In Sut Jhally’s video “Dream Worlds 2, he makes an important comment that the way in which women are portrayed in the media is strongly influenced by the fact that men are the driving force of the market. They are the ones that make suggestions and decisions of the industry. As a result of this, representations of women in the media profoundly mirror that of a man’s perspective or dreams of what the ideal woman should look like. I am always amazed and aghast at the misrepresentation of women in music videos and thirty minute sitcoms on TV.
In music videos women are seen as a prize catch; a passive thing that can be consumed or used and explored in anyway that pleases a man. There are many music videos that serve to objectify women and in most cases women submit to the whim and fancy of the men in the video. They are often scantily clad; well- endowed and are in a constant phase of arousal. In game shows, women frequently have a minimal role. Case in point is the game show “Wheel of Fortune” in which Vanna White serves absolutely no purpose other than to turn over the letters and to stand and look beautiful. She never speaks unless she is asked some trivial question by her male co-worker. This perpetuates the notion that women are just prizes, and legitimate pieces of art. This helps to transmit the notion that women are only useful to look at and not to be heard.
Growing up as a child I often wondered why there were hardly any female super heroes that I could emulate. Now that I am older I still ask myself that question, in fact I also ask why is it that the few female superheroes are portrayed in the manner that promote their sexuality. Some might argue that Wonder Woman is a great feminist icon as she is strong, independent and her life does not revolve around the dictates of a man. I do not agree with this representation as it portrays women in an unrealistic manner.
Wonder Woman and her female super hero friends all rely on their sexual appeal and are often pictured in scantily clad clothing that are strategically placed over their bodies. To illustrate this viewpoint, one can surely remember cat woman’s tight black leather garment in the cartoon/ film “Batman”. It is also interesting to note that these women always have the perfect or “ultimate” bodies; they are well toned, and have a small waist with large spherically rounded breasts. This implies that women cannot be strong and independent without relying on their sexuality. It is the same thing with the show “Charlie’s Angels”, yes, women had the major roles in the film but they had to answer to a man. A closer look even reveals that the title of the movie suggest ownership, the women are owned or belong to a man named Charlie. Despite the fact that women were given the roles of detectives – predominantly a male role, they hardly used their intelligence to solve crimes; instead they often relied on their looks and charm to guile men.
People are products of their society and they often try to emulate the images that they are bombarded with in the media. These images can have an impressionable effect on women and men who internalize these unrealistic representations of women in media. Today’s media shows the blatant sexualization of women’s bodies as being liberating and acceptable. Young girls and men who internalize these representations do not realize that the media is not always telling the truth or giving an accurate portrayal of women. As a result they are led to believe that a woman’s sexuality is always subservient to a man’s pleasure. When people read print media especially magazines geared specifically for men or female audiences the perception that women should primarily concern themselves with attracting and sexually satisfying men is often promoted.
When women watch music videos or any other form of media that inaccurately portrays women they get the sense that it is okay to dress scantily to get the attention of a man. Females are subjected to images of women with the perfect body, the perfect skin, the perfect woman to the point that they might go to extremes to look like the women in the media. They fail to realize that this is often an illusion as these women have been prepped and have had their make up professionally done. These misrepresentations put pressure on women to be sexually attractive and as a result some might drive themselves to the point that they develop life threatening diseases like bulimia to get the desired result.
It is very heartening to know that some women use these representations of women in the media as means to measure their self worth. In addition to losing their self respect many women lose their self confidence and self esteem if they cannot look like the women portrayed in the media. A popular myth that is perpetuated through out the media is that a woman cannot be successful if she is not married and women who are not married are often chastised in the media. This allows some women to judge their success based on the sole fact that if they are married with children then their lives are either incomplete or unsuccessful. From certain media representations, some women are convinced that their life is void without a man to cook and clean for. When women see these devastatingly wrong images of women, they might come to agree that a woman should always accede to the wishes of a man and that women should always settle for mediocrity and second best.
Men’s perceptions of women are profoundly influenced by how women are represented in the media. There is no doubt that these representations promote ideas that men are the superior being to women. Since majority of the media representations of women are sex based, men will continue to view women as sex objects that they have an obligation to posses and conquer. Women of the dream media world never speak about matters that are important and worthwhile. They are often depicted as beauty without brains and in the event that there is a smart and assertive woman, she is often ugly. This influences man’s view of women as he is led to believe that women are intellectually challenged and that women only speak of trivial matters such as the latest designer shoes and clothes.
As a result of these wrong impressions of women there will be a strain in the way in which men and women communicate with each other. Men will continue to have unrealistic expectations of their female counterparts as they will expect them to act exactly like the characters seen on TV. In Sut Jhally’s video “Dream Worlds 2”, he presents data from a group of boys at the middle school age. It is sad to know that these 12 year olds believe that it is okay for a man to force himself upon a woman if he has spent money on her. This is an implication of the media portraying inaccurate images of women.
The media reinforces the warped ideas that women provoke rape by their appearance and behavior and that sex is justifiable if a woman asks a man out on a date. The media infantilizes women and thus men view women as innocent, vulnerable children who need to be taken care of. The thought of being vulnerable opens up thoughts of being potential victims to some men. In today’s society images of women in the media implant the thought in a man’s mind that if a woman says “no” she really means “yes” and she is just playing hard to get. This in itself is a very dangerous implication of the misrepresentation of women in the media as it justifies sexual assault and rape.
In order for women to be portrayed in assertive, realistic and positive roles in the media, they must realize their self worth and reject roles that constantly exploit their sexuality and place them in stereotypical non-progressive roles. There are women who have made significant contributions to society and they should be given due respect. The media should take more responsibility and think of the consequences that occur when women are misrepresented in the media and try to change this inequality. Instead they should try and represent women from all cross sections of society with more realistic images.
Kashae Williams
Instructor David Bobbitt
Course Fundamentals of Communication 103
Response Paper # 3
October 31, 2003
Question: Discuss the representation of women in the media. Do you think women are accurately represented in the media? How are women represented in the media and what impact does that have on how men view women and how women view themselves?
