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Mass media is simply a section of the media that spreads to a large audience simultaneously, through
the various types of media. The easiest way to understand what mass media is, is to look at a
newspaper. This is a uniform collection of media related information, that is distributed to a large
network of people at the same time. Everyone who reads the newspaper gathers the same information,
and arrives at their own conclusion from it.

The different types of mass media started off as a means of reporting news to people,

Sources of media is

÷ Newspapers
÷ Relevision channels
÷ adio stations
÷ pagazines and Publications
÷ Newsletters

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Media is known to be the most powerful means of communication. The print media, electronic
media and the Internet are all the subsets of mass media. The newspapers, newsletters and
magazines, are included in the print media, while the electronic media comprises of the
television, radio and other modes of communication. Internet is without doubt the fastest
known way of communicating with millions of people across the globe. However, the effects of
mass media on society can be positive as well as negative.
p

 

 

 

The best thing about the mass media is, that it immediately provides us with the latest
information about the things happening around us. Mass media reports news from all the fields
such as politics, sports, international relations, wars, natural calamities, meetings,
entertainment, etc.

For example, the anti-tobacco and narcotic programs launched by the media, have benefited
many people to date. The information conveyed about various diseases and their possible
treatments has saved the lives of many of us. The contribution of mass media in the fields of
arts, education, technology and health care is laudable. We also get the correct information
about he various crimes and illegal activities happening in our surroundings quite easily. Media
is a boon for youngsters in many ways .They get useful information related to their career and
higher education mostly through the mass media.

Media plays a very important role in shaping the personality of people. It has been observed
that citizens become more sensible and capable to shoulder their responsibility towards the
nation and the society because of the media.

Media makes the citizens aware of their fundamental rights and their duties towards their
families, state and the nation. Utility of the mass media in the areas of advertising and
marketing is simply great.

ulture can be defined as the way of life which includes beliefs, aesthetics and institutions of a
civilization. onsidering today͛s way of life, we would be lying if we didn͛t admit that media is
not an influential entity in our culture. Lately the media theories that regard the audience as a
passive entity have been discarded and advanced media theories that take into account the
audience response have been formulated. It is still a fact that despite cognitive abilities of the
audience, the media has been successfully ingraining several values and elements into a large
section of our society.

First of all let me tell you that this is no media-bashing agenda. There is no doubt about the fact
that there are certain media elements affecting our culture for better because had it not been
for media, quick and easy flow of useful information and education would not have been
possible. The media has played a major role in positive developments like fight against racism,
fight against gender bias, world poverty and spreading awareness about the world peace.
 This being said, there is no denying to the fact that certain media messages are detrimental to
our society. We need to realize that although media is a reflection of the society we live in but at
times, the media needs to do much more than reflect the surroundings - it has to exaggerate,
sensationalize and at times even trivialize the matters of utmost importance to make way for
entertainment. The media creates celebrities; it creates idols - celebrities who thrive on fans,
followers, and groupies! When we say a certain type of music or a certain genre of movies is
popular, it means a large number of people are following an ideology or a concept, which lies at
the heart of that song or the movie. One of the most striking examples in this case would have
to be the popularity of violent and abusive rap songs amongst teenagers. The glorification of
violence, drug abuse and other unhealthy habits has a major role in the outburst of unfortunate
incidents where children have gotten extremely violent and out of control.

Be it the advertisements touting products that promise a fairer skin or bods-to-die for or the
television shows and films, which portray violence, sexually explicit content and abusive
language. There are music videos and rock bands that give out the message that alcohol; drugs
and sex are an inevitable part of life. These ideals created by the media might not be necessarily
appropriate.

However, owing to the mass-acceptance and popularity hype created - most of the people
accept these as a part of today͛s culture. In an age where someone like Paris Hilton is a role
model for so many young girls, how can we expect to spread awareness about the importance
of knowledge in the young generation? Bulimic girls striving to be like the size zero models on
the ramp or the excessively aggressive videogame-playing children who think guns and weapons
are cool ʹ we have reached a stage where media literacy is the dire need of the hour. It is time
to start thinking and analyzing what media is dishing out to us͙

Islamic media:

