Women in Media

“Gender stereotypes for instance do not come out of the blue, but have social counterparts which many might perceive as ‘real’” (Zoonen, p. 32). Media stereotypes are indeed reflections of reality, but reflections distorted and/or augmented in order to serve a specific purpose (to persuade, to entertain, to express, etc.). Media copies reality like a copy machine reproduces an original document; sometimes the replica comes out pretty similar to the original, but other times the image coming out is blurry or shopped depending on the quality and brand of the copier machine (media) and of the toner (people’s ideas behind the media). And although a copy will never replace the essence of the original, we can’t undermine the influence of media in our everyday life. More than a mediator, I think media is an influencer; a means to a purpose.

That said, there is still a need for reforming and producing more intellectual female media (like NPR’s Michele Norris and Diane Rehm). Gill notes an interesting “mind change” within the feminist movement: from “men want women to be sex object” to “women want to be a sex object.” It appears, sadly, that women, and not men, are now the producers of the sexist media that women fought against in past decades. The niche marketing that has been so successful for magazines and shows concerning gardening, cooking, decorating, fashion, and advice for a happier life should be used to reform and produce more intellectual output such as business, technology, economics, history, academia, and even sports (not just the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue or the ESPN Body issue). Even though women are now out of their traditional roles, it appears that media images still hold women hostages in the idealistic/unrealistic roles of the cook, the gardener, the decorator, the model, the femme fatal…the forever young. 

Nora