Posted on behalf of Jon Sieg:
Chapter 3 in the reader begins with information regarding gender roles in the media. It talks about a certain reality, and portraying the realest versions of our male and female roles in society. The feminist point of view would most likely say that the media portrays a less than accurate view of women in society. It is argued that in reality many more women work than we see in the media. Many feminists believe our culture is lagging behind the changes in today’s society regarding the beliefs and attitudes towards women. As McQuail states, “It seems indisputable that many aspects of women’s lives and experiences are not properly reflected by the media. Many more women work than the media suggest, very few women resemble the ‘femmes fatales’ of movies and TV series, and women’s desires extend far beyond the hearth and home of traditional women’s magazines” (Reader pg 48).
Feminists claim that the media distorts that reality, but what truly defines that reality? What is the reality of the role of women? A common response to the claim of distorted reality is, as McQuail says, “…in reality, women are mothers and housewives too. What is problematic about that?” (Reader pg 48). Feminists among themselves are divided in their own views with what is the reality of women’s social position and nature (Reader pg 48). It seems highly unlikely to satisfy all needs.
Women play very important roles, in all television shows. Women play partners with men in crime and law programs, in medical shows, in comedies, in dramas…whatever it is. Some are portrayed as house wives while some are portrayed as independent, strong females in the workforce. McQuail states, “To view the role of the media in the construction of gender as a process of distorting the ‘true’ meaning of gender, as occurs in feminist transmission models of communication, thus ignores the contradictory and contested nature of gender” (Reader pg 51).
My question for you is do you believe that gender roles are inaccurately displayed in the media? Do you think it is possible to please everyone on this matter?
Today we are faced with gender issues everyday regarding the political candidates. The Democratic race, as some view it, is man vs. women. I came across an article on CNN.com responding to another article about race and gender in the democratic race. The article mentioned black women face a tough decision in this race, and within minutes, people responded quite irately. Check it out…
This is the first article
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/blackwomen.voters/index.html
And the response
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/emails.race.gender/index.html?iref=newssearch
What do you think about this? Was CNN wrong for posting that original article stating African American women are going to face a tougher decision?
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4 comments:
First, I do agree that it is hard for the media to satisfy all needs of the social position of women in the media, but I do think that women are portrayed more accurately than ever in TV shows and in films because like Jon said, there are women who partner up with men on shows such as Law and Order, and other dramas on TV, showing that women can do more than cook and clean for their families. There are working women out there but there are also women who still believe in being homemakers, and there is nothing wrong with that. Each woman has the right to choose for herself what type of profession she wishes to take up and as long as she is happy with that decision, no one else should bring her down.
Women are represented in the media very differently than in the past and there is a greater variety to the roles that they play. However, the role a woman plays in film or on TV is not always a result of gender. Women are portrayed a certain way based on many other factors. McQuail states "Media production, for instance is neither a straightforward derivative of the malicious intents of capitalist male owners, nor is it merely the product of the sexist inclinations of media professionals. It cannot be seen as a simple black box transmitting the patriarchal, sexist or capitalist values of its producers. It is better characterized by tensions and contradictions between individuals with different professional values and personal opinions..." (Reader pg 47).
In regard to the article, I don't think that CNN was politically correct in their publication of the first article, but I can see why they would want to report on the issue. We have never had a black president or a woman president so I understand why there may be an issue for black women when voting. As the article stated, will black women vote according to race or gender? However when reading the comments I can see why readers would be offended because the question posed by the first article seems to reinforce prejudices against black people in the United States. It is hoped that people, black women in particular, will vote based on the issues over gender or race. Judging from some of the responses to the article, this seems to be true.
The issue of how women are portrayed in the media is always a touchy one. McQuail pretty much sums it up on page 49 after all of the talk about distortion saying, "...the historical specificity of current dominant beliefs about women and men opens up new ways of thinking about gender as contstructed. In such approaches 'distortion' would be an empty concept, since there is no reference poing as to what the true male or female identity consists of" (49). That long thing basically says that women don't know what they want to be, so how can anyone ever be happy with how they are portrayed!?
I don't think that gender roles are inaccurately displayed as much as they fall into a lot of stereotypes. Whereas in the 60s and 70s women were portrayed as the typical housewife, today they are often portrayed as the typical lawyer, doctor, __________ (insert important and stressful profession). The reader also says that the gender roles in the media are "fragmented and dynamic", meaning that it is not only constantly changing, but also absolutely necessary and intrinsic to our culture (51). For this reason, it's not possible to please everyone in the way gender roles are portrayed, male or female. Everyone has their own idea about the ideal man and woman, and even when the views of a large group of people are represented, there will always be opposition, because as McQuail says, of the "contradictory and contested nature of gender" (51).
As far as the Hillary and Obama ordeal, I don't think it should be about race or gender AT ALL. This is the possible president were talking about here. It should be about the issues- remember those??? Black women shouldn't be having a harder time than anyone else because they are Americans and can vote for a candidate for any reason they want.
Of course the media portrays both genders innacurately - Women do so much more then the media represents. There is a lot more sexuality involved with female characters in the media. If there was really a town like the one represented in Desperate Housewives, wouldn't we all be trying to live there? The way men are represented is way off as well, not as much as women, but enough to confuse people who are hung up on the media. There really is not a way to satisfy everyone, people who love the way media represents gender would be upset if the media tried to represent reality more accurately.
The media completely distorts womens roles in society. If there really was a town like the one represents in Desperate Housewives, wouldn't we all be trying to live there? Men are distorted as well, not as much as women, but enough to confuse people who are hung up on the media. There really is no way to satisfy everyone, if the media wanted to represent people more accurately, people who love what they watch and read would be devestated.
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