By Islamic electronic media we mean that the media should be designed in such a way that it will
present the true Islam. In Pakistan, Islamic media does not exist. In 1977 during Zia͛s era there was a
process of Islamization in which use of dopatta was made compulsory for the television announcers,
actresses and they were forced to cover their heads with dopatta. Another step taken by TVBy Islamic
electronic media we mean that the media should be designed in such a way that it will present the true
Islam. In Pakistan, Islamic media does not exist. In 1977 during Zia͛s era there was a process of
Islamization in which use of dopatta was made compulsory for the television announcers, actresses and
they were forced to cover their heads with dopatta. Another step taken by Zia was ban on nudity i.e.
ban on display of nude posters particularly on portraying women as publicity symbols. Display of nude
scenes and moving films with nudity were also banned.
½



  


The function and role of Islamic media is very important for a society they should provide the general
public with the knowledge of Islam through informative programmes about religion they can educate
the people as well as able to remove all the misconceptions regarding Islam. The most important role of
Islamic media is to promote religious sectarian harmony among public by showing programmes and by
calling Renowned Religious Scholars for educating the public. Secondly they have to play an important
role in character building of the public. They have to transmit true Islamic values among the public
related to religion. They have to create a positive image of Islam in the western world that Islam means
Peace and Muslims are not terrorists.
R





*QTV-ARY
*LABBAIK Labbaik tv
These are the list of religious channels which are producing programmes relate to Islam.
QTV Part of ARY Digital group was started in September 2003. It͛s a first Islamic channel in the country.
It was started with a purpose to educate the public regarding Islam and to present the true image of
Islam throughout the World. Its targeted audience is the Muslims around the World. They design
programmes for every member of the society such as man, womam and especially for the children so
that they can learn about their religion from their childhood. QTV also offered certificated courses for
the people sitting in homes they just have to watch the program Q -ampus and in the end of a program
there is a question and answer sessions and they have to answers these questions and if there answers
are correct they will get a certificate. They offered certificate courses for Arabic grammar, Hadiths, etc.
Labbik is a channel initially started as an Islamic channel but now they are also showing programmes
related to current affairs and politics.
Labbaik tv is first islamic channel of Pakistan of its kind, Labbik tv showing programs on islam in a good
way, Labbaik tv represents islam in a good way, labbaik tv telecasting programs releted to Islamic events
and also related to current affairs but in different way


 
The structure and policy of Islamic electronic media is to present the true Islam and to educate, and
guide the general public about the right way of Islam. So they design their policies in way such that they
can educate the public and to introduce the modern enlighten vision of Islam. Their main aim is to
remove the misconceptions related to Islam.
 
Services provided by the Islamic media are to spread Islam, secondly to remove all the misconceptions
relate to Islam, thirdly they wanted to present complete information about the religion and also to solve
problems of people relate to Islam. For this purpose they invite renowned Religious Scholars, which help
the public in understanding the true Islam and answer their questions.


Recent statistic shows that the viewers of Islamic channels have increased now. People these days are
more interested in getting information about the religion as television is now found in every house in
urban as well as in the rural areas.


Mostly the target of Islamic media is the people who are uneducated and do not have the knowledge
about the religion and also target the Muslims living in the western world.


Mostly radio channels like FM 100.101,103 only made religious programmes on special occasions like
Ramadan, Muharram, Rabiul-ul Aval, and Hajj. In daily transmission they broadcast recitation of Quran
with translation, Hamd and Naat in the beginning of their transmission. Radio Pakistan shows
programmes related to Islam in order to educate the public and to create awareness in them regarding
religion.
J 
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According to a survey programmes, which are popular, are Aalim Online (Geo), Aaj Aurat aur Islam, Deen
Aasan (ATV) AAJ Islam (AAJ TV) Seratay Mustakeem, (TV 1) Haeya UL fallah (PTV).
Aalim Online is a religious program that has tried to tackle the issues, which were not discussed even
behind closed door The program broadcast almost daily, brings together Islamic scholars from the two
main schools of thought, Sunni and Shia, who answer questions via live telephonic calls from various
corners of the world.
AAJ Islam: AAJ Islam is a programme design to safeguard the beliefs and protect the theological
foundations of the religion by answering the questions in the light of Quran and Sunnah. Religious
leaders of the highest order will take questions and provide the ideological reasoning behind every
aspect of Islam and is its modern application. The format of the programme is talk show.
Aaj Aurat aur Islam: It͛s a programme based on the teaching of Islam with regard to the status and role
of women. Dr Sammar Fatima renowned religious scholar gives answers in the light of Quran, and
Hadith.



