10 Things: Gender Stereotypes in the Media

10 Things

Gender Stereotypes in the Media

1

Introduction

2

Targeted Advertising

3

We Learn Young

5

The Perfect Body

6

The Market for Self Improvement

8

Men and Magazines

11

Women and Magazines

12

Video Games

13

Popular Cinema

14

Food Advertising

15

Music Video’s

16

Conclusion

19

Citations

Introduction People organize their knowledge about the world around them by sorting and simplifying received information. Therefore, they create cognitive schemes, which are certain representations of the reality displaying its most typical and fundamental elements and properties.

These schemes are responsible for defining the essence of our worldview and have a significant influence on social cognition – understanding, anticipation, situation and emotion control.

One of the most important types of schemes used for orientation in the social environment are the stereotypes, representing the opinions among members of a certain group about the other groups. They are internalized during the socialization. They can be a result of our own observations or be adopted from the influence of the significant others, such as family, friends, teachers and media. Because of many simplifications and generalizations that they produce, stereotypes present incomplete, subjective and sometimes false image of the reality.

They are often based on tradition and are resistant to change. Although they can both have positive and negative undertone, the latter is much more common.

Difficulties in differentiating gender roles in the modern societies can be a perfect example of the negative social effects of using stereotypes.

A division of gender roles is deeply rooted in the social archetypes. In the past, the patriarchy was a dominant family model. Through the ages men have been considered to be financial providers, career-focused, assertive and independent, whereas women have been shown as low-position workers, loving wives and mothers, responsible for raising children and doing housework. Nowadays a family model is based rather on a partnership than on patriarchy and women have more rights and possibilities on the labor market. Feminist environment had a significant impact on the change in this situation. Women’s liberation movement fought for the rights of women and for redefining traditional gender roles. They claimed, that there should be no distinction between typical masculine and feminine occupations, and that traits of character should not be ascribed once and for all to one gender.

Although females and males are still not equal, the differences between gender are not so vast anymore. Nevertheless, many social institutions, such as mass media, still use gender stereotypes, basing on the assumption, that they are well known to everyone and help the receivers to understand the content of the message.

Targeted Advertising Targeted advertising is a type of advertising designed to reach certain consumers. Targeted ads have been used successfully for decades and are often touted as the most effective way for businesses to reach potential customers. The underlying principle behind this type of advertising is that it is more cost-effective to advertise specifically to the individuals who are most likely to buy a product or service.

There are two main categories of targeted advertising: demographic-based advertising and content-based advertising.

Demographic-based advertising is designed to reach a certain category of consumers based on shared traits, such as age or gender. Content-based targeted advertising is generally more tightly directed at consumers with specific interests.

Demographic-based targeted advertising relies heavily on the assumption that certain groups of individuals are, as a whole, more likely to buy certain types of products. For example, even though female hunters exist, hunting is viewed to be a primarily male-oriented hobby. It makes more financial sense to direct ads at males as they compose the majority of the hunting audience.

Changes in societal behavior as a whole have made demographic targeting less effective. Geographical demographic predictability is beginning to crumble as communication and information become universally available through the Internet.

The traditional model of a stay-at-home wife and a husband with a 9-to-5 job is commonly seen as antiquated. Improved health care and longer life expectancies have even made age-based demographics more unreliable. In short, finding a “typical� member of any gender, age, or geographic group is becoming more difficult.

We Learn Young Why is a transformer considered to be a boy toy and a care bear automatically a girls toy? The answer is gender stereotyping.

When children are watching their shows on T.V, they view a lot of advertisements. The majority of these commercials depict children in stereotypical representations. They are presented in “traditional roles” such as cooking and playing house. They are also shown playing with dolls, makeup and fretting over being beautiful and popular.

Girls in advertisements are portrayed as being cooperative, passive, non-aggressive, and less competitive. Boys are shown in many advertisements seeking speed, power, and physical strength. The aggressive power shown in commercials is exclusively limited to those targeting males, and these types of ads usually show boys as being more independent than girls. Often, commercials targeting boys feature sports, racing cars, or action figures with carefully chiseled abs.

Girls train subconsciously and unconsciously to wear the color pink in order to look feminine, but pink was actually once a color associated with masculinity because it was considered to be a watered down red and held the power of that color.

The change to pink for girls and blue for boys happened in America and elsewhere only after World War II, and in 1914 an American newspaper called the Sunday Sentinel advised mothers to “use pink for the girl and blue for the boy if you are a follower of convention.” Because of the effects of advertising on consumer preferences, today these color customs are a worldwide standard. “One argument for this occurrence is that peers and parents are more likely to reward children when they imitate same-sex models.

