Globalcompose.com sample term paper on sexism in us media

Sample Term Paper on Sexism in us Media
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Abstract
Women have been fighting for their rights for a long time. They have faced various
challenges in their struggles, which include sexual abuse, negative labels, and prejudice,
leading to the development of the concept of sexism. Despite the fact that gender equality
is yet to be fully attained across the globe, many organizations supporting equal rights are
still working around the clock to ensure that women and men are equal in the society. The
media, through advertisement, has continued to propagate sexism, which has had a
negative implication on women and men. The current paper provides an analysis of sexism
and how it is portrayed in the American media mainly through advertisements and its role in
enhancing sexism as well as its impact on women. The paper also assesses the impacts of
sexism and what needs to be done in countering the effects.
The Role of the Media in Enhancing Sexism in the United States Media through
Advertising its Effects on Women
Introduction
Throughout history, women have continued to fight for their rightful position in the
society. They have done this with an intention of earning liberation and equal
ordinaryprivileges as men in the society. Currently, women have attained some of the
privileges that they did not enjoy in the past, for instance, the right to vote, the opportunity
to be employed in same profession as men, and even contesting and clinching political
seats in the congress. Such achievement shows that the world has experienced a drastic
change with regard to championing the rights of women. Nonetheless, much are yet to be
attained. Because of the fact that women are yet to be considered as equals to men, there
have been several consequences. Such a perception leads to actions like stereotypes,
sexual harassment, discrimination, and even rape. Historically, such forms of injustices
have been happening to women and they should be put to an end as soon as possible. One
of the major concerns that women still face and encounter in society is the issue of sexism.
Sexism refers to discriminating or devaluing an individual or group of people based sex or
gender. In most cases, such form of discrimination is directed against women. Sexism is
grounded on elements of insolences, stereotypes, as well as cultural features. As a result
of the historical and unrelenting disparity of power where men are considered as a
dominant class advantaged over women, a significant, but often unnoticed, part of the
definition is that sexism involves prejudice in addition to power. Therefore, feminists discard
the idea that women can be sexist towards men since they do not have the influential power
that men have.Sexism has been in existence since ancient times. Generally, sexism is
represented in very many forms, for example, through picture, movies, and written post
among other forms. Sexism is found everywhere, thus having a negative implication to
womenbecause of its social, cognitive, and physical outcomes.The main form of sexism
that is apparent today is propagated through the media, where it is being appliedin
advertisements in the United States.
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Review of Literature
It is apparent that sexism towards women in the United States is still widespread.
Nonetheless, the main question is about ways through which chauvinistinsolencesare
articulated towards women.The main mode through which sexism has been propagated is
the media. Several images of women on products across the nation have proven the
existence of sexism, particularly on advertising. According to Plakoyiannaki et al. (2008),
through images, the media has portrayed the female bodies as objects, hence contributing
to the notion of gender inequality and encouraging sexism. Thisissue has brought about
several arguments because women have been convinced andswayed by such media
representations, which is unhealthy with regard to theircontinual struggle for gender
equality. The demeaning forms of advertisements have also been propellingelusive
messages to women by explaining to them how they look and their rightful position in the
society. Currently in the United States, women are subjected to several stereotypes, such
as being air-heads. Furthermore, magazines and other forms of print advertisement
depictwomen’s images that implant the notion of sexism among the minds of many
people.The portrayal of women as weaker beings through television programs has resulted
in women labelling themselves in a similar way.
According toStermer & Burkley (2015), it is apparent that advertising has been
intensely applied in the United States media to influence and misrepresent images of
women, which forms the basis for the stereotype of women as sex objects. In most cases,
men who appear in media adverts are represented in decent full clothes while women are
continuouslyrepresented putting on short and sexy clothing. This clearly indicates that
women are portrayed as merely lesser and sexobjects as compared to men. The portrayal
of women as lesser beings than men as seen in the media has been the trend for the past
couple of years,increasingsexism themes and behaviors. Traditionally, such forms of
sexual adverts started in the 1850’s. At that time, publicityorganizations used sexual
descriptions of women in their ads to sell products. A case in hand is the tobacco
production entities, which promoted their products using images of exposed women. In the
preceding years, more models in advertising continued to usewomen sexually in sales
promotion of products.
