The Enemy Within: Women in Today’s Media, Research Paper Example

Introduction

To assert that girls and women have been consistently presented as a variety of stereotypical images in mass media, certainly since the age of electronic entertainment, is to state the obvious. The 1960s ushered in this societal focus on just how women are portrayed in the media, probably beginning with feminist Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, in 1965.  For the next few decades, both men and women became virtually trained to spot specific and stereotypical representations of girls and women, usually of Friedan’s “Happy Housewife Heroine” model (Thornham 23).  Beyond that type of representation, many others have been identified, and all point to a deliberate objectifying of females.  As continually shown by media, a woman is very much what her appearance suggests, and little more than that.

What is interesting, however, is that the issue has not gone away.  The stereotypes have changed, but the basic motivation seems to remain the same, and in place: television, films, and other variations of the media continually seek to present an “idealized” form of womanhood.  That men are, to some extent, equally stereotyped is not relevant simply because power is still very much in the hands of males in our society.  Nor is it important that one version of the modern female image is actually that of the “ordinary”, and unglamorous woman, because these images are typically employed to point to the need for women to alter such models.  What matters, unfortunately, is that girls and women are still being exploited by media because girls and women not only permit it, but fuel the process by buying into all of it as eagerly as do men.

Gender Reinforcement, Then and Now

Given how drastically more modern media representations of women have created serious issues in female health and mental well-being, the days of the World War II pin-up girl seem almost harmless.  In the less complex society of the mid-nineteenth century, the existing media appeared to have one job to do: sell the beautiful girl, and sell her to herself.  Women had not yet achieved a greater freedom in social arenas or the workplace, so the widespread appeal was centered on becoming alluring enough to attract a man for life.  This in turn engendered another stereotype, that of the capable, loving wife and mother.  The formula was, for decades, basic: all women had to be lovely, and then they would either be the sex-object single woman or the respectable, and still beautiful, mother (Potter 204). Few women sought alternative ways of living because few women were not seduced by the media power, which both reflects and feeds into the society.

What this seeming and relative “innocence” media saturation disguised, however, was a growing commercial concern.  By the end of the century, industries based on cosmetics and fashion would do hundreds of billions of dollars worth of trade, and this could not happen if women were happy with themselves as they were.  The hard reality is that one massive component driving the perpetual emphasis of the media to redefine female appearance is that it is enormously profitable.  The more it is supposed to change, in fact, the greater the profits to be made.

It is, again, tempting to look back on media of the past and see it as merely a harmless ambition of the men behind the scenes, to inspire the women in their lives to be more alluring.  What this conveniently ignores is degree, and the immense power of any medium itself.  It is one thing, for example, that World War II soldiers idolized Betty Grable and expressed male appreciation for her famous legs; it is another when the women at home cannot hope to have legs as shapely, even as they are informed everywhere they turn that this is what their men demand.  Men, as noted, are stereotyped by the media as well, but men have never been the victims of this kind of psychologically debilitating onslaught.  Quite simply, men have never been told by the media that they are something less than men because they do not look good enough.  They are encouraged to be attractive, but their self-esteem is never tied inextricably to this single component.

Moreover, those earlier days of female objectification by the media have been amply reinforced by later eras.  In the 1970s, which ironically marked the rise of feminism, it happened all over again.  The Farrah Fawcett poster became a true cultural icon, launching a resurgence of the poster industry.  Eight million were sold in months, and the seemingly insubstantial fact of this is darkened by the ensuing sales of Farrah Fawcett shampoo and the toothpaste she endorsed (Mansour 152).  The boys were buying the posters and the girls bought the products, desperate to  become the blatantly desired girl in them.   As in earlier years, the messages from the media were the same: this is what men desire and women must purchase the products necessary to emulate the image.  Also as before, the destructive core of the message is that women are inadequate as they are.

It has not gone away.  A recent study revealed that seventy percent of adolescent girls try to adjust their appearance to resemble attractive TV characters; another produced the disturbing fact that ten year-old girls experienced severe unhappiness about their bodies after watching Britney Spears videos (Kirsh 112).   This is a further and insidious development in media representation of females, as very young girls are encouraged by the media to view themselves in a manner associated with adolescent, or physically mature, girls.  This can only generate extraordinary levels of confusion and, most probably, severe emotional disorders.  Rather than reflect a more enlightened view of women as individuals, it seems that modern society is so eager to reinforce specific gender images that it now must exploit children.

Both psychological consequences and commercial interests aside, two other destructive aspects are evident from the pervasive media influence. The first is the prevalence of eating disorders among young women pathologically dissatisfied with their own bodies, and the second is the linked and enormous rise in the practice of cosmetic surgery. A great deal of research has examined these issues, and the results are invariably similar: a woman’s sense of identity and of her own happiness is significantly associated with her appearance, while no such connection is found for men (Borgelt, et al. 56).  It is undeniable that media, which informs society in virtually every sphere in which it engages, has consistently impressed upon women the need to look and act in certain ways, at it has encouraged men to assist in the persuasion.

Conclusion

Many volumes have been written on the subject of how women have been persistently victimized by a stereotyping media, and how this has severe consequences on female physical and mental health.  Critics and scholars also keep a keen eye on the shifts in this representation, noting recent trends, for instance, in media glamorizing of “ordinary” women, which is itself a fabricated and enhanced image.  Clearly, the overriding pattern continues, and to the great detriment of girls and women everywhere.

That both men and women would wish to be more attractive is a natural thing, and both are, as noted, pressured by media to achieve this.  For women, however, it is presented as being about the entire self, and this is an ongoing and crippling societal behavior.  What is most extraordinary is that women actually support the entire process.  Plainly, the images would fade if no attention were paid to them because subsequent product sales would not happen, and women alone have this power; men could not support the vast commercial interests dependent upon female imaging alone.  For reasons that truly must be examined, what is systematically destroying the well-being of girls and women is being backed by girls and women.  As for a lengthy history, females are still being exploited by media because girls and women not only permit it, but better enable the process by buying into all of it as eagerly as do men.

Works Cited

Borgelt, L. M., O’Connell, M. B., Smith, J. A., & Kalis, K. A.  Women’s Health Across the Lifespan: A Pharmacotherapeutic Approach. Bethesda, MD: ASHP, 2010. Print.

Kirsh, S. J.  Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 2006. Print.

Mansour, D. From ABBA to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20^th Century.  Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005. Print.

Potter, W. J.  Media Literacy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 2008. Print.

Thornham, S.  Women, Feminism, and Media. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 2007 Print.