The female characters were weak, more concern about being attractive, not smart and they emotional during social situations. In regards, to female bias on TV, a 1977 Nancy Signorelli’s "study of Television Shows and Commercials, Movies, Music Videos, and Teen Magazine Articles and Ads,” shows that women play fewer and less significant roles in "television programs.” It further clams that females “are seen working... or cast as professionals" only in limited scenes. Instead, they are presented more as having no occupation and caring more about their relationships. The report further indicates that "women rely on their male… partner to help them solve problems and… achieve their goals;" and that "women in media” do things that describe them as "stereotypical females..., grooming or peering…" The findings by the report are convincing; especially when watching those episodes during the TV
In order for one to be powerful, they must know the definition of power. Power is defined as, “a person that has a lot of control and influence over other people” (Merriam Webster Dictionary”. One might not truly understand the disadvantage that women have been given in life. Throughout history it is evident that women have always been a dishonor to society, and they have been treated as if they are inferior to men. What people fail to realize, is that women, are forceful, influential, intellectual human-beings.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s Miss Representation successfully conveys the dangers that are associated with the demeaning methods the media uses to displace women from inspiring, valued positions and the effects of it on the American female population. The documentary explores the negative portrayal of women in the press and Hollywood, lack of female participation in major fields, and the side effects of the antifeminist movements on impressionable, young girls that have become highly visible through the media. The documentary reports of how even the most casual hints of misogyny distort the public’s values and expectations for women. The targeted audience is everyone because society can only right its wrongs by working and empowering together. However, Miss Representation does emphasize that young women in particular were the most important group of their intended audience.
For instance, in a study done by Dr. Katherine Young and Paul Nathanson, they concluded that men are additionally derided, rejected, and even abused in media in addition to being unintelligent, and that these same actions would never be done in the media with female characters in our culture (Abernethy 351). This is a prime example of gender inequality in our TV media nowadays, which shows the lack of television programs with intelligent men and women combined nowadays. This also shows that if a show featured an unintelligent woman and an intelligent man (its vice versa for many shows nowadays), it would be either be heavily criticized by feminist groups or receive no positive support in modern America culture. Astonishingly, even many men would be not in favor for that idea of a show, since it would ridicule a woman the same way the media ridicules men on modern television programs. This is irritating to many men because the modern media allows programs that depict men negatively to air on a regular basis, resulting in gender inequality in the media.
In the book, The Rise of Enlightened Sexism by Susan Douglas, gives insight and knowledge that digs deep into pop culture explaining how the media portrays the appearances of women that are in powerful positions in our culture. The appetencies tent undermines the actual progress of women. Douglas is interested in what these pop culture ideals shows about our culture. The way we react to women in our culture with powerful influence. What do these shows do to the female imagine in our culture?
It seems as if these roles are constantly enforced by one of the biggest impact in daily lives, media. School of Rock confirms the idea that Deborah Tannen discussed in her essay in that males are more dominant and important figures, while females are portrayed as docile and less significant and each gender succeeds with different styles of learning.
In society, as far as power goes, men are the ones with power and women are the ones with powerlessness, but powerlessness is what inspires great things
Because of the patriarchal control within pop culture, women are being objectified to please the gender biases of society. Women are forced to present a particular image that fits into pop culture standards as shown in Lady Gaga’s music video “Applause”. Applause is a song written by Lady Gaga in 2013 and was created to express how she appreciates performing because of the support from her fans. This song targets the idea that musicians use their audience’s approval to demonstrate how successful they are. It is a common belief that the less clothing one wears, the more successful they will be.
“Ex boyfriends are just like off limits to friends. I mean that’s just like the rule of feminism” (15:15). This famous saying said by Gretchen Wieners from Mean girls is widely known and most of the time ridiculed by people. Mean Girls is a movie that portrays the stereotypical American high school life. The movie has a main focus on the girls of high school, rather then on the boys.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the writer, director, and producer of Miss Representation, is proof that change comes in all shapes and sizes. Miss Representation has undeniably changed my perspective on the media and the considerable responsibility each individual holds in regards to influencing the perception of women. Her film will inspire me to be more cognizant of how my actions, words, and social media posts can contribute to the objectification of women and empowerment of women. Her film will lead me to take control of not only my social media posts, but the posts I like or retweet by ensuring each post reflects how I want women to be portrayed. Her film will motivate me to represent and support women in positions of leadership and authority.
Get Out is a horror film released earlier this year in February. The film centers on Chris Washington, a black man, and his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage. Rose invites Chris to a weekend trip to meet her parents. When meeting Chris, Rose’s parents are overly accommodating towards Chris and constantly speak about how much they love President Obama and other African-American people. Chris attributes this as awkward attempts to deal with their interracial relationship.
Gender Portrayal When comparing men and women under media in romance, women are portrayed more negatively. For example, in the well-known film of Forrest Gump, Jenny (Robin Wright) acted hot and cold towards Forrest, who was loyal and believed that she was the only love in his life. She was depicted to be a bipolar woman who (somewhat) loved Forrest, but every time the topic of commitment came up, she would run away. Even in the last few minutes of the movie, she revealed that she had a son, and Forrest was the biological father. In this sense, you can perceive that Jenny was portrayed as the negative link of the chain.
Introduction The documentary, Miss Representation was written, directed and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Miss Representation highlights how the media and our culture objectify and belittle women and girls in society. The documentary begins with Newsom’s childhood story and the life and future, she wants for her daughter. The media is used as the main source of information.
From the research of Melis, she points out powerful women doesn’t seem to be appearing in media much than men. I could tell, because “women make up 50% of the workforce, but the images don’t seem to reflect this.” This means women shown on media doesn’t make others think they have the power over other,
Females in Glengarry Glen Ross are perceived as ‘holding back’ business; Lingk’s wife- ‘My wife…my wife said I have to cancel the deal’ ; and Levene’s daughter- ‘John: John: … my daughter…’ . In this microcosm, ‘women stand in direct opposition to the fulfilment of the American Dream’ . This concept is asserted through Lingk’s wife, who compels Lingk to back out of the contract he signed with Roma.
