The literature review shows the effect of media on adolescent females and the way they get an interpretation of the world around them. The messages presented show how women are supposed to be submissive to men and should not be taken seriously. Women know that their outer look is very important than their character and try to believe what they watch in the media about remaining thin in order to appear attractive. Media in this case portray women as the weaker sex compared to men and that they are not able to hold high positions in authority in workplaces due to their irrational character. Therefore, sexism in media portrays women as the weaker sex because; they are influenced by what they see on television to make a conclusion about their self-identity.
Introduction
Sexism is the belief that one sex is less valuable or inferior than another which leads to different treatment of people depending on the gender. According to research, there is a major role played by media where it influences the way women perceive the world that is around them and how they define themselves. Also, media influences the feeling of adolescents and the way they are taken by society, their body image, and sexuality. (Nichter, 2000)
Adolescence stage
During the adolescence stage, young adults feel unsettled and confused because of the changes that occur in their bodies. They engage in social relationships that make them have many questions about how they can adapt to the changing world. They have many questions about the way they are perceived by their family, friends, and teachers due to increased self-consciousness, self-awareness ad social acceptance. This is the stage where there is a desire to make discoveries and know their role in society.
According to Durham (1999 p27) “Adolescents have both emotional and psychological stresses which are severe, together with valuing self-worth and gender identities where topics on sexual attitudes are contemplated seriously”. Since adolescence is the stage between childhood and adulthood, as they move into adulthood, they understand their new ideas, feeling, and roles. As they explore themselves and become independent, they develop anxiety and become uncertain of themselves and the world around them. Although these changes occur to both sexes, that is, females as well as males, research shows that, during this transition, females have a difficult time more than males. Adolescent girls tend to have decreased self-esteem, feel less attractive and ashamed due to change in their appearance which makes them feel insecure. In boys, the adolescence stage is taken as a reassuring time where they feel satisfied in their body and have a sense of self-assurance. Even if both boys and girls increase in size and their body shape changes, boys appreciate the change while girls tend to dread it. Nichter (2000)
During this time when introspection is extreme, females rely on the media more than males so that they can be helped to get an explanation of the world. Females look for information on developmental tasks from any source that is available to them. Therefore, they consider the media as a reliable resource that can be of much help to them since it acts as a strong influence when trying to get the meaning of their daily lives. According to the theory of social comparison, people compare themselves and their importance with the images they see in the media when making realistic goals that should be attained. Media helps in shaping, explaining, and defining the world and comparing ourselves with the people whom we relate with as well as different situations from the images that are portrayed by the media. After making comparisons, we are motivated to achieve new goals and expectations. “Since adolescents are not yet in the cognitive level where they can be critical in achieving realistic goals, they tend to believe in images that are portrayed in the media because they see that everything is achievable and emulate images they see in the media” Durham (1999 p23).
Adolescents model themselves physically after viewing the images in the media when they look at the media and define how they are supposed to look and feel. “Adolescents concentrate on the pop culture that is displayed in the media rather than the current events in defining their roles” Durham (1999 p24). When adolescents watch presentations in the media, they feel connected to their peers and define where they are placed in society. Before young people develop into adulthood, their evaluation skills are not yet mature especially at the age of 14 years. These teens are influenced by the media on the way they view reality, the younger people are indifferent on their view about media messages, whereas, older people are able to analyze the messages in a critical manner.
The research was done using different categories of people such as 13, 17, and 20 years old who constructed different meanings of information they got from the media. Thirteen years old looked at characters presented in the media and concluded that they would achieve similar status if they modeled themselves like them and receive the same rewards. Seventeen-year-old watched information portrayed in the media and thought that it would be better if they had different circumstances or lived in different locations with the social-economic status that are different.
The characters they watched on the media acted as their role model and worked hard to attain the same experience but there was no guarantee that it was possible to acquire the same status as the characters they watched. The twenty-year-old people could be able to differentiate between the reality of life and the fantasies they watched in the media. However, they used what was portrayed in the media to initiate dialogue when they were interacting with their peers in order to get a social meaning. There are no media that can be blamed for presenting messages to young females because; each media has its own influence on adolescents. Even if viewing television causes body dissatisfaction, it has no correlation with the proactive drives that cause thinness and eating disorders. Adolescent girls search for social acceptance by modeling themselves according to messages portrayed by the media. Durham (1999)
Society
Many people want to have a sense of belonging and acceptance in the community. This applies also to adolescent females while the males want to have position in hierarchy as individuals. Adolescent females have strong networks and prefer to engage in long lasting relationships which make them rely on the media to aid them in development of interpersonal skills. Television is important in everyday life since it is used in sociological analysis and shapes the attitude of adolescent females. Through television, adolescent girls get connected to the social world because; they are able to define appropriate roles played by both women and men. Images portrayed in the media show how women are passive than men where their concern is on dating, clothing and grooming, but not in intellectual endeavors. Research has shown that, media portray women as the ones who are misunderstood, raped and abandoned than men. Kunkel & Biely (1999)
Women get fulfillment through the ties they have in the society, while men take active roles with less ties to their relationships. The media can distort and take societal issues lightly; such as when situational comedies use harassment to create humor which bring about negative perceptions about the surrounding. Women are taken to be less competent, more emotional and less serious by employers. In the working environment, they are taken to be less reliable than the men they work with and even if they hold important positions, they are not able to accomplish their duties due to their irrational actions. This gives an impression that, many women work hard to have a prestigious life but will never have authority over others. Music videos influence adolescent females by showing them how women are supposed to look as well as behave. There is relationship between viewing of video and onset of promiscuity in females. Many music videos show that, prostitutes, domestic cleaners and fashion models are females. More than one third of females are presented putting on revealing undergarments which is not the case for males.
