Gender Dichotomies on MTV

Gender Dichotomies on MTV

TV is a worldwide phenomenon that has defined an entire generation. Six out of ten households receive MTV as part of their basic cable service, and adolescents spend, on average, two hours a day watching the network (Signorelli, McLeod, & Healy 92). This is not only in America. Viacom, MTV’s parent company, claims to reach 320 million households in 90 countries on 5 continents for 24 hours a day (Mundy 240). Such a large spanning audience has many worried about the great world influence the network has. One such questionable effect of MTV is the power the network to perpetuate the stereotypes depicting women as purely sexual beings, not respectable individuals. This is a difficult controversy to discern because it is only "the latest skirmish in a never ending culture war between young women trying to control their sexuality and a society which fears its power," (When Sex Goes Pop)

MTV’s sexual depictions have been criticized because of the poor representation and explicit sexualization of women and young girls. To sexualize is to make the performer or extra in a music video worthless aside from his or her sexual appeal. Please note that I did say "his" or "her", but by the end of my paper you will know that, statistically, the overwhelming number of individuals whom are sexualized are female. I believe something needs to be done to stop this, but others do not perceive these "sexual video images" as a threat. These people seem to discount such displays as rock-n-roll culture and believe that people are wasting their time overanalyzing music videos. These MTV supporters, artists, and record executives perceive the scantily clad women as a display of self-assurance or a well-made business decisio...

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...hese should not include the MTV-esque scantily clad overly made up women that they see in music videos. Rather, they should be presented of self-assured, realistic looking, kind women who make positive contributions to society. One such example is Mia Hamm, the first person, male or female, to be named the US soccer athlete of the year for three consecutive years. In the 1996 Olympic games, Mia sprained her ankle in the first round but feigned the injury and led her team to victory as world champions. When you contrast such an amazing athletic performance to that of Britney Spears it is enough to make one sick. Young girls should not be emulating Britney who allows herself to be manipulated by powerful record executives; rather, girls should be looking up to real women who are capable of overcoming adversity. We must be better ancestors and provide such role models.