Gender roles in mass media
Abstract
This paper explores the influence of mass media in how society sees other people with differences in race, belief, and especially gender. Mass media has a bigger impact than what most people think; it has the capability to influence and create culture. The images or ideologies shown in mass media directly influence in the way how people perceive these images in real life. The differences in the ways each gender is portrayed results in different expectations towards each gender. Gender stereotypes in mass media are unfair for women. Stereotypes are most likely suggestions for men while expectations for women. These differences depicted in mass media influence people from an early age, and many times this results in problems reflected at a later age.
Mass media, which includes television, radio, broadcasts, Internet, advertising, newspapers, etc., is a significant force in modern culture that reaches a large audience. It has the ability to influence, reflect, and create culture. Modern society is bombarded with different types of messages through different sources such as billboards, magazines, and Internet, which promote products while defining moods, attitudes, and what is important and what is not. By creating a certain type of information or image, the media can manipulate people´s opinions and thoughts. In modern society, mass media has created stereotypes to define gender roles which are reflected in people´s lives and often result in negative consequences such as inequality for women, high level of expectation towards women, low self-appreciation and over simplified stereotypes.
In the past, the dominant model of a family was patriarchy. The men were seen as the provider for the family, while the women were in charge of taking care of the family and house. Times have changed, and today the common model of a family consists of partnership rather than patriarchy, where men and women have equal opportunities and the differences of gender roles are not so vast anymore. However, mass media still reflects gender stereotypes which, according to Wolska (2011), are based on the assumption that `` they are well known to everyone and help the receivers to understand the content of the message´´ (para. 8).
In today´s commercials women are targeted in most of the television commercials because they are expected to make the everyday purchases. While men are shown with cigarettes, cars, and beer, women are shown buying groceries, cosmetics and housework essentials. Men are always shown outdoors, in bars, restaurants, parties, football games, or work, while women are usually shown in a home environment. According to Wolska (2011), ´´The female stereotype in television is presented in several variants´´ (para. 5) the most popular is a mother having a hard time to complete the house work, such as cooking something that the entire family likes, finding the perfect soap for washing the family clothes, or finding the most effective products for the cleaning of the house. Another popular stereotype is where women are portrayed as objects of desire or images of beauty. This is generally targeted at men. In this type of commercial, products are promoted through the use of women´s bodies, which provoke erotism and desire in men. When targeted at women, this type of commercial promotes beauty products such as cosmetics and shampoos. In these situations, a woman´s major concern is to preserve her beauty. They usually live healthy lives, have thin bodies, are physically active and have every guy’s attention. For women, these are more expectations rather than suggestions.
On the other side, the male stereotype portrays the attitudes that a man should have to be considered a ´´real man´´. Men are shown as athletic, professional, successful and surrounded by beautiful women. The message is that if they want to be like the man portrayed on television, they should buy that specific product. Also, males are portrayed doing outdoor activities with company, such as going to a football game or a pub with friends, having a good time outside the house. In most of the cases, advertisement, targeted at men are suggestions rather than expectations. The less popular advertisement are the ones in which men are shown with the family or cleaning the house. Wolska (2011) describes it as ´´a satirical image´´ (para. 6) where men are shown as experts giving advice to women.
The way in how they are portrayed is not the only inequality that women face in mass media. In a study title “Content Analysis of Gender Roles in Media” by Rebecca Collins, she found that `` that the disparity in portrayals of males and females has persisted over decades, during which the roles of women in society have broadly expanded´´ (Collins, 2011, p. 292) which means that women are underrepresented in mass media. In the past, the ratio of female primary characters in primetime television was 1 per every 2.5 males. However, producers argued that according to the Department of labor of the U. S. there were only 1 female per every 2.5 males working in the paid labor force. (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics 2000). However, recent studies show that the actual ratio is 1 female per 1.2 males (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009) but according to Collins (2011) ´´ women represent 38% of the major characters appearing popular primetime television programs. Male sources appear almost three times more often than female sources in newspaper and nearly twice as often in local television news coverage of a variety of topics. In music videos, male characters outnumber females by a ratio of 3 to 1 and the ratio of males to females in top-grossing G-rated films is 2.57 to 1.´´ (p. 292). This shows that today many people are exposed to an idea of gender roles very similar to the 1950s where women are still seen as less.