Figure 1: Representation of in sexual attire and a man well dressed
Furthermore, the interaction between males and females in advertising has also
enhanced the sexual feeling between men and women portraying females as objects. In
most cases, these ads are seen in several women and men’s magazines in the nation as
opposed to newspapers.Generally, the media is certain that since women and men have
differentunlikelyassessments of women in dreamy shows andmarriage, they will definitely
begin to imagine that women are supposed to be treated as sexual objects the same way
they are portrayed in ads. When the target audience continues to regularlysee the images
of women depicted in the media as sex objects, it implies that this perception of women will
remain in the back of their minds. In the opinion of Levy & Jane (2006), women have
majorly been the target of consumers for the last century.Since women are the ones who
spend money buying most of the commodities in the home, mainly consumer products,
advertiserstarget them in different ways but habitually through magazine and other forms of
ads. Despite the fact that women are the main targets and consumers of products,
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advertising organizations do not portray them in a significant and powerful way but
asdependent on their male counterparts. Often, the ads portray women as consumers of
low cost products, for instance, laundry detergent, and cosmetics. Theseads also signify
the position of women in society, which is in the household. However, men’s ads depict
them as strong and masculine in society innon-domestic products, for instance, cars or
cameras as seen in the image below.
Figure 2: Male depiction on a car ad
Moreover, women advertising in magazine also enhance the notion of sexism by
depicting them as instruments of fashion and trend. The images of women inmagazines are
presented mostly dressed in skimpily outfits and,in most cases,either embracing a male
counterpart for support or sometimes in a posture that portrays sexual acts (Levy and Jane
2006). Moreover, most of the ads in the United States media portray women as consumers
of minor products like beauty and clothes different from other strong ads, such as
technological or innovational that are exemplified by men.Such male inclined ads that
promote their power are also found in male magazines. The women magazines also
portray women as objects of manipulation in the society where products, such as diet
tablets and pills are expected to give an impractical image of what the society wants them
to look like. The main intention of the advertisers in coming up with the products for women
in the female magazine is to encourage women to read for advice. Later on, the women are
carried away by the information, which encouragesthem to buy these products. It makes
them feel better about themselves as the society wants them to be. For example, if a
woman notices a certain dress in amagazine, which she feels it can make her look sexy
and better, she definitely goes for it. Furthermore, most girls also try to match the images
of women in the magazines, emulating thehairstyles, face paint, clothes, and even weight.
However, one thing that many women do not look at is the photo shopping involved in the
magazines. In reality, many real models do not resemble the images portrayed in
themagazines. The images presented are constantly twisted, hence giving women and
girlsimpracticableinterpretations of beauty in the Americansociety. According to Nigham &
Jha, such female representations reduce women to lesser beings by having a feeling
ofcontinuous low self – esteem, eating disorders, and psychological debt, mainly to impress
the society or men
According to Plakoyiannaki (2008),most of the media representations of women in the
United States enhance the notion of sexism by killing the female values through
advertisements. Most of the ads presented on the media, for instance, sell to
audiencevalues and images. The forms of adverts represent to the populations feelings
and other components that impact their mood, for example, making one to feel sad, happy,
and fearful. Generally, women have established a certain general notion of “how we look” in
the society, which is represented by the ideal female beauty. Since many media depictions
of women, for instance, in magazines are photo shopped and represent women in another
class, natural women are distressed to look like such unrealistic images. Therefore, many
women and girlsprefer the look in the models presented, that is,tall and slender among
other characteristics. This also affects women from other races who are forced to fit into the
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category, some going to an extent of performing plastic surgeries. All such inclinations only
serve to enhance the idea of sexism since women refute their ideal looks and want to be
like someone else.
Myers (2013)believes that the media also encourages men to play a significant role in the
ads that enhance the concept of sexism through the establishment of a code of conduct.
