Gender in Media

For this activity, you need to work your way through the images and links that are posted and for each one list the things that you think it is saying about women. You could consider the way the woman/women look, how they are acting and/or what seems to be important to them. I have sorted them into advertisements, paparazzi shots, red carpet shots, catwalk shots and film trailers.

To help you, it may be worth copying the pictures onto your blog and then making your notes under each one. For the links, you can simply write the name of the advertisement or movie trailer and then put your comments under the name. 

Advertisements

The woman in this advertisement displays a lot of aspects of the stereotypical woman, appearance wise. She is beautiful with fair skin, long hair, her body is skinny and she has 'perfect' features. This image targets young women as the type of Coke that they are advertising is 'light' and this word and part of the packaging is in pink. The way that the man is looking at the woman also suggests that if you drink this, you are seen as more attractive, and this shows the idea that all women are looking for love.

Much like the advertisement above, the woman in this image has 'perfect' features and is a good example of the stereotypical woman's appearance. Her face and her body shape have been significantly photoshopped and this sets a high standard for women and girls. This advertisement is targeted at younger women and suggests that the woman's beauty comes from within this bottle of perfume. It gives women the idea that buying this perfume could potentially make them more attractive. Additionally, the snake represents temptation and control, and the colours used in the image are darker colours and are pink and purple.

Paparazzi Shots

The woman in this image is perfectly done up, with a nice outfit, hair done, sunglasses on, etc. and this links with the stereotype that women are to have a perfect appearance at all times. The fact that this woman has so many men surrounding her, taking photos shows the objectification of women and suggests that she is just there for people to look at. 

 This image links with the stereotype that all women are emotional as it shows Lindsay Lohan crying whilst on the phone. It also displays the stereotype that women are to have a perfect appearance as she is still wearing makeup, has a perfect manicure, etc.

Bad headline example: 'Lindsay Lohan has a breakdown after best friend dies from a drug overdose'

This image shows Miley Cyrus wearing tracksuit pants and a comfy looking top, while talking on the phone. She looks very carefree and like she doesn't really care about looking 'perfect' like the women in the other images. This image doesn't really display any of the stereotypes unlike the other images and shows that women can still be beautiful without having to wear makeup and be dressed up, etc.

Example of a good Headline: 'Miley shares engagement news with her father'

Example of a bad headline: 'Miley forced into homelessness after spending all of her money on drugs'

Red Carpet Shots

 All of the women in this image and the image below are considered beautiful by the media and by stereotypes. They are all skinny, they have perfect features, they are all feminine because they are wearing dresses and heels, and they have their hair done up nice and are wearing lots of makeup. The fact that they all look good suggests that a part of the reason that they are famous is because of their appearance. None of the women on the red carpet are not beautiful and this shows that in order to be famous, you also have to be attractive and fit the stereotypical woman.

Catwalk Shots

The women in these images all display aspects of the stereotypical woman. To begin with, they are all extremely skinny and they have very defined features. These images objectify women as they are just used as objects to display the clothing on. As well as that, the clothing that the women are wearing are all very short and revealing dresses, most of them being very tight-fitted too. This does not give a good idea to young girls as they will grow up thinking that this is the way to dress, etc. when it is really just sexualising women and displaying them as objects.

Questions:

1. Look back at the comments you have made for each picture/link and make notes that indicate whether you have noticed any key similarities between the various images or clips.

The major similarities between the majority of the images include the fact that they all suggest that women should be skinny, have fair skin, perfect makeup, a perfect appearance at all time to be considered beautiful. It also emphasises the idea that women are objects and that they can only be successful and popular if they are beautiful and they match the stereotypes. 

2. Are there any comments that you can make about an image/clip that appears different to the others?

The only image that I found that is different to the others is the one of Miley Cyrus on the phone as it shows her as very carefree about her appearance, and not feeling the need to be 'perfect' and beautiful all the time, unlike the other images. It doesn't really display any of the stereotypes of women.

3. Do you think the overall representation of women is a realistic one? Explain your answer.

I don't think that the overall representation of women is very realistic as it suggests that women are only beautiful when they conform to certain expectations, and it suggests that they are to have a perfect appearance all the time. This is untrue as there are a lot of beautiful women who do not look like the stereotypical woman. 

4. Do you think these types of images, etc. influence the way women and girls think about themselves? Explain your answer. 

These images definitely influence the  way the girls and women think about themselves as they create extremely high and impossible standards. The images emphasise the idea that you are to have a perfect appearance all the time and that you are only beautiful if you look a certain way, and this is really hard on girls as everybody looks different, and not everyone conforms to those expectations. Instead of displaying women that all have the same features, the media needs to include a range of girls with different appearances and this would help women and girls love their appearance more and feel more happy about their appearance.