The way in how women are portrayed in mass media may not seem as a big issue. That is why it is so dangerous. People do not realize that there are differences between gender roles in mass media. It starts with the youngest generations, who unconsciously take it to their grown up lives. Collin describes the consequences of underrepresentation as ``young girls do not see themselves reflected in media… this diminish their sense of importance and self-esteem. Boys conclude that women and girls are unimportant as well and girls lack role models`` (Collins, 2011, p. 293). The little representation of the women´s image causes boys to see woman as an object of desire or as a maid, while young girls get the idea that they have to marry, have children, and please men in every possible way. This reflects into their lives as they grow up. A study performed by faculty of the Department of Communication Studies at the Rovira i Vigili University titled Advertising Stereotypes and Gender Representation in Social Networking Site obtained evidence that young people in social networks ´´seek to strike flashy, attention-seeking poses, and to that end, the gendered they make of themselves tend to be modeled on those they find in advertising and in other audiovisual formats, whose gender stereotypes they often adapt and reproduce.´´(Tortajada, Arandua, & Martinez, 2013, p. 178) Meaning that as they get into the adolescent phase before completely becoming adults, young people already reflect on themselves the ideas of what they see on television. They create pages where they portray themselves as how they perceive themselves and how they want others to perceive them. The results showed that ´´Boys highlight their muscles and their body's potential for action, whereas girls seem to be making a show of themselves to pleasure the male gaze or to pleasure them selves`` (Tortajada, Arandua, & Martinez, 2013, p. 178). This shows that their ways of expression are representations of classical mass media stereotypes where men show themselves as strong and powerful and women try to emphasize their attractiveness to be approved by men.
One may think that this is a problem that happens only in the United States because it is the country that produces most media, a perfect examples would be Hollywood which is the home of entertainment industry. People would think that in developed countries the presence of stereotypes in decreasing, but a study on performed by professors of the Universidade Lusófona claim that ´´ a longitudinal analysis shows us that there is no change of the gender stereotyping in TV´ ´claim that (Pereira, Verissimo, Diaz & Correia, 2013, p. 276). Stereotypes are present in every place where media reaches because corporations uses them to sell more products. However, these stereotypes change through out every nation. The authors of this study made a comparison between Portugal and Spain and found that the stereotypes are different because each country represents a different cultural reality. ´In Portugal we identified more inequalities between social classes, between people and power figures. Spain tends to be more individualist… Portuguese people tend to be more collectivist… Spanish men tend to be more assertive and competitive than Portuguese men´´ (Pereira, Verissimo, Diaz & Correia, 2013, p. 279). These differences are reflections from the stereotype of gender roles in each country, in this case Spain´s stereotype of male would be more appealing to masculinity.
In order to live in a society with equal opportunities for everybody disregarding their sex, race or beliefs, it is important to avoid any kind of stereotype and understand that the gender roles portrayed in mass media are nothing else than advertisements. As stated in Refusing the Stereotype `` building media literacy skills in young people is crucial, as they construct a sense of self within a social milieu´´. (Berman & White, 2013, p. 38). It may be very hard or almost impossible to ban or avoid gender stereotypes in mass media, but what we can do is to educate ourselves and others to understand the difference between mass media and reality. We should educate society, starting with younger generations, to see themselves as equal and worthy as anybody else. Once we understand the danger behind stereotypes we can work against them to create a society defined by the people rather than people defined by society.
It is important to understand the power of mass media to influence society. The images and ideologies that it can create can be as dangerous as helpful for the audience. Gender roles are some of the most used strategies to set standards and create necessities to promote and sell a product. The way in how women are portrayed in mass media results in inequality and impossible expectations. In order to eliminate gender stereotypes in real life and have equal expectations and opportunities disregarding gender, race or belief, it is necessary to educate ourselves and build media literacy skills to understand the difference between real life and advertising.
References
Berman, N., & White, A. (2013). Refusing the stereotype. Youth Studies Australia,
32(4), 38-47.
Collins, R. (2011). Content Analysis of Gender Roles in Media: Where Are We Now and
Where Should We Go?. Sex Roles, 64(3/4), 290-298. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9929-5
Costa Pereira, F., Verissimo, J., Castillo Diaz, A., & Correia, R. (2013). Gender
Stereotyping, Sex and Violence in Portuguese and Spanish Advertisement. Comunicação E Sociedade, 23274-292.
