Feminists and Media Stereotypes
The media portrays feminists in unflattering ways. Largely because of the media portrayal, the word 'feminist' usually evokes images of crass, butch, men-hating, very masculine women. Many women believe in the feminist doctrine, but they would never consider themselves as a feminist because they cannot relate to the images of crass, butch, men-hating, masculine women. In fact, it has only been within the past year that I've been able to accept the fact that I am a feminist and that my preconceived images of feminists are merely media stereotypes.
I'm now able to admit I care more about my own rights than whether or not someone will assume I fit the media stereotype of a feminsit. Feminism is the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. One doesn't have to hate men, refuse to wear dresses, or be homosexual to be a feminist. Feminism isn't about male bashing, but rather about equality. Now I can (and do) admit freely that I'm a feminist. People may think that means I'm lesbian. They may think that means I hate men. They may think I have some sort of secret agenda. They can be as misinformed or stereotypical as they chose, I just want equal rights.
Yet now I have to wonder why those stereotypes exist and where they stemmed from. Were early feminists "butch" man haters? No. Early accounts from women and men of the time prove otherwise.
* ... the 1848 Seneca Falls convention for a female Bill of Rights provoked editorials about "unsexed women"...which insinuated that they had become activists because "they were too repulsive to find a husband....These women are entirely devoid of personal attractions."...When a supporter, Senato...
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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.
There are countless examples of women standing up for themselves, protesting injustices, and empowering others. The idea also works the other way and influences behavior of people threatened by the idea of feminism. These people refer to themselves as either anti-feminists or meninists. A prime example of feminism in the real world is the protests at the early release of the Stanford rapist. This man raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster and was sentenced to six months in jail. He served three of those months and is now on probation for a year. This is a classic example of how the justice system tends to blame the victim while favoring the attacker. Over one hundred women’s rights protestors gathered hours after his release demanding for the judge to be recalled. Because these women were calling for political reform, they would be considered liberal
When you think of American history, do you think of war, slavery, or segregation? Something that these have in common is gender equality. Gender equality is something that has been an issue in America since the first day it was inhabited. This is a problem in America. A more particular time period would be, World War II. During this time, women were being used to do men’s jobs and duties but, they still had to have a feminine aspect to them. While most men were at war, the women picked up jobs playing baseball, and working in factories to build the necessary items for war and daily living. During World War II, it was necessary for women to work. The government statistics prove this:
The term feminist is seen with a negative connotation because people use it as an insult against women in an effort to make them seem irrational and unfair, but in reality it is the exact opposite of that. Feminism is defined as the “belief in or advocacy of women’s social, political, and economic rights, especially with regard to equality of the sexes.” (Feminism). There is no reason that there should be a negative connotation to this belief or participation in advancing this belief, yet there is. This battle and struggle for equal rights has been going on for a very long time, but it really took off in the 1920s. The 19th amendment and The New Woman really helps to show how quickly women and their rights progressed in the United States. Many
The image that is usually placed with feminism is that of a rabid, bra-burning, lesbian running around disclaiming the patriarchy. It could be that of a mid-century housewife complaining about how her only career choices are between teacher and secretary, or even of a woman with a sash and banner walking in front of the White House; preaching about her right to vote. However, this isn't necessarily the case. Ever since the rise of the internet, in the late 20th Century, feminism has had a revival causing it to grow in popularity and spread across forums everywhere. Women are joining this “third wave” movement to bring an end to the societal injustices that still plague the gender today (qtd. in Haslanger et al.). Feminism currently represents much more than it did in its infantile stage, having evolved to include relevant issues that affect every woman in today’s subordinating world. Issues such as rape culture, slut shaming, abortion and the wage gap have all been adapted into the feminist agenda with the hope that, as a united force, women could bring change to a misogynist society. The bra burning days are over, and feminism is on a rise, bringing light to issues that need to be addressed.
