FREE ESSAY ON WOMEN ON TELEVISION

WOMEN ON TELEVISION

Women On Television
The quality of American television has become a national disgrace. Young women in America
who are displeased with their appearance more likely then not can trace those feelings 
directly back to images from the media on television. The unrealistic representations of
women that the media bombards young women with indicates that the television has become a
source for a distorted understanding of gender roles among adolescent women. These images
warp young women's views of their own gender identity. The media on television should in
an attempt to provide more positive gender identities for adolescent women depict women
on television in more realistic ways, should stop reinforcing negative stereotypes of
women, and stop portraying women as sex objects in advertising.
Television is unrepresentative of the real world. Since most major directors on
television are males, they depict a world, which agrees with their concepts of society on
television. Young women see women in roles on television as being submissive to men or as
not as intelligent as men are. For example, the case of the female mayor on the comedy
shows South Park. She went to Princeton, yet she makes moronic decisions for the town and
flagrantly poses for photos. The media should show positive roles that young women could
identify with and imitate positive behavior from strong female role models. Television
besieges women with portrayals of old women fearing the youth of young women. The result
of these images is that these ideas create competition among women and divides women. The
media should also be aware of the images of women depicted since young women in other
countries also see the American television. In developing countries television ownership
is rising and as much as seventy one percent of television programming is from more
affluent countries . 
Equally important would be to stop reinforcing negative stereotypes of women on
television. Television still represents traditional views of society. Women are often
still generally represented as inferior to men on television. Television shows have to
stop representing women as being neurotic like Monica on Friends, or difficult and bossy
like Amanda on Melrose Place, or ditsy like Phoebe on Friends. Women should be
represented as more than the standard stereotypical negative and simplified character
viewers generally see. Television allows people to see more and choose what they want to
be. Women need to be shown in occupations that are not the stereotypical, such as the
occupations of nurse, maid, sales assistant, or models. Men are often shown as the
breadwinners while women are shown as being emotional and domestic care givers.
Television ought to demonstrate strong older women instead of feeble grandmothers baking
cookies. Teenage girls should be represented on television as being able to have serious
conversations and feeling that their brains are as important as their looks. Women are
often shown as only being able to get what they want by using sexuality(Rosalind).
Television audiences certainly must demand more from the television shows the audience
watches.
Additionally, advertisers see women as parts. Advertisers represent women as lips, legs,
breasts, butts, and as creatures that become overly excited about soup. For example, in
the commercial for an herbal shampoo a woman is so excited by the shampoo she is moaning
and groaning because of the shampoo. According to Mia Adjali, a women's division
executive, The media often focus on legs, breasts and mouth of a woman, so in essence
women are looked at in pieces. If this happens continuously it makes it legitimate, and
also acceptable, to do violent things against women(History Net). Advertisers should
produce high quality, entertaining socially conscience ad campaigns. Women are featured
predominately in weight- loss advertisements. Women on television commercials are most
often portrayed as housewives (LSU). As a result, women are shown as not being in
control. Furthermore, girls in advertisements are often seen playing house while little
boys are seen with trucks and action figures. Judging from these viewpoints the media has
reflected negative images of 
women on television to the point of distorting women's views of their own gender
identity. The ramifications of the images that the media bombards young women with
indicates that the television has become a source for negative understanding of gender
roles among young women. 
The conclusion of the above stated facts is that young women are exposed to 
gender stereotypes on television causing negative understanding of gender roles. As has
been shown television should make an attempt to provide more positive gender identity is
for young women and represent women on television in more realistic ways, should stop
reinforcing 
negative stereotypes of women, and stop portraying women as sex objects in advertising.
For all these reasons, society should have a deep concern with the gender roles that
young women are learning from television.