Women Studies/Printable version

Women Studies

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Contributors' Biographies

Kimberley Boggus	Kimberley was born in Sacramento, California to a white mother and a black father in 1979 who met in San Francisco as young hippies focused on changing the world, Carter was President and Brown was Governor of California, she was destined to be politically engaged. After High School Kimberley moved to Omaha/Council Bluffs area and started volunteering for campaigns and eventually took a position with the Iowa Democratic Party for the 2004 Presidential Campaign. At the same time she married and was plugging her way through community college. A few moves around the country led her to Des Moines in late 2010, where she again found herself working in politics, most recently for Next Gen Climate for the 2014 midterm election. In 2013, Kimberley was awarded Activist of the Year by the Iowa Democratic Party and in December 2014 was in the Des Moines Register’s Top 50 Most wanted Democrats.
Emily Brown	Emily Brown is a seventh year student majoring in journalism and mass communication at Iowa State University.
Dana Lynn	Dana Lynn is a graduate student getting her Masters in HCI from Iowa State University. She has taken classes in areas such as: User Interface Implementation for Web Application, Design & Ethics, Models & Theories in HCI, Emerging Practices - Designing the User Experience, Cognitive Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction and Web Mapping and would like to continue her practice after graduation. She is also interested in: Learning Experience Design, Design Collaboration, Design Research and Technology & Innovation. When she is not working or studying Dana likes to practice yoga, go to flea markets and farmers markets.
Colbie Scholten	Colbie Scholten is a senior at Iowa State University majoring in Secondary English Education and minoring in Technical Communications. She has taken classes in areas such as: Shakespeare, British Literature and Women’s Studies courses and would like to teach English courses in schools in the United States or even out of the country after graduation. She is also interested in traveling, reading, collecting and listening to old records and baking.
Macey Simmons	Macey Simmons is a senior at Iowa State University majoring in Liberal Studies and minoring in business. She has taken classes in accounting, finance, and liberal studies. She is ready to graduate and start exploring different options for careers. She is also interested in Ballet and reading.
Jhaustin Thomas	Jhaustin Thomas is from Atlanta, Ga before coming to Iowa State he attended a juco in Texas which is a two-year college called trinity valley he got his AA degree there. He transferred to Iowa State for football his major is liberal arts but he plans on changing it to business. He has one brother and sister. Also lives with his single mom. He is 22 years old his birthday is April 13 he is an aries and his dream is to be the first out of his family to graduate college. His goal is to open up his own training facility to help all athletes develop their skills and teaching them about life. If he is fortunate to make it to the NFL he wants to give back to the less fortunate. He loves putting a smile on people faces and having fun he wants to make a difference in this world.
Meredith Cook	Meredith Cook is a junior majoring in political science at Iowa State University.
Olivia Erickson	Olivia Erickson is a senior at Iowa State University majoring in Child, Adult, and Family Services. Olivia has taken many classes in area of Human Development and Family Studies, with an emphasis in youth and young adults. She plans to work in the field of social work for a few years once she graduates and then go to graduate school. She enjoys volunteering outside of school, helping others, and has a passion for animals.
Ashley Labarge	Ashley Labarge is a senior majoring in communication studies at Iowa State University.
Brittany Syvixay	Brittany Syvixay is senior majoring in public relations and minoring in psychology. She has taken classes in areas such as advertising, marketing, journalism and design. She has accepted a position at Cumulus Media after graduation. She is also interested in health, fitness and blogging.
Chelsea Bothun	Chelsea Noelle Bothun is a twenty-four year old senior at Iowa State University. She is majoring in journalism and mass communication, and is a psychology minor. She wanted to take women studies, because as a woman looking to pursue a career after graduation, she wanted to understand how women are perceived in the corporate world. After graduating, she would like to find a job in media relations. When she is not in school, Ms. Bothun enjoys hanging out with her family and traveling. She and her husband are expecting their first child in October.
Delanie Downey	Delanie Downey is a senior majoring in English and minoring in Women’s Studies. She has taken classes in areas such as: 19th Century literature and creative writing, as well as sex and gender portrayals within the media. Delanie would like to use her knowledge earned at Iowa State to establish her presence as a writer. She is also interested in film and photography, passions that help to form more avenues to express her beliefs and creativity.
Dexter Hopp	My name is Dexter Hopp. I am a senior in English here at Iowa State University. After graduation, I plan on finding an editing job. In my spare time, I love playing and cuddling with my two German shepherds, as well as reading fiction novels!
Emily Kimpston	Emily Kimpston is a senior at Iowa State University. She is studying statistics and is planning to go to graduate school after this year. She usually takes classes in statistics and mathematics. This summer Emily is working in childcare with third graders because she loves kids. She has enjoyed the various readings and assignments for this class because she finds it very interesting to learn about women in society.