The most important medium used for communication these days is the Internet. In Pakistan there are
many websites related to Islam but there are so many controversies regarding these websites because
people are of the opinion that some websites are not educating people regarding the true teachings of
Islam and some are doing propaganda against Islam and encouraging wrong concepts related to Islam
some people are of the views that there are some websites which are owned by non Muslims and are
providing the people with the incorrect information about Islam but on the other hand there are some
websites which are providing the people with the complete knowledge of Islam their main target is the
youth but they are very few. There are many websites, which are in Urdu also, which are working in
order to inform the people regarding true Islam.
In terms of credibility and authenticity there are many controversies regarding these Islamic websites.
Some are of the view that these websites are using religion for their own benefits and exploiting people
in terms of religion.
 c
 

Al Rehman- Al Rahim
Dars-e-Quran
Tanzeem
Urdu Point
   

Websites have a very important role to play, as Internet these days is a very popular medium for
interactions. These websites can play a very important and positive role in order to guide the people
with the correct knowledge of Islam but there are only few, which are educating the people with the
accurate information about religion. Mostly websites are not playing its due role. Internet is a powerful
medium it is a platform by which these websites can remove all the misconceptions related to Islam and
can work for the welfare of the Muslims.
These websites have articles, names of Islamic books, and all the information related to Islam. People
can also ask questions on various issues related to Islam through emails and their questions are
answered by the Religious Scholars. There are many websites, which present the recitation and
translation of Quran in English so that Muslims living in abroad can understand Quran and can act upon
the teaching of Islam.
J 

 

 !
There are few websites who are not religious with in their contents but the are pro Muslim. They try to
answer the anti Muslim propaganda. Myurdunews.com is an Urdu News website who covers specially
the news from Muslim countries and answers the anti Muslim and anti Islam propaganda.
Myurdunews


 


When we compared modern media with the Islamic media we see that it is not representing Islam.
These days media is so much influenced by the western media that they are neglecting their own values,
culture and norms. urrently the basic aim of the media organization is to earn as much as they can
without taking care of the content of their programmes. Previously we saw that the media pays much
more attention to the content and they showed in their dramas our culture, norms and our Islamic
values but recently they paid no attention to these things and design programmes inspired by others
culture due to which society is facing problems. We see these days the respect of Parents and others are
diminishing and Social problems are on rise.
It is the responsibility of a media as a social institution that it should plan programmes in such a way that
they can educate the people regarding their own culture, norms and values because nowadays people
spend more time in watching T.V rather than spending time with their families. So media can play a
positive role in transmitting the cultures and values to the masses regarding their religion.
½

  






The future of Islamic channels and shows is very bright because nowadays people are interested more in
knowing about their religion and with the help of more and more dedicated Islamic channels and
programmes they will gain more awareness about that which will help them not only in becoming a
good Muslim but also a good citizen. But the most important thing needed is that the programmes
related to religion should be design very carefully correct and accurate information should be given to
the people on the topic of Islam due to these Islamic channels and programmes those who don͛t have
the complete awareness regarding religion will be able to educate themselves by watching these
programmes and by doing this, the media can play a significant role for the betterment of the society.
 
  J 

One of the most important elements of any programme is its authenticity. As the demand of these
programmes and channels are increasing many channels are designing Islamic programmes with out
taking care of its accuracy. People who don͛t know about religion were called and are doing
programmes related to Islam and they are transmitting wrong information about religion, which is not
only bad for them but also for the people who are watching and believing in that.
People these days are using religion for the fulfillment of their purpose and they are convincing people
regarding their point of view by saying that͛s its in our religion as the people don͛t have the knowledge
about their religion they are following them blindly so they are exploiting people in the name of religion.
It is the authenticity and credibility by which any programme gains popularity and if the people concern
wont pay attention to it they will lose their viewer ship and also their reputation. Special attention
should be paid in making programmes related to religion because by these programmes people are
getting education regarding religion.channels are providing a lot of information about islam and Hazrat
MUHAMMAD(P.U.B.H.).people always watch t.v.and they eager to know about islam.