The Perfect Body The media presentation of the celebrity body has a single unifying thread, regardless of the specific job title of a given celebrity. Celebrity bodies are desired, both subjectively and objectively. The media, without question, shapes this public response. It can be argued (and has been, on many occasions) that, because the media portrays celebrities’ bodies as attractive, desirable, and “good,” they become national symbols of these characteristics.

Conversely, bodies that do not meet this lofty goal frequently are, consciously or unconsciously, regarded as “bad” or ugly.

Consider the most recent (and extremely popular) advertising tack used by Subway, the national fast food sandwich chain. “Jared,” the protagonist of the recent slew of television commercials, allegedly lost hundreds of pounds while on a diet consisting primarily of the chain’s fare. Jared’s “before” pictures show him considerably larger than his current size, but they also show him alone, with no friends or family.

In stark contrast, however, his “after” action shots consistently show him not only thinner, but also constantly in the presence of a beautiful woman, presumably his significant other.

The advertising message is clear: fat=bad, ugly, unhappy and alone, thin=happy and with attractive partner. Through these commercials, Jared has assumed celebrity status, solely on the basis that his body has changed to approximate more closely the current standard of attractiveness.

Sadly, though, there is a severe disconnect between the male and female body types lauded in the media and those of the public at large. A shockingly small minority of the population has the genetic dispensation to match with what the media purports to be attractive. For women, “desirable” physical characteristics (as they are portrayed in the media) include being thin, long-legged, slim-hipped, and large-breasted. The media-portrayed “desirable” physical characteristics for men include being muscular and possessing a full head of hair. Some characteristics are portrayed as desirable in both sexes, such as being tall, fit, athletic, young, and light-skinned.

The Market for Self Improvement In the gap between what is implicitly beautiful in the eyes of the media and the physical reality of the popular majority flourishes a market of self-improvement, products and services, ranging from hair dye and makeupto tanning salons, dieting, and plastic surgery. It seems as though nearly everyone,at some point in his or her life attempts to alter him or herself in a physical way, in order to conform more closely to the marketed “norm” of attractiveness and desirability. Television, magazines, and newspapers are filled with advertisements promoting self-loathing, while offering “miracle,” body-altering “cures.” The body that does not conform to a sexy, sleek stereotype becomes a thing to be hated, improved upon, and generally tortured into submission.

A portion of the damage caused by such a mentality is quantifiable, though observation of the huge profits accumulated yearly by various diet programs and plastic surgeons. The harm of this presentation of the human body can also be seen in our current societal epidemic of disordered eating, including anorexia, bulimia, over-exercising, excessive dieting, and over-anxiety over food. While the population subset living with and recovering from disordered eating is still predominately composed of women, the number of men with disordered and dangerous eating habitsis on the rise.

In addition to physical damage, intangible psychological harm results from body image problems to which the media contributes daily. When men and women are faced with the implication that their bodies, if they fail to conform to an impossibly stringent set of standards, are unattractive, unhealthy, and unlovable, they begin to lose confidence in themselves. The perception that a single, narrow range of body types is acceptable and healthy for men and women is not only in error, but contributes to widespread social discontent. Instead of celebrating the diversity and beauty of the human form, the media stifles our desire to feel comfortable with ourselves in an attempt to fool us into supporting a billion dollar self improvement market, from which the media garners tremendous financial benefits.

Men and Magazines Magazines are everywhere. They are proudly displayed in bookstores, gas stations, minimarts, and the most memorable place, the check out at grocery stores. They have always been one of the most influential forms of journalism, resonably withstanding even the pressures and easy access to Internet journalism. Magazines are full of useful information and juicy gossips, two things people apparently cannot live without. Some magazines also seem to be dictating unrealistic gender stereotypes, sending subliminal messages to both men and women.

The conclusion might be drawn that magazines are portraying men and women in a unrealistic terms, providing messages to men and women about how they should look, act, shop, etc.

Men’s Health is a magazine directed toward men and their health and is said to be “The Largest Men’s Magazine”. At first glance one can tell the magazine is all about losing weight and sex. The August 2008 issue is touted as a “Special Lose Your Gut Issue” as broadcast across the top of the magazine in large white letters.

On the cover is the good-looking Aaron Eckhart depicted in black and white. He looks relaxed yet he has a very strong face with no smile. Around his picture are the typical magazine headlines which include titles about getting a better body, flat stomachs, six packs, fast results and sex tips. The front cover seems to tell you in no uncertain terms that to be a man you have to have a six-pack and be stellar in the bedroom.