Hado Min	Hado Min is a 3rd year student at Iowa State University. She is majoring in liberal studies. At first, her major was food science, but she changed into liberal studies because liberal studies has an advantage that student can learn various subjects at one time. She took liberal arts classes and science classes at the same time. She took art history class, biology, world food problem issues and so on. She would like to get a job related to translation after the graduation of university. Because liberal studies learn various subjects synthetically at one time, it can help a lot in translating various kinds of books. Her home country is Korea, so she might be usually working on translating English-Korean. Non-academically, she likes to listening to music or riding bike. Academically, she tries to read many books so it can help on her job career.
Mariah Calderon-Cody	Mariah Calderon-Cody is a student at Iowa State University and her current major is in desgine currently is choosing a minor in psychology. She had graduated high school September 9th 2009 at the age of 17 with learning disabilities. Mariah started off at a community college in Des Moines Iowa when she was 18 for about 2 years. Later on she contained her education on January 13, 2014 and stated going to Iowa State University. In July 16th. Throughout the school year Mariah Calderon had to struggle being pregnant, going to school and being in bad situations, but that did not stop her from her education. 2014 Mariah Calderon-Cody became a mother to Lliam Calderon that is currently one year old. March 25 2015 Mariah moved to North Carolina with her son and is still doing her education online and plans to graduate with in the next couple of years.
Alexis Jackson	Alexis Jackson is a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in sociology. She has taken classes in areas such as: psychology, sociology, and biology and would like to attend graduate school to pursue a Master's degree in sports psychology after graduation. She is also interested in reading classics, staying active by running, and volunteering.
Megan Rice	Megan Rice will soon be graduating from Iowa State University with her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and with a minor in management. Throughout her college career she has achieved a particular passion for women’s studies particularly gender equality in politics and would like to continue to volunteer for female candidates’ campaigns. Megan will be continuing as the communication and events coordinator for the Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce after graduation. She also plans to carry on her affinity for women’s politics as well as Iowa State University Sports after graduation.
Justin Schwebke	Justin Schwebke is a senior majoring in Agriculture and Society at Iowa State University. He has taken courses in areas such as: Agronomy, Design, and Political Science. He would like to work in Agricultural Communications or Public Relations after graduation. He is also interested in: backcountry hiking, camping, snowmobiling, and traveling.
Brianna Voigts	Brianna Voigts is a sophomore majoring in chemical engineering at Iowa State University.
Lucrecia Allen	Lucrecia A. Allen is currently a senior at Iowa State University, majoring in Liberal Studies. She has taken courses in women’s studies, business, and leadership. Lucrecia served her country in the United States Air Force for nine years. She is interested in public service and would like to serve her community further by attending the Northeast Texas Police Academy after graduation
Kimberely Arundale	Kimberly N. Arundale lived the first four years of her life in Federal Way, Washington, but has been raised in Marion, Iowa. There, she was exposed to her father’s work as an engineer and several engineering programs in her school, including Project Lead the Way. After interning for the same company her father works for - Rockwell Collins - and taking a year of general education courses at Kirkwood Community College, she began to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering at Iowa State University. Currently, she holds Junior status and has another co-op with Rockwell Collins to add to her tool belt. In addition to her engineering major, she is pursuing the Leadership Certificate at Iowa State. She actively participates in volunteer work with her church, including trips in the summer to New Orleans, where her church participates in rebuilding the community of the Ninth Ward. In the future, Kim plans on living and working overseas, then moving closer to family later in life. Other future goals include attaining a Master’s Degree, continuing missionary and volunteer work, and owning as many horses as she can afford.
Laura Jordan	Laura Jordan is a senior majoring in liberal studies at Iowa State University.
Jaypee Philbert	Jaypee Philbert is a junior majoring in pre-liberal studies at Iowa State University.
Victoria Ridout	Victoria Ridout is currently a senior in biochemistry at Iowa State University. She is enrolled in the combined BS/MS program and has an emphasis for pre-dental. In addition to her job as a student, she also works under Dr. Gustavo MacIntosh and studies the degradation of RNA located in the vacuoles of the model plant Arabidopsis Thaliana. Ever since she was young, she was fascinated by the mysteries of science. Victora’s high school offered a program that allowed her to take community college courses in accordance to her high school classes. She took a pre-nursing course where she cared for patients in both a nursing home and hospital. This course opened her eyes to the variety of healthcare professions and helped mold her choice to become a biochemistry student. Victoria hopes to finish her combined BS/MS program next fall and enter dental school the following fall semester afterwards.

