What is a feminist? What is sexuality? What can or can’t a woman do, that will not destroy her image? Those questions have been asked by many feminists, anti- feminists and scholars. Throughout time women have been criticized for their actions. Kimberly Kardashian, has been criticized since she entered the industry. Society has a different take on her actions, she can be “Read” in various ways, and she also can be seen as the negative aspect of women in today’s society. Kimberly Kardashian entered the entertainment industry, because a sex tape leaked, that she made with her ex-boyfriend. Many people believe that she or he leaked the sex tape themselves. Kim had the most to gain from leaking the tape. She was highly distraught when the tape was leaked, but yet she profited a great deal of money from it. Because of that many people view her as a slut or a whore. Having to deal with those titles probably has made it quite difficult for her to advance her career. It seems as if she isn’t trying to break out the “whore” image either. The Carl Jr.’s commercial is not in any way breaking from the “whore” image. In many other instances she continues to play into the “whore” image. She also can be viewed in a distasteful manner in the Sketcher’s Shape Up commercial as well. It seems as if she knows that particular image, is what will make her money. But yet and still she tries to act as if, she doesn’t like the way she is portrayed. In a W Magazine spread Kim posed nude for the cover, but when the cover was released she had a problem with it. She felt she was misled, and she assumed “the presentation of her breasts and nipples, believing they would be more adequately covered come publication” (Young). It seems as if she attempted to ... ... middle of paper ... ...xurious hair, it is extensions. Even though Kim’s beauty isn’t natural, men fail to realize that; which is extremely harmful to the feminist movement. Kimberly Kardashian’s entrance into the entertainment industry set back the feminist movement a couple of decades according to some. Her actions have proven to have negative effects for society, but they had positive effects for her and the companies she has chosen to work for. Even though she entered the industry in the most despicable way, she has managed to make the best of it, which bothers most conservative feminists. Feminists have worked so hard to prove that women are much more than what is between their legs, and Kim came along and destroyed it for them. The general population of today’s society enjoys what Kim offers, yet she has destructive aspects, that most don’t see because it isn’t on the surface.
The documentary, “Miss Representation,” is a film about how women are perceived in the media. It is written, directed, and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. She is an actress and a film maker who advocates for women. In the beginning of the documentary, Newsom discusses her struggles as a young woman surrounded by the pressures of looking a certain way. This film is targeting mainly women of all age that has experienced her struggles. Jennifer Siebel Newsom effectively convinces the audience of “Miss Representation” that the media has molded women in a negative way through statistics, celebrities’ and younger generation’s testimonies, and clips from the media.
In "Where the girls are: Growing Up Female With the Mass Media," Susan Douglas analyses the effects of mass media on women of the nineteen fifties, and more importantly on the teenage girls of the baby boom era. Douglas explains why women have been torn in conflicting directions and are still struggling today to identify themselves and their roles. Douglas recounts and dissects the ambiguous messages imprinted on the feminine psyche via the media. Douglas maintains that feminism is a direct result of the realization that mass media is a deliberate and calculated aggression against women. While the media seemingly begins to acknowledge the power of women, it purposely sets out to redefine women and the qualities by which they should define themselves. The contradictory messages received by women leave women not only in a love/hate relationship with the media, but also in a love/hate relationship with themselves.
Keeping Up with the Kardashians is a stereo-typical reality show that focuses on attention grabbing antics and high impact drama. When “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” made their debut, it brought something new to the table of reality TV causing the viewers to go wild. While the Kardashians audience consists of middle age to adult women, there are still a large amount of fans that are men. Many of the characters in the Kardashian family are known for their vain, arrogant and high strung personalities. Stereo typical portrayals of how women should react are shown throughout the show. Multiple viewers continues to embrace the illusions that all women are cranky and vain, only interested in living a luxurious lifestyle.
The case is made that woman are more noticed by men when they have the big butts and fake hair. The female actors in the movie do not make much attempt to discredit this accusation, furthermore accepting the rhetoric that all males like the fake girls they see in the magazine and that’s the reason all women do this. This is a seamless example of how popular culture has continued to view woman and how woman continue to fall victim to the stereotypes of popular culture. During the exchange of ideas about the female stereotypes there are references made about famous Hollywood elites such as Beyoncé which places more light on the fact that popular culture plays a huge role in female
Instead, women are being discriminated and treated as inferior due to the stereotypes that are portrayed in the media. The media creates and reproduces ways of seeing that at a minimum reflect and shape our culture. We can look at the media to understand more about a culture’s values and norms, if we realize the limitations of looking at the media. For example, one may ask, does the news based in the United Sates represent what the American culture is like, or only what stands out from everyday American culture? The answer to that is no. Instead, the media represents what it thinks it will be able to sell and is supported by advertisements. This includes violent acts, the sensationally and inappropriate. Jhally reminds us that “it is this male, heterosexual, pornographic imagination based on the degradation and control of women that has colonized commercial culture in general, although it is more clearly articulated in music videos” (Jhally 2007). Therefore, “media content is a symbolic rather than a literal representation of society and that to be represented in the media is in itself a form of power—social groups that are powerless can be relatively easily ignored, allowing the media to focus on the social groups that ‘really matter’” (Gerbner,
...framework given to us, feminists, we do have to embrace the positive processes that are sometimes happening within this framework as well. When feminism becomes an accessory it does lose its radical political potential but it also creates a new potential that more and more people will become interested in feminism and possibly not only marketable and sexy ideas spread, but also some important issues and topics will be brought up in public awareness. There is no one way, or two ways, to be a feminist, but rather multiple ways. Feminists, rather than being elitist that these celebrities are dull to understand feminism properly, should embrace all the potential that Beyoncé or any other celebrities might do for feminist values, otherwise the movement and its values might become ever more alienated from the society and this is not going to do any better job for women.