Throughout the magazine there are a variety of ads: some for insurance, sports vehicles, jewelry, cologne, body washes, and exercise equipment. The very end of the magazine includes a few pages of ads for sex toys and books about “hitting the right spots”. Particularly for the sexually oriented ads the women are nearly naked, with strategically placed hands or positioning against the good looking guy next to them. Throughout the rest of the magazine the picturing of women is similar. Women are seen in their underwear, almost-nothing swimsuits, or sexy, low cut, short dresses such as the wardrobe of the actresses on “Sex and the City”.

Similar to the depiction of men, the women do not seem to be overweight. The men are seen shirtless, buff and sweaty, wearing sports gear, or wearing a nice business suit. In all the ads the men have a nice hairstyle, a craggy face and are always depicted as doing something active. Besides portrait shots, there is only one other photo where a man is just posing sitting on a chair.

Everywhere else the men are swimming or running or working, etc. Men are mostly seen from the waist up unless their “activity” involves the legs, while women are shown full body, whether standing up or sitting with their legs in full view. Even ads for electronics are “manly” with their dark blue and black colors.

All of these ads strongly hint that all men are, or should be, buff, sweaty but smell good, active, flat bellied, and must have sexy, half-naked women all around them.

The content of the articles continue the theme. They are about sex, sports, military, losing weight, and women. There is even an article titled “How to Raise a Tough Guy”. So much for the kinder, gentler man theory. There is also an article about a woman and why she likes “green guys”. The woman, although fully clothed, is wearing tight jeans, high boots and a flannel shirt and looks pretty hot, to use the vernacular of the day. Her opinion is that guys should be green, an earth boy, i.e. active, once again sweaty but smelling good, and a champion of the environment. The messages that men reading the magazine might absorb is that to get the sexy woman and to be a real man you have to demonstrate your possesion of these specific qualities.

Women and Magazines It is no surprise that women's magazines do the same stereotyping of women. They portray an ideal image for women to mimic, but for most this image would seem very unrealistic.

The July 2008 issue of Marie Claire features Sarah Jessica Parker with a flawless face and a cute pink flowery dress. The issue is a beauty guide issue giving tips for makeup, dating, weight loss, and clothes, as stated by the headlines on the cover. The magazine is full of makeup ads with models that have perfect skin, shinny hair, smooth legs, big eyes, long necks, and pouty big lips. The list could go on and on! Most women are shown full length or just their heads with bare shoulders. There are many advertisements for lotions and hair products and exercise equipment giving messages like "having smooth skin is a must and your hair has to be perfect, having a flat stomach is a necessity, buy our products!"

Advertisements show women with well muscled men around them, giving the signal that being beautiful will get you all the handsome men in the world. After looking through this magazine the message to women is clear: Beauty equals a great body, shinny hair, low cut shirts, short dresses, bedroom eyes, flawless complexion, etc.

The articles promote these criteria. A featured article for the edition is about fashion trends for July. No surprise here, for July wear short dresses with very low cut tops. There is not one picture with a girl who is a little on the larger side. There is also a feature called “What I Love About Me”. In this feature a portrait shot is taken of each girl and they give a quote about what they like about themselves. There was only one “bigger” girl quoted, as all the rest were skinny, I mean really skinny. There is also an article about four women who lose their jobs but “do not let it ruin their lives”. Clearly the girls interviewed are not models but a slim girl is used for the highlighted picture for the article and the larger girls get the smaller pictures throughout the article.

The messages sent by some popular magazines may lead to unrealistic expectations by individuals as it relates to their view of how they should look. Some instances of eatingdisorders have been blamed on pressure to “fit the mold” portrayed by society. Good health and proper diet and exercise can be achieved. The result may not, however, lead to your looking like one of those perfect people portrayed in that slick covered magazine you purchased waiting in line at the cashier’s line at the store.

Video Games In video games,men are more likely to be primary characters than women. In fact, women are almost twice as likely to be supporting characters than men. When they are in primary roles that, those roles that are more important to the story, researchers found that they fall into two main types.

The most popular type of female character is also the most widespread; the damsel in distress. A perfect example of this character is Princess Peach (Super Mario Bros., 1985). Damsel in distress characters are always in constant need of being rescued in some way by the male lead. Whether this is because they have weaker combat skills than the male protagonist, or if they are always getting kidnapped by the King of the Koopas, these characters give off the impression that women are in need of men to rescue them.

