Representation Of Women In The Media

It’s easy for Americans to come across at least one form of media every day. We never realize how much of a role it plays in influencing, shaping, and reinforcing our society’s standards. The messages we receive from the media, whether we are consciously aware of it or not, are helping to maintain many systems of structural inequality. Although the role of women in the 21st century has evolved to become more independent and active outside the household, the media still displays a false sense of equality amongst the sexes. Feminists have made progress across many fields to ensure women are getting the support and empowerment they deserve, but there are still many issues of women’s representation in the media that society fails to speak out against,

On any given day, you will see these messages transmitted through television, movies, and advertisements, displayed anywhere from magazines to billboards. The rise in popularity of social media and the internet now allows us unlimited access to millions of pictures and videos, so it’s even easier for the media to be constantly integrated in our lives. Especially for women, the standards of how each gender is supposed to look and behave endanger the development of a positive body image, having a secure place in society, and free expression of sexuality. While many people are disillusioned to believe that feminism can’t change how women are portrayed in the media, feminists want a woman’s image to be held to a higher respect, and to allow them to feel free from the restraints and judgements of the

From what we witness, being beautiful is only meaningful if a woman also has the capacity to be sexualized. As seen in advertisements, like Carl’s Jr., beautiful women will be used solely as decorative objects to the main product being sold (Hatch, 3/15/2018). This isn’t meant to empower women as sexual beings, but is done solely for the pleasure and enticement of the male audience. The patriarchy holds the power, which provides men with control over the general content shown in the media. Since they believe they hold the authority to objectify women in advertisements, and get satisfaction out of doing so, then they feel they can continue to objectify them. With the idea that “sex sells”, there’s endless products that can feature a sexy woman presenting it, even when the product has itself isn’t sexy. Men are starting to get the same treatment from the beauty industry, and feel pressured to look a certain way from how they are projected in advertisements. However, they are pushed to become big, strong, and muscular in order to take up more space. Women’s standards are to look skinny, skeletal, and weak. They are supposed to be fragile, take up less space, and ultimately “disappear”, which are two completely different expectations (Valenti, 2014, pg. 217). Men hold power over how they display themselves in the