Gender Inequality in Media Representation !

Gender Inequality in Media Representation

Alexis Novak

San Francisco State University 


Gender Inequality in Media Representation !2

Introduction

Women receive less screen time and speaking time than men when the presence of

women actually bring in more revenue in the entertainment business. According to research done

by the Army, with training women can carry, lift and march just as well as their male

counterparts. The participation of women in politics not only increases cooperation across parties

and ethnicities, but also brings the priority of policies on those that emphasize quality of life and

inclusivity of varying racial and ethnic backgrounds. Yet, in politics and entertainment, women

make up one fourth of careers, seats and opinions that are heard. I am arguing that media

representation affects women in a harmful manner that perpetuates gender inequality.

The media is a powerful source of influence in regards to the way in which the public

view men and women. Julia T. Wood, author of “Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on

Views of Gender” writes that, “all forms of media communicate images of the sexes, many of

which perpetuate unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting perceptions.” The media can be harmful

as it plays into these ideas that limit the opportunities of women. There are three major ways

media perpetuates gender inequality. These are underrepresentation, stereotypical portrayal that

endorse social views of gender and emphasis on traditional roles with normalization of violence

against women. These three types of media representation can be broken down in categories

where media representation is highly present and has a major affect on how women are

perceived. These categories are socio-cultural life, sports, entertainment and politics, which stem

news media and war. All of the categories can be analyzed even further through an intersectional

lens, which brings the element of race and ethnicity prejudice. The media holds a key role in

each ring of the ladder in gender representation.

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Literature Review

Women representation in media deals with a new wave in post-feminist, contemporary

popular culture. This picture of women is highly political, social and cultural, and is expressed

through the digital culture of social media and self representation. In Margaret Marshment’s

article, “The Picture is Political: Representation of Women in Contemporary Popular Culture”,

she firmly states that representation is a political issue, because power is needed to define

interests and decision-making. Margaret Gallagher regards representation in a socio-cultural

analysis of representation, emphasizing the importance of recognizing intersectionality in

“Media and the representation of gender”. This visibility and exposure is communicated in

today’s digital social network, which Amy Shields Dobson describes in her book, “Postfeminist

Digital Cultures”, can be helpful and harmful. In order to examine and explore the ways in which

women are represented in media, it is vital to break down representation on a political, social and

cultural level of analysis.

Race, ethnicity and gender go hand-in-hand in regards to representation due to the human

need for socialization and characterization. In “Race/Gender/Media”, Rebecca Ann Lind

describes our “gender-conscious society” and the “classifications we make [that] affect our

behavior toward others”. To add another layer to this argument, Markus Appel and Silvana

Weber explain that stereotypes such as these and “stereotype threat theory suggests that negative

stereotypes and devaluing content in media impair the cognitive and educational achievement of

members of the negatively portrayed groups.” Examples of these groups include Latinos and

women. These categorizations lead to negatively applied stereotypes that affect representation in

the media. The way stereotypes are formed and the aspect of intersectionality that accompanies
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gender inequality, or any inequality for that matter, affects how the public sees and understands

women in broadcast communication.

Women’s fight for equality in sports continues to this day, with Serena Williams on the

tennis court and the U.S. Women’s Soccer team suing for discriminatory violations of pay. In

“Female athletes’ self-representation on social media: A feminist analysis”, Kim Toffoletti and

Holly Thorpe argue that female athlete’s self-representation on media outlets have paved a new

way to contest gender norms and identities in sport through feminist movements of

empowerment and accountability. In this new media landscape, social media and internet-based

news hold the ability to raise public voice, as described by Toni Bruce in “New Rules for New

Times” where sportswomen are challenging the hegemonic interpretations of sports media

coverage that has trivialized and sexualized them. Christeen George, Andrew Hartley and Jenny

Paris prove through multiple media watches in “The representation of female athletes in textual

and visual media” that in coverage of female sport participation in newspapers and television,

British, Australian and American media ignore female athletic achievements and give preference

to male athlete coverage. Growing up in a time where I was and still am able to see women fight

for coverage and equal representation in the sports realm, these arguments and findings I

wholeheartedly agree with. Specifically in sports where masculinity dominates, women have had

to use alternative ways, such as social media, to have their voices heard.