It is not only females that are given stereotypes in video games; men can be objectified just as much if not more than women. If a male protagonist is not the silent blank slate character common in RPGs, they are muscle bound warriors portrayed with little intelligence. An example of this is the once beloved character Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem Forever, 2011). Bursting with muscles and with obviously lower than average intelligence, the Duke is a great example of how men are objectified in video games. This character can just as easily send the wrong message as a damsel in distress character can. Being exposed to characters like Duke Nukem can lower self esteem in children and encourage them to do whatever they can to be more like him. It does not take someone with a Ph.D. to see that having young boys trying to be more like Duke Nukem as a problem.

While people argue that sexualisation in video games is harmless, research has shown that this is not always the case.

Studies have shown that women playing a non-sexualized heroine had more self esteem than those playing a heroine that was more sexualized (Behm-Morawitz & Mastro, 2009). This proves that being exposed to these idealized female images in video games can actually effect self esteem. The same can most likely be assumed of male objectification, lowering the self esteem of males if they are not as muscular as the characters they play.

Another important impact these stereotypes can have is in the messages these video games send to youth. Since children can idolize the characters they play in video games, the roles and messages played in the game can affect their perception of many things. These include the way children see traditional gender roles, as well as their ideal futures.

Popular Cinema Females represent just over half of the United States population.

Yet their role in cinematic content does not reflect this reality.

Looking at characters in films from 1946 to 1990, one study shows that females only occupy 25-28% of all parts. Another study found that 32% of all primary and secondary roles are filled with females across 100 films released between 1940 and 1980. More recent data reveals a similarly lop-sided scenario, yielding roughly equivalent point statistics for females in film (27.3-32%). Assessing over 15,000 speaking characters across 400 top-grossing theatrically released G, PG, PG-13, and R-rated films, studies found 2.71 males appear for every one female. Put another way, only 27% of all speaking characters in movies are girls or women.

The nature or way in which females are presented on screen is also problematic. Females are more likely than males to be young, thin, and shownin tight or revealing attire. This prototype illuminates the hypersexualization of females in film, reinforcing a culture of lookism within the industry.

Gender is also associated with patterns of domesticity. When compared to men, women are more likely to be relational partners or caregivers.

Exposure to these trends may affect viewers in a variety of ways, as we have argued in other papers. Viewing an imbalanced “reel” world may contribute to beliefs that girls/women’s stories are not as important as boys and men’s. This may have the strongest effect on children, who may learn something about gender roles from repeatedly viewing motion picture content on DVDs. Further, a steady diet of consuming skewed or stereotypical depictions of women as sexy or domesticated may facilitate the development and maintenance of attitudes, beliefs, and aspirations that are limiting. Seeing skinny and sexy women may also have an affect on body image, especially among those viewers who compare themselves to idealized portrayals and perceive that their bodies do not live up to the quixotic standards. Or, heavy exposure to beautiful and thin females may teach and/or reinforce males’ unrealistic expectations about how the opposite sex should look or act.

Food Advertising Is it acceptable for food advertisers to target genders?

We’ve heard the phrase “real men don’t eat quiche” and women are usually targeted with diet foods like Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers, but could it be possible that these gender specific food ads are hindering the health of both sexes? Studies suggest that health problems that men are facing today are due to their tendency to gravitatetowards foods high in trans-fats and refined carbohydrates. Beer, chips, and fast foodcommercials are the main promotions throughout football games and other sporting events aired on television as well as what are being served at the arenas.

Food ads geared towards women are notorious for exploiting female insecurities. The high artificial sweetener problem related to “low fat” has increased in concern. A common belief amongst nutritionists is that the more ‘diet’ ingredients that a product contains, the more unnatural it is, and the less the body knows what it’s supposed to do with it. The phrase “low fat” means that those foods are packed with sugar and usually contain artificial sweeteners. Sugar has been getting a lot of negative press and is now villainized more than fat because consumers are becoming more educated on what they are putting into their bodies and the repercussions.

Paleo-dieters believe eating habits for men and women goes all the way back to primitive times when main staples were grass-fed meat, fish, and lots of fruit, vegetables, and nuts. The increasingly popular diet promotes the notion that this way of eating is just as relevant today. Historically, men needed high-energy, high-protein foods like meat to fuel their hunting expeditions more than women who stayed home. However, at the beginning of the 1900’s and especially towards the 1960’s, women began to work outside of the home and certain models of gender specifications have changed. While each gender may have distinct nutritional needs (women in particular require calcium and iron), everyone should be eating a well balanced diet that is high in fruits and vegetables. Now the battle of the sexes is for men and women to focus on consuming what is good for their bodies. Men might need to eat more salad and women potentially need to focus on munching on more protein.

