Gender Bias - Mountains On The Playing Field

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.

Also, in our society today people are allowing the messages of media to influence their judgement and perspectives. Mass media mainly harms and effects women because it creates negative perceptions of women that can be seen daily. This paper will show how the media has degraded the portrayal of women and the effects it has on society. Mass media is a method of communication used to influence an audience in several different ways. Many people believe that they aren't influenced by the media, but media is almost everywhere.

Yet the unfortunate truth to feel as though society has forced a role upon you, while not having the freedom of acting as one pleases without society judging you is merely suppression against women. The discipline of woman studies is a new discipline to the education system, being explored and accumulated by not only female feminists, but also male feminists. A feminist is someone who believes that women deserve the public support for their social, political, and economical equality to men. Yet, when we fast forward the past to now... ... middle of paper ... ...ape their wives.” She also reports that in 1989, “the complaints of sexual harassment increased 70 percent.” This has to be an adverse reaction from the changes in fashion, causing men to look at women as objects, not as humans, or more importantly women. The social definition of a woman fluctuates from day to day, because of the movies and songs of this era.

Another personal problem that affects women is the objectification in the media. Sexually objectified pictures of women appear in television advertising, on the web and in newspapers. This encourages girls to think of and treat their own bodies as objects of others’ desires. Women try to improve their social position, yet sexual objectification reduces them to the status of mere tools for men’s purposes and makes them preoccupied with their appearance (Gill, 14). Women should have enough courage to

“’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 first public depictions of women started off in the first films which women appeared in scanty costumes to create ... ... middle of paper ... ...bite is quick, and its message seeps into the very fibers that are woven together to create a culture of misperceptions about women and when this happens we as a society are causes the harm to our female beings. The media is a business that rely on people, and like any business, their purpose is to create opportunities for generating profit. The issue remain within the way people, most especially women, are treated by the media. They are treated as products rather than human beings worthy of dignity, personhood, and respect. The media uses discrimination, objectification, and dehumanization to police: women’s bodies.

Media had seem to emphasize gender inequality and stereotyping especially on women which had given big impression on society and as well had several effects in their lives. Inequality and stereotyping toward women happens because people tend to soak themselves in the images they see in the media and which in further will create imagination in their mind on how they are suppose to behave and present themselves to the society. A society itself had create a... ... middle of paper ... ... work done by hair stylist, make-up artist and others do to make one person to look like a star. I believe that media had over stereotypes women as being weak, vulnerable and over dependent on men. Women, somehow have their own opinion and are able to stand on their own but the emphasizing made by media had printed images of women as weak in the mind of the society.

In media outlets such as magazines, stereoviews, and newspapers, there are many photographs, comic strips and drawings of the New Woman that are almost exclusively presented as humorous and unflattering towards women. Although theses portrayals in a variety of media outlets of Modern Girls and New Women were seen as negative and comedic, these representations were still empowering for the woman of the time period. To introduce, many representations of the Modern Woman were manipulated by the media to push back and discourage women from challenging the traditional values of femininity. Men and the society controlled the media; thus through their efforts they hoped to persuade women to abandon the idea of the New Woman. Some photographs would present women as very mannish and containing hardly any feminine traits.

Contrary to popular belief, true feminism fights for true equality for women, as well as other people groups. The false view of feminism causes women to distort gender roles, dishonor themselves, and degrade men. To begin, the modernized feminist movement has altered the way gender roles are viewed in society. Women are pushing for complete control in nearly every aspect of life. Many feminists believe women could do just as well, if not better, than men have been doing in leadership positions.

Many women live their lives in fear. One of the major problems with the feminist movement is that it perpetuates many stereotypes which are simply not true but based on the behaviors of a small minority of those in the feminist movement. When a woman identifies herself as a feminist it should mean that she is in favor of not being discriminated against because of her sexBut when a woman stands up for herself in the workplace or in society at large, there are a lot of generalizations that people unfairly characterize them with.. They are assumed to be difficult, unhappy and dislike all men. 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.