Mass Communications – Professor Maulucci
May 5, 2010
Sexism in the Media
Sexism in the media is a problem that has been ongoing since the media first came into culture. Television shows, movies and the radio have portrayed sexist ideas of woman on a daily, and with this happening it’s almost impossible to bring such ideas to an end. These ideas and beliefs can be traced back for centuries, probably from the very beginning. Ideas of sexism goes so far back that they are presented in one of the oldest books people still hold dear today: the Bible. The most common sexist ideas are that females are non-intelligent sex symbols, who are meant to only stay in the kitchen and work for their husband. Not only has the practice of sexism been passed on for centuries from generation to generation but it is shown to us in our daily lives.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary sexism is defined as “prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially discrimination against women.” Sexism is something children are unintentionally taught from a very young age. Usually, once the gender of a baby is identified, people will start treating the child as is expected because of the gender. For example, one of the first toys a little girl would receive is a baby doll, simply implying the idea that one of her main roles in life would be that of a mother. A little boy would receive something quite opposite, like toy trucks. So it is obvious that from early on a child is taught what people believe should be their role in society, entirely based on their gender.
Nowadays, when media plays an enormous role in our life, it also plays a large role in the upbringing of your children. Yet, when watching preschool television shows, one will notice that there are not too many female characters. And typically if there is in fact a female character present in the show she portrays all the stereotypes of a female. She probably will be focused on males, be dressed in sexually appealing clothing or come across as ditzy. According to studies done by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Children in the Media (GDIDM), “Studying 4,000 female film characters, females (from animated girl puppies to grown human women) were more than 5 times more likely than males to be shown as adornment or sexually enticing and three times more likely to be dressed in sexually alluring clothing.” This type of portrayal can implant sexist ideas in children from early on.
Commercials also play major roles in sexism in the media. Many major companies promote ads in which women are portrayed as objects, or just sex symbols. Other commercials and/or ads have had insinuations of crude and disrespectful behavior toward women. For example, one recent ad showed a female being surrounded by males who were barely clothed. This ad could give the idea that a rape was about to happen for some viewers. An ad like this could potentially give of the idea that such an act would not be wrong in any way and is actually acceptable.
Other ads have portrayed the idea that women are meant solely for sex and/or to complete household chores. And many more give women the idea that in order to be approved of one must keep their body thin and beautiful, and that females are automatically dumb or slow. Rarely would you find an ad or commercial depicting women as smart. Commercials during the yearly Super Bowl are especially are sexist. Women tend to be barely clothed selling an object to men, for example in a bathing suit eating a hamburger.
Radio talk shows for adults also play major roles in sexism. Many talk shows have more men than women as speakers and almost daily there are sexist jokes and/or innuendos said over air. To top it all off, songs that are popular have sexist themes. Rappers tend to refer to women as “bitches” and talk about sex, which is extremely demeaning to woman. An example would be one of last year’s well known songs Blame It by Jamie Foxx. Some of the lyrics were “Shawty got drunk, Thought it all was a dream.” One of the main ideas in that song was getting a girl drunk and then proceeding to have sex with her.
Another area of media where sexism occurs is the news, especially in the panels that are held. News shows have a tendency to have a majority of males on the panels discussing issues. Sexism in the news was on a rise during the last election, due to the fact that there was a female candidate in the running. Some of the men who commented on the election even went as far as to say that candidate Hilary Clinton belonged in the kitchen.
Sexism is a major issue in society for many reasons, but with the media promoting it it’s almost impossible to stop. The media has instilled ideas of sexism into society from a young age through television shows and the songs played on the radio. It seems that media is one of the main reasons why sexism is still around, and that until the media promotes shows that aren’t sexist, sexism will continue to be a major problem.
"Sexism Sells -- But We're Not Buying It." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Women's Media Center. Web. 06 May 2010.
Komp, Catherine by. "Studies: Media Consolidation Sidelines Women and People of Color." The NewStandard. Web. 06 May 2010.
Wilson, Clint C., Félix Gutiérrez, Lena M. Chao, and Clint C. Wilson. Racism, Sexism, and the Media: the Rise of Class Communication in Multicultural America. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2003. Print.
Voorhees, Sara. "Where Are All the Girl Ninjas? Sexist Stereotypes Pervade Children's Media | Media and Culture | AlterNet." Home | AlterNet. Women's Media Center. Web. 05 May 2010.
