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The way I see this project, you have basically two 4-topic papers in
one. One paper is about men and their roles in politics, pleasure,
sexuality and ethics, and one is about women and their roles for the
same. You can either attack them in succession, where you write the
paper all about the men, or all about the women, and then vice versa.
Or you can take it by topic and contrast the roles of men and women
within each.
I wasn't told whether or not this paper is geared toward American
culture or internationally speaking, so I will assume international,
although America is a very prominent force in media representation.
I would start off with a bit of a historical contrast of sorts, so
people get an idea of where things were, where they are now, and where
they are going.
Unless directed otherwise, I think your paper should definitely have a
persuasive tone, because it's almost always more interesting to a read
a paper that's trying to persuade someone of something. It engages
people's opinions and holds their attention when they feel like they
need to make a rebuttal or feel in agreement. Otherwise you have a
boring newsreport that "says" nothing.
__
Here's an example of a potential start-off. A possible viewpoint to
take with this would be one that shows how women's roles have become
more prominent, albeit within the confines of a male-centered media.
You could explore the male and female roles in the context of that
viewpoint.
Today, the media's representation of men and women in the areas of
politics, pleasure, sexuality and ethics have gradually become only
somewhat disimilar within the confines of a male-centered media [male
centered, not different, similar, explicit, or some other opinionated
point]. No greater has this been evidenced in that past 10 years,
where the lines between roles have been blurred by the introduction of
relative morals, pluralistic beliefs, cultural intermingling and
alternative sexuality. However, there are still abiding cultural
biases that exist within the portrayal of men and women in the media.
In America, for instance, the political contrast between a more
absolutist society of 40 years ago is stark, with a very clear-cut
role for men, and an equally clear-cut role for women. Today's
perspectives might typically paint 1950's culture as rigid. On both
the big screen and the little, women of the 50's were
whiter-than-white housewives and mothers who sported B-line hems,
spick and span homes, and perfectly-groomed husband and 2.4
children... Washing powders, washing-up liquid, Oxo cubes, they did
them all.(1) The media painted their role as one very much centered
in, from, and around the house. Politically, their voice was very
much relegated both geographically and culturally to the home, as
their sphere of influence rarely extended beyond husband, family, and
friends. Today paints a very different picture, although one that is
as equally relegative. While not strictly confined to a domesticated
subordinate position, and while given almost equal opportunity
"theoretically" to voice their opinion -- political or otherwise --
the media portrays women as sex objects wherever possible. A more
recent example of this can been seen in Greta Van Susteren's recent
move from the CNN TV network to Fox TV in early 2002. "She not only
had a makeover; she surgically altered her face to appear younger and
more "beautiful." When her new show, On the Record, premiered, her
hair was perfectly coiffed and she sat behind a table so viewers could
see her short skirt and legs." (7) So while she may be an
exceptionally smart and talented woman, it may be that she's catering,
perhaps subconsciously, to the media's demands in its advocation of
Barbie-Doll Syndrome, and a base male-centered bias: "She has
something to say, but she better look good while saying it." The
image of the 1950's was explicit in its backseat role of women
politically. They hardly had any voice. Today they have a voice, but
that voice is tainted when it's often attached to a sexual visage; it
can be just as restrictive and detrimental.
The male centeredness in the media of the 1950's hasn't changed much.
.
.
.
Sources: [check out 6 in particular]
(0) All sorts of articles on the topic
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/PI/search.jhtml?isp=FA&cat=health&key=%2BSex+%2Brole+%2Bin+%2Bmass+%2Bmedia+%2BSocial+%2Baspects
(1) Secretary of State for Social Security and Minister for Women
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/mediacentre/dss/pressreleases/1997/nov/25-11-97-1.htm
(2) The changing Roles for Women in the 1950's
http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/film/war.htm
(3) Media Representation
http://klaatu.pc.athabascau.ca/cgi-bin/b7/main.pl?rid=7151
(4) Media Gender and Identity <- looks like an excellent book to buy
for this subject:
http://www.theoryhead.com/gender/
(5) Authority and TV Ads
http://kafka.uvic.ca/~rzarchik/sexobject.html
(6) Media Awareness Network
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/
(7) Media Coverage of Women and Women's Issues
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_coverage.cfm
(8) Women Audiences and Gender Portrayal on TV
A Finnish Case Study
http://www.yle.fi/gender/audtrans.html
(9) The Media and Communications Studies Site
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/sections/gender03.html
(10) Media Report to Women
http://www.mediareporttowomen.com/272.htm
(11) Gender and Violence in the Mass Media
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hppb/familyviolence/html/femviomedia_e.html
(12) Changing Images: a Long Road
http://www.womensmediawatch.org.za/archives/makingwaves/janfeb2001/changing.html
(13) Roundtable on the Portrayal of Young Women in the Media
http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:4tpy5rRZoJgC:www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/pubs/roundtablemedia/roundtablemedia_e.pdf+%22gender+portrayal%22+roles+media&hl=en&start=54&ie=UTF-8
(14) New Studies on Media, Girls, and Gender Roles: Media Reinforces
Some Gender Stereotypes, Breaks Others
http://www.childrennow.org/newsroom/news-97/pr-97-4-30.html
(15) Rejecting the Media's Gender Stories
http://www.sxetc.org/stories/genStoriesArticleDetail.asp?aid=art_1369
(16) Mass Media, Gender Roles, and Popular Culture in Japan and the
United <- Stateshttp://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:F1DBv9jK8PQC:www.udel.edu/History/figal/Hist372/Materials/massgenderpop.pdf+gender+roles+media&hl=en&start=11&ie=UTF-8
(17) Gender Roles Found in the Media
http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~cacademi/homosexuality/gendermedia.htm
Search terms:
gender roles media <-
"men in media" representation [include topic, such as politics]
"women in media" representation
men "media representation"
"gender potrayal" media <-
media gender identity
Check out www.questia.com for an online library. |
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