Music Videos Popular culture offers us insight on general feelings, desires and fears in society. A study examing 123 music videos on MTV and Black Entertainment Television (BET) found three categories of women images that were called “conventional women”, “self-reliant” women and the “internal paradox.” The conventional women are passive and dependent on a male’s attention. Self-reliant women are depicted as strong, independent and leaders in sexual relationships. The internal paradox includes a single video in which a character is placed in two or more conflicting gender roles. The conventional woman also appears in romantic ballads. Boyz II Men’s “Water Run Dry” is an example. Female artists also use this style. Paula Abdul’s “My Love Is for Real” is a desert fantasy in which Abdul is bathed in flower-pedal scented water, looks longingly from her window, dances and waits for her man.

There are also conventional women videos with “bad girls” who emotionally exploit their men, often through excessive sexual behavior. A good example is Rod Stewart’s “Leave Virginia Alone,” which centers on a woman undergoing a mental breakdown.Not all women in music videos are exploited by men or verging on insanity. Many videos present women as powerful, self-reliant and dominant in sexual alliances. Noted in the latter regard is Madonna. Her “Human Nature” video epitomizes this category. Clad in black leather body suit, she cavorts with five other leather-clad dancers. Directed as critics of her sexual escapades, Madonna asserts that she has no regrets.

It’s (sex) human nature.

Independent women in music videos demand equality in all aspects of life. From Da’Brat’s “Give it 2 You, “ which challenges the domination of male rappers, to Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do (is have some fun),” self-reliant women want the same life choices as men.The reaction by some male bands to changing gender roles verges on self-pity. In “Self-Esteem,” by Offspring, an adolescent male allows a woman to mistreat him.

When the woman is “drunk and looking to score,” however, he submits. Why? Because he has “low self-esteem,” a trait more commonly thought to afflict young women.

What the mirror of music videos reflects is that young women are choosing among several options when assuming a gender role. Will this hinder their development of a unified self-identity? Or are we moving toward a post-modern world in which images and identities are mere commodities that we put on and off like our clothes? The verdict is not yet in. There is clear evidence that women are experiencing a metamorphosis of sorts, but we must wait for the final results.

Conclusion The media definitely has a huge affect on the socialization of gender and can affect people’s attitudes and behaviors toward the opposite sex. Mainstream magazines, television shows and advertising, along with celebrities are dominant sources of these idealized images of both genders. Appearance magazines, such as Vogue, Allure, Women’s and Men’s Health, GQ and Maxim, are dedicated to telling you that looking like the glamorous people in their glossy pages is not only beneficial for you, but is desirable among the opposite sex. Disregarding personality, it doesn’t matter whether you are a male stunner in Cosmopolitan, the in-demand female celebrity on the cover, or a serious fictional doctor in “Grey’s Anatomy,” like Dr. McDreamy or McSteamy, accompanied by skinny female doctors – they are all made to enforce media’s perception of attractiveness.

With media’s stereotypes bombarding us, physical and cognitive effects can occur because we are trying so hard to be like what we see in the media. Studies have verified that body dissatisfaction is correlated with forms of psychological impairment such as low self-esteem, which can lead to eating disorders. Due to these effects, recognizing media’s stereotypes and perception of beauty is not only vital for yourself but others too, which is why it’s important to know media literacy, to have the ability to understand the nature of mass media, the techniques used by them and the impact of these techniques, along with some of its principles.

Media constructs reality. Realize that the content you view in the media is a production, which has specific purposes. There are two realities: the media world and the real world. All of us have a vision that we have built in our heads of what and how the world works. When a major part of those observations comes to us pre-constructed by the media, with attitudes, interpretation and conclusions, such as defining what is physically appealing to society, then the media, rather than ourselves, is constructing reality. This principle can help you recognize media literacy’s second principle, that media contains ideological and value messages that can influence and alter our present values.

We the audience negotiate meaning from what we view. From media’s ideological messages, we find meaning through a wide variety of factors, such as personal needs and anxieties that affect how we process information. For example, a man and woman could both be watching “America’s Next Top Model” and may respond differently to the models’ looks, depending on what they each bring to that text. Lastly, we must realize that media has commercial implications. Ultimately, we must know that media production is a business and must make a profit. Not only does the media influence us on how to look, but it then convinces us to feel uncomfortable with our appearance by attempting to fool us into supporting billion-dollar self-improvement markets from which the media tremendously financially benefits.

It’s clear from research that the media presents powerful messages about ideal body types for men and women, and that they can shape our attitudes and behavior. As media becomes more powerful in shaping the world’s perception of itself, we struggle to maintain a unique identity and independent thoughts. Having an idea of what media literacy is will help you recognize reality versus construction.

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