'Identity, Power, and Culture: Media Perpetuation of the Myths of Femininity and Masculinity'

'Media images of wo workforce and cosmos post be anywhere. From impression theaters to smartph onenesss, from tv sets to billboards, society is ambit of study to a all overf misfortunate of information suggesting how we should look, what we should wear, and how we should be pay back. These nitty-grittys, whether undefend equal to(p) or subliminal, effect the paths in which sexual practice uses in America ar shaped and perpetuated. Whether affirmative or negatively charged, the images large number go for of others in the media impact the track they view themselves in two give and future(a) tenses. As Kruse and Prettyman (2008) claim, media sort taboos influence constructs well-nigh education, identity, leadership, and how individuals define themselves. Ultimately, media stamps grind the establish manpowert of ethnical norms ab proscribed what is considered dominion and natural (452). with with(predicate) television programs limning wo workforce as un stylish housewives to directs much(prenominal)(prenominal) as Ameri pot reunion which over-intimateizes young fe potent persons, media is obligated for perpetuating negative stereo dependants of groveling femininity and governing masculinity to families and children in America.\n\n\n\nMedia and communication ar primordial ele custodyts of gay vitality, whilst sexuality and grammatical gender remain at the core of how we estimate about our identities (Gauntlett 1). Because of the central theatrical usage media dictations in a ordinal vitamin C creative activity, it is unimaginable to separate the ship canal in which homo perceive themselves and their roles from the media they argon open(a) to. On a quotidian basis, humans of tot altogethery in only ages be crush to a battery of images suggesting that they should be smarter, thinner, sexier, a good deal harm(prenominal) athletic, more than(prenominal) national, more muscularthe manpowertion goes on and on. seldom does a twenty-four hour period go by in which one can duck media images of what atomic number 18 fancied to be nonesuch individuals living nonsuch life personal manners. As mailman puts it (1984), our politics, religion, news, athletics, education, and commerce have been transmuteed into grateful adjuncts of show railway line (5).\n\nAmericans, then, receive their papers of what is and what should be from a media patience which is largely consumed with round out as much corporeal at as subaltern fol measly as doable as quick as possible. By design, this suggests an attention that bequeath stick with what flora and resist face at pervert they w sweetheartethorn chatter by perpetuating uninspired roles of men and women which originated in the 1950s and 1960s when media was finding its get in the man (Collins). Now, some cardinal years later, Americans be still face up with movies like American Reunion where housewives atomic number 18 domestic creatures designed for facilitating the activities of the domicile and utile for very teentsy else. Young women, all of whom have complete bodies, argon sexual creatures there for the pas measure and use of antherals in the yarn. Males themselves argon stamp into two unmistakable categories: those who atomic number 18 ripe providers, maintaining a home with a wife and children, and the im come along playboy types who have nonwithstanding to settle down. two male stereotypes, however, break an element of the youthfulness which women ar purported to find personable and appealing their foibles and misadventures ar seen as an unimpeachable purpose of patently existence male.\n\nThe supposition of the film American Reunion has, at its core, the mockery of male- womanish interactions. custody atomic number 18 portray as roughly unable to come along and grow out of their boyish bewitchment with sex and sexualized women; in many an(prenominal) cas es passim the film, adult men be caught behaving in a sexually-inappropriate dash usually credited(predicate) to teens and adolescents. The producers of the film embarrass these activities (such as ogling women and masturbation) as acceptable of the testosterone-driven male stereotype (Biggs, Scott and Hannigan). It expects not to matter whether the men ar businessmen, teenagers, or twenty-somethings still searching for their own identity, media portrays them all in much the kindred mien: men argon little boys at their core, looking to adjoin toys such as fast cars and motorcycles to their possessions in a quest to retain their new playfulness.\n\nCertainly male stereotypes arent confined evidently to the new-fashioned playboy. As with distaff stereotypes, media picture of men has chosen other category in which to place males when the boyish blunderer isnt appropriate to the storyline. That insurgent category, unfortunately, is rife with strength. check to Maril yn Gardner (1999), some direct of violence emerges invirtually all the movies most customary among adolescent boys (Gardner 14). tied(p) in sports, the violence mentality is strengthen by commentators who thrill hits and kills in male-dominated fresh all the samets referred to as battles. Athletes who support it off the field injured later on a clear match are the heroes of the game as much as the man who make the winning touchdown or basket. Males are taught by media culture that they can either be buffoons or warriors, moreover that little lies surrounded by for those who convey to be neither.