The Kardashian family is somewhat of a phenomenon. They do not come from humble beginnings. They are not exactly athletic. They do not produce music of any kind, (any that is remarkable), and apart from their “reality” television show, yet they are actual icons that people spend time and money on. Of course they have a couple big time relatives such as Robert Kardashian, who handled the OJ Simpson case back in 1996. But there is one Kardashian out of all of them, that has sparked a peculiar interest for some. It is clear there is no denying Kim Kardashian’s physical beauty. Even I can get a little dazed by her seemingly three foot long eyelashes and amazing, unattainable curves. But there is one question that has been raised by many people,
Women celebrities often remark that the media negatively displays women and sexually objectifies them through many mediums such as film, TV, video games, and advertisements. However, there are many female stars that are willing to pose provocatively for a wide variety of men’s magazines such as Maxim, a European magazine targeted at men. Their hypocrisy in shooting the pictures invalidates the argument that men exploit female sexuality, as they are likewise eager to take those pictures. These women are so quick to jump at an opportunity to pose seductively for the camera, a...
Sexualization of women is taught to the public from an early age through the media. This is not a new phenomena, however. As Roberts and Zurbriggen (2012) address, the problem exponentially compounds over time, as evolving mass communication technology creates more opportunities for the press to teach sexualization. New technology is not entirely negative though, as it allows the public to more easily engage in discussions regarding the expression of
Taylor Swift’s influence over young girls ultimately leaves her in a position of power and responsibility. Swift is a role model, and as such, she is expected to empower her listeners with messages of independence, strength, and equality. Until Swift is able to utilize these tactics in her music, it is imperative that people do not buy her music, listen to her music, tweet about her, go to her concerts, write about her, or watch videos of/about her. As an alternative we highly recommend listening to Beyoncé’s works in order to incite discussion and eventually bring forth positive change in regards to feminism.
It is shocking to see the digression in humanity’s morals and values over the past decade. As cliché as it sounds, the media is the center of it all. The way women are being represented, from our television sets, the radio, pornography and even art has pushed beauty to the top of the list of controversial and widely debated topics around the globe. “Whenever we walk down the street, watch TV, open a magazine or enter an art gallery, we are faced with images of femininity,” (Watson and Martin).
In this essay I plan to describe a very talented and successful singer named Britney Spears. Britney is from McComb, Mississippi. I will be discussing certain aspects of Britney’s life and some of her many accomplishments.
I can recall a time when the media was influencing my life and actions. The week after I graduated high school, my girlfriends and I took a trip to Cancun, Mexico, where the MTV beach house was located that summer. As I look back on the week of drunken partying and sexy guys, I can only wonder how I made it home alive. How could any young woman find this behavior acceptable? Every young woman there was flaunting their bodies to the young men around them. They were proud to be sexual objects. Where did they learn such debauchery? This is the kind of woman that is portrayed throughout MTV and various other aspects of the media. They have even coined the term “midriff”—the highly sexual character pitched at teenage girls that increasingly populates today’s television shows—in order to hook the teen customer. Teenage women increasingly look to the media to provide them with a ready-made identity predicated on today’s version of what’s “cool.” The media is always telling us that we are not thin enough, we’re not pretty enough, we don’t have the right friends, or we have the wrong friends… we’re losers unless we’re cool. We must follow their example and show as much skin as possible. The type of imagery depicted by MTV-- as well as people like Howard Stern, the famous “Girls Gone Wild” videos, and various Hip Hop songs—glorifies sex and the provocative woman.
Sex has always been a controversial matter in American society. Before the 1980’s, those that openly articulated their views about sex were thought of as promiscuous and perverse, unless they were male. Perhaps, that is why the aura of Madonna stirred raving controversy across America. Fiske notes that her image was not a “model meaning for young girls in patriarchy, but a site of semiotic struggle between the forces of patriarchal control and feminine resistance, of capitalism and the subordinate, of the adult and the young (Fiske 282).” Never before had a woman presented herself so provocatively yet so comfortably.
Feminism is not only a theory but it is also a cultural movement for change and equality. Feminism has been defined as ‘the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of equality of sexes’.1 Feminism offers representation to all kinds of women, highlights the inequality within society regarding women and challenges these inequalities. Feminism has changed along side the changing position of women in today’s modern society and emerging from these changes are new theories such as post feminism and antifeminism. In this essay I will discuss how both antifeminism and post feminism has challenged the founding concepts of feminism in today’s modern society. I will highlight my points through contemporary media examples such as the work of Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga.