Mass Media Project

Introduction

The mass media plays a crucial role in the modern world in broadcasting information and providing entertainment to a wide audience. The mass media comprises of the press, television, radio, books, and the Internet, all of which have had significant advances in the recent past. Media creates a particular type of message and can manipulate individual’s attitude and opinions. The media is termed as pervasive and profoundly influences socializing force, but parents and teachers can make a difference. Children are more vulnerable to the teachings of the media since they lack the capacity to differentiate between fantasy and reality or to understand irony and disregard stereotypes. The impact of the media messages contributes to the likelihood of various types of stereotypes. The research paper focuses on a discussion of the stereotypes associated with women or men as a whole and the stereotypes associated with groups of women and men by race, class, sexual orientation, or physical ability among others.

The media selected for discussion are magazines, television, and movies. For magazines, women’s magazine covers tend to advertise sex, make-up, shopping, and gossip (Matthews, 2007). Several of the women’s magazines reviewed show pictures of Hollywood celebrities or models using bright colors. On the other hand, men’s magazines usually advertise sports, beautiful women, as well as electronics. They also display pictures of a bodybuilder, athletes, and electronics using dark colors in the background unlike that of women having bright colors.

Television also has certain gender stereotypes. I singled out "Modern Family" ABC’s episode series aired on TV. It features three families who are part of one big family. Modern Family introduces the homosexual family lifestyle and mixed marriage for the older and younger couples (Cardoza, 2013). An example of the stereotypes is the development of Claire’s character by the gender stereotypes of women being stay-at-home, and men being the source of income for the family. The TV series enhances traditional gender roles and stereotypes of women and race. It depicts women as having a weaker status in the society. The Television series encourages several stereotypes towards women and Latinos. However, it also shows some situations and actions that pull away from the stereotypes which have been traditionally practiced and are ingrained in people’s mind.

Movies are also common sources of gender stereotypes. An example of a movie that portrays gender stereotypes is the Sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. The movie depicts the American gender roles as well as stereotypical perceptions of male and female behaviors as seen in Sheldon, Leonard, and Penny characters. The two act as intellectual physicists but have varying personalities. Leonard is seen having many girls, but Sheldon behaves unusually. The two tend to portray stereotypical images of a geek as they take up different male attributes. Males are termed as more aggressive than females due to the testosterone in their body and Sheldon has the male stereotype of aggression. Another common stereotype portrayed in the movie is the idea that men are rescues, but women are victims.

The stereotypes depicted in the different media platforms portray women and men differently. From the media types selected, men are portrayed as stronger than women in various ways. As McIntosh (2011) asserts, males tend to be more aggressive than females due to the testosterone in their bodies. As such, they are above women in various aspects of life as their aggression takes them. They are also competitive in the social groups and exercise their masculinity and status (McIntosh, 2011). The characteristics make men overwhelmingly strong that make it necessary for women to need rescue from the existing stereotypical issues that suppress them. The women of color are depicted differently from the Caucasian women in the media. Sitcoms, magazines, and movies are resurfacing the portrayal of minorities as less than ideal. The media platforms perpetuate some stereotypes to appeal to the majority at the expense of the minorities. Blacks in the movies are regarded as second-class citizens as evident from their history as slaves to the white man. The stereotypes used to describe them are being lazy, foolish, cowards, submissive, violent, and sub-human. The media use the stereotypes according to the perception of the person creating them.

I think that such stereotypes tend to advance the ideas and perceptions of certain groups of people at the expense of others. Movies, television shows, and magazines that have significant elements of stereotyping aspects are popular among the majority groups that are not implicated in them. The media uses them to maintain the status quo since most of the issues practiced in the society are also evident in the media. For instance, in the television show, ABC, women are portrayed as ‘stay-at-home’ characters which are the same in some societies where women do not engage in any economic activity. The portrayals of women and men in certain stereotypes are disadvantaging other groups since the minorities are forced to serve as subordinates to the majority (Omar, Adeline, Alyssa, Jon & Alex, 2015). People of color, either men or women, are heavily affected by stereotypes where they are regarded as second-class players in the presence of the Caucasians. Also, doing away with the stereotypes would challenge the status quo in which some people would lose their power over others. The stereotypes also tend to maintain the gender system by having separate roles and characteristics for men and women from the historical times to the present (Gauntlett, 2008). Men have always been of women in family, political, economic, and religious matters among others. The society has accepted all the practices as they are, thereby enforcing the stereotypes to maintain the status quo. People who fail to conform to status quo are termed as weak in the case of men and non-submissive for the case of women. However, there have been attempts to change the status quo by encouraging women to be active contributors in the societal and governance matters which is gradually bearing fruits.

I have learned that media stereotypes tend to propagate certain beliefs and practices in the society as portrayed in the media. However, the stereotypes are not always a true reflection of the people involved, and hence inappropriate. Stereotyping in the mass media has negative consequences to the people involved since it labels some as subordinates and glorifies other groups of people. It also creates classes and stratification of people by stereotypes which may be unnecessary, but only for personal gains in the media. I think that gender is more complex than mere norms about femininity and masculinity. It is a process, a stratification system, and an institution by itself that entails complex issues that ought to be addressed if the society has to change on how gender stereotypes are propagated. Gender stereotyping goes deep into analyzing issues that are beyond the basic categorization of the roles of males and females. This class has helped me to understand gender, race, class, and sexual orientation as interlocking systems of oppression where they all tend to explain how some people suppress the capabilities of others by stereotypes. The differences in gender, race, class or sexual orientation should not serve as a means of oppression or grouping people with ulterior motives. I think that the society has a chance to change the existing groupings if at all some people are willing to comprise their hard positions and high levels of power and status.

References

Cardoza E. (2013) "Modern Family" Gender roles and stereotypes: TV criticism

Gauntlett, D. (2008). Media, gender, and identity: An introduction. Routledge.

Matthews, J. L., (2007) Hidden sexism: Facial prominence and its connections to gender and occupational status in popular print media. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 57, 515-525

McIntosh, H. (2011). Gendering Intelligence and Sexuality on The Big Bang Theory.

Omar, Adeline, Alyssa, Jon & Alex (2015) Racial Stereotypes in Film/ TV, Gender, Race, and Media.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in best custom research papers if you need a similar paper you can place your order for a custom research paper from essay writer services.