Women in Media: Benevolent Sexism and its Consequences
Throughout the decades, women have been subjected to all kinds of discrimination through their portrayal in the media. From oversexualisation to blatant sexism, they have been stripped of their personality and intellect and forced to cater to the demands of the patriarchal lens. Their struggles, however; have not gone unnoticed as more and more people demand for equal representation both behind and in front of the camera. Lauzen (2019) conducted a study analysing all the top films of 2018 and discovered 31% of them featured women protagonists. This is a marked increase from 24% in 2017 and 29% in 2016. As for behind the camera, between 2007–2016, out of 900 films; only 34 of the directors were women (Smith et al. 2017). However, this article will mainly focus on the portrayal of women in popular culture and its consequences.
Women are usually depicted in the media as domestic creatures with interests ranging no farther than household chores and their family (Strumska-Cylwik & Faridah, 2014). They are mainly associated with ‘negative/weak’ emotions such as being submissive, highly emotional, fickle-minded, bossy, dependent and sensitive. Whereas their male counterparts are presented as rational, assertive and competitive individuals with white collar jobs (Ibrahim, Yunus, Shah, Ilias & Mokhtar, 2017). It was also discovered that women were 50% more likely to be shown as caregivers than men and 26% more likely to be shown in sexually revealing attire (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Roberts & Gettman, 2004; Aubrey, 2006). These tactics often result in the occurrence and propagation of a phenomenon known as benevolent sexism. This form of sexism is often undetected due to its pseudo-feminist belief that women need protection and should be provided for financially (Glick & Fiske, 1996). However, this ‘protection’ extends only to women who accept men’s superiority over them.
In fact, benevolent sexism is more accepted by women and men alike due to being primed by the media they consume. Hence, statements such as ‘women are the caretakers of the family’ and ‘men are the knight in shining armour to women’ are taken as facts (Sheehan, 2013). Alzahrani (2016) also revealed that men found the stereotypical, feminine woman more attractive due to their portrayal as such in the media. These beliefs can cause women to limit themselves in terms of their ambitions and aspirations and also invoke feelings of appearance anxiety, self-objectification and lowered levels of self-esteem (Aubrey, 2006; Ibrahim, Yunus, Shah, Ilias & Mokhtar, 2017). Popular movies such as ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Titanic’ and tv shows such as ‘The Big Bang Theory’ clearly highlight the gender power structure and the women characters’ inferiority to the males. Even certain ‘strong’ characters like ‘Elizabeth Swann’ from the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise or ‘Robin Scherbatsky’ from the tv show ‘How I Met Your Mother’ are considered as such only if they conform to more masculine forms of dressing and behaviour. However, even they are left to the mercy of the patriarchy as they inevitably find themselves helpless without their ‘male hero’. Therefore, the need for strong characters who are women rather than ‘strong women characters’ is stronger than ever.
References
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