  




There is a lack of dedicated Islamic channels due to which people are not getting enough or complete
knowledge regarding their religion. For a country like ours where social problems are increasing very fast
the need of an hour is to educate people regarding the teachings of Islam for this purpose Dedicated
religious channels should come up and guide the common man regarding religion. In order to remove
these social upheavals more religious channels should come up with the true teachings of Islam with the
aim to provide the public with the full understanding of Islam.

 



 
The control and owner ship of Islamic media should be in the hands of peoples who have the correct
knowledge of Islam rather than those who don͛t know any thing about religion. A Person with the better
knowledge of Islam can able to control the content if any thing wrong in it. Those people who have the
complete knowledge about the religion should be called and the control and ownership should be given
to the people having good knowledge about Islam they should be given freedom by the government to
talk about the issues which are sensitive but with responsibility and government should keep an eye on
the programmes made by them. The government should punish those who are providing wrong
information to the people.

hat is the media portrayal of women today and how does this impact how young girls perceive
themselves? With programs such as R

 and 


showing a dozen women
competing for the attention of one man, often using their sexuality, magazine ads displaying a
half-naked female body to sell a fragrance or cosmetic product, and television commercials
highlighting a woman's thigh and butt to sell sneakers, it may be difficult for society not to be
influenced by the overwhelming message to objectify women.

Negative Female Stereotypes

emale stereotypes in the media tend to undervalue women as a whole, and diminish them to
sexual objects and passive human beings. ccording to research done by  
 a
national organization trying to make children a public priority, 38% of female characters found
in video games are wearing revealing clothing, 23% are showing cleavage.

pagazine ads show a dismembered female body, with parts, instead of the whole, a practice that
according to media activist, Jean Kilbourne, turns women into objects ("Sex and elationships in
the pedia", 
 


).  
 movies, from 
R

 to  
show slender, unrealistically curvaceous, and quite vulnerable young women, who are dependent
on male figures for strength and survival, not their own sense of empowerment. pedia
stereotyping of women as objects and helpless beings creates very low expectations for society's
girls.
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When a woman is in a position of power, such as the rare female boss portrayed in R

with Sandra Bullock, or  
with emi poore, she tends to be a cold-hearted, detached
career woman with sociopathic tendencies. Rhis sends the message that a powerful woman
sacrifices a healthy relationship, family, and possibly even her sanity to be extremely successful
at her career. or the young girl who dreams to run a company, or become a famous journalist,
astronaut, or scientist, the media does not provide enough models for her to look to for
encouragement and inspiration.

Jositive Female Stereotypes

espite the many negative female stereotypes found in movies, television, and advertisements,
there are positive examples of intelligent, empowered young girls and women as well. Rhese
characters can serve as role models for girls who are looking for female characters to exemplify.
Lisa Simpson from the popular cartoon sitcom, R
  is a classic example of a positive
female stereotype. n intelligent and gifted girl, this character thinks for herself and sticks to her
ideals, traits that young girls should be able to find in the media.

Rhe television series 
 

 focuses on a resourceful and powerful young
woman, who is a fair match against supernatural enemies. 
 !
 is an inquisitive,
adventurous young seven-year old girl, who is not only a positive female character, but one of
the few minority heros or heroines of children's television.  conscious effort on the part of the
media can offer much to the dreams and self-worth of society's girls

aow the Media's Jortrayal of Women Impacts Girls

Rhe media's portrayal of women effects the self-image of girls dramatically. Concepts of beauty
and personality are found in movies, magazines, and video games; as long as there are enough
positive examples, young girls can be free to be themselves. When there are not, the pressure is
to be thin, physically attractive, and pleasing in order to be likable and popular. ccording to the
 " 

 
  , studies have found that the media's focus on body
image and submissive female stereotypes has affected children's thinking.

ead on

÷ pedia Portrayal of pen ² lpha and Beta pale Stereotypes

÷ GppP ² Promoting Gender quality in the pedia
÷ Why Global Women's Issues Should Be in the News

or example, in television comedies it was found that thin women were both praised more and
less likely to be made fun of by male characters. In commercials directed at young girls, half
mentioned physical attractiveness. s a result of these and other similar trends, both boys and
girls describe female characters as "domestic, interested in boys, and concerned with
appearances." Both young girls and teenagers are increasingly concerned with their weight and
unhappy with their bodies.

