Media Influences

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Media Influences

• Advertising, Television, Film, Music Videos

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• On Marilyn Monroe
• The restriction on her spirit in the airtight
  prison of her beauty was so complete that she
  literally feared aging more than death itself.
• Gloria Steinem, Marilyn (1986)

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The Media is Power

• The media tells us what we should look like
• How we should dress
• How we should smell
• Who we should date
• What we should be as women and men

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Have Magazines Changed?

• Flip through a copy of Ladies Home Journal,
  McCalls, Cosmopolitan, Savvy, Working Women

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• While some changes have been made since the
  1940s in their content because of the social
  upheaval, most magazines have been minimally
  affected

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• Seventeen magazine focuses on appearance, romance
  and dating
• 1990s saw many articles about finding men and
  keeping them in Seventeen and other magazines
• Emphasis on beauty, hairstyles, makeup
• Before and after photos of homely girls turning
  into alluring woman

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Makeovers

• Before and after
• . . .anything to be beautiful. . .ugly duckling
  to beautiful swan in an hour

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Makeovers

• Another stunning makeover, from plain Jane to
  knockout beauty

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Advertising

• Preponderance of advertising shows men and women
  in stereotypical positions
• Scantily dressed women draped over cars or
  selling everything from booze to toothpaste
• Men adventurous and active

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• This ad tries to show women in position of
  responsibility, out in the work force. But look.
  Her toes turn in, her dress is sexily undone,
  and she looks like she needs the help of some
  high-powered male executive

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• Typical stereotypical ad. The woman is home
  packing while the man is presumably bringing on
  the bacon. But she can not handle it herself.
  She is frazzled and unorganized.

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• Men represent face-isms in that their faces are
  shown more than their bodies as in this Calvin
  Klein ad, or partial-isms showing part of their
  bodies in this advertisement for Camels

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Age Stereotyping

• Advertisers increase the insecurities of older
  women and beauty and physical attractiveness
• Young women advertise products to older ones

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Beautiful

• Older women are rarely used in advertising
• Advertising suggests were useless when we get old

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Fat Like Me

• Would you
• See this ad today?

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Fat Like Me

• For one heartbreaking and exhausting week Leslie
  Lampert lived as an obese woman and endured,
  everyday, the openly contemptuous behavior most
  people never have to suffer

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Fat Like Me

• Leslie says, I became depressed just as the
  thought of running to the store. Family outings
  turned into wrenchingly painful experiences. But
  mostly I was angry because our society not only
  hates fat people, it feels entitled to
  participate in a prejudice that parallels racism.

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Television Advertising

• Images on television are more powerful and reach
  more people
• 90 percent of voice-overs are male
• But men and women appear with equal frequency on
  advertisements
• Women must be first and foremost attractive in
  order to be acceptable, and as we have seen, not
  old and certainty not fat

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Aimed at Children

• When a slinky ensemble for young children,
  identical to one worn by Madonna on Saturday
  Night Live, received rave reviews. . .buyers and
  parents instantly snapped them up. . .People went
  nuts for those little Madonna outfits. . .
• Consider string underwear for little girls

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Advertising Creates Artificial Images

• In one study of fourth graders, little girls
  said, We dont expect boys to be that handsome.
  We take them as they are.
• Another little girl said, But boys expect girls
  to be perfect and beautiful and skinny
  (Kilbourne, 1995395)

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Childrens Advertising

• Advertisements are even more gender oriented
• Mans voice Nerf Bow and Arrow is coming your
  way, and it means business. The power is
  pumping, an arrows in your hand. Now your heart
  is pumping, fire as quick as you can. . .The
  enemys coming, now theyre in your sights. . .

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Childrens Advertising

• Consider this one for little girls
• Female Chorus
• Starlight Sparkles,
• Shiny, how you love me,
• Sparkle when I hug
• Light my world above. . . Girl in ad
  Ooooooh
• See the colored stars go round Girl
  Wow!
• You fill my world with love Friend
  Beautiful
• (Cited in Kahan and Norris, 1994281-82)

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Is this an effective role model?

• Even though
• Lara Croft
• is adventurous
• and active, she still has to look curvy and, of
  course, sexy

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Where is Wonder Woman Today?
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• A lifetime of viewing these commercials may
  actually inhibit achievement aspirations for
  girls as they grow into women.

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• Some gender neutral advertisements on the
  horizon, but they are few and very far between
• Note this one for Charlie

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Film

• By 1970s onward sex and sexual violence became
  explicit
• James Bond (theres a new one now) is supposed to
  be every womens fantasy
• He gets to drive fast cars, fights ruthless
  villains, wears a nice suit and has sex with
  every girl he wants and they always eventually
  say yes to him
• Once this happens they are often ignored by the
  male star, sometimes murdered by him and often
  murdered by someone else

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• For your eyes only
• Bond framed between the A of a womans legs
• Does this show her power, or her sexuality?

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• Perhaps things are changing with the Bond
  character
• Pierce Brosnan was paired with a strong,
  intelligent (always beautiful), leading lady,
  Femke Jennsen in Goldeneye.
• The film highlights their partnership rather than
  her submission

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Some Films are Different

• Joy Luck Club
• Turning Point
• Steel Magnolias
• Waiting to Exhale
• Fried Green Tomatoes
• Sense and Sensibility
• Thelma and Louise

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Chick Flicks with Substance
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• But these films with their multi-dimensional
  characters seem to be the exception
• Over 70 of feature film roles go to men
• 1993 Academy Awards tribute to women in film.
• Sadly, 6 of the 10 nominees came from the UK,
  France, and Australia
• Hollywood did not offer enough meaningful roles
  for women to even get nominated for the award.

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Meaty Roles

• Meaty roles for men include explorers,
  adventurers, warriors, scientists
• Meaty roles for women include prostitutes, wild
  women (see Basic Instinct), and women who have
  gone mad

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• Sadly, mainstream film-making represent women as
  either idealized objects of desire or as
  threatening objects to be tamed, as this
  advertisement suggests. (Pribram, 2003)
• Movies seem to be creations of male fantasies
• Women need to invent their own fantasies and
  portray these well.

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Music

• Rock musicians take conventional morality to its
  limits
• Cock Rock lyrics are misognynistic and are
  often associated with sexual violence

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• The virginal girl next door, teen-angel and
  California girl have been replaced by hos
  bitches and fantasy figures

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Music Videos

• Shot from the point of view of a 15 year boys
  fantasy
• Rock videos provide a visual extension of the
  cock rock and other lyrics
• They support a gender ideology of male power and
  dominance,
• Show women as set decorations, and show them as
  emotional, illogical, deceitful, fearful,
  dependent and passive
• Men are adventuresome, aggressive and violent

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Rap

• Pushes the envelop with raw sexuality

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• Women ultra suggestive in dress and in dancing

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• Men are strong and domineering

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Tough and Unruly Images
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Gunnit

• You dont mess with guys like me
• Im tough, strong, and Ill kick yo ass

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• Rap artists label women as bitches and hos
• 2 Live Crew and Fuck Shop and blatant lyrics

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• Now spread your wings open for flight
• Let me fill you with something milky and white
• Cause Im gonna slay you rough and painful
• You innocent bitch
• Dont be shameful
• 2 Live Crew

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In Sum

• The media present views of men and women that are
  not in line with reality
• Although men are portrayed as more
  multidimensional than women, other male
  characteristics are stereotyped as well
• The media are formidable socializers and provide
  images that both reflect and reinforce gender
  roles.