When stereotypes about women are thrown down on paper many women (usually called feminist) take offense to them. They don't believe women are the weaker sex, or think the man is the worker of the household. They don't believe a male should put women on a pedestal, they just want to be equal. They starve for equality and criticize those with different perspectives on how it should be
In this case women are stuck where in no matter how they act or how they dress, they end up put into a label they do not necessarily belong in. The main goal of feminism is to create equality for women and fight against the labels put on them. Though throughout time feminism itself has been given a negative label. In today 's society women do not want to be referred to as feminists from fear of being labeled as a bitter man hating woman. This is definitely amplified in media today. Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist, brings up the idea of the essential feminist and where it suggests,” anger, humorlessness, militancy, unwavering principles, and a prescribed set of rules for how to be a proper feminist woman” (169). This fear of being labeled a feminist not only comes from fear of being thought of as angry or humorless, but from being attacked for not being the “proper feminist woman”.
Feminism. What does it actually mean? Many categorize feminists as hairy, bra burners that hate men, but are they? Does feminism actually comply with its stereotypes or are there a rotten few that spoil it for the rest? By google definition feminism means "the advocacy of woman 's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men". I personally find this definition to be flawed in the way that it includes the word "men". To convince individuals of the real definition of feminism, they need to know it is not about the women or the men, it is about the equality. People get caught up in the thought that feminism (equality) Bell Hooks has a definition that I think pinpoints the meaning of feminism perfectly, she states in her book Feminism is for EVERYBODY, "Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression" (Hooks viii). This definition is perfect due to
I am a feminist. I knew this before Beyoncé infamously defined the “F” word on the VMA stage in 2014. I knew this before a major party nominated a female to be their candidate for President of the United States despite criticisms. I certainly knew this before Brock Turner sexually assaulted a woman behind a dumpster and only received six months, but was released in three months due to his “good behavior” (privilege). Judith Lorber speaks on forms of all this in her book Gender Inequality as she examines the now thirteen types of feminism. Before I started reading the book I classified myself as a radical feminist. I quickly became aware of my connection to third wave feminism through women’s direct engagement of with feminism, women’s rise
Throughout history when we think about women in society we think of small and thin. Today's current portrayal of women stereotypes the feminine sex as being everything that most women are not. Because of this depiction, the mentality of women today is to be thin and to look a certain way. There are many challenges with women wanting to be a certain size. They go through physical and mental problems to try and overcome what they are not happy with. In the world, there are people who tell us what size we should be and if we are not that size we are not even worth anything. Because of the way women have been stereotyped in the media, there has been some controversial issues raised regarding the way the world views women. These issues are important because they affect the way we see ourselvescontributing in a negative way to how positive or negative our self image is.
The feminism movement is often looked at in a negative light and women, especially, don’t even know what
“Feminism”, as defined today, is “1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” and “2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”2 Many critics claim that feminism has been active longer than the word itself has existed.3 The word, “feminist” was not in true use until the late 1800s and early 1900s, but activism for women’s rights was alive and well a...
The media, through its many outlets, has a lasting effect on the values and social structure evident in modern day society. Television, in particular, has the ability to influence the social structure of society with its subjective content. As Dwight E. Brooks and Lisa P. Hébert write in their article, “GENDER, RACE, AND MEDIA REPRESENTATION”, the basis of our accepted social identities is heavily controlled by the media we consume. One of the social identities that is heavily influenced is gender: Brooks and Hébert conclude, “While sex differences are rooted in biology, how we come to understand and perform gender is based on culture” (Brooks, Hébert 297). With gender being shaped so profusely by our culture, it is important to be aware of how social identities, such as gender, are being constructed in the media.
Feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. It began as an organized activity on behalf of women?s rights and interests. This concept was developed to help women earn a place in a predominantly male society. Unfortunately over the years, the intentions of feminism have become distorted, not only by anti-feminists, but also by the feminists themselves. The principle of equality for women and men has turned into a fight in which feminists wish to be better than men. Feminism has been twisted and misunderstood so much that it has become a harmful idea.
The term feminism has a lot of misunderstanding and confusion many people think that the term Feminism or being Feminist is only for women . what they don't know is that Feminism is the belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. So many people don't understand what feminism is and where the word originated form so they think of it as a stereotypes. As to where they believe that women want to take control of everything and push mens way. Which it not truth for any means and the word for Feminism is for everyone. Setting in my history class i remember my teacher going over feminism and tell us the people that called them self feminist. I remember that we didn't really get in depth about what being feminism is and what