Introduction

Throughout all time women have struggled to be recognized as equal citizens in the United States. They have had to fight for every single right they have gained, and yet they are still facing a big struggle today: the media. The media makes it very hard for women to learn from their mistakes because typically they are scrutinized for any mistake they make. In history, it took a lot of fighting for women to get the right to vote, and now it is taking just as much fighting for women to be taken seriously in the workplace, much less leadership roles due to the media. Though many think that the United States is ready for the change for a female to become President, it will not be an easy task for a woman to take on. Just like every woman has had to fight for equal rights in the past, they will have to continue fighting now and in the future.

The Film Industry

The film industry is a major media source in which men and women compete actively for success. This success relies on many factors, gender being the most important and then perhaps appearance and talent following close behind. Marshall Fine, author and film critic, of the Huffington Post claims in his article titled, “The Double-Standard for Movie Actresses” stated that women seem to “age out” of the spotlights for heroes in romantic comedies and dramas “by the time they’re in their early 40s – if not sooner ” (Fine). He continues on to explain that their male counterparts can continue their roles in these parts well into their lives because men are portrayed as sex icons all their life. Fine states that “if you’re in that 12 – 24-year-old demo, women in their 40s don’t look like sex objects – they look like mom.” His statement brings forth an all too familiar subject for women actresses: objectification.

Women must portray themselves as objects in order to secure a job, which then shows young generations that this is the key to success, and not the art of refining talents into greatness of its own. His statement also gives negative feedback to the “mom” look, discrediting motherhood and thus showing a major source of why women are pushed out of film opportunities. Through the Labyrinth, written by Alice Eagly and Linda Carli, answers the very important question: Do Family Responsibilities Hold Women Back? Eagly and Carli claim to answer “yes” to this question by stating that “women are currently responsible for the bulk of domestic work. This situation lessens women’s prospects for advancement through the labyrinth” (Eagly 49). The “Labyrinth” being the path towards success in a career, compared to the male path, which is described more as an escalator, or a quicker route to the top. Their work shows that women who rely only on themselves for domestic duties they tend to “suffer workplace disadvantage.” These disadvantages can include limiting advancements in positions that may “yield greater income and prestige” (Eagly 56).

Jennifer Garner speaks out in an interview for ABC News, after attending a “Women in Hollywood” event, about the struggle women face with domestic duties. She shows her confusion for the purpose of this event, wishing that it could just be a “People of Hollywood” event; “I mean, the men in Hollywood event is every day – it’s called Hollywood” (Fisher). Garner, a prominent actress, shows Hollywood remains a “boy’s club,” outlining that much work in order to achieve gender equality within the film industry needs to be done. Garner also explains that during interviews she most often receives the questions such as “How do you balance work and family?” whereas her husband Ben Affleck receives questions more geared towards female costars or questions about the film in general.

The most popular reason for women receiving limitations within the film industry appears to be the assumption that their responsibilities lie first with their children and then with their careers. The article “Camera Angels: Film is one of the most powerful tools, or weapons, we have to shape views and lives. As long as directors are mainly men, this will be a man’s world. Rachel Millward focuses on the exceptional women in a dangerously unbalanced culture”, by Rachel Millward, describes the outcomes of the festival called Birds Eye View, a “platform for women filmmakers” which gives fresh perspectives and points of view. Director Mike Figgis explains that “film permeates all culture…[it] has a huge influence on the way we behave (Millward).” Due to film seeming so influential in lives of people around the world, he encourages that the film industry be more open to accepting women directors, and to also encourage more women to break into the field to expand the abilities and influences of film. Unfortunately, one of the biggest factors that limit these women breaking into film seems to be the decision between career and family. Millward claims there will never be an equal split of women and men directors because women are made to chose between not having a child or leaving them for months at a time to be on set.

