Gender Stereotypes In The Media

Staying true to oneself is a concept that most people continuously struggle with as they grow up. From the moment we are born, we are assigned a gender role based on our biological sex. We are then expected to conform to these sets of “rules,” these so called gender norms, that tell us how we should or should not act based on our sex. I believe that our society definitely exaggerates the stereotypical male and female behaviors not only in the United States, but also around the world. We see these stereotypes portrayed and reinforced everywhere, especially in the media. According to the documentary, Miss Representation, “American teenagers spend 31 hours a week watching TV, 17 hours a week listening to music, 3 hours a week watching movies,
We see stereotypes everywhere; from the news, to tv shows, to commercials, to movies, to magazines, and even in social media. The media alone put so much emphasis on attractiveness that they are reinforcing this idea that it is beauty and not brains that matter. This results in young girls being unhappy with the way they look. They start to compare and contrast their looks to what they see in the media at such an early age and I believe this is what contributes the most to negative body image. Being told that you are not tall enough, or short enough, or skinny enough, or fat enough, is detrimental to not only our physical health but our mental health as well. In the media, we see successful women being undermined and rather than focusing on their accomplishments, the media decides to focus on her appearance. One example was of a comment made by President Barack Obama about California Attorney General Kamala Harris. He stated that “You have to be careful to, first of all, say she is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough, and she is exactly what you’d want in anybody who is administering the law, and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake. She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country.” This comment by one of the most powerful and influential men in the world, sadly
I hope that she does not have to go through the same struggle that people, like myself, has gone through while growing up and having to deal with insecurities and self-esteem. I started to observe this intelligent, talented, and beautiful little girl and I became aware of the nonverbal cues that she would do when we are in new situations that she is not comfortable in. For example, I have noticed that she would often bring her shoulders in, or cross her arms, or just make herself feel smaller. I noticed that she does not make eye contact when she speaks to new people. I notice that she stares at the mirror for a while. These thoughts of negative body image started rushing to my head immediately and it saddens me to say that this is probably what other younger girls and boys feel like. In the Miss Representation film, I was affected by a student named Maria and how her younger sister is cutting herself because of her negative body image towards herself. It makes me scared for my sister and I hope that she does not resort to things like that and that she is able to comfortably come to me or anyone else to express her concerns. So now I am asking myself how I can help change that. How can I influence the little girls and boys to believe in themselves? That it is okay for a girl to like sports and science. It is okay for a boy to like theater and show emotion. All of this is acceptable and should be