the relationship between media and the perpetuation of misogyny and sexism,[2] criticizing the Western canon for providing and promoting an exclusively white male world view.
[15] The rise in female labor force participation can be due to a number of factors: Anti-discrimination laws, growing international emphasis on women's rights, greater accessibility to education and job opportunities, a breakdown of conventional gender roles, reduced economic reliance on men, and affordable housing.
Images and expectations of gender roles are highlighted through a variety of platforms and sources like the structure of language, activities, media, school settings, historical passages or art pieces, and the workplace.
For centuries, dating back to when women would pose for paintings or sculptures, the concept that a woman's nature lied within the ground of subordination and submission has been reinforced by media.
For women to be considered attractive, they have to conform to images in advertisements, television, and music portraying the ideal woman as tall, white, thin, with a 'tubular' body and blonde hair.
[20] Hanne Vandenberghe, a researcher at KU Leuven, found very similar patterns in news reporting outstanding women in government agencies and the technology industry.
[47] In another study, Souha R. Ezzedeen found that career-driven female characters in film were negatively represented as having conniving personalities, being isolated, and being unable to balance work and family.
[24] Actors such as Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood continue to undertake major roles as ageless heroes, whereas the normative structure for older women is that their aging is part of the plot (for example in Mamma Mia!
[52] Examples abound: Sharon Stone for Christian Dior, Catherine Zeta-Jones for Elizabeth Arden, Diane Keaton and Julianna Margulies for L'Oreal, Christy Turlington for Maybelline, Ellen DeGeneres for CoverGirl, etc.
In Netflix's popular hit show, "You," the male main character justifies and romanticizes stalking, emotional manipulation, and even murder as his way of protecting his one true love.
The disposable woman trope in present in many films, including Braveheart, The Matrix Revolutions, The Bourne Supremacy, The Dark Knight, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Deadpool 2, and Avengers: Infinity War.
The term "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" was coined in 2007 by film critic Nathan Rabin to describe a female character who exists solely "to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.
"[58] The Manic Pixie Dream Girl improves the life of the male protagonist and makes him a happier and better person, but she has no apparent character arc or complex story; she is simply a plot device.
According to the hegemonic masculinity model of gender studies, men who demonstrate power, strength, bravery, fearlessness, virility, competitiveness etc.. can assert their (supposed) superiority over women and consolidate their general position of dominance over them (physically, intellectually, and sexually).
[68] Media representations of sports and athletes contribute to the construction of a dominant model of masculinity centered on strength and an ambivalent relationship to violence, encouraging boys and men to take risks and to be aggressive.
[79] Emphasizing the notion of passing perpetuates internalized gender expectations, resulting in a growing pressure to conform to the male gaze and what is acceptable and "passable" media representations, especially in the transfeminine community.
[82] There is also an essentialist aspect of the narrative of desired binary-passing as a form of authenticity in that it provides an exceedingly narrow example of the many varied lived experiences of transgender individuals.
[83] In concentrating on this singular type of narrative, there is potential for media representations of gender non-conforming people who do not fit neatly into either binary category of male or female to be inadequate.
There are many more grassroots level efforts to produce positive transgender and non-binary representation, such as crowdfunded projects like Jen Richards' and Laura Zak's online web series Her Story.
The media is generally regarded as playing an important role in defining prevailing social norms concerning sexual harassment, especially television, which is "widely accessible and intentionally appealing and engaging, [making] massive use of stereotypical messages that the majority of the people can easily understand".
[101] In the 1940s, companies began differentiating their marketing based on gender to broaden their sales and create a completely separate line of products that would be purposed for solely either a boy or a girl.
Writer Christina Bacchilega in her book Postmodern Fairy Tales stated "Snow White" is a patriarchal frame that takes "two women's beauty as the measure of their (self)worth, and thus defines their relationship as a rivalry.
For example, Southeast Turkey consists of a predominantly Muslim community in which modesty and purity are the values for women, so this population omits featuring life that does not adhere to those ideals; because social media is particularly prone to analysis, both male and females present gender segregated and conforming posts on their pages.
[119] Exposure to sexualized media content has been consistently linked to body dissatisfaction, distorted attitudes about eating, and support for sexist beliefs and behaviors (Frederick et al, 2022).
[42] In that sense, The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a television breakthrough because it introduced the first female character whose central relationships were not her husband or boyfriend or her family, but her friends and coworkers.
[42] Germaine Greer, Australian-born author of The Female Eunuch (1970), offered a systematic deconstruction of ideas such as womanhood and femininity, arguing that women are forced to assume submissive roles in society to fulfill male fantasies of what being a woman entails.
[122] In 1973 Marjorie Rosen, an important contributor to feminist film theory, argued that "the Cinema Woman is a Popcorn Venus, a delectable but insubstantial hybrid of cultural distortions".
[123] In 1978 Gaye Tuchman wrote of the concept of symbolic annihilation, blaming the media for imposing a negative vision of active women and making an apologia for housewives.
For instance, the organization engage media professionals by raising awareness of gender equality and violence against women, including through special workshops and tool-kits, to encourage gender-sensitive reporting.
The media has played a crucial role in amplifying the message by providing a platform for survivors to share their stories, have open conversations and raise awareness all over the world.