Stereotypes in the media inevitably affect our culture, especially the young. s Susan iske,
professor of Psychology at Princeton University and researcher of stereotyping and
discrimination, says, "stereotyping exerts control or power over people, pressuring them to
conform; therefore, stereotyping maintains the status quo." Ro help combat the influence of
negative female stereotypes in the media, and therefore help not only girls, but all of society
transcend these limiting expectations, it is important to expose our children to positive role
models and to let young girls know just how amazing they are and always will be

ead more at Suite101: pedia Portrayal of Women: emale Stereotypes in the pedia
http://www.suite101.com/content/media-portrayal-of-women-a189870#ixzz14KH4wU8

Relevision is widely known to represent and reinforce the mainstream ideology of

contemporary western culture: patriarchy. While television representations of women
have changed greatly in the last twenty years alone, in order to accommodate the
changing role of women in society, one is led to ask how much the ideology has
changed behind the more modern representations of women. Relevision is regarded by
many viewers to be the most 'real' form of media. If this is the case, then it is
important for us to question how real the representations of women are on television
and how this affects the attitudes of those who watch.

Some of the most watched, and perhaps influential genres of television viewing are
advertisements and soap operas, and it is these two forms of television that I will be
largely focusing on throughout this essay.

In a world where women are numbered greater than men, can television be said to
reflect the world as it is, or dictate to it?

Sexism is the systematic oppression of women by men, and so the amount of sexism,
if any, will be investigated as various representations of women are investigated.

s mentioned above, there is a higher number of women in the population than men,
so if television is more realistic, this should be reflected.
et women are typically
seen less often than men on television and much less frequently in central dramatic
roles. or example, figures show that in television drama women are outnumbered by
men 3:1 or 4:1, in cartoons women are outnumbered 10:1 and in soaps women are
outnumbered by as much as 7:3 which is quite surprising when one considers that this
genre of television viewing has a very high proportion of female audience. ven
children's television is dominated by males: 70% - 85%. pen also dominate the
production side of television, so it is hardly surprising then, that the masculine or
patriarchal ideology is presented as the norm, when women are so outnumbered by
men on screen , and behind the scenes in television.

So we can see then, that television presents its audience with a very masculine
perspective.

Gunter argues that televisions sex stereotyping occurs in relation to various roles in
which men and women are portrayed and which have a connection with the
personality attributes they typically display. He therefore divides stereotyping into sex
role stereotyping and sex trait stereotyping.

Sex role stereotyping reflects the changes in beliefs about the value of family, child
care, the role of the woman in marriage and the possibility of self-fulfilment through
work. Generally, in the world of television, women tend to be confined to a life
dominated by the family and personal relationships far more than men, outside the
home, as well as in it. or example, according to a study by pcNeil, about 75% of
men are depicted as employed whereas less than 50% of women are (Gunter, 1986:
11).

Sex trait stereotyping, on the other hand, Gunter argues as reflecting more commonly
held stereotypes about women's characteristics; for example, that women are more
emotional than men. But the word 'emotional' isn't used in association with aggression
or dominance, it is more often than not used in association in reference to the
neuroticism commonly associated with women and femininity. xamples of these
forms of stereotyping will become apparent as various genres of programming are
investigated.

dvertising is probably one of the most important and influential products of

television. Indeed, the average adult spends one and a half years of his or her life
watching television adverts. or the amount of time we spend watching adverts, it
stands to reason that it will have some kind of effect on those who watch.

Paul Rrowler sites a study of women in advertisements, which found that women were
seven times more likely to appear in personal hygiene product adverts than to not
appear; 75% of all adverts using females were for products used in the bathroom or
kitchen, 56% of women in adverts were shown as domestic housewives and only
eighteen different occupations were shown for women, in comparison to forty three
for men (Rrowler,1988: 96). Behind these figures then, we can see how advertising is
prescribing the role of a woman as being very much a family and home orientated
one.

