One of the things I learnt in my first year during my Mass Communication class is that the Mass Media, consciously or unconsciously influence and shape people's perception and behaviours. How revealing!.
Being a journalism student, my attention has been drawn to things I would probably not notice or simply ignored.
Prior to this, I was a passive consumer of media content or maybe not so passive. For me, all that mattered was the fun I was having while watching sitcoms,music videos, reading romantic novels e.t.c.
However ,through the able tutelage of Mr. Kodwo Jonas Anson Boateng, the message became clear.
This article therefore focuses on the stereotyping and representation of women in the media (forgive me for being gender bias ).
It must be noted however that, the stereotyping and negative representation of women have existed even before the inception of the MASS media.
An ideology that existed during this era was known as PATRIARCHY. It literally means "rule by fathers". It is a social system in which power is held by men.
This ideology has been passed down from generation to generation conditioning people to to believe that men are superior to women.
The mass media is also guilty of this.Women are portrayed in the mass media in the following ways;
For example, in some music videos or movies, women are given roles as strippers prostitutes and the like, for men to choose from as though they were commodities.First of all, the media portrays women as SEX OBJECTS, ie women are regarded simply as objects of sexual of sexual gratification.
Objectification of women is not a recent phenomenon. In the French enlightenment for example, there was a debate as to whether a woman's breast were merely a sensual enticement or rather a natural gift.
Sarah Baartman a koisan woman from Southern Africa was objectified under duress and even nicknamed "Hottentot Venus".
The media however, not only portray women as sex objects, but also encourage them to objectify themselves. This is known as Female Self Objectification.
The media then portrays this as a form of empowerment to prove that women have become strong enough to express their sexuality publicly.
| Sarah Baartman, objectified under duress. |
How Ironic!
Secondly,the media portray the role of women as simply those of wives and mothers.
Even the great Aristotle portrayed women as morally, intellectually and physically inferior to men.
He saw women as the property of men and claimed that women's role in society was to reproduce and serve men in the household. Stating that "WOMAN IS AN UNFINISHED MAN", He saw male domination of women as natural and virtuous.
Aristotle continued that while the woman is passive and receptive , the man is active and productive.
Even when women achieve great feat in their careers, they are not celebrated based on their achievement, but rather, based on their marital status.
Women who are not married are subjected to all forms of ridicule irrespective of their successes. Also, some women, when pregnant, are laid off in order to play their roles or 'work' as mothers.
| Even Aristotle the great philosopher, claimed women are morally, intellectually and physically inferior to men. |
Most heros and protagonists in movies tend to be males. Women are either victims of crimes or made second fiddles, in order to generate pity from the audience.
Even in cartoons,the male super heros outnumber the females.
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Aging especially for women has become a negative in our society. The images portrayed in the media have been promoting the use of cosmetics for older women to look younger and drugs to look slimmer.
Male superheros outnumber females
Moreover, women are made relatively invisible. For example, in Etv Ghana's list of 100 most influential people in Ghana in 2012, only two out of the top ten were women.
They included Mrs Theresa Oppong-Beeko, the president of Manet Group and Mrs. Ellen Hagen, C.E.O of L'aine services Ltd. The impact of women is therefore portrayed as less by the media.
| Mrs.Ellen Hagan, CEO of L'aine. |
Most articles and advertisements related to dieting can be found in women's magazine cover than men's. Almost three-fourth of women's magazines contain feature articles about over-hauling one's physical appearance.
The use of celebrities have even worsened the situation. Women who watch commercials with their favorite stars using a particular cosmetic or drug tend to follow suit.
This sometimes is not realistic because the media does not always reflect reality.
In conclusion, the problem is not only the images that are portrayed by the media, but those that are not. For example, women's sports receive far less airtime than men's sports, causing patronage to be low and giving the impression that anything female is less important.
Opinions are welcome
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