ed as less than adequate. Pipher (1995) who in her famous book Reviving Ophelia emphasizes that the culture can in be changed, adds that women can build cultures that are less violent and less sexualized. Indeed, this can bedone in myriad of ways. It was done several decades ago, which is why women can work side by side with men and command the same salaries. However, the pendulum has swung the other way and the culture has become more misogynistic. Something needs to change.It is obvious that television, while aware that women have made great strides over the decades, continues to degrade females with some of its programming. Music does this in a large way and this is not unusual as every generation has questioned the values of their parents' generation. The parents of teenagers now were perhaps feminists. Thus, a move away from equality is not surprising, but it is disturbing. Music and television certainly portray women in a bad light. One has to wonder whether or not the same is true in film. There are many examples of women who are portrayed in a poor light in film. One researcher looked at Puerto Rican women, or puertorriquenas, and their relationship to popular culture (Vargas, 1996). When reviewing filmographies and film critiques, Vargas discovered that as of May 1992, there were eleven Hollywood films, which included a good number of puertorriquena characters, including West Side Story, Popi, Salsa, Do the Right Thing and White Men Can't Jump (1996). Substantial problems were found in the portrayal of Puerto Rican women. Vargas has attempted to demonstrate the problems in terms of portrayal as it pertains to sexuality, colonialism, racial identity, and straitjacketing (1996). Although this partial study looked at a certain group of women, the trend to portray women in a poor light is not peculiar to any race or nationality. Rather, it has more to do with gender than anything else.Gender stereotyping in film is rather common. ...