Tortajada, I., Araüna, N., & Martínez, I. J. (2013). Advertising Stereotypes and Gender
Representation in Social Networking Sites. Comunicar, 21(41), 177-186. doi:10.3916/C41-2013-17
U.S. Department of Labor. (2000). Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Wolska, Malgorzata. (2011). Gender stereotypes in mass media. Case study: Analysis of
the gender stereotyping phenomenon in TV commercials. Retrieved from http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/
This paper explores the influence of mass media in how society sees other people with differences in race, belief, and especially gender. Mass media has a bigger impact than what most people think; it has the capability to influence and create culture. The images or ideologies shown in mass media directly influence in the way how people perceive these images in real life. The differences in the ways each gender is portrayed results in different expectations towards each gender. Gender stereotypes in mass media are unfair for women. Stereotypes are most likely suggestions for men while expectations for women. These differences depicted in mass media influence people from an early age, and many times this results in problems reflected at a later age.
Mass media, which includes television, radio, broadcasts, Internet, advertising, newspapers, etc., is a significant force in modern culture that reaches a large audience. It has the ability to influence, reflect, and create culture. Modern society is bombarded with different types of messages through different sources such as billboards, magazines, and Internet, which promote products while defining moods, attitudes, and what is important and what is not. By creating a certain type of information or image, the media can manipulate people´s opinions and thoughts. In modern society, mass media has created stereotypes to define gender roles which are reflected in people´s lives and often result in negative consequences such as inequality for women, high level of expectation towards women, low self-appreciation and over simplified stereotypes.
In the past, the dominant model of a family was patriarchy. The men were seen as the provider for the family, while the women were in charge of taking care of the family and house. Times have changed, and today the common model of a family consists of partnership rather than patriarchy, where men and women have equal opportunities and the differences of gender roles are not so vast anymore. However, mass media still reflects gender stereotypes which, according to Wolska (2011), are based on the assumption that `` they are well known to everyone and help the receivers to understand the content of the message´´ (para. 8).
In today´s commercials women are targeted in most of the television commercials because they are expected to make the everyday purchases. While men are shown with cigarettes, cars, and beer, women are shown buying groceries, cosmetics and housework essentials. Men are always shown outdoors, in bars, restaurants, parties, football games, or work, while women are usually shown in a home environment. According to Wolska (2011), ´´The female stereotype in television is presented in several variants´´ (para. 5) the most popular is a mother having a hard time to complete the house work, such as cooking something that the entire family likes, finding the perfect soap for washing the family clothes, or finding the most effective products for the cleaning of the house. Another popular stereotype is where women are portrayed as objects of desire or images of beauty. This is generally targeted at men. In this type of commercial, products are promoted through the use of women´s bodies, which provoke erotism and desire in men. When targeted at women, this type of commercial promotes beauty products such as cosmetics and shampoos. In these situations, a woman´s major concern is to preserve her beauty. They usually live healthy lives, have thin bodies, are physically active and have every guy’s attention. For women, these are more expectations rather than suggestions.
On the other side, the male stereotype portrays the attitudes that a man should have to be considered a ´´real man´´. Men are shown as athletic, professional, successful and surrounded by beautiful women. The message is that if they want to be like the man portrayed on television, they should buy that specific product. Also, males are portrayed doing outdoor activities with company, such as going to a football game or a pub with friends, having a good time outside the house. In most of the cases, advertisement, targeted at men are suggestions rather than expectations. The less popular advertisement are the ones in which men are shown with the family or cleaning the house. Wolska (2011) describes it as ´´a satirical image´´ (para. 6) where men are shown as experts giving advice to women.
The way in how they are portrayed is not the only inequality that women face in mass media. In a study title “Content Analysis of Gender Roles in Media” by Rebecca Collins, she found that `` that the disparity in portrayals of males and females has persisted over decades, during which the roles of women in society have broadly expanded´´ (Collins, 2011, p. 292) which means that women are underrepresented in mass media. In the past, the ratio of female primary characters in primetime television was 1 per every 2.5 males. However, producers argued that according to the Department of labor of the U. S. there were only 1 female per every 2.5 males working in the paid labor force. (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics 2000). However, recent studies show that the actual ratio is 1 female per 1.2 males (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009) but according to Collins (2011) ´´ women represent 38% of the major characters appearing popular primetime television programs. Male sources appear almost three times more often than female sources in newspaper and nearly twice as often in local television news coverage of a variety of topics. In music videos, male characters outnumber females by a ratio of 3 to 1 and the ratio of males to females in top-grossing G-rated films is 2.57 to 1.´´ (p. 292). This shows that today many people are exposed to an idea of gender roles very similar to the 1950s where women are still seen as less.