Gersoni (2004 p25) argues that, “many occupations have under presentation of women where they are the minority in manual labor and majority in household cleaning”. Music videos have actions which are health harming and result to sexual promiscuity in females where distorted images of the place a woman is put in the society affect the way they develop self identity. It has been noted that, when bodies of women are seen in the video, they bring about feeling of dissatisfaction in women and if they continue viewing them, they tend to believe they are supposed to have subordinate status. Media make adolescents be exposed to violence because of the violent acts that are shown in the media and use of weapons. Women read reports that talk about sexual harassment and make their self esteem to be low. Violence in television and movies desensitize viewers and reduce the sympathy they have on victims. If the people who are violent are women, there is tendency of adolescent females to identify themselves with them and know their persecuted role. Arnett (1995)
Sexuality
Movies show that, sexual intercourse and being sexy is a normal way of life which is popular and exciting in females. The media fail to address the consequences of engaging in sex unless it is relevant to consider sexual encounters. In situations where it is a must to be addressed, it does not consider the social and emotional consequences but only the physical. Prevention and control of diseases that are sexually transmitted and pregnancy are not yet fully addressed. In examining consequences of sex in teen programming, it is found that, double standards exist in events that lead to detrimental outcome. This is because; there are negative consequences after watching scenes where female characters are the ones who initiate sex more than males. There were eighty four episodes of dramas with characters aged between twelve to twenty two years where results showed that, when sexual activities were initiated by men, seventy per cent of the consequences were not negative. Ginette (1990)
However, in the sexual activities that were initiated by female, sixty per cent of consequences were negative. Females received 65.7% of the negative consequences and males 34.3%. Hence, adolescent females got the impression that, if they initiate any sexual activity, bad things are likely to happen to them and concluded that, they should allow men to be on the lead in initiating sex. The media portrays girls as helpless, timid and neurotic beings who always rely on men in order to make sensible decisions in life. Teen magazines show that, interpersonal interactions are achieved successfully using sexualized manipulation. Teenage girls know that, stances and poses are acceptable in becoming successful and attaining fulfillment all the time. Fouts & Burggraf (2000)
Arnett (1995 pp521) states that, “the media portray use of sexuality as manipulative tool but not for personal pleasure”. Many messages help girls to develop and use sexuality where words such as sexy or kissable are put on the cover of magazines. Articles talked about importance of exercise in order to achieve touchable bodies instead of fitness and health. Articles on beauty focus males who are pleasing and how to take advantage of that approval while female images show how girls are sexy and yet reserved. Botta (1999)
Body image and self esteem
The media help to enforce that, women should have the goals of having ultra thin bodies in order to appear beautiful. Models that are over glamorized are presented in television to show that; female must be attractive and thin for them to be attractive. The message in the media show the way personality and good character are not as important as the appearance. This message has negative impact on female because; during puberty, their bodies are strong but later become fat. It is at this point when their bodies start becoming round that; they are told to be thin in order to appear beautiful. When the bodies of girls are evolving and changing naturally, the media comes in to tell them that, their fuller bodies can not be accepted. This makes them look for messages that promote thinness from the media because; they need information that forms their self identity. Messages in the media about body image that is acceptable can result to reduced self esteem and loss of confidence in women where they have a belief that, their image are not up to the standards of ideal women making their self assurance to be devalued. Arnett (1995)
In conclusion, Literature review has concentrated on the way media has negative implications on females due to the manner in which they interpret themselves. Some consequences from media messages are damaging when they are used in relationships and setting the standards of attractiveness. However, Women get a chance to know who they are and get the topics which discourage them from taking actions which have negative consequences. Gersoni (2004)
References
Arnett, J. (1995). Uses of media for self-socialization: Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24(5), 520-525.
Botta R. (1999). Television images and adolescent girls’ body image disturbance: Journal of Communication, 49(2), pp27-36.
Durham, M. G. (1999). Girls, media and the negotiation of sexuality: Mass Communication Quarterly pp23-27.
Fouts, G. & Burggraf, K. (2000): Television situation comedies: Female weigh, male egative comments and audience reactions: Sex Roles, 42(11/12), pp925-932.
Gersoni D. (2004): Sexism and youth: Bowker pp23-28.
Ginette E. (1990): American Feminism: A Contemporary History: NYU Press pp42-45.
Kunkel D. & Biely E. (1999): Sexual messages on television: Journal of Sex Research, 36(3), pp231-235.
Nichter M. (2000): Listening to girls talk about their bodies: Reclaiming Children and Youth, 9(3), pp184-187.