Women in the film industries constantly battle stereotypes of placing the family before their careers. Though this stereotype may ring true in statistics according to Eagly and Carli, it does seem to be a barrier for both actresses and other fields in film such as directors. Women must make the choice between children and family or advancement in their careers unless the Hollywood inner circles allow fresh opinions belonging to women. Along with these new perspectives, the assumption that women belong with their families over their careers needs to be relinquished and replaced with more views of gender equality.

Producers in the Media

As we have discussed, the media greatly affects how we view and categorize women. Our perception of what it means to be “feminine” comes from how we see females behave in our wide variety of media outlets. Portrayals of females and female leaders are especially stereotyped in movies. The interesting aspect of movie media though, is that only about 18% of movie producers are women (Sperling). This section will delve deeper into how and why women producers are making their way through the labyrinth. First, we will look at how women are achieving the top leadership position in the move industry.

The key to being a female producer is having help. In the article “The Difference “difference” Makes” Teveia Barnes discusses the need for women to have a “white, male champion”. This white, male champion is someone who has power in his field and is willing to help women reach leadership roles within an industry. Since white males dominate leadership positions in every field this idea applies to the movie industry as well. Female producers in today’s world all get to their producer position by having their very own white, male champions. For some of the women, their husbands are their biggest champions. Many of them are married to already-famous producers. Their husbands in turn champion for them to become their own producers and give them the support and networking needed to reach that position. Other forms of champions include other major film names that support women’s access to leadership positions. One example of this comes from the aforementioned article by Nicole Sperling, “Meet the Female Producers smashing Hollywood’s Glass Ceiling”. Sperling talks about female producer and president of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, being championed by her former boss Steven Spielberg. Spielberg is a great example of a white male that is powerful in his field and works hard to make women a part of that field. These champions also fit in with the idea of social capital, discussed in “Through the Labyrinth” by Eagly and Carli. Building up a name or a company by creating positive relationships with colleagues and such is called social capital. (Eagly and Carli) The act of socializing with their male champions is a very large part of these female producers growing business.

The other form of help that has allowed women to rise to the position of a producer is money. Several big-name female producers credit their success to having the financial resources to make it happen. Sperling gives the example of producer Megan Ellison, who used her inheritance money to self-finance movies that other studios wouldn’t.

Second, is the question, “Why do women want to be producers?” Producers have ultimate control over all of the aspects of a film. A large benefit to being a producer is that you don’t have to be hired. Producers do the hiring, therefore eliminating most of the gender prejudice in gaining their position. Producers make a lot of money, as well as receive respect from the media community. One of the most important aspects of women being producers though, is that they have the power to realistically represent female characters in their films, which can help break gender stereotypes that the general public sees. Although they may not have control over large portions of the script, they can control costumes, and the people working on the set. These women have the potential to represent women in a more realistic way, because they themselves know how women really do dress and behave.

Female producers are rising greatly in number and power. They are working on more movies than ever before. These women are finding the way through the labyrinth, and become successful leaders in the field of media. They are finding their way through the labyrinth by the help of their champions, some by their own personal-finance, and most importantly, their ability to do their job well.

Women News Anchors and Appearance of Women in Media

Women in the media have struggled to achieve the same respect and recognition as their male co-workers. Gender discrimination is still a very relevant topic that prevents many women in the media from reaching their potential. This issue can feed into the imposter syndrome for many of these women. It is no mystery that many women are also often paid less than their male colleagues. This is not because they are less talented than their male co-workers, but because they are imprisoned by stereotypes.

These stereotypes often come from viewers who call or write into the news stations to make compliments or criticisms of the female news anchors. These critiques are not about how they conduct interviews or of their delivery of the news, but rather about their appearance. Their male co-workers, however, receive praises and criticisms on their work performances and about the topics they raise.

Lisa Wilkinson is a news anchor for an Australian news station. She has spoken out at media lectures about the unfair expectations of women who are involved in the public life. Wilkinson said, “Today’s media landscape, particularly for women, is one now so focused on the glossy and the glamorous, it often eclipses and undermines everything else. When you’re a women doing breakfast TV, you quickly learn the sad truth that what you wear can sometimes generate a bigger reaction than even any political interview you ever do.” Her lecture is what inspired Karl Stefanovic to conduct his yearlong experiment.

