Media's Influence on Gender Roles in Society

Many different sociological perspectives believe that the media portrays 'well-worn ' stereotypes that then leads to archetypes being formed within our society, which are unrealistic and unachievable. Many believe that the media acts a form of secondary socialisation which transmits concepts about gender roles within our society.

The expectation of the roles that women should fulfil in our society are largely influenced by their representation within the mass media. For example, Tunstall suggests that the media primarily focuses on three different roles in which women should take; domestic, sexual and consumerist roles. This limitation of roles isn 't something that men seem to experience and thus is not highly represented within the media.

For many years, the archetypical female is tall, thin, blonde, and has perfect skin. However, many believe that this construction of what is considered to be the ideal, is purely a media concept which allows for advertisement of cosmetic and health products to improve women 's appearance for the maze gaze, and subsequently the patriarchal society. Marxist feminist would agree as they suggest that the basis of stereotyping in the media is for economic gain. Media texts such as magazines gain through the advertising of products which promotes and encourage 'false beauty '(of being sexually objectified). It creates an ideological messages that 'your face is your advertisement '; meaning the more attractive you appear to men, the more likely you are to be success, this is often displayed in 'lads ' magazines, tabloids and pornography. The expansion of socialism creates a general anxiety over feminine appearance, and as their anxieties increase, so does the profit of the media text, suggesting that the media continuously exploits the insecurities is creates, without considering that the stereotype it presents is

Her theory highlights that cinematography provides visual pleasure for men, through the way in which it captures and portrayal the female within the frame. However, women also then view themselves through the distorted representations they witness; this is called 'false consciousness '. For example, in the 2014 music video 'Black Widow ' by Iggy Azalea featuring Rita Ora, both female characters are sexualised as the low key high contrast lighting highlights the curves of a feminine figure, meaning that clear cinematic techniques are used purely for the male demographic. Radical feminists would argue that the sexualised nature of the video is used to support a patriarchal society, as it subconsciously represents men in a superior role, which again highlights the limited roles that women have.

However, Post-modernists believe that the representation of women in the media is becoming less sexualised, although post-modernist feminist argue that whilst change has occurred it hasn 't had a dramatic influence that would then allow equality. On the other hand, Popular feminists believe that the media has promoted a sense of 'girl power ' through female magazines. McRobbie claims that magazines such as 'Shout ' and 'Mizz ' allow young girls to feel a sense of unity with their peers, which then create a new wave of