Gender and Media

Question 1: Music Videos

The media contributes to the society’s view on the different roles in gender and sexuality, specifically homosexuality and heterosexuality. Music videos are major contributor as some use women to market their music and appeal to the audience. These videos concentrate more on the physical attributes of women and use this to get the male attention. Such videos will have women dressed skimpily and seductively. In this way, they use sex to sell. For example, in the Jamaican music video, Gal a Bubble by Konshens shows women dressed in extremely short clothes and dancing in a sexually appealing way.

The women are also shown beside motor cars, a popular way of illustrating the sensuality of women. They are in an open area, where they can easily be seen. This shows how male fantasies are conveyed in music videos, where the bodies of the women are exposed and they seem to demand the attention of men. Another example is Make it Rain by Lil Wayne, which also portrays women in similar sexual manners. They are dressed in revealing clothes and seek the attention of the men. The videos also portray wealthy men as being capable of acquiring any woman they desires. The women on the other hand give in easily and the man is convinced he will be able to lure the woman.

The men will first seduce the women into giving in to their demands and when done with them, the men go on to the next women. For example in the music video, Green light by John Legend, the men are able to get the women they want. After they are satisfied with their needs, they do ignore previous women and move on to others. The musicians reiterate the fact their popularity make them desirable to women. Other popular videos also show the status of the homosexuals in the community. For example, Beautiful by Christina Aguilera shows how gays and lesbians are discriminated against.

They find it difficult to publicize their sexuality because the society is opposed and critical of it. Another video shows how a gay person is murdered because he is gay. These music videos influence how the society views women and homosexuals. They also show the status of these two groups in the society including the stereotypes and prejudices against them. Stereotypes include homosexuality as being immoral and women as being materialistic and dependant on men.

Question 2: Commercials

The commercials stereotype women in conveying their message. The burger king commercial illustrates three women in their swimsuits. The women share everything including their bed, clothes, food and bath. In order to take the attention of the audience, the women are portrayed in a sensual manner. This is achieved through their body movements, body language and the background voice. In this, stereotyping is seen when the physical features of women are used to market a product. The women are defined more by their physical attributes than their inner attributes, such as intelligence.

The advert uses sexual allure in their portrayal of the women. For example, the manner in which the women are sleeping and tossing in the bed, the movement of their when they turn, the patting of the horse and the sculpting of a sculpture, which resembles the male sexual organ. These shows how the media’s influence on the society, about the role of women as sexual beings and a source of sexual pleasure. The Goodyear Tire and 1964 Buick Riviera commercials, portray women as the weaker sex. The Goodyear Tire illustrates a woman as causing damage to a car that would be comparable to the damage caused on the tire, due to driving for a long distance. It also expresses that a woman would incur more cost when driving the vehicle than a man would. After the woman picks the man, she leaves the man to drive the car. Yet again, conveying the man as a better sex, for example, in driving skills.

The 1964 Buick Riviera shows a woman and a man driving the vehicle. The woman leads at the beginning of the journey, but the man reaches the designated area before the woman. The commercial ends with a statement that it is only a man who is capable of understanding the particular vehicle, while the women can only admire it. This again portrays women as being weaker than men in their skills are. It also shows the different genders and the roles that the society expects of them. For example, a man can handle a mechanical activity or an activity that requires physical energy better. In this case, the man is portrayed as handling the kind of motor car better than a woman would, in relation to what is expected by the society.

The Millers Catfight also uses the sexual allure of women to appeal to its audience. In this case, men especially. At the end of the advert, two men suggest that everyone would enjoy watching such an advert. They also contribute to the ending of the commercial, which shows the women kissing after fighting. This shows the male view about women, as objects of sexual pleasure, as well as unintelligent beings. The advert illustrates two women who after disagreeing, about the best source, enter in a fight, in this case, referred to as a catfight. The fight is in public and the women end up ripping each other’s clothes. Their behavior and their manner of talking portrays women as naïve and irrational. The four adverts show media contribution in the prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination of women. Women are viewed as the weaker, less intelligent and as a source or object of sexual gratification for men.