Summary

I feel like after this project I have become a raging feminist.  Throughout the whole semester I was constantly on the lookout for differences between the genders, and since I am a woman, I usually ended up looking for how women were perceived or were being marginalized or empowered.  Most of my artifacts and accompanying analysis were how men and women were being marginalized.

A great deal of my artifacts came from the media.  Men and woman are constantly portrayed differently within television shows, movies, advertisements, characters, etc.  Many of my media artifacts had underlying gender concepts that led to viewers thinking they needed to act, dress, or talk in a certain way.  Stereotypes for men and woman are all over the media.

Men learn that they need to be very masculine.  They must dress a certain way, talk a certain way, and act a certain way.  Otherwise, if they act a bit too feminine, they are automatically perceived as homosexual.  According to the media, if a man is straight, it is the ultimate humiliation to be considered homosexual, so men go out of their way to act as manly as possible.

Women learn that they need to be very feminine.  They must wear certain colors, especially bright colors.  They must not say certain things, must always be presentable, and must maintain a certain body image.  Women get very skewed ideas of what is considered attractive from the media.  While men also see that in order to be attractive they must look a certain way, women feel the pressure to be skinny and beautiful much more than men.

There are occupations that are considered jobs for men and there are occupations that are considered jobs for women.  Jobs that revolved around children, such as, nannies, babysitters, and elementary school teachers are left for women, while jobs that involve being strong, such as, firefighters, police officers, and the military are considered more manly jobs.
Many men and women feel that they need to act out their typical stereotypes.  The majority of both genders embrace the stereotypes that they are supposed to play instead of rejecting them.  They act the ways that they view through the media and hear through their peers.  Many men and women want to live up to the ideas that surround being either a man or a woman.

All across the gender spectrum there are certain things that are supposed to be for women and there are certain things that are supposed to be for men.  Gender communication is difficult because there are so many differences between the feminine and masculine spectrums.  Everything from occupations, nonverbal cues, family roles, listening styles to friendships, romantic relationships, and learning styles are perceived differently between men and woman.

Throughout this portfolio are many different artifacts demonstrating all the stereotypes that surround men and women.  Stereotypes are everywhere.  Even through something like finding an occupation, men and women must consider whether they are right for the job, genderwise.  These artifacts depict how men and women perceive themselves and each other in many different aspects of life.

Empowering to Be a Woman in America

Right after September 11th, whenever I heard about about the Muslim women, I felt really fortunate to be an American woman.  I would hear on the news that women in the Muslim faith do not have many rights.  They have to keep their bodies completely covered, with the exception of their eyes.  They also do not have the right to choose their own husbands and can not go out during certain parts of the day.  The men in the Muslim faith are worshiped.  If a man tells a woman to do something, she must do it, no exceptions.

This makes me feel very proud to be a woman living in America during this time.  Less than a century ago in the United States women did not have very many privileges.  It makes me very happy to see how far we have come.  I only wish that the women of the Muslim faith could be as lucky.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W (2003).  The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Media’s Effect on Gender Identity

Article

This article is about the media’s effects on young girls’ gender identity.  Many children watch between 2-4 hours of television a day.  During this time young, impressionable girls can get a very skewed idea of how they are supposed to act.  The media gives girls “role models” for how they should dress and act, but these are not good representations for them to look up to.

The media teaches young girls and boys many things about their gender identities, however, these are not good identities for them to live up to.  Many different gender stereotypes come from the media, so children think that is normal and how they have to be.  Men are told to be very manly and have characteristics that go along with that, while women are instructed to be very feminine, to be interested in things like clothes and makeup, not anything that matters.  The media gives society a skewed depiction of reality.

Media’s effect on girls: body image and gender identity. (n.d.).  Retrieved May 3, 2009, fromhttp://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_mediaeffect.shtml
Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W (2003).  The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Men Can Take Anything

Pepsi Max Commercial

This commercial depicts guys as being very manly.  The American culture dictates that men must be very masculine.  This commercial demonstrates that.  It shows that men can take anything thrown at them, with the exception of diet soda.  That changes with Pepsi Max, the manly diet soda.

Our culture dictates that men should be very masculine, while women should be very feminine.  There is no in between.  Men need to be able to deal with anything thrown at them and if it hurts, they need to just “rub some dirt in it.”  On the other spectrum, women are supposed to be dainty and girly.  These stereotypes play a very large role in the media.  In fact, many of these stereotypes originated in the media and people feel that they need to live up to them because that is the norm.
Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W (2003).  The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Bubble Boy

Personal Bubble

Men and women all have their own personal bubbles.  This falls under the nonverbal style of proxemics.  Proxemics studies how we use personal space.  Every person has a different personal bubble, which is how close they will let other people physically get to them before they get uncomfortable.  Personal bubbles can demonstrate how much a person likes another person.  They are not going to let someone they do not care for stand extremely close to them, while with a person they like that may not matter as much.  Personal bubbles for people can also experience some territoriality, which is the space we protect from invasion by others.  Many people are uncomfortable with letting others in their personal bubble, so they guard it.  Men and women guard their personal spaces differently.  The space surrounding women is more public, while the immediate space surrounding men is more private.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W (2003).  The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Sexified Children’s Characters

