The societal construct of gender and its impact on social roles and freedom of expression
News writers and media representatives must have a comprehensive view of gender inequality, equality of the sexes, and how to depict genders in press in order to inform the public and also have an educated community. A problem of gender equality and gender representation in media, as a way of obtaining information in today’s world, has become so essential that it is of utmost importance to spotlight some aspects regarding men, women and their public image. Public images transported by the media and their significance to readers, viewers, and listeners contribute to educating the public by raising awareness of and tracing some of the inequalities perpetuated by the media. Using these viewpoints, this essay analyses some of the diverse functions that the press attributes to men and women in order to ascertain how the media might respond when addressing equality between the sexes and discrimination. The essay will largely make use of deconstruction to decipher the different aspects of cultural binarity, knowledge and discourse. The essay will also, as a part of the conclusion, highlight the personal benefits of the deconstruction of gender representation in media in the use of early childhood education.
A person born as a woman or as a man has specific and distinct characteristics. Individuals subsequently internalize certain ways of thinking, interacting, and communicating through socialization. The social and cultural roles a person should play are influenced by their sexual identity. The rules they must follow are dictated by their sexuality (Gallagher, 2013). Gender is therefore a societal construct of biological gender that allows girls and boys to be identified and to understand other persons through signifiers, images, non – verbal communication, and more or less normalized ways of expressing themselves; however, it also restricts people to established routes, limiting the freedom to articulate tastes, aspirations, plans, and imaginings that may vary from those set by society they belong to.
In an important argument, Souza (2016) mentions the important trend in media representation of women that hinges on borderline problems. The author highlights the problem of associating the aspects of witchcraft in portraying women on television or elsewhere in the media. This situation brings in the need for the discussion of power relations in media representation. Men, historically being in a position of power have facilitated the subjugation of women characters in popular media by the problematic portrayal of women on screen. In the social media representations of women in fashion or other brand-related posts, the use of language related to witch-craft has been noted by several scholars and critics. In this particular scenario, it is important to note the insinuation of the historical marginalization suffered by the witches (social exclusion). This particular case of social exclusion is also reminiscent of the historical subjugation of women in society in terms of unequal power relations.
In a democratic society, public opinion matters for normative reasons. Research in the field of political science indicates that public opinion matters to decision-makers. Political knowledge is an important part of public opinions, as opinion surveys may not have been as useful to decision-makers if the population is not well-informed. Public opinion is shaped by political knowledge, and government policy is shaped by public opinion. Evidence indicates that decision-makers do more than consider public opinion when making policy decisions, they also try to persuade the public in support of their policies (Dassonneville & McAllister, 2018). Research into political knowledge has often revealed that men are more knowledgeable about politics than women. Even controlling for various demographics, the gap has been documented internationally. According to some studies, the gap happens across generations but may even begin in adolescence. Furthermore, previous study has been unable to identify the gender disparity using a range of criteria. Even after accounting for gender, ethnicity, linguistic skill, education, political efficiency, involvement in politics, wealth, media attention, and profession, the difference remains crucial. Bruce & Antunovic (2018) have pointed out the important interconnection between the representation of genders and the effects of unequal social projection of knowledge in different fields. The major transition in sports media portrayals and engagement to virtual platforms have substantial feminist scholarship and action implications. The voices of women’s sports and women’s sports fans nowadays are visible and contribute significantly to public interpretations of female sports, no longer restricted by conventional media stereotyping. By making the significant argument, the author draws rigid connections between media representations and the exposure created by them and how these affect the workings of power relations in society.
The subjugation of women characters in popular media and the problem of associating witchcraft in portraying women on screen
In making a connection between societal ableism through media portrayal of female bodies and the culture of male dominance, Markula (2009) highlights the significance of understanding the importance of the influence of the male-dominance in the media. In the study, the author examines the Finnish media coverage of the 2004 Olympic Games. In the examination, the author makes a significant connection between ableism facilitated by male dominance in sports and the portrayal of female sportspersons. By using Jacques Derrida’s concept of affirmative deconstruction, it can be stated that the highlighting of women in masculine sports in media coverage significantly highlights the preoccupation of sports in dividing gender roles. Traditionally, some sporting activities around the world are designated for men for requiring more strength. However, women’s ability to prove themselves in these fields of sorts over and over again has not much changed the scenario in the media representations. The media representations have not shifted to the portrayal of equal strengths of the gender, on the contrary, it has now become a sight of awe that women are participating in a large number of “men’s sports”.
