All of us know what media is, and the role of media. However, the purpose of the media is to give what the audience wants. Males and Females are represented in the media quite differently
Males:
Males are represented in a way which is different from Females. In males, they are represented in the media, as these fit guys, wearing suits, and mostly WHITE MEN. Also, males are shown in the media as these aggressive people that control things like companies, or stores or ete. Males are shown as jokers, and the big shots, and mostly action hero's, which is sexist to me.
Males are shown in the media as these strong,"in your face" people.
FEMALES:
Females are represented in the media quite differently then males. Females are represented as these humans that are a perfect "puppets" for convincing other people to buy cloths, makeups ete. Mostly, females in the media are shown as beauty, and "BODY IMAGE."
The media, i believe mostly shows specific body images of females. Also, most of these females body that they show are actresses, or models, ete.
In conclusion, Males, and Females are shown in the media for specific reasons, and in my opinion, they should represent all males or all females not just specific group of people. However, this all goes back to what the audience desires, so...........................
Please comment on the following question, and my post.
Should the media represent Males, and females the way they represent them right now? why?
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ReplyDeleteGood point Adnan, I completely agree that not all representations of men and women in the media have any relation anywhere near to the real image and personalities of men/women. (for those that want an example) look at presentations of soccer players the ones that are highly "under the camera" are those that show off and have the body dessired by the audience but in reality many of these athletes, be it profeccional or semi-, are not all buff or 6-pack abs; take it from me I play, watch and breath Soccer(figure of speach plz don't laugh) there are some tendencies where I'm capable of running for long periods of time and have the energy to play for hours and hours but idealy I look nowhere near a "christiano Ronaldo" type physique or have the athlete type body :'(
ReplyDeleteBut it doesn't mean that I'm incapable.
As for your question, It would depend on what aspect of the people do you need to show... because if it was for some commercial to show off a product or clothing, it would be best to model it off, but if you where to show generalizations of people, like super-heroes or athletes, the media should present a different look and presentation of it.(not always as a buff man or a perfect woman)
The media does portray men and women in a specific way. The media's image of an ideal man is of, as Adnan said "fit guys, wearing suits, and mostly WHITE MEN"... although i've seen Black guys shown as "fit" as well.
ReplyDeleteThe media's image of an ideal woman has become appauling. To be the "perfect" woman, one needs to be tall, curvy, have those gorgeous cat eyes (rawr), and a flawless complexion.
It has created a huge pressure on young women. Being overweight has become a sign of insecurity.
But media is all about the image. All about money...so we can't do much to change that.
The reason as to why the media uses these images to of men and women is quite obvious; it’s the most effective way to sell their products. Let’s take a lesson from the evolution of rap; as soon as the industry takeover happened, the corporations wanted to advertise their many products. Which rapper would be best for the corporations to sell their products; a PG 13 rapper like Mos Def? A poet of the street like Talib Kweli? (Yes I know you haven’t heard of him) Or a rich, “balling”, gangster rapper like P. Diddy?
ReplyDeleteThe answer is quite obvious; you would endorse the gangster rapper because he appears to be a successful person, and the target audience would strive to be like him, so they would buy products he uses. The same principle applies when discussing general images of men and women in media. The media tends to use “perfect people”, because firstly, it has instilled the specifications of a “perfect person” into its consumers, and secondly, it’s because the target audience would look up to these people, and that makes them susceptible to buying the product the media is trying to sell.
Yes I’m well aware of the fact that TV shows, movies, etc. are all forms of media, but they do not try to sell you things explicitly. Yet, where do we see the images of the “perfect people”? We don’t tend to see it in movies and TV shows as much as we do in commercials and advertisements. Nevertheless, movies and TV shows do try to sell you things half the time, as they have implicit messages on what they’re advertising. But the main point is that media uses images of “perfect people”, because it makes people more susceptible to buying their products in that sense.
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ReplyDeleteI'm a little confused by your question. Do you mean should the media potray males and females the way they ought to be potrayed? I'm going to assume that this is what you meant. I agree with your statement that males and females are potrayed differently in the media, that the generalization they make about men is that their all fit, well built, wear suits and that their represented as being aggressive in some sense and while the generalization for women in the media is that their body is used as a product to attract people, mainly men. I don't think the media will, at least not intentionally, show what a man and woman really look like in ordinary life, because many people in oridnary life are looking for ways to escape their ordinary lifes and for just once maybe a beautiful woman or handsome man will like them or at least thats what the media wants to think if you buy whatever their selling. Point is and I'm paraphrasing what Hassan said a little, the more successful a person is(ex.rapper), the more people strive to achieve that same level of success, and if he happens to be endorsing Pepsi or motorolla or even blackberry, people will want to buy because they link him to whatever he's selling and think "if I have that, I'm can at least compare myself to this person, even though I'm not successful, its the product that links us together." This is what the media feeds on, the more you buy, the more money they make and the more these potrayals of males and females in the media are enforced because they create what grows on trees, money.
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ReplyDeleteThe answer to your question is clearly no. Media should not represent males and females the way they represent them. However when attempting to answer this question, it should be kept in mind that as one of the five key concepts of media, media has its own beliefs and value messages. Although it shouldn’t convey these stereotypical messages that portray women in such a derogatory way and men as strong and more dominant (which by the way has become very cliché), media is like an individual with its own opinion. However, media’s way of defining men and women is indeed just another generalization or a loaded term. There’s a reason why God made us all different shapes, sizes, skin tones, etc. It’s up to us as individuals to use our intellect and disregard these messages. It is ultimately up to you as an individual to define beauty according to your values,beliefs,and opinions and not the media's.
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice point, and really relates to men and women today, the media usually only shows one type of man or woman. When we look at the media all we see is one type of template of what a man or a woman should be and it really makes other men and women question the way they look and why they do not resemeble them in any way.
ReplyDeleteHonestly the way the media is portraying females these days is totally wrong, I mean lets be real how many of you have seen a real life Beyonce with curves in all the rights places and a plastic cookie cutter image. Our women in society are all beautfiul in there own ways, they should be praised for being who they are rather than being put down by the way God had made them. Also in society the males are needed to be portrayed as sex icons and muscle men, but in reality most of the males are average joe's who all pride themselves on the way they look and there own personalities which make them unique.
I think that the media shows us what we are used to seeing. A man goes out for work, he handles the responsibilities of the kids and the wife, he takes care of the family, he provides for them and that is the ideal man.
ReplyDeleteA woman stays home, spends her day with the kids, teaches the kids discipline, and provides love for the family.
These are the stereotypes that are evident in almost all the films and TV shows that I have seen on Tv. I don't intend to say that they are all true for all the movies and shows, but they are true for most of them.
I don't think the media portrays men and women the way they are suppose to. They try to tell the audience how what they show is the "norm".
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the comment that you guys posted simply you understood what i was trying to say. Media demostrates males and females jsut the way they like it, which is wrong. They do this because of what hassan said, which is selling. However, i don't think that males and female bodies should be manipulated just for advertisement. I don't think an adult buys a excercise machaine because they saw a fit man or woman. they buy it becuase they want to be fit, and healthy.
ReplyDeleteLastly, Media demostrates Females and males the wrong way.