Title: 
Headings:  The Influence of Media on Views of Gender
The
 
Influence
 
of
 
Media
 
on
 
Views
 
of
 
Gender
 

Julia
 
T.
 
Wood
 

Department
 
of
 
Communication,
 
Carolina
 
at
 
Chapel
 
University
 

THEMES
IN
 
MEDIA
 

AMERICAN
 
LIFE
 

commodes.
 
There
 
are
 
a
 
few
 
bad,
 
bitchy
 

dinate,
 
and
 
not
 
so
 
caring
 
as
 
the
 
good
 
women.
 

Stereotypical
 
Portrayals
 
of
 
Women
 
and
 
Men
 

JILL

7.
 
Gendered
 
Media
 

Stereotypical
 
Images
 
of
 
Relationships
 
Between
 
Men
 
and
 
Women
 

PAUL
 

more,
 
Up
 
the
 
Sandbox,
 
The
 
Turning
 
Point,
 
Diary
 
of
 
a
 
Mad
 

JOANNE
 

7.
 
Gendered
 
Medi
 

Pathologizing
 
the
 
Human
 
Body
 


 
LIVING
 
WITH
 
MEDIA
 

Normalizing
 
Violence
 
Against
 
Women
 

MYTHS
 
AND
 
FACTS
 
ABOUT
 
RAPE
 

7.
 
Gendered
 
Media
 

REFERENCES
 

7.
 
Gendered
 
Media
 


Content: Hispanics
 
and
 
Asians
 
are
 
nearly
 
absent,
 
and
 
when
 
they
 
are
 
presented
 
it
 
is
 
usually
 
as
 
villains
 
or
 
criminals
 
(Lichter,
 
Lichter,
 
Rothman,
 
Sr
 
Amundson,
 
1987). Also
 
under-represented
 
is
 
the
 
single
 
fastest
 
growing
 
group
 
of
 
Americans-
 
older
 
people. As
 
a
 
country,
 
we
 
are
 
aging
 
so
 
that
 
people
 
over
 
60
 
make
 
up
 
a
 
major
 
part
 
of
 
our
 
population; within
 
this
 
group,
 
women
 
significantly
 
outnumber
 
men
 
(Wood,
 
1993c). Older
 
people
 
not
 
only
 
are
 
under-represented
 
in
 
media
 
but
 
also
 
are
 
represented
 
inaccurately
 
In
 
contrast
 
to
 
demographic
 
realities,
 
media
 
consistently
 
show
 
fewer
 
older
 
women
 
than
 
men,
 
presumably
 
because
 
our
 
culture
 
worships
 
youth
 
and
 
beauty
 
in
 
women. Further,
 
elderly
 
individuals
 
are
 
frequently
 
portrayed
 
as
 
sick,
 
dependent,
 
fumbling,
 
passive,
 
images
 
not
 
borne
 
out
 
in
 
real
 
life. Distorted
 
depictions
 
of
 
older
 
people
 
and
 
especially
 
older
 
women
 
in
 
media,
 
however,
 
can
 
delude
 
us
 
into
 
thinking
 
they
 
are
 
a
 
small,
 
sickly,
 
and
 
unimportant
 
part
 
of
 
our
 
population. The
 
lack
 
of
 
women
 
in
 
the
 
media
 
is
 
paralleled
 
by
 
the
 
scarcity
 
of
 
women
 
in
 
charge
 
of
 
media. Only
 
about
 
5%
 
of
 
television
 
writers,
 
executives,
 
and
 
producers
 
are
 
women
 
(Lichter,
 
Lichter,
 
Sr
 
Rothman,
 
1986). Ironically,
 
while
 
two-
thirds
 
of
 
journalism
 
graduates
 
are
 
women,
 
they
 
make
 
up
 
less
 
than
 
2%
 
of
 
those
 
in
 
corporate
 
management
 
of
 
newspapers
 
and
 
only
 
about
 
5%
 
of
 
newspaper
 
publishers
 
("Women
 
in
 
Media,"
 
1988).