Representation and discrimination in the entertainment industry continues to be a hot

topic of conversation in the current mainstream climate and industry. There is continuously more

analysis and inclusion of how women are portrayed in film, television, news and other media. In

“Women and Media: A Critical Introduction”, Carolyn Byerly and Karen Ross explain that
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women’s media activism is significant yet still under-scrutinized and held to the limitation that

media is operated and owned by powerful men. Not only is activism affected in front of the

camera, but Denise Bielby writes in “Gender inequality in culture industries” that behind the

scenes there is a hierarchy in production as well in “practices of … screenwriters in film and

television [that] produce gender inequality and the Hollywood glass ceiling.” Susan

Christopherson brings this idea to another level in “Beyond the Self-expressive Creative Worker”

with the idea that this gender inequality of workers is reinforced by social and economic

networks wanting to reduce employer risk and therefore foster labor segmentation within women

and men, and among ethnic groups. I stand with this statement that the wrongful representation

and discrimination of women on screen comes from the lack of and discriminatory forces at

work behind the screen.

The role of media has been a developing factor in postmodern conflict. The way in which

media covers certain activities and the interaction between this means of communication within

the political and military spheres affect decision making and attitudes. This information is also

altered in the specific gender that covers this topic - and how being a woman or man can change

how the information is presented from the source to the public. Gender representation has

increased over the years but it is debated whether or not press coverage has become more gender

neutral. Not only does gender and stereotypes have an overall effect on the distribution of

information regarding news and politics, women experience conflict differently through gender

discrimination and victimization. In “Women, Armed Conflict and International Law”, authors

Judith G. Gardam and Michelle J. Jarvis go in depth about the role gender plays in determining

the way armed conflict is experienced. Farida Jalalzai states that women are at a disadvantage
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compared to men in “Women Candidates and the Media: 1992-2000 Elections” due to these

experiences and the certain disparities that exist in coverage. Another elaboration on this

coverage is presented in Anne Cooper and Lucinda D. Davenport’s work, “Newspaper Coverage

of International Women’s Decade: Feminism and Conflict”. They argue that the gatekeepers of

journalism treat women and the women’s movement in a different way that may distort or create

a sense of hostility or bias toward the subject. As Chiara de Franco explains in “The Media and

Postmodern Conflict”, “media plays an important role in understanding conflict dynamics and in

illuminating some characteristics of postmodern conflict”. I agree with these positions although I

do argue that some of these positions have changed with more recent times. Most of these

articles are written in the early 2000s and while progress is slow, gatekeepers and gender

discrimination affected by international law and conflict has changed.

Research Design

If you type “women” into Google, the second top result that pops up is “Sexy Women:

Photos and Videos of Hot Celebrities…”. Scroll farther down the webpage and then, at the

bottom is a result from UN Women, “United Nations Entity for Gender Equality.” For as long as

we have lived, and as far back in history, women have been over sexualized and looked at as

inferior in comparison to men. While this has gradually changed throughout the years and within

the 21st century, gender representation and equality is still very much disputed and unequal.

After all, sexy women pop up before the topic of gender equality in a simple Google search. As a

woman of color, I find it is important to address this schism while integrating intersectionality in

how women are treated and represented because it not only affects me, but also 49% of the
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global population. Throughout history, women have been fighting for suffrage, employment,

representation and to have their voice heard in all aspects of life, one being portrayal in media.

I am arguing that women are affected by lack of and false representation in media on a

political, social, cultural and competitive level. Activism against this is even withheld by

gatekeepers of media that have the power to alter the message from producer to viewer. Peel this

layer even further and this discrimination is deepened by race and ethnicity. Negative

representation leads to the devaluation of content, meaning devaluing women and their ideas,

achievements and voice. Women encounter challenges of altered representation that are present

in the political realm, social media, sports, entertainment and international conflicts.

Media representation is how media - television, newspapers, film, books, social apps -

portray types of people. This is inclusive of people’s communities as well. Lack of representation

denotes those people and communities that are not shown on a public scale, yet exist and hold

positions in our day to day lives. Juxtapose this with media diversity, which is the inclusivity of

people and communities. Is the content available heterogeneous? Is it diverse in character and in

content? False representation, on a particularly high scale is considered fraud and deceit. This

stems from acts, words or any form of communication between one person and another that

wrongly portrays truth. The term false representation of women in media is used to convey the

wrongful descriptions, ways in which articles are written or questions asked by interviewers that

dehumanize women to what clothes they are wearing, who they’re dating and how ‘crazy’ and

‘emotional’ she is.

In proving these occurrences, I will be using the information written by scholars and the

data they have collected, as well as narratives of women I choose to showcase who have made
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their struggle public and fight for difference. These narratives include individuals and groups of

postcolonial and neoliberal feminists that describe how my claims are present in the world today.