Stefanovic is also a well-known news anchor in Australia, and colleague of Wilkinson, who wanted to make a point regarding this major gender inequality by conducting an experiment. He decided that he would wear the same blue suit for an entire year. He predicted that unlike his female co-workers, no one would notice. His prediction was validated. After a solid year of wearing the same blue suit, not one comment or complaint was made about it. Stefanovic announced to viewers of his experiment. He said, “I’m judged on my interviews, my appalling sense of humour- on how I do my job, basically. Whereas women are quite often judged on what they’re wearing or how their hair is. Women, they wear the wrong colour and they get pulled up.” Although there is a part of the population that is aware of this unfortunate phenomenon, there is still so many that are oblivious to it.

Women already face obstacles and gender discrimination that instill some form of doubt into their minds. Being judged on primarily their appearance and not their work performance does not help reinforce their confidence. Valerie Young wrote about the imposter syndrome. This is the idea that no matter how successful a woman may be, she feels inadequate and has self-doubt about her capability to run her position. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual circumstance. The imposter syndrome does not discriminate. It affects millions across all genders, races, and economic platforms (Young). Women, however, are more imprisoned by this affliction than men. Being judged solely on their appearance and not being recognized for their work accomplishments can acerbate women’s self-doubt. Another aspect that feeds into the imposter syndrome is that women are often paid less than men (Eagly & Carli, 2007). It is also not uncommon for men who are less qualified than their female colleagues to make more money and receive promotions. Some sociologists argue that many work environments are plagued by discrimination, and that there is cultural devaluing of women’s work performance (Eagly & Carli, 2007).

Due to cultural stigma, women in the media have an uphill battle. Not only do they face discrimination in the workplace, but also from their viewers. Rather than being valued for their work performance, they are judged mainly on their appearance. This type of criticism can feed into the imposter syndrome, and make them feel less than worthy for their job. Unfortunately, until society starts changing its way of thinking, it is unlikely that women in the media will gain the same respect and accolades as their male colleagues.

Live Broadcasting and the News – A Student Study

For this section, a survey was done on gender discrimination in current news released from national broadcasting channels. Around twenty news videos from national broadcasting channels were used such as ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News. The news videos in their home pages of the websites that have been released from July 1st to August 1st, 2015 were included in the survey. The videos were selected randomly to prevent bias. Three main points according to gender role were analyzed from the video broadcasts. These included the anchors and their roles, reporters and their roles, and interviewees and their roles. Overall, the survey shows there is still significant gender stereotyping in current news releases from national broadcasting channels.

First, the anchors of the broadcasts were analyzed. Out of twenty news videos, and out of twenty-seven anchors, nine were women anchors, and eighteen were men anchors. Men were represented two times more than women. CNN and ABC news were the ones which women or men anchor hosted the news individually, whereas Fox news and CNBC news were the ones which women and men anchored the news at the same time. In this case, men anchors played a more significant role than women anchors. From the news from CNBC, ‘Casually Fast: 4 trades in fast food’ which was broadcasted on 7/31/ 2015, the four men anchors explained the story, while the women appeared to just listens to them.

Secondly, the reporters of the broadcasts were considered. Out of seven reporters, four reporters were women and three reporters were men. Unlike the anchors or the interviewees, the ratio of men and women reporters was almost the same. Most of the women reported on life, culture, and some incident related news, whereas men reported on wars, political issues, or about stocks. For example, women reported on life related news, ‘Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York ‘ (Cnn, 7/30/2015), ‘This 19-Year-Old Will Spend the Next 25 Years as a Registered Sex Offender’ (ABC news, 7/30/2015) ‘Little Boy Gets a Double Hand Transplant’ (ABC news, 7/30/2015), incident such as ‘Delta Pilot Spots Drone Just Before Landing’ (ABC news, 7/31/2015). On the other hand, men reports on ‘U.S. GDP grows at annual rate of 2.3%’ (CNN, 7/30/2015), stock related issues such as ‘If China falls, buy this stock’ (CNBC, 7/30/2015) , ‘CEO: This is the crude oil bottom’ (CNBC, 7/30/2015).

Lastly, the genders of the interviewees and the people that were featured in the news were examined. Out of twenty interviewees, seven were women and thirteen were men. When men and women appeared together, men usually talked more than women. Women also tended to talk more about feelings and men described the situations and the facts surrounding them. From the CNN news, ‘Former Campus officer pleads not guilty in DuBose Death’, which was broadcasted on July 31st, there were three victims including two brothers and a sister. The two brothers discussed the crime and the facts surrounding it, while the woman talked about her sad feelings.