\n\nAnother stereotype rein coerce by film and media is that of the man as provider. Whereas mature women are agree as blasé homemakers, men in their thirties and forties are more oftentimes shown in roles of power and high-prestige positions. Men are shown as those who successfully climb the incorporate ladder man their wives tend to the domestic and supportive roles whic h play little to no role in the males ascent to power. Males in film are likely to be shown as executives, politicians, and celebrities speckle women in the same age assemblage are teachers, homemakers, or clerks, thereby reinforcing the controlling male-supportive feminine stereotypes (Gardner 14). Children exposed to this type of stereotype see the sum as being one of favourable position: males are able to achieve at higher levels than females, so women should thereby tell apart their inferior role in the outline of society.\n\nThe dis resemblance of design of women in the media has persisted through and through many decades, over which span of time the role of females in society has spread out and changed in a dramatic fashion. Currently, for every one female pictured in film, there are approximately 2.1 male characters to offset her carriage (Collins 292). The leave out of numbers, when joined with the disparaging stereotypes often chosen for female characters, pro vides the subliminal message to society that women are inquireed little than men and appear and disappear only when convenient for males. harmonise to Smith and Choueiti (2011), gender hegemony is still active and well in the movie business. however 29.2% of all utter characters are female across 122 G, PG, and PG13 films theatrically-released amidst 2006 and 2009 (5). These statistics suggest that the command public has fail accustomed to the lack of archetype of women and simply accept it as a construction of the circumstances of society. as yet worse, the continued industriousness of media with skewed representation poses the risk that the choose for gender par in media may be a non-issue for most. Considering the low numbers of women visualised in film, the intent for popular media to levy handed-down stereotypes on those characters is all the more disturbing.\n\nEven with the low number of women in popular film and media, it seems as though it is more a matter of how they are portrayed in the media more than whether they are portrayed (Collins 293). In fact, because of the prevalence of overly-sexualized stereotypes in film, should the industry step-up the portrayal of women in movies it stands to reason that more of the same would be shown and thus the state of af bewitchings for women would become even more dismal. It seems women in todays media are forced into a role of submission or into no role at all.\n\nMedia similarly serves to reinforce the idea that individuals who dont meet the unimaginative ideals portrayed in the movies can try to transform themselves through means shown in the movies and that such transformations are preferable to an existence wherein one doesnt fit the traditional mold. In many films, including American Reunion, the message is clear: if you motive to become a new you, to transform your identity, to become successful, you need to focus on image, room, and fashion (Kellner 245). Ironically, it is the media industry itself which determines what is fashion and flair thereby pleasing in a circular type of reasoning whereby individuals, curiously women, find themselves with little in the way of options when selecting an image or deciding on personal style. That which they see portrayed in the media result be that which is acceptable in society and uncommitted in stores, and should they choose not to adapt, they will find their options limited.\n\nMedia humans of image is not exclusively female; twain men and women are subject to the image and style argument. The metrosexual black marketment of the earlyish twenty-first century was fueled in large part by media portrayal of toned, tanned, and bare-chested men with nary(prenominal) a hit of body sensory hair visible. Manicured hands and groom brows are shown on both men and women in movies and on television, and teeth-whitening is prevalent with both genders. The pressure to conform in terms of body type, athleticism, and style is most for certain not gender specific.\n\nWomen are under-represented and women are sexualized, are so clearly document across such a diversity of media and settings that it is clearly time for the next symbolize of research (Collins 296). The motility becomes not whether or not media reinforces negative stereotypes but what to do about it. If women are to be accurately portrayed in film and television media, it would force a shift in the stereotypes used for male characters in male-dominated story lines. If the number of women portrayed in such media were to be brought to parity with the actual voice of women in society, it would overly force a re-examination of how media portray women in submissive or overtly-sexualized manners. As to how to arrive at parity and true-to-life(prenominal) portrayal of both genders in media, the source does not seem straightforward or even partially clear. What is imperative, though, is that the general thickly settled be make awar e that what they are seeing in the media does not represent what is playing out in life around them. possibly then future generations of film makers and movie-goers would be able to move away from stereotypes and toward a more fair representation of men and women in the media.'