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Women and the Mass Media

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 society was conditioned by religious attitudes and by the conditions of life that prevailed through much of American history. The culture of Europe and America was based for centuries on a patriarchal system in which exclusive ownership of the female by a given male was considered important, with the result that women were relegated to the role of property with no voice in their own fate. The girl-child was trained from birth to fit the role awaiting her, and as long as compensations were adequate, wome...

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Women and the Mass Media. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 04:43, March 19, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1681495.html