The given assignment is a classroom work by my professor, in the paper; we are expected to describe a story basing on the television broadcast history. In my topic, I am going to discuss the evolution of gender roles in the television industry by mainly looking at the functions and the representation of the women in the television industry over the years (Flex, et al., 1008). For several years now women have been under-represented in the television industry, and the few women who are present are assigned to roles that downplay their significance in such television (Lindsey s, 55). It as a result of this that today there exist so many women activist groups that are trying to restore back the dignity and the value of women in the society through constant protests and campaigns for the rights of women.
I
...n most televisions and films that were produced in the past, women have always been portrayed as weak characters who can only serve as sexual objects. The typical of all, many women have been delineated and stereotyped in the television industry; this takes shape in the form as they are given roles that only dehumanizes them and portrays them as a sexual object that is only meant to entertain men (Flerx, et al., 1000). Between the years 1979 to 1991, there was an increasing number of nude female characters in the televisions.
In a given television advert that was meant to create breast cancer awareness, the central theme of the advert was, "I love boobies." The particular advert received numerous criticisms and opposing from the women activist who argued that the advert was imprinting that having sexy
was more desirable than preventing the disease which was more deadly and imposed difficulties on the lives of the women who were affected. Other adverts that are also common in the televisions involve a series of nude and partially nude female models that are used in, marketing various products over the TV. Some of these adverts are comprised of even young girls of less than 15 years of age; these shows that even in the new generation, the women are still viewed as weaker creatures and can only serve best as a source of entertainment to the men.
Women are also under-represented in the films and televisions; this is depicted through the few female characters that are presented in the most movies. In many televisions, it is very common only to come by either one of two women who is working as the news presenters and anchors. Notably it usual that these few women who are present in these televisions will not be given the leadership roles in their teams, but they are always lead by men. The people who are put in charge of such teams many times they would want to take advantage of these women.
Another significant role in the televisions that most men do not like taking is the parental role and therefore in most cases in these movies, the few women characters present in this movies always plays the parental role which involves raising the kids and also serving the needs of their husbands. It, therefore, explains the reason why in rare cases that we find the films where the main characters being females (Lauzen, et al., 210). In most televisions, in
the past, the women had greater focus in attending to the domestic issues such the breaking families or their cheating husbands whom after the divorce moved on by acquiring new wives while the divorced woman is left with the burden of raising their kids.
As the world is approaching a time where the women have been empowered in the societies and as a result, it not a surprise that today we find so many women activist fighting for the restoration of the value of women in the society today. Due to this extreme pressure, today it is easy to come across some movies where we have the women as the lead characters, an example is the American TV show, "the office" where we have five leading female characters (Lauzen, et al., 200). These women are very powerful working class characters, and this is not meant to antagonize the status of men within such society. Instead, it gives a depiction that just likes the men; women can also serve in the similar capacities and not the natural stereotyped sexual objects.
Conclusion
The given except is, therefore, an illustration of the evolution of the gender roles in most television shows from the olden times to the present where Initially, the women were delineated and were only assigned to tasks that dehumanize their characters such as sexual objects. Women were also under-represented in the televisions and major cases; the few women who were present took the minor roles where they could serve as the subjects to the men. As the world continues to be enlightened, women have started to advance in more superior functions in the televisions as the lead characters.
Some of the factors that have led to these kinds of transformation are the presence of more pressure from the relentless women activist and the perfect representation of by the earlier women characters in the movies who demonstrated that some women are better even in such roles than men.
Work cited
- Flerx, Vicki C., Dorothy S. Fidler, and Ronald W. Rogers. "Sex role stereotypes: Developmental aspects and early intervention." Child Development (1976): 998-1007.
- Lauzen, Martha M., David M. Dozier, and Nora Horan. "Constructing gender stereotypes through social roles in prime-time television." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 52.2 (2008): 200-214.
- Lindsey, Linda L. Gender roles: A sociological perspective. Routledge, 2015.
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