By: Aleah
Galbreath
“YOUNG GIRLS AND BOYS SHOULD SEE FEMALE
DECISION-MAKERS, POLITICAL LEADERS, MANAGERS,
AND SCIENTISTS AS THE NORM, NOT THE EXCEPTION.”
1
The Portrayal of Women in Television
and Film
For years, women have been
portrayed negatively in television and
movies. As time has gone by there
have been improvements on the
representation of women, but for
every Carrie Mathison, the brilliant,
complicated spy Claire Danes plays
on "Homeland," there are at least six
"Real Housewives" (Bahadur).
Although, women have made
advancements, their representation in
Television and film is not where it
should be.
Researchers from the school
of Communication and Journalism at
The University of Southern
California and the Geena Davis
Institute on Gender and Media found
that female TV and film characters
are still sidelined and sexualized
today. The research team studied
female characters' occupations, attire,
body size and whether they spoke or
not. Women across the board were
more likely to be shown wearing
provocative clothing or exposing
skin, and body size trends were
extremely evident. Younger females,
especially teenagers were more likely
to be depicted as very thin. The
researchers also found a lack of
aspirational female role models, and
mentioned five main observations:
female characters are sidelined,
women are stereotyped and
sexualized, a clear employment
imbalance exists between sexes,
women on TV come up against a
glass ceiling, and there are not
enough female characters working in
STEM (science, technology,
engineering and mathematics) fields
(Bahadur). The researchers
concluded by urging media content
creators to provide more substantive
female characters in channels that are
popular with young viewers.
The way that women are
portrayed in TV and film has a strong
effect on its viewers, especially
young children. Research and data
have shown that both television and
film have a large influence on
children’s views on gender roles and
career paths. "Both young girls and
boys should see female decisionmakers, political leaders, managers,
and scientists as the norm, not the
exception. By increasing the number
and diversity of female leaders and
role models on screen, content
creators may affect the ambitions and
career aspirations of girls and young
women domestically and
internationally" (Bahadur). We need
less shows like “The Real
Housewives” and “Jersey Shore”
where people are shown sitting
around socializing and essentially
getting paid to do nothing. The media
should inspire young individuals to
consider the non-stereotypical career
paths that are out there.
Not only are women overly
sexualized, they are also poorly
represented in television and movies.
In the 100 top grossing films of 2007,
2008, and 2009, women represented
only one-third of speaking characters
for all three years (Azad).
Additionally, female characters were
not shown in leadership roles and
were less likely than male characters
to reach their goals. Azad reported
that more female characters were
seen when there was at least one
woman involved with the directing or
writing process.
It has been argued that part
of the reason why we don’t see more
confident women in the media is
because people are not that interested
in seeing strong role models on the
screen. Moviegoers are more likely
to watch movies with male leads
rather than female. Some industry
leaders claim that films with male
protagonists generate more profit, but
films with female protagonists have
proven to be just as profitable as
films featuring male protagonists,
when controlling for budget.
Historically, films with male
protagonists have had larger budgets
and those films typically contribute
larger grosses in spite of the sex of
the protagonist starring in it (Azad).
Although, women are still
being poorly portrayed in the media,
there are many organizations that are
working to change that.
MissRepresentation.org is
organization that “exposes how
American youth are being sold the
concept that women and girls’ value
lies in their youth, beauty and
sexuality” (Azad). Miss
Representation is campaigning to
shed light on the subject of women in
media and to empower young girls to
challenge the limiting media labels
and recognize their full potential.
Recent female centered films, such as
“Bridesmaids” and “The Heat”
showcase characters with different
body types and in less sexualized
roles (Zurko).
Even though the portrayal of
women in TV and Film has evolved
over time, there’s still a long way to
go. While, females are still
misrepresented in the media, there is
much that’s being done to fix it.
Media companies can start by adding
more fundamental female characters
to media channels that are popular
with younger viewers. If women are
portrayed well towards young
audiences, there will be less media
influence on gender roles and career
paths.