Most women end up making discriminatory conclusions about women because of how they
are depicted in media commercials. In this regard, the media depiction of women
influences men to perceive women as objects, a substitute for people. Consequently, when
men start seeing women as objects other than fellow human beings, the concept of sexism
is enlarged, which most often leads to violence since the human feeling is lost. Because of
the increased photo shopping image portrayal of women in the United States ads, many
women have resolved to plastic surgery. The rates of plastic surgery among women have
risen over the last quarter of the century.The most prevalent forms of plastic surgery
include breast expansions, liposuctions, and eyelifts among others. When young girls see
these images as depicted in themedia, they are influenced to look the same way.
Therefore, plastic surgery is as a result of women refuting their natural looks and wanting to
look different, mainly sexy. This promotes the idea of sexism since men’s perception of
women remains to be sex objects.
Berberick, (2010) maintains that the problem of media depiction of women in ads has also
led to the fascinationwith looking good among females, hence leading toaprevalence of
eating disorders in the United States, an issue that is prevalent to both older women and
young girls. Since women fear appearing unattractive to men or other people in the society,
they look down upon themselves, paving a way for men to discriminate them. For example,
aging women develop the perception that if they do not look young, then they are no
moreneeded and not sexy anymore. Currently, the American society is also witnessing an
influx in the use of diet pills among the female population that has reacted over
proportionally to many women through more weight gain and sometimes even leading to
death. Moreover, recent commercials on food and women depiction have also sexualized
the products, hence encouraging sexism. Women have been exploited in the ads often
depicted as submissive and in acts of sex, including juveniles. This negatively portrays
women as porn stars hence enhancing their perception as sexual objects and lesser than
men.
Figure 3: Media depiction of women as sexual porn stars
In most cases, men have never been affected or influenced by commercials. Despite the
fact that some ads also portray men as sexual objects, they do some with decorum of
strength and power, mostly with a seemingly weak woman alongside.Generally, most of the
men’s advertisements, despite the sexual representation, have a core message that depict
them as strong, masculine, and not feminine in the least. The ads’ depiction of women will
enhance sexism and will not change soon since their intention is to make women to hate
their bodies since that is how they sell their products and make profits.
According to Lujan, the concept of sexism is also portrayed in the media through the
settings in which women are depicted. Looking at the media representation of women in
the United States, the common setting for women in television and other forms of ads is in
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the domestic habitation(Lujan, n.d). This representation of women is also prevalent in
children’s advertisements where many girls are depicted in home settings as compared to
boys. Furthermore, men are also depicted in serious places, for instance, offices, factories,
or airports, which are outside residential homes. In most instances, women are depicted as
represented as busy personalities in the homes. Therefore, when the consumers see these
representations of the females, they assume that women are constrictedto household
chores and the home is the ideal place for them.Other explicit products for women and men
in ads also play as significant role in enhancing sexism.Whereas women are more linked
with products such as anesthetics, body products, feminine goodsand clothing, men
areoften depicted withstronger products, such as cold medicine, computers, and
electronics. From a common perspective, these ads and products may seem trivial but they
play a significant role subtly by impacting the consumers’ approacheson the common
stereotypes for women and men, thus mainly approving women to matters surrounding the
home.
Figure 4: Media Depiction of a woman as a household champion.
Media representation has also endorsed the element of sexism through unfair
representation of celebrities. The main aim of most commercials run in the media is to
impact the target consumers at a personal level. At times, it involves using celebrities or
actors that may attract the audiences. This association of celebrities in several way also
influences the consumersto buying theproduct. Among the most influentialof these
endorser commercialsinvolve the athletessince many people would want to relate with
them. Furthermore, most of the celebrity sportsmen and women are also renowned and
many people would want to be linked with them. Most organizations have employed the
endorsement of celebrity in their ads because of the positive expected impact created on
the audience, hence resulting in huge profits.The organizations pay specific celebrities,
mainly in sports and other fields millions of dollars to connect the celebrity and
organizations.Regrettably,most of these endorsements are awarded to male celebrities or
fitting males. Generally, a small fraction of female sports endorsers is depicted in the
organizations’ ads. Despite the fact that this small fraction of female sports endorsers is
drastically increasing, the organizations also look out for more attractive and positivesports
role models. According to Ross (2009), marketing, sales promotion forms an important link
between the influence of a message and the personality involved or the spokesman.