When a mother and wife goes out to work leaving her family to fend for themselves,
she is often punished. or example, an   advert, where we see the mother just
come in from work to find that her family has eaten all the dinner without leaving her
any. She looks into the camera with a resigned smile, portraying that she knows that
this is her punishment and she's accepting it. ven when women are shown in a
position of power, it is still shown through a very patriarchal ideology. If we use the


 advert as an example; a woman is looking at the quality of coffee beans and
says to the man (seller) that she'll take them all. Seeing her (male) assistant, he says;
"I'd better o.k it with the boss." to her reply of; "
ou just did.".

ften when women are shown in a position of power, it is portrayed as being

unnatural, because from the dominant ideology, it is the men who are the most
powerful and so having a male working for a female is made an issue of because it
goes against the grain. Rhis is one of the reasons why so many women are shown in
domestic situations.

Jean Kilbourne in "Beauty and the Beast of dvertising", recognises that a number of
studies have reached the same conclusion in that a large number of advertisements
portray women as housewives or sex objects. Rhe housewife is married, usually with
children, and is shown to be obsessed with cleanliness and alpine fresh scents. Indeed,
the housewife's life is shown to revolve around products which will make her house
dust-free, germ-free, and dirt-free. Knowing that cleanliness of the house is her job,
she usually does it with a smile, providing that she has the latest product to give her a
helping hand..

When men are shown in domestic situations, they are usually portrayed as being
incompetent or are shown to be manipulative: smarter than the female. xamples of
this would be in the 
  advert, where the young man has no clean shirts and has to
wash one. irst, he has problems discovering which of the kitchen appliances is the
washing machine, then, while he's reading the instructions on the side of the Persil
packet, the powder spills all over the floor, to which his reaction is "pum!". inally
we see him walking along wearing a whiter than white shirt.

Rhe second advert is for   #


. Rhe husband offers to take over
the scrubbing of the floor, much to the surprise of his wife who leaves him to it. Rhe
husband then uses lash in order to show how 'effortless' cleaning can be. When his
wife returns, he grabs the scrubbing brush again so that it appears that he's scrubbed
the whole floor. In response, his wife congratulates him and starts rubbing his back.
In both of these adverts, men are portrayed as not often using a kitchen. Rhe first
demonstrates this as the young man makes a mess and even blames his mother for not
being there to clean for him. Rhe second represents this in the way we see the husband
sitting on a chair, sweeping the mop across the floor, and the way in which his wife
rewards him with affection for doing something which is more often than not seen as
her task. Rhe second even goes so far as to imply that women are gullible and not as
intelligent as men through the way that the wife is scrubbing the floor and how in
contrast, the husband uses a mop and lash. It portrays that the wife is ignorant of
modern products that can make the job easier, but the husband doesn't tell her ,
because he can use it to manipulate her into giving him affection for a task which she
thinks he has worked as hard as her on.

Rhe sex object, according to Kilbourne, is a "mannequin" whose only attribute is

conventional beauty. She is tall and thin, with very long legs, perfect teeth and hair,
and skin without a blemish in sight. Underneath the surface, there is nothing. Rhe
mannequin's beauty is merely superficial. She is used to advertise cosmetics, health
products and anything that works to improve the appearance of the body.

ften, these mannequins are dismembered in adverts showing the parts of the body
that are in need of change or improvement. n example of this is in the 
 
shower gel advert where a young blonde woman is portrayed running along a deserted
beach naked representing the 'naturalness' of the product, and then different parts of
her body are shown at a time, being washed. Rhe woman has an expression of
pleasure on her face as if she knows that this product will bring out her natural beauty.
She is made to look somewhat virginal, with little obvious make-up, blonde hair, blue
eyes and in a state of nudity, but seemingly unaware of it , like ve, before she took
the apple. Rhis advert emphasises the naturalness of the product and the woman, and
implicitly reinforces the 'naturalness' of a woman being a virgin, which is very much a
part of the dominant ideology, but does not apply to men.

In contradiction to this, women in adverts are also represented as sexual objects used
for the sole purpose of giving men pleasure. If we look at the most recent  
advert, we see a young man in his early twenties get up and get dressed, noting that
his jeans and R-shirt have large rips. He goes out to buy some Lion Bars, and as he
returns, the camera pans around the room to reveal claw marks on the walls and
furniture. It is then we see a beautiful young woman lying on the bed, and as the
camera zooms in, she opens her eyes, revealing cat-like pointed irises. t the end of
the advert, when she sees the Lion Bars, she roars (like a lion).

