Effect of gender roles on television
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The effect of gender roles on television have 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. Some areas of the media are more regressive than others in this regard, and a prime example, and one with a major influence over the young, is MTV, whose rock videos portray women as sex objects, often in violent and demeaning situations, and rarely in positions of power or authority. For most of history women were expected to be content with a secondary social position, and in part family structure and the requirements of carving out a living in a difficult world contributed to this social structure. Clearly, circumstances of family life have changed in the modern era. Industry has been taken out of the home, and large families are no longer economically possible or socially desired. The
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amilies, single-parent families, and non-traditional families vie with the nuclear family for television time. Gender is also represented in the advertising, which can be more problematic. Commercials have as their object selling products, and they generally treat all viewers as malleable clay to be shaped into the sort of buyer desired.
One problem noted for television is the distorted image given of women and minorities in particular. The Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights found that minorities and women were underrepresented on television: "When they do appear they are frequently seen in token or stereotyped roles." In the 1950s, says the Commission, women had particular roles as homemakers:
Television households were always spotless and smoothly managed, but the women who maintained them usually looked as though they spent most of their time in the beauty parlor. Women were rarely portrayed outside the home or family situation. When they ventured into the occupational world their 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,
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Approximate Word count = 1857
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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