Discuss how far sociologists agree that the image of men and women created by the mass media tends to be more stereotypical than realistic.

Authors Avatar by shazyo (student)

Discuss how far sociologists agree that the image of men and women created by the mass media tends to be more stereotypical than realistic. (12 marks)

Some sociologists may argue that the general portrayal of women by the media that seem stereotypical may influence their behaviour in today’s society. However, other sociologists may feel that the mass media only give an insight to what the woman’s role in society is. Women’s role in society has changed fairly drastically, for example nowadays there are far more women filling job roles that in the past were completely dominated by men.

A factor that shows that the image of women tends to be stereotyped than realistic is through advertisements. They are still portrayed as being a ‘typical housewife’. The women who does all the housework, food shopping, and caring for the children; however still manage to cook dinner for their husbands before he comes home from work. This shows very chauvinistic attitudes towards women; the media seems to suggest that these traditional roles are obligatory for women to complete. Realistically, most women nowadays are career-driven, individual people that do not need to depend on their husband or partner for money or security.

Join now!

A further factor that suggests that the mass media create an image of women that is more stereotypical than realistic is through television. The characters usually shown on television programmes are usually very skinny, creating a lot of self-consciousness in the women that watch these shows, about their bodies. The ‘perfect’ image of women portrayed by the media is usually having slim and toned bodies. Also, nearly three-quarters of all female characters in sitcoms are underweight, and those that are overweight are often the subject of comments or jokes about their bodies made by male characters.  Most heroes and protagonists, ...

This is a preview of the whole essay