Women and the Mass Media
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The nature of the relationship between women and the mass media has been considered in recent years by sociologists and psychologists as well as media critics, in part based on a concern that the way women are portrayed in the media has a deleterious effect on the way women are viewed in society at large. Women's roles in society have been changing through the determined efforts of feminists and sympathetic political groups over the past two decades, and some of these changes are clearly reflected on television, in film, and in other media portrayals. At the same time, it is evident that progress in changing media portrayals is behind the curve as far as the degree of equality that should be depicted, the roles given to women in the media, and the roles women play behind the scenes in the media as well. In a sense, the media tends to be more like Congress than like the rest of society, touting and promoting social changes that are forced on society at large while the media and Congress continue as if the rules and requirements of contemporary society do not apply to them. An examination of the portrayal of women in the mass media will show how the media have influenced the women's movement, how the women's movement has influenced (or tried to influence) the media, and the perception of sociologists and psychologists that the media are still not doing enough to improve the way women are portrayed. The role of women in American societ
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roles were stereotyped.
Sexist stereotypes were noted for television advertising as well. A National Organization for Women report in 1972 found that women in whatever role on television "were portrayed as dependent, unintelligent, submissive creatures who were adjuncts of men." Portrayals of women in occupational roles were infrequent and were restricted to relatively few occupations, and women were also rarely depicted as working wives.
The Commission found that in the 1970s the situation changed somewhat as programmers attempted new types of program with new roles for women. The situation comedy now included a number of shows featuring women, and the commission cited The Mary Tyler Moore Show as different because it explored the status of the main character as a single, professional woman who did not have marriage uppermost in her mind. Most formerly-married women in situation comedies at the time were typically widowed, though two programs in the 1970s featured divorced women--Fay and One Day at a Time. Women have always been more frequently portrayed in comedy roles than in serious roles on television. The commission found that women in situation comedies in the 1970s still tended to be subordinate to the men in
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Approximate Word count = 4338
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)
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