The way in how women are portrayed in mass media may not seem as a big issue. That is why it is so dangerous. People do not realize that there are differences between gender roles in mass media. It starts with the youngest generations, who unconsciously take it to their grown up lives. Collin describes the consequences of underrepresentation as ``young girls do not see themselves reflected in media… this diminish their sense of importance and self-esteem. Boys conclude that women and girls are unimportant as well and girls lack role models`` (Collins, 2011, p. 293). The little representation of the women´s image causes boys to see woman as an object of desire or as a maid, while young girls get the idea that they have to marry, have children, and please men in every possible way. This reflects into their lives as they grow up. A study performed by faculty of the Department of Communication Studies at the Rovira i Vigili University titled Advertising Stereotypes and Gender Representation in Social Networking Site obtained evidence that young people in social networks ´´seek to strike flashy, attention-seeking poses, and to that end, the gendered they make of themselves tend to be modeled on those they find in advertising and in other audiovisual formats, whose gender stereotypes they often adapt and reproduce.´´(Tortajada, Arandua, & Martinez, 2013, p. 178) Meaning that as they get into the adolescent phase before completely becoming adults, young people already reflect on themselves the ideas of what they see on television. They create pages where they portray themselves as how they perceive themselves and how they want others to perceive them. The results showed that ´´Boys highlight their muscles and their body's potential for action, whereas girls seem to be making a show of themselves to pleasure the male gaze or to pleasure them selves`` (Tortajada, Arandua, & Martinez, 2013, p. 178). This shows that their ways of expression are representations of classical mass media stereotypes where men show themselves as strong and powerful and women try to emphasize their attractiveness to be approved by men.
One may think that this is a problem that happens only in the United States because it is the country that produces most media, a perfect examples would be Hollywood which is the home of entertainment industry. People would think that in developed countries the presence of stereotypes in decreasing, but a study on performed by professors of the Universidade Lusófona claim that ´´ a longitudinal analysis shows us that there is no change of the gender stereotyping in TV´ ´claim that (Pereira, Verissimo, Diaz & Correia, 2013, p. 276). Stereotypes are present in every place where media reaches because corporations uses them to sell more products. However, these stereotypes change through out every nation. The authors of this study made a comparison between Portugal and Spain and found that the stereotypes are different because each country represents a different cultural reality. ´In Portugal we identified more inequalities between social classes, between people and power figures. Spain tends to be more individualist… Portuguese people tend to be more collectivist… Spanish men tend to be more assertive and competitive than Portuguese men´´ (Pereira, Verissimo, Diaz & Correia, 2013, p. 279). These differences are reflections from the stereotype of gender roles in each country, in this case Spain´s stereotype of male would be more appealing to masculinity.
In order to live in a society with equal opportunities for everybody disregarding their sex, race or beliefs, it is important to avoid any kind of stereotype and understand that the gender roles portrayed in mass media are nothing else than advertisements. As stated in Refusing the Stereotype `` building media literacy skills in young people is crucial, as they construct a sense of self within a social milieu´´. (Berman & White, 2013, p. 38). It may be very hard or almost impossible to ban or avoid gender stereotypes in mass media, but what we can do is to educate ourselves and others to understand the difference between mass media and reality. We should educate society, starting with younger generations, to see themselves as equal and worthy as anybody else. Once we understand the danger behind stereotypes we can work against them to create a society defined by the people rather than people defined by society.
It is important to understand the power of mass media to influence society. The images and ideologies that it can create can be as dangerous as helpful for the audience. Gender roles are some of the most used strategies to set standards and create necessities to promote and sell a product. The way in how women are portrayed in mass media results in inequality and impossible expectations. In order to eliminate gender stereotypes in real life and have equal expectations and opportunities disregarding gender, race or belief, it is necessary to educate ourselves and build media literacy skills to understand the difference between real life and advertising.
References
Berman, N., & White, A. (2013). Refusing the stereotype. Youth Studies Australia,
32(4), 38-47.
Collins, R. (2011). Content Analysis of Gender Roles in Media: Where Are We Now and
Where Should We Go?. Sex Roles, 64(3/4), 290-298. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9929-5
Costa Pereira, F., Verissimo, J., Castillo Diaz, A., & Correia, R. (2013). Gender
Stereotyping, Sex and Violence in Portuguese and Spanish Advertisement. Comunicação E Sociedade, 23274-292.
Tortajada, I., Araüna, N., & Martínez, I. J. (2013). Advertising Stereotypes and Gender
Representation in Social Networking Sites. Comunicar, 21(41), 177-186. doi:10.3916/C41-2013-17
U.S. Department of Labor. (2000). Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Wolska, Malgorzata. (2011). Gender stereotypes in mass media. Case study: Analysis of
the gender stereotyping phenomenon in TV commercials. Retrieved from http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/