to also suggest that women in subservient roles is the norm. While it is true that women have come a long way since the 1950s when they were always in the kitchen or waiting ion their demanding husbands, stereotypes remain. Thin, beautiful women who take most of the roles on television and in film portray a look that most women cannot achieve. This undermines the self-esteem of women in the society. In addition, the disparaging of women in music videos, and an oversexualization of women in general, seems to also eat at self-esteem. In the television series Thieves, the female protagonist is just as capable as her male counterpart, but much of his remarks go to her sexuality. While it has been noted that there are now many lead roles for female spies, doctors and so forth, it is no accident that they are also beautiful and very thin.In the fight for women to be free of the pressures and influence of advertising, who pursue a certain look or image as portrayed by media, it seems as if there is much to do. Advertising companies need to be told by women's groups that they will not tolerate a bombardment of female images that are unattainable. Television and the film industry too are damaging women's sense of esteem. Some argue that the media is a reflection of society. But that is not true, at least not in the case of the portrayal of the female gender. If everyone looked like the stars on television, there would be no problem. The difficulty comes in when the average person cannot look anywhere near 90% of the women on television. Wolf (1992) highlights the fact that beauty standards are unrealistic and lashes out at the media for it. At the same time, the problem with the manipulation of women goes beyond beauty, even though that is a large part of the problem. Much still goes to women not being on even playing fields with men. No wonder they try to look good! Their beauty seems to be their only attribute. In evaluating a variety of media...