Therefore, the advertisers apply the 15-item ruleincorporating three discretescopes, that is,
proficiency, reliability, and attractiveness. Proficiency entails familiarity, acquaintance, and
skills among other factors. On the other hand, reliability involvesconstancy, authentic,
unfailing, and sincerity among others. The last dimension has to do more with the female
endorser, which is the attractiveness aspect. Attractiveness mainly has to do with stylish,
elegance, and sexy among others. The three scopes involved in commercials are
significant in impacting the audiences on the message that the organization is trying to sell.
According Ross (2009), it is proven that attractive and femalesportspersonsare the ones
that get more endorsement as compared to female athletes who are not attractiveand less
feminine. For example, celebrities like Maria Sharapova and Danica Patrick are depicted
as more attractive. Apart from their sports accomplishment, these personalities are best
bets for organizations’ ad endorsement as compared to other outstanding sports women
who are considered less attractive hence enhancing the concept of sexism among women.
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Whether the concept of sexism is expressed in the form of media, school,
workplace,or setting, it is disparagingly detrimental to women both physically and mentally.
According to Nauert (2010), it is apparent that women go through several
painfulfeelingswhen they experience negative sexism occurrences. The media depiction of
women through photo shop images affect the way they feelby making them believe that
they are less valuable, which affects them mentally. Moreover, such feelings can also
impact the way they think, feel, or behave towards men and other members of the society.
The images that depict women’s position in the household also affect them in one way or
another by constricting them to feel that they have a limited chance of succeeding
professionally as compared to men in the sexiest society.The women who also experience
sexy depiction or representation of the media go through physical stress. Firstly, since
women are depicted as lesser beings as compared to men, they are likely to face physical
abuse from men because of their lower position in the society. Moreover, the media
depiction of women also causes other women to undergo some processes like plastic
surgery and bodily transformation to create a feeling of significance, which can be
physically harmful to their bodies.
Female, particularly the adolescent girls, are highly affected by the sexism
depictions of the media. The modelsof a woman represented in the media makes the
common women to disown their own characteristics and bodies. In fact, as a result of the
sexism concepts, which are both negative and positive, many women have been noted
going through psychological conditions, for instance, despair, concern, and anorexia.
Several womendevelop fear when they look at photos of their bodiesand compare them to
the ones depicted in the media. According to Berberick (2010), depiction of women in the
media has a negative implication to women physically, cognitively and mentally.It is vivid
that sexism is a concern that has negatively impacted the lives of several women as
compared to men. It is a subtlematterbut has resulted inupheavals and clashes among the
two main sexes, male and female. It is widely accepted that sexism is real and despite
several efforts to tryingto end it,it is still a major problem in the American society. Despite
the fact that women still have more to do in order to beperceived as equals to men, there
needs to be a formidable solution in addressing the concept of sexism in the media. One of
the ways that can be applied in trying to eradicate sexism in the American society is
introducing a new level of all deliberationsinvolving sexism where both sexes can
collaborate instead of formingbarricades in between, Moreover, the society also needs to
forget certain traditions about women that have persisted all through generations, hence
impacting the media representations.
Furthermore, from thestatus of the current society, Lujan maintains that it seems
like the concept of media representationin the history of women among other factors has
shown change and something critical has to be done.Many women need to be educated
about their history, that is, where they are coming from and where they are headed so that
they can understand what the society expects of them. In as much as many women and
other organizations have tried championing for an end to the discrimination between men
and women, much has to be done, particularly on women who have decided to be eroded
by the society. Education also needs to play a significant role on the concept of sexism so
that the society can be enlightened. For example, if the society is serious about ending
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sexism, then one of the weapons to be applied in dealing with the situation is educating the
society to know and understand the topic. Afterwards, the negative effects of sexism can
be explainedto peoplefor them to understand how bad it is.
