Women and Media Stereotypes

Women and Media Stereotypes

Media often show people in overly simple way, giving them audience an inaccurate idea of what and how a person should behave in according to their gender, this is called gender stereotypes. Gender, according to John J. Macionis in his Eleventh edition book of Sociology, he stated that gender refers to the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male. This will bring about gender stereotypes within the society itself. Gender stereotypes present a conventionally standardized conception or image concerning the typical social roles of male and female in both domestically and socially or beliefs that are held about an individual characteristic and social behavior that are deemed as appropriate to ones gender. This will evoke inequality between the two gender, male and female. According to John J. Macionis in his Eleventh edition book of Sociology, he stated that gender inequality is the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and priviledge between man and women. Worldwide, females are generally lower in status and power, relative to males. This may be called gender stratification, although it is sometimes referred to as gender inequality, sexism, patriarchy, and female disadvantage (Chafetz, 1990) . 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...

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... 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. Nonetheless, media had also make women hurt themselves just to be as almost the same as in the images portrayed in media by putting themselves under the knife and risk their valuable life. Women should not be obsessed by beauty because beauty will sooner or later fade away. It is something inevitable and getting older is just another phase of life that we cannot run away from. People should be aware of stereotypes of women in media because it will bring about inequality on women basically.