Rhis advert, one might find particularly derogatory towards women in the way that it
likens them to animals and possessions; and the way in which the woman is placed on
the bed in the advert portrays women as being only objects used for sex; void of any
personality or feelings. Both these adverts succeed in dehumanising women in that the
first divides the woman up into parts of a body, implying that she is nothing more than
say, a car, something which is only a number of parts put together. Rhe second advert
dehumanises the woman by showing her as an animal with little control over herself
and led by sexual instinct. It also shows her as being a possession, as is a cat or dog,
through the way the man has to feed her with Lion Bars, and as we see from their
room, if she doesn't get her Lion Bars, She'll destroy it, just as an ill-trained dog
might, if left un-fed.

We can see then from these two examples the contradictory messages that women are
given. Rhey are expected to be sexy and virginal, experienced and naive, seductive
and chaste. Rhey are made to feel that they have to achieve this ideal, by constantly
being presented with these images and are made to feel guilty and ashamed if they
fail. ita reedman found that:

"When ^ magazine surveyed its readers in 1984, 75% felt too heavy and only
15% felt just right. Nearly half of those who were underweight reported feeling too fat
and wanting to diet. mong a sample of college women, 40% felt overweight, while
only 12% were actually too heavy" (ines, Humez, 1995: 346).

It can thus be concluded that adverts create a climate in which sexual sell and
dismemberment teamed with impossible body images is seen as acceptable.

In the world of soap operas, on may be inclined to feel that women are represented
more fairly, as this is a genre of television watched mainly by women. With soaps,
production is created cheaply because no other competition incorporates women's
perspectives and is seen as accessible, costs as little, doesn't take women out of their
homes, and could later be shared with friends.

Rhe majority of soap operas are set in a domestic situation, because the home is a
place where women's expertise is supposedly valued, and is also a place of comfort.
ften, the central characters are female, and the ultimate achievement for these
women in soaps is to get married and have children. So it could be argued that the
myth of never ending maternalism actually conceals the subordination of women. In
fact, the subliminal messages often tend to be male dominated. In one episode of
$
 for example, there was a disagreement about Jack and Sam having to
share a room. Sally says to Sam, who is about ten years old; "So what? pe and
Shannon share a room all the time.", to which he replies; "
eah, but you girls like
sharing rooms, trying on each others clothes. Us men need our space.". Rhis implies
that women always need other people, compare themselves with others, and cannot
cope on their own like 'men' can. ven though this line came across somewhat
humorously, being delivered by a ten-year-old boy, it still portrays the patriarchal
ideology that women have a need for companionship that men don't. Indeed, it is
companionship and relationships which are emphasised in soaps, with relationships
being portrayed between women as important, but not as important as the relationship
between a woman and a man. Rhis is often portrayed through the central female
character being a wife and usually a mother, if not wanting to be one, for example,
Pippa in Home and way fills the role of the selfless mother and wife; the good wife
who, according to peehan; "is domestic, attractive, home centred and content. She
does not wish to become involved with the world outside the home, leaving this to her
husband" (Rrowler,1988: 96).

It used to be the case that such women were presented as sexless, that once they have
had a family, they lose all sexual desire and attraction. Rhis is still the case in much of
prime time television, but in recent years, has changed to accommodate the
housewife's sexuality.  good example would be Cheryl from 
% &. But while
the subject is spoken about openly between herself and her husband, she comes across
more as a bimbo owing to the way she seldom speaks of much else except for that and
her baby. However, in domestic soaps, there are still women who are shown as being
sexless because they have a family. If we take the example of Pippa again, this is
shown through her appearance (she always looks as if she's wearing maternity
dresses), and how infrequently the subject is raised between herself and her husband.
It is very rare for these main characters in such soaps to mention sex, and the viewers
often see little more than a rare hug and a peck on the cheek between them, yet with
the young single women characters, we often see them initiate what we are led to
believe will lead on to sex, and the subject is broached much more frequently.

Rhe young, single woman characters tend to conform to the mannequin image, being
tall, slim, conventionally beautiful, and usually they are portrayed as being the 'girl
next door' type character, friendly, happy, not very intelligent, and seldom aiming
high in a career. xamples would include; nnalise - Neighbours, onna - Home and
way, iona - Coronation street and Samantha - astenders.

