Representations of Women : Women in the Media.
The mass media plays a very significant role in life. Individuals get information about people and places they have never actually see. Opinions are formed based on the images people see everyday in magazines, movies and on television. If the images people see and believe as true, are false, negative stereotypes will be created and maintained. People need to understand that the media cannot perfectly reflect every aspect of society, but those reflections should still try and be accurate. This is why I feel it is important to look into how the media portrays women. If the only images of women being presented to the public are negative or derogatory, sexist attitudes will persist. These negative connotations will also affect women's self esteem and their self worth.
Negative stereotypes are harmful to society. People cannot communicate with each other if untrue beliefs linger in the popular culture. Both men and women are adversely affected by stereotyping. Men have the pressure of always appearing perfect and in control. This leaves no room for men to feel uneasy or weak. Women have the stigma of being an ornament and incompetent. These labels bind women to negative expectations. By examine what images the media produces and how they negatively affect people society can change the behavior for the better. .
Symbolic Reality Bites: Women and Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Modern Film, by Sarah Eschholz, Jana Bufkin, and Jenny Long examine the ways in which women and minorities are portrayed in film. The authors wanted to "gauge the strength of female and minority presence and to provide an assessment of character representations through an analysis of labor force participation, sex-roles of occupation, prestige of occupation, and gender- (Eschholz et al., 2002, p.299).
Eschholz had the content of fifty films from 1996 analyzed to gather and compare data about the female portrayals.
