As a black woman, I face stereotypes that are associated with the color of my skin and my gender, but I also have my share of privileges. I am able-bodied and can take care of myself without assistance from any outside sources, I have had the privilege to have traveled to three different continents, and I have also been able to further my education by attending graduate school. Despite the few privileges that I have mentioned, there are still forms of oppression that I continue to deal with today. The color of my skin is often seen as a symbol for being poor, uneducated, and in poor health. Being a woman also has its share of issues as well; I am expected to adhere to various social and media constructs that pertain to the structure of flawless femininity and body image. This is where my interest lies; women everywhere are pressured and negatively affected by the various constructs that they see through media representations and by what they learn through social experiences. In other words, most, if not all women, regardless of their racial background are constantly oppressed by what is expected of them socially and physically as a result of how they are represented in the media and how they are viewed in society.
The media and society place high, and often degrading, expectations on women, and while women of color often face some unique stereotypes based on their race, there are themes that remain constant, regardless of racial identity. Brenna Coleman, who is the author of the article “Media Portrayal of Women” mentions that “female stereotypes in the media tend to undervalue women as a whole, and diminish them to sexual objects and passive human beings” (para. 2). According to Maggie Wright, who wrote a short article about how the media serves as a base for spreading stereotypes about women, “younger females feel inadequate, and older females fear aging because of what is portrayed in the media. For women, perfection is not only very desirable, but also extremely unattainable” (para. 1). In society, women are expected to be the subordinate gender as it has been shown through various social and media contexts throughout history. Men are portrayed as the ones with the dominant and ‘adventurous’ traits and roles. Women on the other hand were and are expected to be the ‘sexy housewives’ and ‘passive dolls’ within society.
I think that it is important for women to not be negatively impacted by the internalized oppression that they receive from the media or through societal expectations. I think that women could learn to adopt a more positive outlook toward the media and toward social experiences that may encourage them to think about themselves in a positive manner within a background of negative stereotypes and degrading expectations and they could form a more positive mindset that does not involve oppression through expectation. Overall, what I would like to know from all of you is this: How do you feel about how women are portrayed in the media? What about the expectations that are placed on them from society? Have any of you found resources (websites, books, articles, etc.) that have helped you to maintain a positive attitude with yourself within the negative media and social environments?
What do you think?
Coleman, B. (2010, Jan 15). Media portrayal of women. Retrieved from http://suite101.com/article/media-portrayal-of-women-a189870
Wright, M. (2005, Feb 16). Stereotypes of women are widespread in media and society. Retrieved from http://www.quchronicle.com/2005/02/stereotypes-of-women-are-widespread-in-media-and-society
Author Bio: My name is Jasmine Fuller. I am a graduate student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. I am majoring in Sociology. I would like to apply my area of study to the real world by doing some form of research. I would also really like to apply my area of study to the institution of the family, particularly how cultural factors shape families and how alternate family forms affect the overall stability of the family.
Comments
How Women are portrayed in the media.
Women are portrayed in mass media as objects, not people. Men's magazines are often covered with glossy pictures of barely dressed women who are usually in very provocative poses. Additionally, magazines that target a female audience also portray similar photographs. You do not have to look beyond the front cover of these magazines to see that the content is filled with how to lose weight, have sexy abs, how to make a man happy in bed, the best clothes for your body type, etc.. What message does this type of media send to ourselves and our society? Women's primary value as a human seems to be reduced to the shell that is our body and never about what is on the inside.
I am a mother to a preteen girl. My daughter began to make comments about her weight and size a couple of years ago which I found frightening and appalling. I had no idea that I would have to start having conversations about body image with my child at such a young age. I have overheard my daughter and her friends make comments about the fat and calories in food choices they are considering. In my opinion television and the web send equally degrading and oppressive messages. If our children are starting to think critically of themselves at such a young age how skewed is their sense of value as women must be by the time they reach young adulthood? Too much emphasis is placed on how we look. Young girls and women are being sexualized at an alarmingly early age which I believe can have long term consequences on their developing self-esteem.
As women we need to teach our children, both female and males that are primary value comes from being the best person that you can be as opposed to how you look. The image of women portrayed in media is completely unattainable for real people. We need to make our children aware that these images are air brushed and are the product of teams of people working behind the scenes. Weight should be about health, not about numbers on a scale or pictures that we see. As society we need to demand that media use images of real people and that they do not need to sexualize everything to sell a product.