When these characters do try to further themselves in a career, they invariably seem to
fail; for example, Samantha from astenders left her husband to pursue a career in
modelling, but was unsuccessful. In this way, women are often punished for pursuing
their careers at the expense of their men. Rhere is, however, a lot of images of men
and women working together to achieve things, usually a husband / wife, girlfriend /
boyfriend relationship. In fact, men and women in soaps are probably more equal than
in any other genre of television programming. By playing down male domination,
soap operas make the family more palatable.

In the more glamorous merican soap operas, women of all ages use their sexuality to
gain power and the middle aged women are presented much more frequently as being
desirable sexually in comparison to those in the more domestic soaps. We also see
women in a position of power more regularly, although these characters tend to be
invariably aggressive, and are often portrayed as the villainess; a woman who turns
her traditional feminine characteristics into a source of strength. ften she will use
pregnancy and / or insight to manipulate people. She uses her sexuality for herself,
and not for the pleasure of men. n example of such a woman would be lexis from
. She is a reversal of male and female roles. Indeed, podleski argues that the
final control the villainess strives for is control over passive femininity rather than
control over men.

In soaps the more positive features that the villainess possesses are portrayed in a
morally disapproving manner, and so ultimately, success is denied. Rhe female viewer
both loves and hates this character, sides with her, yet at the same time, desires her
downfall. s John iske argues;

"Rhe contradictions in the text and its reading position reflect the contradictions
inherent in the attempt to assert feminine values within and against a patriarchal
society." (ines, Humez,1995: 346)

So the villainess is portrayed in both a positive and a negative light at the same time;
positive because she does things for herself rather than men, and negative because she
is shown to ultimately fail, which implicitly warns women not to follow this example
of a woman.

Rherefore, while soap operas do portray women in a more positive way than
advertising and other forms of television, it still ultimately respects and conforms to
the broader mainstream cultural demands, through the way in which it still tends to
put women in a domestic setting, especially if she has a family. Soaps often show
women as having jobs, but rarely pursing their careers, and if they do, more often than
not, they are unsuccessful. Rhus we can see how even a form of television
programming aimed at a majority female audience contains subliminal messages
reinforcing the dominant male ideology.

ne point of interest would be how people respond to the representations of women

embodied through television. I have interviewed four people concerning their personal
opinions of how fair these representations are.

Person  is female and nineteen years old, person  is female and twenty-years old,
person  is male and fifty years old, and person  is male and twenty-four years old.

When asked to think of five stereotypes for women, the one stereotype that all
respondents gave was the bimbo, a conventionally beautiful young woman with little
intelligence and who they considered would usually be found on soaps and quiz
shows. ll the stereotypes that the respondents gave were from soap operas, dramas
and adverts. None of the respondents felt that women are represented in a wholly
accurate manner.

But what is interesting, however, is the fact that  and  thought representations to be
more true than  and .  and  both rejected the majority of images they spoke
about, and even said they felt angry at what television portrays as a woman. Rhe
messages that the men and women received were different, but still not constructive.
 and  both said that they felt television telling them that their place is behind men
and that there is a pressure to always look good. espondent  said he felt that
television dictates what type of woman he should be attracted to, but despite that, he
felt that the representations of women are getting better all the time.  Rhought that
the numbers of women involved in television programmes are representative of the
number of women in the population. n referring to the roles of men and women, he
states that; "..generally, the men are the hunters and have to provide, and women are
the carers." He also stated that he tends to associate shallowness with beautiful
women (the mannequin), but denied that this view came as a response of the women
portrayed on television.

ne might argue from these interviews that men consider television representations of
women to be more true than do the women. ven though everyone admitted that they
are not wholly representative, these portrayals still have some effect on the views that
the respondents hold about women.

Rherefore we can see the different roles that women are shown to fill, and in some
aspects they 
representative; there 
domestic women, career women, single
mothers, beautiful women etc. While television can be said to reflect the changing
roles of women, it seems to portray them in a light of approval or disapproval,
positive or negative according to the roles that patriarchy favours: the housewife is
favoured, whilst the woman in power is often shown to be the villain. pore
importantly, women are often represented as not being so intelligent as men, and
having to rely on them. It is also shown that a woman is either intelligent or beautiful;
but rarely both. It is important to note also, the effects that these portrayals have on
people, and while these interviews are by no means representative of the population, it
proves that they do affect peoples views of what women are really like.