These feminist authors analytically show the misrepresentation of women that fly under the radar

and the words, images and messages we, as the public, consume on a day to day basis which

have an effect on how we treat and observe people. I include a variety of narratives from sports,

to media and politics because women are represented in a way that has aided to and caused

inequality. Inequality travels through the hierarchy of power and lives in government and

international conflicts and from this, trickles down through every aspect of life portrayed on

television, in literature and platforms of social networks.

Case Study

Entertainment

From in front of the camera to behind the scenes, women’s ability to show their voice in

the entertainment industry has been a difficult journey of struggle and defeat. While recent years

have come to some amounting progress in the late 2010’s, this progress comes at an agonizingly

slow rate. In 2004, actress and film producer, Geena Davis, founded the Geena Davis Institute on

Media, which in its years, has provided research and data on gender representation and

unpacking gender bias. More women involved in the production process behind the scenes

equals more women being accurately represented on the screen, yet the amount of women as

directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, etc. have barely increased. In a graphic put out

by Forbes, the amount of women in these roles has increased from 17% in 1998, to 19% in 2015.

A fluctuating two percent over the span of 17 years while men continue to make up more than

80% of these roles.

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Recently in popular culture, celebrities have become more open about the pressures of

being a woman in front of the camera and how this can affect their work. In the entertainment,

social realm of media, spotlight on gender inequality and misconduct rocked Hollywood as

allegations against individuals like Harvey Weinstein - who exploited women as a way to control

the types of roles and appearances she was able to obtain instead of based on talent - were

brought to the public’s eye. More and more narratives were being gathered with women speaking

up about how they continue to be mistreated and mis/underrepresented. An experiment was done

in 2014 by Australian television anchor, Karl Stefanovic, who wore the same suit and white shirt

every morning on the “Today” show. This was done after his female colleague spoke out about

unfair viewer criticism about appearances rather than journalistic work. Stefanovic wanted to

prove that his female coworkers are treated more harshly than male anchors. While his “Today”

co-host, Lisa Wilkinson received remarks on how poorly her outfit was, how her hair didn’t look

right, the color she was wearing was wrong, nobody noticed Stefanovic’s same shirt and suit.

After the experiment ended he stated, “I’m judged on my interviews, my appalling sense of

humor - on how I do my job, basically. Whereas women are quite often judged on what they’re

wearing or how their hair is.” Another woman, Erin Andrews, spoke out after she was harassed

by a male stalker in 2008 about the challenges she faces as a woman in sports. Andrews

unknowingly had a man videotape her in hotel rooms and follow her around. She too was

evaluated more on looks than based off skill and was named the “Sideline Barbie” and “Sideline

Princess” by sports blogs. Andrews received comments on what she was wearing and who she

was dating instead of on her questions and interviews she was conducting with the coaches and

players.
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Sports

A common idea in the 1800s was that each human had a fixed amount of energy. If this

energy was to be used for recreational activities, this would provide less energy for more

important tasks. Women were urged not to exert any of this energy on activities that could be

physically straining, especially during menstruation for she is weak. As higher education became

attainable, women began to fight for the opportunity to engage in physical activity. Many years

later in 1972, Title IX was passed by congress, prohibiting discrimination against girls and

women in federally funded education and athletic programs. As women were able to find their

place as participants in the athletic realm, to this day, discrimination and inequality is imbedded

into the athletic system. From covering sports to playing, women athletes have struggled to

overcome how they are perceived in person and over media platforms, like social, on television

and in articles.

The U.S. women’s soccer team have been activists in speaking up against wrongs done to

women in the realm of sports. Besides battling the “suspicion of lesbianism” and being perceived

as weaker, not playing as good of a game, and too emotional or dramatic, these women came into

the spotlight this year when they sued FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, on basis

of gender discrimination. Men’s World Cup games have been played on grass fields, while

women’s are played on artificial turf - a much more undesirable playing field as it puts players at

risk of more injury and prevents the ability to play the game to the fullest. Women are also

considerably more underpaid and have been given far less money in trying to organize and play

at a competitive level. Through media, the team has garnered support for their fight and have

been able to use social media as a platform to speak out against this discrimination. A leading
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icon in tennis has also been under fire as a colored woman in sports. Serena Williams has paved

the way for women to speak and make noise with their platform about the injustices that women

face. Williams, expressing same reactions as men, has been called emotional, crazy and

stereotypically dubbed as the “angry black woman”. As pieces of literature and media reflect her

in such a way, she uses her own platform and interviews to speak against these tiresome sexist

and dehumanizing discussions against her. In 2015 she was featured on the cover of Wired with

the title “Lets Change the Future” and just this year, Nike released an ad “Dream Crazier” voiced

by Serena Williams that is inspirational to women and eye-opening as it shows how women have

been perceived in sports. Another woman of color who made a quick comment that ended up

going viral was gymnast Simone Biles during her time on Dancing With The Stars in 2017. A

comment that many women get, the host of the show asked Simone why she wasn’t smiling

more when receiving such great comments from the judges, to which she responded “smiling

doesn’t win you gold medals”. Her comeback went viral as many were thoroughly impressed and

applauded Simone’s response to an unnecessary remark.

