Representation Of Women In The Media

Women often suffer from a narrow set of representations in the media such as a housewife or a mother or often as sexual objects. A narrow range of women are presented in the media, they are seen as: slim, usually white, young and they are the ideal image of beauty (to have perfect skin, hair and bodies.) Women are show to have domestic roles in the media for example, and advert trying to sell a cleaning product would often have a woman in the domestic role of  a housewife using the product to clean her home. The use of putting women in these domestic roles almost begins to form the idea that this is the 'norm' of what women should be in today's society. Women are also portrayed as sex objects, they are made to look appealing to attract a certain audience. They are often exploited and sexualised when advertising mens products, this is through the use of the male gaze. The male gaze, being a theory by Laura Mulvey, suggests that the image we see as an audience has been presented through the eyes of what a man will see. For example, when an audience see a woman in an aftershave advert and she has very little clothing on and is seen to exploiting herself, this is for the pleasure of the males, we are looking at the woman through the male gaze. Also in many games, if a female character is given a main role, they will often be sexualised like in Lara Croft for example. She is portrayed as a strong, independent woman but is still sexualised by wearing little or revealing clothing. 

This can be seen as a positive representation as it shows to a female audience that she may be confident with her body and wants to show it off. However, it is mainly a negative representation as it depicts that all women should be slim, white and look perfect. This has a negative on many young girl and can cause them to be insecure and want to change their bodies, it also has an effect on older women as it can cause them to be unhappy with themselves. But despite the stereotypical ideals of women, in todays day and age the representation of women has defiantly improved. Women are now often shown to be independent , stronger and more confident. Although it is still a very little amount, a more diverse representation is being shown also. There are more magazine covers featuring different ethnicities such as black women and also women of different sizes, this has a positive effect on the female audience as it allows them to be more comfortable on who they are.