Negative Portrayals
I watched a video last semester which showed clips of ad campaigns portraying women in demeaning, submissive, promiscuous positions. If they were in an ad with a man, the man was always standing over them. There was even an image of a woman on the stairs upside down with her skirt hiked up, bleeding from her mouth, as if she had been left there to die; It was a shoe ad.It is difficult to open a magazine without seeing unatainable bodies and "who wore it best". I remember there was a huge uproar in media attention on Jessica Simpson for gaining weight during her pregnancy. There is so much pressure to be perfect. I remember as a teen looking at these images, hoping and praying that I could look like them. Eating disorders have become normal for teens because every ad out there shows abnormally skinny girls; anything else is portrayed as ugly. I am now an adult and am not swayed as heavily as I was as an impressionable teen, but I still look at those images of Hollywood stars my age and I am jealous of their bodies. I still feel overweight and ugly at times because I do not live up to the Hollywood standards. It is sad that models keep getting thinner and our beauty standards continue to become more out of reach each issue posted. In a society so obsessed with health, I am surprised media is doing so much to contribute to the unhealth of young minds and bodies due to the portrayal of unattainable beauty.
Unrealistic Expectations of Women
I just read an article, "Opression" by Marilyn Frye, and it used a really good example to describe the oppression that women face. Frye says that being oppressed is like being trapped in a bird cage. Everytime you try to get out of the bird cage, you run into another wire. You can't escape because you are trapped in from every angle. There are so many expectations that women are expected to adhere to, but the standard isn't always clear. For example, in order to survive in corporate America, women need to behave like men in order to fit in. They are told that women make decisions based on emotion, but you are supposed to make decisions based on logic (like men do). However, when women begin acting too much like men they are criticized for being cold and emotionless. I remember seeing this when Hilary Clinton was running for the democratic nomination. Also, when it comes to body image, girls strive to look like the models we see in magazines, but if a girl is too skinny, people say she is anorexic, and if she is heavy, she is considered lazy and she doesn't have any self control with food. In both of these situations there isn't a middle ground. Women are set-up to fail. Growing up I was lucky enough to have a program called Intercept. It was a group for girls, and it taught us to have a positive self-image. We talked about different pressures that girls are faced with such as body image, bullying and sex. I believe that programms like this are very beneficial. Young girls need to have good self-esteem while growing up. Having good self-esteem helps you to deal with problems that you face everyday, and you learn that all you need is to be happy with yourself and not worry about what others think. I know it always easier said than done, but if you take it day by day and step by step, you wake up one day and realize that it wasn't as hard as you thought it was before.
Women in the Media
Women are portrayed in the media as thin, beautiful, and that they are these things effortlessly. They are shown half naked, they are shown wanting men. The biggest thing for me is that women in the media are skinny. No natural woman is that thin. This created unrealistic expectations from society. No wonder so many women have eating disorders and are affected by depression. Our society creates unrealistic stereotypes that we are supposed to fit into. Walking around campus I see women of every shape and size. With every skin tone and complexion. Yet many of these are not seen in the media. Normal women don't have dieticians and personal trainers. And they definitely don't have someone following them around with an airbrush to fine tune any imperfections. The media needs to show America real women, women that don't have time to spend at the gym everyday because they are single mothers, or full time students with full time jobs. It is impractical for women to be set to such high standards that are sometimes unachievable.
women in the media
I feel that because of the media's influence on how women should look or act, it can be very hard to try to break that cycle. I do not really understand why beauty is perceived as being thin and having exotic features. My question is how did this perception of women started in the first place? What really constitutes as beautiful? In my opinion the only kind of beauty that should matter is inner beauty, yet society continues to judge a person based on their outside appearance. I think the only thing that we can do as women is to try to raise awareness about the false impressions that the media portrays.
women in the media
I feel that because of the media's influence on how women should look or act, it can be very hard to try to break that cycle. I do not really understand why beauty is perceived as being thin and having exotic features. My question is how did this perception of women started in the first place? What really constitutes as beautiful? In my opinion the only kind of beauty that should matter is inner beauty, yet society continues to judge a person based on their outside appearance. I think the only thing that we can do as women is to try to raise awareness about the false impressions that the media portrays.