global warming or the portrayal of women by the media

global warming or the portrayal of women by the media
Paper instructions:
i need you to read the following essay and answer these questions.
1) What is the essay’s thesis?
2) Is the thesis sufficiently supported by the secondary sources?
3) Does the essay provide a fresh or engaging perspective on its topic (either global warming or the portrayal of women by the media)?
4) Does the essay seem complete? If not, where is there room for further exploration or improvement?
5) What is the strongest section of the essay?
6) What is the weakest section of the essay?
7) Is the essay clearly written and easy to understand, grammatically speaking?
Essay:

The Portrayal of Women by the Media

Today media plays a key role in our lives, from youth to the elderly it has influence one way or another. Our main source of news, whether it be local or international, comes from media. Our main source of entertainment comes from media. Many of the things we do and learn come from media. With media playing such a key role in our lives, we are bound to be influenced by the way media portrays different things. Many times media’s portrayal of different topics is biased, for example the topic of women. Women roles have come far since the beginning, today women are almost seen as equals to men. One of the things that seems to keep the gap between men and women present is media. Women are portrayed in a way that men like and in a way women thrive for. Media creates an illusion of how women should be rather than how they actually are.

One of the key things that media plays at when portraying women, is objectification. Media makes them seem like a piece of meat. Majority of the advertisements and commercials that are played today on television use women as a way to lure people in to buy different products. That is not the problem, but the problem lies in all the Photoshop that is done on these videos and pictures. With the new technological advancements today video directors can change the physique of an average model to one that is five inches taller, four sizes smaller, three shades lighter, and two bra size bigger. In other words they try to create the perfect body to lure people in. Huffington post this year actually went through videos and commercials from 2013 and pulled various snippets of where media actually failed women, this was seen in their article ‘How The Media Failed Women In 2013’ Is One Vide You Need To Watch This Year. Companies such as Fiat, Ford, Carl’s Jr., and American Apparel are mentioned in the video. Commercials are not the only place that women are portrayed like a piece of meat, artist’s videos and concerts also show women in this way. Miley Cyrus, Flo Rida, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, and Robin Thicke are the examples that are used in this video. The video then goes to show the failures seen in television, athletics, news, and politics. According to an online Issue released by World Savvy: Global Status of Women, women in media are seen as the glamorous sex kitten. Overall the majority of female portrayal in media is present for sex appeal to benefit the media only.

Media today creates the idea of the perfect body one that women thrive for. Through Photoshop, camera effects, and lighting media shows models in a light that make the average women feel self-conscious about herself. Model bodies already are in better shape than the average but through these affects they are even more enhanced. In the issue of World Savvy: Global Status of Women, it gives statistics about model bodies compared to the average woman. For example, the average model weighs 25% less than an average woman. By using this idea of the perfect body the media also tries to help the average woman by releasing continuous advertisements and articles on weight loss, or beauty enhancements. Statistics show that about fifty percent of the women in America are on a diet and more than half of today’s weight loss plans are proven to have little to no effect. With statistics like this women still thrive for the perfect body. As long as the media portrays women in this way, men will want women that are like the ones portrayed in media, and this will lead to the continual want for perfection by the average women.

Other then portraying women with perfect bodies, media also portrays them as weak and helpless. Women are almost always shown as damsel in distress in almost all films and novels. As cliché as it sounds, men are always shown as the big, strong heroes who come and save the princess or the woman who is not capable of saving herself. For example, in superhero films such as Spiderman and, Superman there is always a scene where there is a woman that is trapped by the supposed bad guy but then saved by the superhero. Some films are more subtle in their portrayal of women as damsels, like in the film Pretty Woman. In the film, the male lead, Edward Lewis played by Richard Gere, takes the help of prostitute named Vivian Ward, played by Julia Roberts. At first it seems as if the roles are switched, where the female is helping the male, but we quickly find out how Lewis actually changes Ward’s life for the better. Films are not the only types of media that portray woman as damsels, another examples are video games, and books. Some video games that show this attitude are Marion, and Legend of Zelda. A popular book turned film today that caught the eyes of millions of teens around the world also portrayed women this way. The Twlight series portrayed the lead as a weak human while the male leads as a powerful vampire, and an aesthetic werewolf. Today women hold their own ground, women today have jobs alongside men and sometimes even do the same thing as men. For example, recently women in America have been allowed the opportunity to fight alongside men in the front lines. When women in actual life are powerful and independent, why is media still portraying them as damsels in distress?

Before World War I, women were seen as someone whose place was within the four walls of a house. They were supposed to stay home while their husbands went out to work and provided for the family. Their job description included taking care of the house, watching over the children, and cooking for the family. Working women during that time were seen as something negative, and were many times out casted. During the World War, when all the men were in the front lines fighting, the women in America were taking over their husband’s job and providing for the family. Ever since then women have continued to go up in their equality laIDer. But in media today they still show this inequality between men and women. Today in society some of these differences are still present but media seems to exaggerate them a little bit more to get a bigger audience. According to statistics that are referenced to in Sue Katz’s film review on Miss Representation, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media. Women still have a long way to go with the media both in their influence in media jobs and their portrayal in media. It seems like at the end of the day it seems like media’s main goal is their own success and amusement.

In the past women were limited to certain fields of work and certain jobs. When women went to college, that is if they did, they were limited to certain women related majors. Even if a man and woman were to major in the same thing, when applying for a job they would be given two different positions. For example, if a man and woman were to major in accounting/ finance and were to apply for a job in a bank the man would get the job as the manager while the woman would get the job as the teller. Now there is more of an equality when it comes to education and jobs. There are still statistics that show that certain jobs have more males then females and vice versa. These are the statistics that media play on and use to represent women. Many times women are portrayed as the sexy secretary while the men are portrayed as the boss. Or another example is when women are portrayed as the sexy nurse while the men are portrayed as the doctor.

In conclusion, Media merely portrays women in a way that they seem pleasing, and in a way that will lead to an advantage on their side. By enhancing the female body, they sell products to the male population. By putting down women’s self-esteems, they sell beauty enhancement products. By showing women as weak, and helpless, they sell films, videogames and books. Whether it be a commercial or an article in a magazine, media has a lasting impression on the people who see it. And since a huge population of the world today rely on media for news and entertainment they also fall into the hands of the media, and allow the media to reshape their point of views on different things, one being women. And as long as we let the media influence us they will continue to portray women in this light.