The understanding of the feminism concept seems to havebeen misunderstood.
Feminism turned out to be what it was not intended through creating some form of clash
between feminists and men when in real it should be uniting factor. Despite the fact that
women are mostly affected by sexism, men have beenvictims of sexism in some instances.
This implies that sexism can be detrimental to both men and women. Even though men
have started going through sexism actions, it is significant that both sexes collaborate in
dealing with the problem of sexism completely. Therefore, eliminating sexism is not a small
task due to the many dynamics and prevalence of the menace. Essentially, one way of
ending gender disparity is stopping all kinds of sex related biases. Several questions have
been raised concerning ways through which women can be liberated from restraints of
sexual bias, which is possible.
Conclusion
It is definite that sexism is real in the American society and the media plays a
significant role in perpetrating it, mainly through advertisements. Generally, commercials
are aimed at selling products, though women are frequentlyrepresented as objects that
promote them. This is attained through deliberaterepresentation of women mainly by
focusing on their body partsinstead of theintellectual capacity and ability. Women portrayal
in the media follows gender stereotypes, which have been in existence for several years
and depict females as dumb, feeble, and incompetentin undertaking males’ roles.Thus, they
need to be contained at home to take care of the household. These perceptions influence
the minds of people to think that females are lesser beings compared to males. The media
depiction of women does not only portray women as lesser than men but also sexualize
their bodies, henceimplying that women are only significant in terms of their bodies.Such
representationsdistress women both physically and psychologically. Depicting women as
sex objects can trigger different forms of sexual harassment, such as rape, which expose
women todetrimental situationswhere they become victims of physical violence. Besides,
such media representation of women also affects them mentally because the bodies
ofmodels presented in the media ads impact their minds, which makes them hate their
natural looks and think that they can only be accepted in the society if they look like the
media images. Through such feelings, many young and old women live with depression.
As a way of dealing with the distress, they resort to undergo some processes that harm
their bodies, for instance, plastic surgery, and diet pills among other actions in the name of
wanting to become the model type. Generally, sexism in the media is real andfeasiblythe
challenging concept to deal with. Nonetheless, there are several procedures through which
the society can be enlightened in reducing casesof sexism as propagated by the
organization capitalistic minds that are aimed at generating profits. The media can also be
used a means to ending sexism. This can be done by depicting women in a positive way
and demonstrating that they are equal to men and able to take up respectful positions in the
society just as men.
References
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Berberick, S. N. (2010). The Objectification of Women in Mass Media: Female Self-Image
in Misogynist Culture. The New York Sociologist, 5, 1-15.
Levy, J. C. (2008). Advertising to Women: Who Are We in Print and How Do We Reclaim
Our Image? Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 2(4), 75-86.
Lujan K. Sexism in Today’s Media.Sexism in the Media and its Effect on Women: A Review
of the Literature. University of Texas at El Paso.
Myers, K. (2013). Anti-Feminist Messages In American Television Programming For Young
Girls. Journal of Gender Studies, 22(2), 192-205.
Nauert, R. (2010). Negative Effects of Sexism. psychcentral.com.
Nigam, D., & Jha, J. (Eds.). (2007). Women in advertising: changing perceptions. Icfai
University Press.
Plakoyiannaki, E., Mathioudaki, K., Dimitratos, P., & Zotos, Y. (2008). Images of Women in
Online Advertisements of Global Products: Does Sexism Exist?. Journal of Business
Ethics, 83(1), 101.
Ross, S. R., Ridinger, L. L., & Cuneen, J. (2009). Drivers To Divas: Advertising Images of
Women in Motorsport. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 10(3), 7-
17.
Stermer, S. P., & Burkley, M. (2015). SeX-Box: Exposure to Sexist Video Games Predicts
Benevolent Sexism. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 4(1), 47.
Wood, J. T. (1994). Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of
Gender. Gendered lives: Communication, gender and culture, 231-244.
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