Women in the Media

The mass media represent women both positively and negatively. Although women are all different depending on religion, age or even build, the media have a stereotypical idea of the “perfect woman”. They express this all over the media industry, typically aiming at celebrities because they are the people that the population look up to and admire. The media have a big influence over the public therefore they have an impact on their views and opinions because they have the power to choose what to publish across the nation.

Even though this is still an issue today, the representations of women in the mass media have changed greatly in the past twenty years. However, I think that quality still does not exist between men and women.

The mass media includes television, radio, the internet, video games and print media like newspapers and magazines. Slowly, the media have started to change how women are portrayed. They are now commonly used as sex objects in adverts, video games, newspapers and magazines. This stereotypical image has been created by television programmes such as ‘The Bachelor’. The programme contains several women competing for the attention of one man, and often using their sexuality or body to achieve this goal. Another example of this observation is magazine adverts for products like perfumes. These are advertised by displaying a half-naked female body in the foreground using dominant contrast therefore it stands out. The product is sometimes not the most eye catching point to an advertisement even though it is the unique-selling-point and star profile.

Women are represented and seen in different ways and roles within the media. These include positive and negative ways.

Video games are a large cause of how women are seen negatively in the media. This is because the female characters are typically dressed inappropriately and highly sexualised. 38% of female characters are wearing revealing clothing on games such as ‘Grand Theft Auto’.

Women are often seen as “sex objects” in the media industry. This is usually seen in print media, for instance, newspapers and magazines. They are portrayed in this way in order to sell a media product that has a male target audience therefore it would appeal to them and persuade them to buy the product. This shows that exploitations of women’s bodies sell products or magazines in this case.

Another negative point of how they are portrayed is in television, film and also real-life. This is how women are seen in a household and family life. The media represent them completing the same domestic jobs around the house like cooking, cleaning and looking after the children. On the other hand, men in the past were often seen as the more dominant person in the family, relationship and frequently many diverse situations too. This is still a problem today, however not as much as in the past.

In terms of the mass media, women were often typically seen less often than men on television, and even less in main roles. Women on television were seen to be less powerful than men and it was the other way around, it would be seen to be unnatural. An advertisement such as ‘Fairy Liquid’ is a popular example to show how women were perceived in the media in the early to mid-1900s.

The media can have an impact from a young age. Some girls get the message from a relatively young age that the most important thing is how you look, and that their value and worth depends on this. Young girls would get this from all types of media but also celebrities too. Children look up to many people when growing up and it’s common that some look up to models as they are the media’s idea of the “perfect woman”. By growing up with thousands of women of this nature, girls might think it is normal or compulsory to be underweight and covered in make-up.

Now-a-days, this is not as much as an issue. This is because the media also recognise successful and independent women that are of a completely different nature to the ‘model’ look.

Despite the negative stereotypes found in the mass media, there are also positive examples of intelligent and independent females. Examples of these are found in television. Lisa Simpson is a great illustration of this theory because she is seen as a brainy and gifted child as she is good at everything she does and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Another example of a TV character that has a positive reflect on how females are portrayed in the media is Dora the explorer. She is a fictional cartoon character who appeals to children as she features as the star profile in a television programme. She is seen to be adventurous and daring, different to how the media would portray a character of this sort in the past.

In recent years, female roles and generally females involved in the media industry have become stronger, confident and more independent. Examples of this are again in the television industry. TV programmes such as ‘Desperate Housewives’ have all female main characters and they are each exposed with unique and confident personalities and characteristics.

Laws & Legislations

Press Complaints Commission (PCC)The press complaints commission is a self-governing organisation

which controls the system of self-regulation for the press. The organisation deals with complaints about content of newspapers and magazines and the behaviour and conduct of journalists. The PCC protects the rights of individuals whilst also preserving suitable freedom of expression for the press. In terms of how females are portrayed in the media, complaints have been made to the PPC. An example of this is celebrity Holly Willoughby, who complained over ‘fake up skirt’ photo. The presenter stated: “I was outraged to discover that I was the victim of this misleading trick by the Sunday Sport, which I know it used on many other women such as myself. I have instructed my lawyers to take firm action against the paper." A spokesman for the PCC confirmed it had a complaint from Willoughby under clauses 1 and 3 of the editors code of practice that relate to accuracy and privacy.