Politics

In the early 1900s women slowly begin to win suffrage in the Unites States. The 19th

amendment which granted American women the right to vote was passed in August of 1920.

Almost 100 years later, women are still viewed as political outsiders and struggle to have their

voices heard and taken seriously. Despite protest, initiatives, reform and legislation, gender

inequality prevails in the political realm. After fighting to get a seat at the political table, women

incur gender stereotypes that affect representation and inclusion to this day. Just this year a

record amount of women, who were ethnically diverse, were sworn into Congress, creating hope
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for balancing this patriarchal power system. Yet even with this record, these women still make up

less than a quarter of all the seats. In fact, these women are harshly judged, not by the work they

are doing, but many by their appearance or how they speak and what they stand for.

Women in politics and international conflict have struggled with types of feedback and

remarks on attitude, looks and personality rather than the work they are doing. As women make

their mark in politics and positions of governmental power, the media continues to put them at a

disadvantage with the type of descriptive words and angles that consistently make women appear

as lesser and one who is unworthy of the job. A rising celebrity in U.S. government this past year

is congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has openly responded to comments about

what lipstick she wears, they type of jackets and clothing she dons, how she speaks and is not

taken seriously by some because of her age. It seems as though she has continuously had to

prove herself when speaking and debating on issues and many are simply waiting for her to make

the smallest mistake in order to tear her down. This is nothing new as women in politics have

been dealing with this since the beginning. Since the first woman took place in Congress in 1917,

clothes and disbelief in a woman’s potential have been the major topics of conversation. On top

of this, political cartoons continue to portray women in revealing or inappropriate clothing.

Women politicians are continuously sexualized and told what they’re wearing is too revealing or

not revealing enough. As an example, Senator Amy Klobuchar was under fire for a reputation as

a demanding boss, when men who run their offices in a strict environment are not written about

and waved off as normal. These reports of Klobuchar’s office environments revealed a debate on

how sexism is engraved in coverage of a “too-tough female boss” which is seen by some as

gendered content. Women are affected by skewed gendered expectations.

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Implications

Whether the conversation is in the realm of entertainment, sports or politics, gender

inequality in all of these fields pose a similar concern about the opportunities and treatment of

women. This space has been created by and for men to achieve success and women are fighting

to step up the rings on the ladder towards equal treatment, payment and power. Women are being

bashed for appearances instead of being evaluated based on skill in all entertainment, sports and

political positions and must be over the top talented in order to simply prove themselves amongst

the men they are working with. Women are being held to a different standard in these fields and

have to continuously fight against slander and sexualization. While dealing with issues such as

these, the media has been feeding into these ideals that only solidify inequality. Having popular

culture push sex appeal, appearance and domestic, child bearing ideals onto working, physical

women has decreased the opportunities for women.

Conclusion

The media is a powerful source of influence. It has the ability to control and formulate

ideas in positive and negative aspects. The media can be used to right wrongs and speak out

against injustice yet can also be a tool in perpetuating stereotypes and gender inequality. For so

long, media has been skewed towards patriarchal themes and in the 21st century we are seeing

women and men fight back and call out newspapers, writers, producers, directors, etc., that allow

these inequalities and stereotypes to harmfully pass by as normal. These negative ways of

thinking have been normalized to the point it has created barriers for women in the workforce

and in many steps of life. Underrepresentation, violence and hatred towards women and

stereotypical portrayal of ‘traditional’ gender roles is not normal.

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I am arguing that media representation affects women in a harmful manner and that the

best form of combat is through a constructivist lens of change. This challenge is about changing

audience members’ traditional ways of thinking that has harmed society’s past which will grow

generations that will eventually have this misrepresentation of women and gender stereotypes

eliminated. While this great task looms over us, change does not come at a fast rate nor at an

easy one. I am asking that mass mediums of communication offer better representation and a

better understanding of women in the workforce with emphasis on how varying perspectives in

entertainment, sports and politics can positively impact society. The type of words, actions and

tone used to describe women through media has been detrimental to equal opportunities and is

necessary to understand in order to combat this issue. Studying media representation allows us to

break down and fully comprehend the mistreatment that is occurring in mass means of

communication.

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