Women+in+the+Media



Definition and History

“Women in the Media” can be defined as: the image and impact of women in the media, and how the portrayal of women influences our culture in the past and present.

In the 1950’s, women were expected to be a perfect housewife and look beautiful for their husband, as displayed in TV, movies, and advertisements of the decade. In the present, women are expected to do this and more, being a “supermom”; which entails taking care of the house, kids, maintaining a job (women who are “stay at home moms” are now looked down upon), and at the same time never age, stay skinny and tan.

The media should use their influence to show more positive images and messages of women. For example, a lot of beer commercials show a girl almost naked, which is portraying to the world that alcohol and women are just for pleasure. There are many young girls who are starving themselves, which can result in severe eating disorders or even death, only to have what media calls “the perfect body.” Cleaning product commercials always have a women cleaning, while the male role in that same commercial is watching TV or working outside the home. The media portrays what they want to sell, but it is important for people to understand that what is displayed in the media is not the actual truth. Along with the “Second Wave” of the Women’s Movement came many organizations supporting women’s rights in the media. The SW was largely concerned with issues of equality other than suffrage, such as ending discrimination. In 1951, The Alliance for Women in Media, originally called the American Women in Radio and Television was founded, its mission being to advance the impact of women in the electronic media and associated industries by advocating, educating, and acting as a resource to its members. In 1963, Betty Friedan wrote, “The Feminine Mystique”, which is considered by some to mark the beginning of the “Second Wave.” This also marked the slow beginning of independent women having a voice about their careers and own life choices. In 2005, Women’s Media Center was founded. The organization “works to ensure women are powerfully and visible represented in the media” and “to diversify the media in its content and sources, so that the stories and perspectives of women and girls are more accurately portrayed.” WMC acts as a watchdog for sexism in the media and develops campaigns to advocate for fair and balanced coverage.

Impact The media and how it portrays women has had both a negative and a positive impact on the women’s movement. During the 1950’s, the media was bluntly sexist; it portrayed that a woman’s place was in the kitchen as a housewife, and her sole purpose was to please her husband. Nowadays, society understands that such comments are sexist. The women’s movement brought light to the sexist way of life in America before around 1963, and taught people about sexism. The women’s movement impacted media in that it stopped outwardly sexist comments or portrayal of women. However, there is still sexism in the United States. The media has actually set back the women’s movement. Women are still expected to take care of the kids and the house; only now they are also expected to hold down a good job, walk the dog, keep track of the family’s schedule while looking perfect, beautiful, and thin. The media portrays mothers as young, organized, caring, working women. However, the fact is, this "perfect" image is almost impossible. Motherhood and being a housewife is much more than the media makes it out to be. From childhood, girls are taught how to be good housewives with kitchen play sets and realistic baby dolls. Also, the media portrays women as sex-symbols, and encourages girls to be hyper-skinny, sexy, or at least one of the two. Playboy, for example, is completely womanizing. However, it is highly popular, and has become commonly accepted in today’s culture. Additionally, models are super-skinny, and create a damaging body image for girls. Since the media reaches everyone all the time, but the women’s movement generally only reaches some women audiences, the general public is convinced that what the media, advertisements, fashion, and celebrities show is what all women should be like. This gives people a false impression of the realistic body image for women, showing super-thin, super-tall models, and large-breasted playboy models. In this way, the media has undermined the women’s movement, and all the progress that the movement has made. Sadly, it is the influence of media, not the women’s movement that shapes society.