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They may also try to imitate models they see in teen magazines. While it is fairly obvious that such a phenomenon exists, what is not so obvious are the detrimental effects. One question looms large. Is self-esteem affected by media? Many think it is. Morant (2000) reports on the BMA's findings that media should take more responsibility. A report was done about body image and the media and calls for a more realistic range of body types (2000). Council Chairman Dr. Ian Bogle claimed that there is a cult of "bodily perfection" that is perpetuated by media (2000). Recommendations include a policy regarding the use of thin women in advertisements and school programs to teach media literacy (2000). Many girls watch television and see women who by most standards would be considered underweight. While that may be the case, these waifs are symbols of beauty and so few question whether they look good or are healthy. Rather, girls question why they themselves are not also pencil thin. This can affect self-esteem. Tessa Jowell, minister for women, said: "Young women are tired of feeling second rate because they cannot match the thin ideal that they see so often in the media. For many, poor body image can lead to low levels of self esteem; for some it is far more dangerous, leading to eating disorders and other forms of self abuse "(Morant, 2000, p. 225). While the government has tried to convey the message that companies should be more responsible in advertising, not everyone agrees. Some magazine editors are not happy with the initiative and a doctor who is also an eating disorders specialist suggests that the roots of the problem go deeper than anything the media might have created (Morant, 2000). It is true that while film and television and advertising influence society, they are also a reflection of it. While that is the case, it also seems as if people, particularly young women have attached themselves to the idea that the superstars as shown on television are near perfect. And while the problem with eating disorders, and Twiggy and Calista Flockhart, is a large part of the self-esteem puzzle, other problems emerge. In many ways, women are portrayed not only as sex objects, but as less than competent. Are there misogynist messages in media and how does that affect self-esteem? By and large, from television shows to film to commercials, women are portrayed in subservient roles. In the ten-year period from 1950 to 1960, mothers had been told, first, that they shouldn’t work outside the home, especially once they were married, then that there was no job they couldn’t do and that it was exciting and patriotic to work outside the home, and, finally, that their real job was to wash diapers, make meat loaf, and obey their husbands non matter how brutish, dumb or unreasonable they were (Douglas 1994). In the 1950s, the women were the homemakers and did not go to work. Both Alice Kramden and Lucy Ricardo stayed at home and took care of tiny apartments even though each had dreams. As decades progressed, there was Maude and the sexual revolution and finally, when Mary Tyler Moore threw her hat up in the air, the impendent woman had arrived. The eighties and nineties held great strides for women and today, one can see competent spies such as the high-kicking Sydney Bristow on ABC's Alias or Nikita in the USA series La Femme Nikita. And while women are now portrayed on a somewhat equal plane in television shows, there is MTV. Now the actual threatened violation of women permeates the airwaves and is especially rampant on a channel like MTV, which caters, primarily, to adolescents. The MTV that initially brought us Culture Club, “Beat It,” and Cindy Lauper switched to, under the influence of market research, to one of the most relentless showcases of misogyny in America (Douglas1994). In an interview with Will Smith during the mid-1990s, the famous actor and rapper noted that he did not feel comfortable in the rap music field due to the direction the artists have taken (Holsey, 1996). Smith said that rap has taken a negative turn and simply glorifies ignorance, violence and misogyny (1996). Many agree with his assessment. The nineties did see a change in respect to how women are portrayed and this is just one example. There are many others. Some are subtle. Even an Offspring song released in the late nineties, entitled "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" contains misogynist undertones, hinting that rap has become more mainstream and invaded white culture to boot. Also, not long ago, their popular Self-esteem song was representative of the male attitude and the double standard still persistent in a purportedly equal society. Further, other bands in the alternative rock genre, such as Guns N Roses, have produced material which may be degrading to women and in fact, lead singer Axl Rose had himself been accused of violence against an ex-girlfriend. In more recent times, Godsmack has targeted women as smothering and manipulative. Still, rap dominates the area when it comes to the dominance of women, low self-esteem and violent sexuality. And some band members too, along with making rap music, often have "rap sheets" where some of the charges are for acts of violence. Women have made some strides in television as noted. However, as seen in some shows that continue to feature women as sex objects like Howard Stern's, or The Man Show, and the obvious misogyny in music and music videos, it becomes clear that women are objectified or portrayed 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 be done 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. The general pattern of feminist scholarship, which emphasized the absence of gender within general social science theories, seems to apply equally to media theories (Thiruchandran, 1994). They seemed to have put their emphasis on gender stereotypes in respect to film and hold that there is a patriarchal bias in the media (1994). They also support the idea that such stereotypes are treated as natural and should not even be questioned (Agarwal and Bhasin 1984, Russell 1980, Tuchman 1978 as cited in Thiruchandran, 1994). While there are certainly similarities in the way the problem is approached, there are diverse opinions among feminists in the manner in which they are classified as liberal, radical or socialist feminists (1994). Within feminist groups, there are disagreements in the way in which media analysis is approached (1994). They do however agree that gender stereotypes and specific messages given out for women only, are repre! sentations of a patriarchal system (1994). In other words, women are shown as wives or take subsidiary roles like nurses to doctors or secretaries to bosses (1994). It is generally believed that such an under- representation and untrue representation are part of a dominant value system (1994). This is related to a value system that accentuates female beauty while minimizing female intelligence. When reading a fashion magazine or watching a film or television show, it is not surprising to find beautiful women in both subservient and dominant roles. As time goes on, women do get more power in terms of what they can do in a role. Today, women are allowed to be doctors and executives. In the show ER, for example, there are probably just a many female as male leads who are doctors and while females dominate the nursing pool, there are several male nurses as well. On the other hand, in the film Meet the Parents, the idea of having a job as a male nurse as a source of embarrassment, or equated with failure, seemed 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 medias, it is clear that women are portrayed in a detrimental way. Sometimes, the problem is only that she is beautiful, but that does set up an unrealistic standard for women to follow and so the media needs to take more responsibility for their actions. Bibliography: Bibliography Holsey, S. (1996, July 30). Former rapper disenchanted with rap's direction. Michigan Chronicle, p. PG. Morant, H. (2000). BMA demands more responsible media attitude on body image. Pipher, M. Reviving Ophelia : Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls (Ballantine Reader's Circle). Ballantine Books, 1995. Thiruchandran, S. (1994). Major Trends of Feminist Approach. Contemporary Women's Issues Database, 11-21. Vargas, J. (1996). Expanding the popular culture debates: Puertorriquenas, Hollywood, and cultural identity. Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, 15, 155173. Wolf, N. (1994). Fire With Fire. Fawcett Book Group . Wolf, N. (1992). The Beauty Myth; Doubleday; Company, Incorporated. Douglas, Susan J. (1994) Where the Girls Are. Epilogue Word Count: 2054
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