Dora the Explorer

Strawberry Shortcake

Many children’s characters are becoming more “sexified.”  Their images are being redone to appeal to the larger masses.  However, why is it necessary for a children’s toy to be sexy?  The older versions are perfect role models for children.  These new images of the same characters, now all grown up, do not give a good image for children.  Dora no longer has a tom-boy haircut, with shorts and a t-shirt.  Those have been replaced by long, flowing locks and a mini-skirt.  The same goes for Strawberry Shortcake.  Both girls have a more petite figure now.

These images lead impressionable young children to think that this is the way girls are supposed to dress.  They think that they need to be sexy.  The media leads to many girls thinking they need to act and dress a certain way to be considered attractive.  This is not good for their self esteem.  Many teenagers are unhappy with the way they look, mostly due to the image that the media presents.  This can often lead to many problems, such as, eating disorders.  Now that image is being directed towards even younger children, which is very unhealthy.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W (2003).  The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Babysitting

The common belief is that females work better with children.  Girls are often babysitters and approached over boys to work with children and/or babysit.  I do a lot of babysitting, especially for one particular family.  They constantly tell me that they miss me while I’m away at school and can’t wait for me to come home to babysit for them.  They have three children, two girls ages three and six, and a baby boy.  While I’m away at school they have a boy who lives next door to them babysit.  They tell me that they are not comfortable leaving the baby with him, so when they go out they take the baby with so.  They love when I come home and am available to babysit because they are comfortable leaving the baby with me so they don’t take him with them.

It is the typcial stereotype for the workplace that women work better with children than men.  More women are elementary school teachers, day care workers, babysitters, etc. then men are.  Often when men want to work with children they are perceived as homosexual or pedophiles, which is not the case.  It has always just been a “woman’s job” to want to work with children.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W (2003).  The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Jon & Kate Plus 8

Kate’s Cleaning

Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show about a couple who weren’t able to get pregnant.  They were able to have twin girls through in vitro fertilization, then tried to have one more, and, instead, through in vitro had sextuplets.  The show revolves around their lives and the family has stolen the hearts of viewers all across America.

There are different gender communications within the family.  Kate quit her job to be a stay at home mom with the children, as is typical for the mothers, while Jon continues to go to work.  However, it is quite obvious that Kate wears the pants in the relationship, as she often bosses Jon around.  Kate is more controlling and incredibly organized, while Jon is more laid-back and easy going, which are often the typical parent gender roles.

(2007).  Jon & Kate plus 8 [Television series].  United States: Advanced Medical Productions Inc.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W (2003).  The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

1950’s Movies

Rebel Without A Cause

A Streetcar Named Desire

These two posters show where sexuality in the media originated.  Beginning in the 1950’s was a social movement that began to portray lust and sex more openly in the media.  Women were shown in less clothing, as were men.  Drugs and sex were displayed more often.

These posters show when men and women began to become sexually objectified in the media.  In these posters, and others like it, the men are strong and handsome.  They give off the image of how men should dress and act.  The women are thin and at the mercy of their lovers.  This is when sex began to show up more in the media, which led to more people accepting it as an open topic.  1950’s media, including these two movies, began to open up a whole new can of worms for what was acceptable to depict in the media regarding gender and sexuality.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W (2003).  The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Media Cited For Showing Girls As Sex Objects

Article

This article is about how the media portrays girls as sex objects, which leads them to think that they should act and dress that way.  Objectification for girls can be seen and heard in movies, television shows and commercials, song lyrics, advertisements, and much more.  These images lead young girls to treat themselves as sex objects, because they assume that is the norm.  Sexualization occurs “when a person’s value comes only from her/his sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics, and when a person is sexually objectified, e.g., made into a thing for another’s sexual use.”  Even dolls meant for girls between ages four and eight appear to be sexualized by the clothes they wear.  Girls at a younger age begin to think they are supposed to dress that way since that’s what their dolls are wearing.

There are not very many strong role models in the media for young girls.  Take a look at Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, and so many others.  Little girls have no one in the media to look up to, yet these sexually objectified women are all over Hollywood.  All throughout movies, toys, songs, and so many other things, girls get the idea that they need to wear tighter clothes and more makeup.  They think they need to use their sexuality to get what they want.  They even see older girls looking like this, because those girls have also gotten that image from the media.  It is a never-ending cycle.  Girls need to have strong role models they can look up to, unfortunately, the media just does not provide that.

Jayson, S.  (2007, February 20).  Media cited for showing girls as sex objects.  USA Today.

Gamble, T. K., & Gamble, M. W (2003).  The gender communication connection. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.