Sexism – College Essay Example

they had to do.

They may have appeared in advertisements for male toilet products as well, but they were unlikely to be shown in the kitchen, cooking for the family. In the view of advertisers themselves, this sharp division of roles is perfectly justified. The activity of selling, so their argument goes, takes place in the world as it is, rather than as 'some would wish it to be.' There are still more top executives and drinks buyers now than there are female ones but this is a reflection of the inner-core of serious, possibly life-changing real examples of sexism in the world today. On the other hand they may just not be as good at the job.

This point often pressurises advertisers into including female characters in campaigns merely to avoid feminist uproar. Much the same as racist discrimination is over-emphasised, sexism is repeatedly used by women as a excuse to be selected for whatever role they apply.

However, it is also true that most women take care of ,either as a shared task or a lone one, decisions affecting the home. This must be addressed by the parties involved or they would stray further from reality and be unsuccessful in their portrayal of media pieces.

"Young women today...can choose to look like dolls if they think it is fun." This statement by Agn�s Varda, French film-maker, correctly suggests that women enjoy making themselves look as attractive as possible. They play on their improved appearance to also improve their own social life.

A topless model, or 'Page Three' girl is said to be exploited, but herself will claim she is an independent, liberal women just doing "what many women

would if they dared - and if they had the looks for it." This may be just a boastful statement however, as many self-proclaimed feminists will say in argument that such sex-symbols are blind to their usage by men.

People may say this is severe exploitation of women's bodies in order to transform male sexual desire into commercial capital, but surveys suggest that women are much less aroused by the similar rare posing of men. This means there is less market therefore needless advertising.

Despite all efforts and regulations by governing bodies to control sexist media, a large source is spoken or written word by individuals expressing their own thoughts or wishes. A prime example of this is commentary of televised sports. The bulk of sports media time and space is dedicated to male activities, mostly due to a greater number of men's sports at the top flight. Men have on average, but not as a rule, greater physical ability in a wide range of sports.

Tennis is a sport with divided gender competitions and receives a great amount of coverage for both sexes no doubt having a more than moderate sexual institution of dress code. Men traditionally wear comfortable shorts while women wear very short skirts that flip up on every serve, hit or slight gust of wind. It naturally follows that the women in question will be physically fit and usually good-looking, making them sexual icons for men. The commentators pick up on this with small yet noticeable remarks which, because of their seeming triviality will become commonplace and considered acceptable by others.

A such female tennis player, one Martina Hingis, recently appeared in a extremely generic

body wash advert for a leading and respectable corporation. She appeared naked and would lather herself slowly, the camera fading as she turned towards it before it took another position, whereby it could view her with only small portions of her body not very discreetly concealed.

This is but one example of the sexual stereotyping that occurs. Since the 1970s, the traditional role of women cooking cleaning, and raising children at home has been portrayed in commercials. Women were portrayed as submissive and dependent on men.

Daytime television advertisements are generally aimed at homemakers and those who do not work and in these adverts, more women appear than men. This may be confused with a step in the right direction for the liberation of sexualised women in commercials but on the whole, the women portrayed are stereotyped as housewives and mothers and other adverts include many toiletry products. This suggests that the market for these products is women who are expected to be at home.

Many cleaning product commercials now will feature a male character merely for comedy elements that this sparks up in everybody as they are used to, as it is our culture, considering women as the parental figures and men as the 'bread-winners.' An example is the televised 'Flash' advertisements where the male actor cleans with the product without the woman knowing and as a result she is astounded that he could perform the relatively simple task so well.

Cable, satellite and now digital television is a way for a wider range of media to be available to whoever is interested, meaning advertisers can market their products to specific audiences and women's sports and other subjects

can be accessible.

Sexism is reducing but at a slow rate, I think for the most part, sexism in the media is past its milestone on the way to total equality. This however can never be achieved as men and women are not equal. The subtle sexism that still occurs is almost as bad if not worse than overt sexeism and must be stopped.

The use of sexism over the years has grown from outright to moderate and now subtle or intentional for humour. This coincides with the same changes in society.

It still applies in everyday life greatly on a social level and reversibly on a business level and these factors are a major source of the sexism in media. Sexism will never go away but is not as severe as it once was.