Mass media is especially harmful toward women because it constructs negative perceptions of women and reinforces a set of cultural norms for them to fit in society. This paper will address its focus on women and how the tools used by media shaped images of women, how they are represented and how their identity is perceived in society. Media influences their audiences in many ways, one of which is done through advertising. People prefer to believe that they are not being affected by advertisements however “advertising’s influence is quick, it’s cumulative, and for the most part, it’s subconscious” (Killing Us Softly). Advertisements are everywhere, found on televisions, buses, on the sides of buildings, on the Internet and in the magazines we read.
Hollandsworth and Kilbourne both address gender issues, though each focuses on a different aspect of that problem. Hollandsworth and Kilbourne both talk about the exploitation of females in their articles, one being about the exploitation of little girls and pageants and the other about the exploitation of women in advertising. The articles find common ground talking about the exploitation of females in multiple situations. I believe that Hollandsworth is trying to show not the dark side per se, but the other side than all of the dangers of pageants. But I do believe that Hollandsworth is against beauty pageants.
In our society however, women are programmed to shame their sexualities, and in turn, themselves. This is a great contradiction. Women should be encouraged to embrace their sexualities safely and positively and seek the empowerment and self-discovery that can come from it. The repression of natural sexuality and erotic energies within women can in many ways have negative affects. Sexuality is a part of who we are, just as being of a certain ethnicity is a part of one’s self and identity.
Miss Representation is a documentary about the negative ways that women are portrayed in the media. The title is a play on words, being both representative of the word misrepresentation as well as the actual title, Miss Representation. Miss Representation is significant as the title because, looking at it as a proper noun, it works as the woman who is being shown and represented through the media. Misrepresentation works to show how women are portrayed in a manner that does not show who they really are, but rather frames them as sexual, one-dimensional objects there for either men’s viewing pleasure or as a source of mockery. Not only are women represented badly in the media, but men are almost completely in control of the it and thus of how
Physical appearance of the body has become a fundamental part of identity. To gain social acceptance in society, women feel pressured to meet the standards of what society recalls as beauty. Women have tried to get a liposuction or reconstruct their face to try and attain their significant other's attention and follow what the media depicts as appealing. By eliminating their own individuality, women try to attain this invalid image to feel more confident and feel more accepted. As society becomes more accepting to plastic/cosmetic surgery, women in society will no longer look unique and will become a master race that will eventually brainwash society as individuality will become extinct.
Gender equality has been an on going quandary for women because of male potency, misogyny, and patriarchal conceptions, which are ideas that are harmful and feared by women throughout society. Women are constantly demeaned by men with their inappropriate slurs towards women, their aggressive attitudes and forceful actions, and the expectations and feminine qualities men assume women should abide by. Gender inequality is not natural, but constructed by people in society, which discriminate against women. At a young age, we are assigned a gender role that we are forced to fulfill with proper behaviors, whether that be a female or male. Gender is performed, and the media helps manifest these mis-conceptions and ideas that contribute to male power
I don’t see how displaying women as objects, and putting them in films portraying the abuse of them in a sexual manner is helping to protect their rights(Faigley & Selzer, 540). Minor Claims Strossen also st... ... middle of paper ... ...ealize that there are men out there who have sick minds and the use of pornography adds to the power of their horrifying acts. I think women should stand up and fight for the rights they know they deserve. Women should be able to see themselves in a sexual matter without having to feel submissive, used, and dehumanized at the same moment. We women are powerful and I hope more powerful women like MacKinnon and Dworkin stand up, for then men will have no choice but to face the fact that it’s wrong and it’s going to change forever.
“’Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt’: Advertising and Violence,” by Jean Kilbourne and “From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos,” by Joan Morgan reveals compelling arguments about the ways society often portrays females as an inferior gender to males. Our society today still fearfully unable to view pass the femininity of a women causing females to endures the suffering from forceful gender roles to excessive expectations by the infliction of our society, families, and media. Females are continuously objectifies by media in advertisement to be used as a tool for inappropriate sexual fantasy, which lead to violence towards women. Advertisements frequently utilize sex to show acts of power and hostility toward females of all ages (594). For the infamous Super Bowl Sunday commercials, companies like Pepsi Max and Snickers devalue females in their ads to appeal to consumers.
The stereotypical feminist is a bra burning, hairy, metrosexual lesbian, who believes men should only be used from breeding until we find a way to do it without them. However, this is simply a use of stereotyping that generalizes all women and makes it difficult for real conversation to occur. Whenever a generalization is presented as a truth then the individuality of all women is jeopardized. This is particularly the case, even today when the issue of rape is mentioned. Often the legal system of the United States make it difficult on the victim and in some cased place the blame on them for an unwanted sexual attack, to the point that the trauma of the trial is worse than the attack itself.
The lenses used to examine and dissect Knox are tools used to affirm male dominance in society and “put women in their place” and deny them agency. The fear of unknowable femininity creates suspicion about the conduct of women and their hidden agendas.