Like Sofia, I too believe that the portrayal of women in
American media is highly sexist, and at times, highly inappropriate. The absence of
serious, high profile female news anchors and the focus on the superficial
aspects female politicians is definitely an area for concern. Furthermore, the
portrayal of some of the female news anchors that are employed by the American
networks can be even more concerning, as they are frequently presented as
highly sexualized individuals, as evidenced in the extremely short skirts of
many female anchors on Fox. However, as the content of western media is largely
governed by ratings, what is the possible solution? Fox News ranks number one in viewership compared to other news agencies and shows such as “The
Today Show” and "The View", programs hosted by female anchors that frequently deal with highly
trivial issues, are extremely popular. The American public is watching this
content, and they love it! Although, like many, this is something I find to be
extremely frustrating, more importantly, I feel that it highlights the potential difficulty in finding a solution to this problem.
After speaking to a friend, who is an editor
for one of UofT’s campus papers, she suggested that the best way of dealing
with it is to simply ignore these portrayals, as they ultimately highlight the
decline of the credibility mainstream western media. Although I understood her
point, as I too no longer rely on these sources for objective news coverage,
after some consideration, I had to disagree. Although many can see the forest
for the trees, a large number of people still rely on these media outlets to stay current. Just
because these broadcasts are a joke to many, does that make it justifiable for
them to portray stereotypes of women that are socially unacceptable? Definitely not.
Ultimately, unless people stop watching this content, the presentation of women
in this manner isn’t going to change.
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| Clinton's hair...should we care? |
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