Women Portrayal In The Media

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The perpetual identity crisis women in today’s society are overcome by derives from a concept known as social comparison theory which elucidates, the drive individuals have to “evaluate their progress and standing on various aspects of their lives and, in the absence of objective standards compare themselves to others to know where they stand” (Fardouly, Diedrichs, Vartanian, & Halliwell, 2015). This desire to compare oneself to another is perpetuated by society’s focus on the appearance which is further enhanced through mass media.

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Women are especially prone to this desire as the media portrays women in ways that are sexually objectifying because they promote appearance rather than abilities and personality. “Experiences of sexual objectification, such as exposure to objectifying media, can lead women to view themselves from an observer’s perspective and thus view their body as an object to be gazed upon” (Fardouly, 2015).

As women, we are overcome by the constant desire to conform to societal norms so that we may “fit in.

” What is trending becomes what we center our lives around rather than what we may accomplish. My ultimate desire was to understand how the media portrays women, and how this portrayal affects the individuals in society directly impacted by it?

To understand how the media portrays women and how this portrayal affects them, the first step I took was searching for examples of sexually objectifying media. To my dismay it was not a difficult task, google overwhelmed me with page after page of examples of media throughout the time that portrays women as mere objects for sexual gratification.

The media has no respect for the value of women in society and treats them with the utmost disrespect whether intentional or not.

After gathering images that represent the portrayal of women in the media the next step I followed was to research to determine how the portrayal of women affects individuals in society directly impacted by these images. After researching full text, scholarly reviewed articles on the portrayal of women through the Cline Library databases, I discovered an article by Fardouly and his peers. This article delved into the topic of media portrayal of women and its mediating role in comparisons.

Self-objectification can occur in women whether they are satisfied with their appearance or not. People have a driving force that causes them to evaluate their progress against others which is directly associated with negative consequences such as, “body shaming, anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction, and eating disorders (Fardouly 2015). “The objectification theory proposes that the negative consequences of self-objectification may result from women continually comparing themselves to an unattainable cultural thin ideal and coming up short” (Fardouly, 2015).

In other words, the media’s portrayal of women in society affects both men and women negatively whether they are conscious of it or not. The portrayal of women in the media leads to very negative outcomes in society from the promotion of rape culture to the impact on the emotional stability of women. The media presents women as mere objects present for the gratification of men which promotes societal ideals of women as housewives while also promoting the idea that women are property and therefore, are fair game for taking advantage of. In addition, this can influence a women’s career path and education. For example, advertisements like these, influence how film and media stereotypes affect the lives and leaderships ambitions of girls and young women (Geena Davis Institute, 2019). When you think of leaders, women do not appear to have the role they should. In this literature, a young woman from Vietnam talks about how she sees a man when discussing leaders because society and media have made men look more powerful.

The deep-rooted self-identity crisis formulated by women trying to conform to societal norms establishes a vicious cycle and in this vicious cycle, many issues are given rise. In the constant attempt to be on-trend and the “norm,” women stoop so low as to develop eating disorders due to body shaming to try and be thin enough. When the vicious cycle continues and we fail to meet these idealistic trends that fail to be present in reality, women tend to fall into a deeper spiral which can ultimately lead to depression.

The sexual objectification of women in the media is ever-present and growing, and many of us do not catch the subliminal and desperate messages being presented in the media. The sexualized portrayal of women as objects for sexual gratification is a severe step in the wrong direction. People need to be able to comprehend this material to reduce all media that ultimately harms women. For this message to change is to change the media and how they portray women. For example, giving women the lead role in a movie that would normally show a man. Media has can open doors for women and make them feel powerful and worthy. Women are not objects of sexual gratification. They are a force to be reckoned with and should be portrayed as thus.