Title: Are Women Really Portrayed Negatively in the Media? - Opinion Front
Headings: Are Women Really Portrayed Negatively in the Media?
Are Women Really Portrayed Negatively in the Media?
Can you get dumber than this…
As Sexual Objects
Impact
Women as Stereotypes
Impact
In Passive, Incompetent Roles
Impact
Women in News and Sports
Impact
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Content: In majority of the news stories, they were victims of accidents, crimes, discrimination or some health issues. Common issues that are often considered “private” like marital rape, wage inequality or domestic abuse took a backseat to the overwhelming percentage of male-dominated news. Stories of a woman’s professional abilities and expertise were also ignored. A study of the Australian media in 2008-09, found that of the in 33% of women-related issues, the family status (mother, daughter, wife, sister, or other family relationship) was mentioned compared to 13% of men. Women were described as homemakers or parents in 75% of news articles. Apart from being underrepresented in hard news, the presence of women professionals in news media was also very less. According to the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), although 57% of news presenters were female, only 29% of the news stories were written by women. In sports news, the figures are even more dismal with only two percent of the airtime occupied by women. Margaret Carlisle Duncan and Michael Messner came up with a report that stated commentators, most of whom were men, used the words “big,” “strong,” “brilliant,” “gutsy” and “aggressive,” to describe male athletes and “weary”, “fatigued,” “frustrated,” “panicked,” “vulnerable” and “choking” to describe female athletes. Impact
The trivialization of women, and the lack of representation in news and sports, has created an unconscious bias in society towards women.