Women and the Media

Women and the Media
Sex.
It's everywhere. TV, magazines, music and "art" are filled with pictures and words that relate to sex and sexuality. Women have long been portrayed in the media as sexy pin-up girls, half naked and usually selling beer or cars. These women are easy to find, E! News and MTV are showing clips of these women all day every day. Seeing cleavage, bare legs and Daisy Duke short-shorts is completely normal. What kind of message is the media give to young children? What are the rolls placed on women and how do these sexual stereotypes affect how women act toward themselves and each other.
It all stated one day in 1959 when a small company called Mettle released a teen fashion doll named Barbie. Barbie, with her unrealistic figure, became an instant hit with girls. While girls where playing with their new dolls they were getting conflicting views on what women should look like. They watched as Marilyn Monroe ruled the silver screen. At 5 foot 5 ½ inches tall and 120 lbs, Monroe was a realistic size. During the Marilyn legacy women were starting to be seen as sex symbols. Since then the media has been pushing women to be more like Barbie and less like Marilyn Monroe who was seen as a sex symbol in her day. Teenage girls are especially susceptible to the images they see on TV and in magazines.
Elle, Seventeen, Cosmo and other fashion magazines with layouts of super models, in barely-there clothes. Girls that can't afford the latest styles tend to feel that they are below those that can. This social gap is encouraged by articles titled " the best clothes under $500" and even by seemingly harmless articles titled, " best colleges in the nation". These articles carter to the girl who can afford to copy the models and therefor creates struggle in middle and high schools.
MTV the largest music channel on cable. The music that is played on MTV is mostly hip-hop and rap. The men in these music videos are average in stature and looks but are surrounded by beautiful, tall, thin women with huge breasts. Too many young men and women aren't educated enough to understand that these " harmless" and "entertaining" music videos are very different from reality. Words that were once considered in appropriate are now commonly heard in music and repeated in schools. The media is continuing to portray women in an objectified, sexual and degrading way. Young boys get the impression that girls are only here to possess, as they see it in hip-hop music videos. "Gangsters" are surrounded by 20 or more incredibly skinny girls, dolled up in make-up and hot shorts. Teenagers, both male and female, see half naked, thin girls and they never stop to think that they only other place a person can see women in this situation is in a strip club! Girls and women who are serious musicians, including singers, are rarely shown.
Teenage girls see these rapper girls and think that they will never be as thin, sexy or beautiful as these girls. Recently Jennifer Love Hewitt, who is a size two, was put on the front line of media attacks. There were "unflattering" pictures of her in a bikini. Of course the media said she was fat. She countered with "A size two isn't fat!" There are girls that starve themselves to be a size two and here the media is telling girls that this size is unacceptable. When did the size two become fat? When is the media going to realize that real women aren't a size two. By age thirteen, 53 percent of American girls are unhappy with their bodies; but by age seventeen, 78 percent are dissatisfied. There are many diseases that have been brought on because of this low self-esteem, such as Bulimia. Bulimia, also called bulimia nervosa, is a psychological eating disorder. There is no known cause of Bulimia but researchers believe it begins with dissatisfaction of the person's body and extreme concern with body size and shape. There is a good chance that Bulimia wouldn't be a concern to doctors if the sufferers had positive roll-models to look at.
National Geographic has traveled all over the world, covering every story imaginable and has photographed some of the best pictures in the media today. They photograph real women in every country , in traditional dress and in every size. These women are seen as gorgeous to every men, except American man. The American man is programed since childhood to think women must be dressed to the hilt, wearing make up and can not have a hair out of place to be beautiful. The childhood tomboy is seen as "one of the guys" , while the ballerina is thought to be the perfect girl.
The media plays an important role in how mothers are seen as well. We all know Mrs. Brady and Mrs. Cleaver, the perfect house wives. These mothers never complain about their husbands, their children never cause them stress and they never need a break. These stereotypes are what young adult men look for in a young women, and they assume that any women that doesn't meet these high standards will not make a good wife and mother.
Breastfeeding has been in the media lately. An Applebee's restaurant in Kentucky was boycotted by nursing mothers across American. Breasts are seen as a sexual organ that catches the attention of men, instead of a child's source of nutrition. Why is this? The simple answer is plastered all over billboards, in magazine ad and on TV. Teenage girls are bombarded by these pictures all day long. It's no wonder that girls feel that nursing their child in public is going to cause a stir in sociality, men can't handle the simple fact that breasts aren't made for their pleasure. Mothers that didn't breastfeed their children get upset by nursing in public, they think that there is some kind of competition between breastfeeding and formula feeding. Women who nurse in public get harassed daily by men and women who think breasts are only for sex. This sends off a negative message to young mothers who are thinking about breastfeeding their children.
America's Next Top Model is a popular TV show that that takes 13 young women and puts them in competition with each other. The judges of this show try to gives these women constructive criticism but the fact still remains that this show is geared towards tall , thin women. America's Next Top Model discriminates against girls that are the American average which is a size 8 and 5 foot 5 inches tall. The pretty, girl next door never wins, it's always the mean-spirited girls that go on to win. The prise is a contract to model for Cover Girl make up company. What does this show the young girls that watch this program? The message is ; nice girls come in last and that you have to wear make up to be beautiful.
The cause for concern starts when men see women walking around half naked and prostituting themselves, this behavior starts to be expected. Women begin feel that they need to act and dress the way the girls do in the music videos or they will not be accepted by the rest of society. The entertainment industry knows sex sells so until this image becomes undesirable nothing will change.The change will come, slowly at first but when teenage girls and young women are sick of being treated like entertainment for men, they will start to stand up for themselves and younger girls.
This year the world is starting to see the change. Women have started taking on the traditional male rolls. Hillary Clinton is running for the Democratic nominee for the Presidential Election in 2008. While most of America sees her as a cold, heartless women; she is still challenging the American population. While women have ran for President in the past ,there has never been so many media outlets covering the story. Even if Clinton doesn't win the nominee she will still have shown women of all ages and races that there are women who are strong enough to over come the media image of what women should act and dress like. Unfortunately Clinton comes off as trying to prove something, a woman with a mission; to put the men in their place, where ever that may be and many people find this unattractive in a candidate.
To many men and traditional women, the women that hold a public office, a place in the military and the police department seen to be on a prower trip. For some reason these strong women seem as if they are trying to topple the traditional male jobs. These women are trying to break the "sex sells" stereotype and by doing so they That is not the answer, men and women must see themselves as equals before they can start to right the wrongs of the last decade.
The Dove company has started using real women in their commercials, this is a great beginning! More companies should follow their lead. Women like to see someone that looks like them on TV. The media has more influence over how young man and women, teenage girls and boys than parents could ever hope to have. The media has taken advantage of this power for to long. It is time that the TV viewers, magazine readers and act enthusiasts stand up and say enough is enough. Girls have to stop comparing themselves to what they see on TV. Guys have to see girls for who they are not what they look like. Of course this won't happen if no one takes a stand.