The media industry is A mass platform which The world looks to which was generally used as a way of general communication for platforms that provide entertainment. Now a days, the media platform has enlarged and become the main source of information acting as a messenger to the public as a powerful tool that cannot be ignored. People are encouraged to use media as a tool for learning and to also have basic understandings of how it works. Gender inequality has always been a major issue within the media industry that has had a greater impact on the world. Gender inequality is acknowledging that men and women are not equal and that the gender they are is to have various effects on their experiences and the way they live across different cultures and backgrounds excluding biologically and physical natural differences.
Unfortunately gender inequality in this field has been an on going issue and has been creating a lot of controversy ever since. In spite of media being a tool that brings people together, it happens to be one of the biggest factors in pushing gender discrimination to its peak. Some of these gender inequalities have been socially constructed and now pose as a barrier to equality. Gender inequality impacts on both men and women however impact falls mostly on women. It has been made clear over time that the media industry lacks female characters and there are fewer numbers of women holding prestigious titles such as role models or inspirations. It is additionally found out that young women have depicted more skin in comparison to males. This can cause body image problems to young girls. Behind the scenes during the production process, women are found to be victims of nudity. Since men have been dominating the industry a lot of cases regarding sexual abuse caused by men have been reported. In modern society, women are valued as sexual objects and are often disempowered due to messages we receive through basic media such as films and music videos. Women are often sexualised and sold as bodies. Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory supports the fact that this is all in favour for the satisfaction of men.
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The representation of women is usually based around emotions and sexuality. Others focus on their personal relationships and children. There are representations of women that conform to societies stereotypes and there are others that subvert and challenge these so Women can still be positively represented in the media although in most cases they are often discredited because of the other negative representations and stereotypes that stand. Though it can be argued that the state of representation for women has grown for the better, not much has changed in the media when it comes to advertisements. The dominant idea that women are only valued as sexual objects maintains power by making women seem like they are just a way of propaganda and not valued as people.
Representations of men consist of the ideology that masculinity connotes strength and heroism. This type of ideology is represented throughout many films and moving image products as entertainment.
Gender inequality in television
Parents claim they do not introduce their children to choose a gender role but most of the television commercials we see impact gender inequality on youth minds through advertisement. We should need to understand that how they affect young girls and girls by viewing these commercials which are made for adult male and females.
In masculine commercials
We see a strong male who is most likely to be muscular who could be drinking and dancing however we would see a female sitting and smiling. This is an example of how women in media are seen to have no purpose and yet are there for the benefit of the male.
Bike advertisments
With adverts to do with sport, We regularly associate it with males as if women cannot take part in sports. Within sports, men are portrayed doing exercise and women are placed near them usually wearing the bare minimum clothing, showing off her body. This is common in adverts that are targeted towards men to attract them to the advert. There are also other adverts usually consisting of a male and a challenge where they are shown accomplishing something which makes them seem as if they are dominant over everything.
With adverts revolving around decision making, we usually have men who are demonstrated as the boss and females as a secondary party.
Females are seen as a domestic role in life and in adverts would usually be shown as a wife doing chores at home and looking after the kids. This can be seen in adverts to do with cleaning and cooking. Society states that The role to look after the house falls into the responsibility of females which is sexist.