Media Conflict Theory

Before reviewing and analyzing perceptions of intimate relationships in media, it is important to establish some of the theoretical perspectives of intimate relationships in society. Conflict theory is an idea that two partners in a relationship are going to face conflict between each other, and conflict theorists believe this is a good thing. The conflict arises when individuals pursue their own goals, needs, and values which conflict with their partner’s own goals, needs, and values. Conflict theorists believe this conflict is a good thing as it leads to better change and adaption in a relationship and even in society (Kunz). The Feminist theory is closely related to the conflict theory as it focuses on individual experiences of women in

One article I felt supported the feminist theory was titled “I Cheated on My Boyfriend When I Was Roofied, and His Friends Turned Against Me.” In the article a male author responds to a personal account of a woman who, as the author states, “[was] raped,” and had to deal with the aftermath in her own relationship. The article focused on the struggle of a victim who was verbally attacked by friends of her boyfriend because of something that was completely out of her control. The article uses rhetoric to promote a social injustice of victim blaming of rape victims. Even through the voice of a male in this article, we are given a sense of female empowerment and an eye-opening account of the unfair treatment of someone who suffered for something that wasn’t their fault. We are given examples of individualistic qualities of feminist theory, as the author is concerned that the woman who went through this is “with the wrong man.” The author goes on to say “your boyfriend framed this as cheating, instead of sexual violence (Hill).” Both of these examples convey feminist theory as the author is trying to have the girl remove herself from this situation as opposed to conforming to the idea that it was somehow her fault. The author feels that the constant attacks that she “cheated” on her boyfriend has made herself not think that she was sexually assaulted. This account by the

For example, there are little to no articles written for the more nuclear family structure or patriarchal, breadwinning male style relationships. Instead it is more geared toward the idea of the pure relationship. As it promotes this feminist theory it leaves out some key demographics of women like those who are married or those who are stay at home mothers. I think cosmopolitan leaving out articles for these types of women may cause some inequality between women themselves. I feel like most of their articles make women in marriages feel out-casted as they are often talking about “hooking up” and dating. With little talk about women in marriage, married women may feel like they are less represented in the