The Relationship between Media and Gender: How Media Shapes Society - Essay Example

Introduction

Mass media, since its inception, has had a way of shaping society in every aspect, including changing the perceptions of culture, education and transformed every aspect of thinking (D’Angelo & Kuypers, 2010). More so, media has had a profound influence on how the society views different genders, especially the portrayal of both female and male genders. The implication is that mass media has been playing a significant role in the contemporary society because the different media platforms have a particular way of broadcasting information. Some of the common media platforms that have indicating the direct relationship between the media and gender include books, press, television, and now, the Internet that has invented the term social media (Dines & Humez, 2011). The media has a particular way of presenting certain messages, for instance, the message about gender roles in society, and as such, has a direct impact in manipulating the opinions and attitudes of people. For example, certain commercials portray or bring about stereotypes about the gender roles, especially those that seem to suggest the female gender in a particular way (Carlyle, Scarduzio & Slater, 2014). Therefore, for this case, it is imperative to discuss the relationship that exists between media and gender regarding such issues as stereotypes, representation of gender roles and applying the theory of formation to explore the role that gender has in shaping society.

One of the relationships between media and gender is the role that it has always played in instilling some stereotypes about certain gender (Bligh, Schlehofer, Casad & Gaffney, 2012). The implication is that people always form their perception based on the information they receive about the world surrounding them; the information received will lead to the creation of cognitive schemes as specific representations about reality or misinformed judgment of a particular subject, gender for this case (Hepp, Hjarvard & Lundby, 2015). The stereotypes are later developed because of the influence of the information or the stigmatization generated by viewing or consuming the messages presented in the media. On the contrary, the stereotypes are always subjective and incomplete image or reality about a subject. Therefore, by portraying a particular gender in a negative way, the media contributes to developing or creating a cynical society (Bligh, Schlehofer, Casad & Gaffney, 2012). For instance, there are advertisements and other programs in the media that tend to depict women in a certain way. A classical case is the role of women in different cultures as showcased in various media channels, especially in the TV channels, entertainment, movies, social media, or the internet. Women are often presented to have specific or household roles in the media, whereby they tend to be side-lined in most roles, including top job positions. In fact, the media itself portrays what position women hold in the workplace because it is not recently that the number of women participating media jobs increased (Carlyle, Scarduzio & Slater, 2014). Therefore, the media is creating the exact image of gender disparity in the society, by representing that the other gender, male, is much superior.

On the other hand, the gender roles in the media jobs also portray the extent to which media shows the relationship between the two genders (Dines & Humez, 2011). So often, women are given soft subjects like fashion, arts, family while hard news, as they are perceived, are assigned to male journalists including issues to deal with politics and economy. Nonetheless, the relationship between media and gender is evident from the extent to which women in the profession shape the very female gender (Bligh, Schlehofer, Casad & Gaffney, 2012). For instance, females in the profession do present the exact needs as well as perspectives of women, and they do this more than the male colleagues do. However, by having the influence of women in the media, because it affects the society, the presence of women in mass media is a positive implication for other women in the society. A woman taking up jobs in the most versatile source of societal influence directly has a positive impact on the young girls and other women because they act as role models (Hepp, Hjarvard & Lundby, 2015).

The relationship or the influence that media has in shaping the society, concerning the relationship between the two genders, is sometimes discussed from the extent by which media spreads anti-social messages about women (Dines & Humez, 2011). The implication is that media constantly reinforce polarized gender messages, and the effects are felt because it creates anti-social worldviews in the society. For instance, research has always confirmed that watching too much television is a negative implication for children because it encourages or cultivates aggressive behavior. On the other hand, the portrayal of female gender in most movies, books, and other media outlets can be argued to be a negative implication to society dealing with pressing issues like sex and women or gender violence (Carlyle, Scarduzio & Slater, 2014). For instance, there are messages directed in TV commercials, movies, social media, and other outlets portraying women to be associated with sex and violence. As the messages continue to reach society, the perception sticks, and this will inform how people or society in general, perceive the female gender role (D’Angelo & Kuypers, 2010). For instance, the representation of women in media as sex objects has been discussed as one of the ways through which mass media has influenced the perceptions of gender roles.

The framing theory is a model that offers a first-hand framework for explaining how media influences or shapes society as it concerns gender representation. Underlying the theory is the notion that media always places or directs attention particular events and in turn places these events within a particular field or area of meaning (D’Angelo & Kuypers, 2010). Hepp, Hjarvard, and Lundby (2015) suggest that the framing theory relates to the agenda-setting tradition although it expands by emphasizing the essence of the particular issues as opposed to generalizing on the topic. As such, the theory posits that the way something is presented to the particular audience, known as the frame, in this case, has a direct impact on the choices that people will make when processing the information. Therefore, using this theory, it can easily be concluded that with a particular portrayal of a certain gender in the mass media, the society will process the information the way it has always been presented, and this will later inform the judgments and inferences made on the particular gender (D’Angelo & Kuypers, 2010). For instance, with the portrayal of women as playing submissive and subordinate roles in the work place, homes, and every context, the society will process the information the way presented and this perception remains embedded in the minds of people and eventually influencing how they perceive the female gender. On the other hand, the agenda-setting theory can be applied when explaining the relationship between media and gender because the media influences perception of the audience, and can be explained as agenda-setting approach (second level), by telling the audience what it should think about as stated by the agenda-setting theory (D’Angelo & Kuypers, 2010).

Different factors influence how the media instills views and perceptions on the society to influence how it views different genders. For instance, the framing theory suggests that elements like artifacts as objects having certain intrinsic symbolic value may affect the perception of the audience through visual representations, a cultural phenomenon that presents a certain meaning about the object (D’Angelo & Kuypers, 2010). On the other hand, the media has a way of contrasting the different genders, by challenging or comparing the roles of each gender within various social contexts. In addition, stories that tend to encourage some myths also have a way of influencing the views that the society has concerning gender representation. So often, commercials in mass media use certain slogans that tend to portray a particular gender in a different way or perspective and with this, there is bound to change or influence how people view certain gender (Hepp, Hjarvard & Lundby, 2015).

Thus, everything in the mass media, ranging from advertisement, magazines, newspapers, television programming, video games, popular music are more likely to show women, associated with subordinate roles including cooking and washing, sex objects to service men, victims of domestic violence because they cannot defend themselves being exposed to all manner of assault, sexual harassment and violence (Carlyle, Scarduzio & Slater, 2014). The male gender is also presented in a particular way in the media because masculinity is always portrayed to be associated with such aspects or elements as independence, violence, aggression, competition among others.

Conclusion

In summary, the essay has explored some of the different ways through which media shapes and influences society regarding the relationship it has with gender. For one, media has a way of portraying messages about different genders in a particular stereotypic way and with this type of representation the society is made to believe that such is the role of the particular gender. For instance, movies, TV programs, books, magazines, and social media among others all tend to portray females as subordinates, assuming menial roles, sex objects, victims of violence and harassment. On the other hand, the male gender is portrayed as being masculine, competitive, and independent. However, the framing and agenda-setting theories suggest some of the elements that influence the views towards different genders as portrayed in media including artifacts, objects, contrasts, stories presented as slogans and myths. Therefore, from the evidence, it is clear that media has a way of influencing society in a negative way as it concerns presentation of one gender as superior while the other inferior.