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: While
 
more
 
African-Americans
 
are
 
appearing
 
in
 
prime-time
 
television,
 
they
 
are
 
too
 
often
 
cast
 
in
 
stereotypical
 
roles. In
 
the
 
1992
 
season,
 
for
 
instance,
 
12
 
of
 
the
 
74
 
series
 
on
 
commercial
 
networks
 
included
 
large
 
African-American
 
casts,
 
yet
 
most
 
featured
 
them
 
in
 
stereotypical
 
roles. Black
 
men
 
are
 
presented
 
as
 
lazy
 
and
 
unable
 
to
 
handle
 
authority
 
as
 
lecherous,
 
and/or
 
as
 
unlawful,
 
while
 
females
 
are
 
portrayed
 
as
 
domineering
 
or
 
as
 
sex
 
objects
 
("Sights
 
Sounds,
 
and
 
Stereotypes,"
 
1992). Writing
 
in
 
1993,
 
David
 
Evans
 
(1993,
 
p.
 
10)
 
criticized
 
television
 
for
 
stereotyping
 
black
 
males
 
as
 
athletes
 
and
 
entertainers. These
 
roles_
 
wrote
 
Evans,
 
mislead
 
young
 
black
 
male
 
viewers
 
into
 
thinking
 
success
 
"is
 
only
 
a
 
dribble
 
or
 
dance
 
step
 
away"
 
and
 
blind
 
them
 
to
 
other,
 
more
 
realistic
 
ambitions. 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.