blog




  • Essay / The image of women in mass media - 1093

    People's socialization occurred through the family, public education, and peer groups. However, in recent years, the media has become the main contributor to the socialization process, especially in the “gender” sector. Media culture, as influential as it has become, plays the most important role in the process of reproducing gender stereotypes and patriarchal values. It is true that the current family model is based more on equality than on patriarchal values ​​and that women have more rights and opportunities in the labor market. However, the media continues to reflect, maintain, and even “create” gender stereotypes to promote itself. For example, in 2011, the Commission on the Image of Women in the Media in France published an annual report. The commission was organized in 2009, in a social context where women are not well represented in the media. The report attempts to determine the percentage of female “experts” in the media, particularly on radio and television. According to the report, 80% of experts appearing in the media were men. Considering that the casting process is totally dependent on the production's decision and their idea of ​​"who is most likely to come across as a serious and trustworthy person", the result is quite shocking. This shows that the image of women in the media is more that of a witness or a victim than of an expert. The social position of women has improved significantly over the past hundred years, but the media's treatment of them has not been removed from the traditional patriarchal perspective. This could be very dangerous because mass media is accessible to people of all social classes and ages, and for the most part...... middle of paper... of a commodity or an object, without worrying about their personality or their dignity. In capitalist society, the sexual objectification of women has become one of the most popular and effective ways to promote a product. Female bodies are used in many advertisements. Not only do women reveal certain parts of their bodies for the sake of "sex appeal", but they are often identified as a product in themselves, sometimes even regardless of the context. Especially in advertisements aimed at male audiences, such as advertisements for a car or alcoholic beverages, the sexual objectification of the female body is almost excessive. Such images lead the public to dangerously believe that women are not respectable human beings and that they exist only to satisfy the needs of men. In the age of excessive images, all women, regardless of their social position, are at risk of being sexually objectified..