When a person gets the awareness of their society and cultural order, modern mass media plays a major role in the worldwide socialization process. Every person’s perception, thinking, and behaviours are influenced by the mentioned socialization. The theory of mimicking examines how an individual learns to master new vehicles of conduct represented through the mainstream press. Another popular form of socializing is the development of conduct that requires a person to observe team communication principles (Shamilishvili, 2019). The social expectation theory argues that a person monitors social state, standards, responsibilities, and supervision through community interaction and classes of persons represented in the mainstream press. The mainstream media, as a reflection of civilization, fosters a popular understanding of gender equality and society. Gender norms can be defined as a specific way of relating journalistic inventiveness to the audience (textual creation and comprehension), as well as obvious characteristics that aid shared understanding. Stereotypes can be examined as a form of cognitive and sexual interactions based on images and language. Gender expectations are produced by a variety of socio-demographic factors, the most significant of which are demographic and marital disparities between genders, as well as training, intellect, and urbanisation. Traditional gender roles in the media are fluid, as they are the consequence of a connection between artistic expression and interpretation.
In conclusion to the above discussion, it can be pointed out that gender representation in the mainstream media has a significant role to play in the building of mass consciousness. With the fast-paced advancement of social media and technologies around the world, interpretation of these representations in media of different forms has been left to the discretion of the audience. However, in the early childhood setting, it is important to note the negative effects of stereo typification of gender as portrayed in the mainstream media. Through the deconstruction of the unequal representation of women in media, I, personally, as an early childhood educator has gained significant insight into the psychological effects of imbibing the normative gender expectations that are created in children. Relevant literature and scholarly research have also helped in connecting the aspects of gender representations that foster stereo typification through children’s books or media directed for the consumption of children (Filipovi?, 2018). These have also helped me in seeing the significance of visibility and other aspects of power relations among genders and their implications on the setting of early childhood education.
References
Bruce, T., & Antunovic, D. (2018). Gender, media and new media methods. In The Palgrave handbook of feminism and sport, leisure and physical education (pp. 257-273). Palgrave Macmillan, London. Doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-53318-0_17
Dassonneville, R., & McAllister, I. (2018). Gender, political knowledge, and descriptive representation: The impact of long?term socialization. American Journal of Political Science, 62(2), 249-265. Doi: 10.1111/ajps.12353
Filipovi?, K. (2018). Gender representation in children’s books: Case of an early childhood setting. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 32(3), 310-325. Doi: 10.1080/02568543.2018.1464086
Gallagher, M. (2013). Media and the representation of gender. In The Routledge companion to media & gender (pp. 41-49). Routledge. Doi: https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=hJRWAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA23&dq=GENDER+AND+MEDIA+REPRESENTATION&ots=qUjJTg5Zac&sig=0MilZGU4Gwm6bjyQKZOG3xP7ntI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=GENDER%20AND%20MEDIA%20REPRESENTATION&f=false
Markula, P. (2009). ‘Acceptable bodies’: Deconstructing the Finnish media coverage of the 2004 Olympic games. In Olympic women and the media (pp. 87-111). Palgrave Macmillan, London. Doi: 10.1057/9780230233942_5
Shamilishvili, G. (2019). Psychological influence of modern mass media on formation of gender stereotypes. Economics. Ecology. Socium, 3(2), 71-76. Doi: 10.31520/2616-7107/2019.3.2-8
Souza, F. A. D. (2016). Don’t mess with a witch: power relations, gender and subcultural issues on witches’ representation in the media. Doi: https://repositorio.ufsc.br/bitstream/handle/123456789/167700/339972.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
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