Conclusion

Through looking at various forms of content, it is evident that women are discriminated against in the media industry. This discrimination shows itself within each avenue of the media. Different statistics presented throughout the research for this chapter show women actively push against the boundaries set for them. The question now is: when will women have the opportunity to become equal to men?

References

Sinclair, Amanda. "Doing Leadership Differently: Gender, Power, and Sexuality in a Changing Business Culture." Victoria, Australia: Melbourne Print. 1998.

Fountaine, Susan, and Judy McGregor. "Reconstructing Gender for the 21st Century: News Media Framing of Political Women in New Zealand." Web. 6 Aug. 2015.

What is leadership?

According to Sinclair leadership is the product of emotional and unconscious needs (Sinclair). Early experiences help aspire people to become leaders. One must also have leadership traits and skills that are more often viewed as masculine qualities. I believe this is one of the many reasons why we see so few females in leadership. (OE)

Leadership should be about qualities and attributes, not gender. Today’s society has distorted the image of a leader. Society has molded the image of leadership to whoever can be the most powerful and influential through whatever means possible. (OE)

References

Sinclair, Amanda. "Doing Leadership Differently: Gender, Power, and Sexuality in a Changing Business Culture." Victoria, Australia: Melbourne Print. 1998.

Fountaine, Susan, and Judy McGregor. "Reconstructing Gender for the 21st Century: News Media Framing of Political Women in New Zealand." Web. 6 Aug. 2015.

Introduction

Throughout all time women have struggled to be recognized as equal citizens in the United States. They have had to fight for every single right they have gained, and yet they are still facing a big struggle today: the media. The media makes it very hard for women to learn from their mistakes because typically they are scrutinized for any mistake they make. In history, it took a lot of fighting for women to get the right to vote, and now it is taking just as much fighting for women to be taken seriously in the workplace, much less leadership roles due to the media. Though many think that the United States is ready for the change for a female to become President, it will not be an easy task for a woman to take on. Just like every woman has had to fight for equal rights in the past, they will have to continue fighting now and in the future.

Gender Stereotypes in the Media

Women have played a role in media creation for a long time, yet their representation in media is not proportional.

There is no bigger entity that shapes our ideals and beliefs than the media. The media is all around us at all times. People are constantly watching television, surfing the Internet, and reading magazines and newspapers. One major set of ideals that the media has been shaping for decades are on gender and its meaning. Women have been vastly underrepresented in the media. According to an article in the Huffington Post, the percentage of speaking female characters breaks down as follows, “28.3 percent of characters in family films, 30.8 percent of characters in children's shows, and 38.9 percent of characters on prime time television were women” (Bahadur, 2012).

With so few female characters being portrayed in the television and movies, the way that they are depicted becomes immensely important. Unfortunately, the media generally falls short in presenting strong and independent female characters. All too often, the women found on television and in movies are sexualized and portrayed as unintelligent. One example of this are the “Real Housewives” series on the network channel Bravo. The women featured on this show depict an abnormal type of woman. These women are continuously shown dressed to the 9’s. They undergo plastic surgery regularly. Any success they have achieved is accredited to the money they have attained through marriage. While these are qualities not found in most women, it is the ones seen on in the media all the time.

On the occasion that a woman is strong, opinionated, or educated, she is painted as unattractive or made to be a villain. The poster woman for this type of representation of strong females is Hillary Clinton. A quote from the book, Woman President: Confronting Postfeminist Political Culture by Kristina Horn Scheeler and Karrin Vasby Anderson perfectly sums up how the media represents Clinton. This quote is regarding the leadership role she took with healthcare reform when her husband was president. “Media commentary echoed…’If the wife comes through as being too strong and too intelligent it makes the husband look like a wimp’” (p. 11, Scheeler and Anderson). The media’s coverage and effect on women leaders will be covered further in depth later in the chapter.

Most adults’ idea of what a man should be and what a woman should be are developed. The people America should be most concerned about are children and teenagers. An in depth analysis of two popular children’s television shows, “Barney & Friends” and “Teletubbies” by Kimberly Powell and Lori Abels, dives into the depiction of gender roles and stereotypes being ingrained in preschool minds. In the “Teletubbies” there are real-life videos shown throughout the episode. The videos played show young boys and their fathers doing stereotypical male activities like playing basketball and building things, while mothers and daughters are shown doing their hair and washing dishes. These types of stereotypes are also displayed in “Barney & Friends.” In an episode titled, “Good Clean Fun,” the children featured in the show share their plans for the end of the day. One of the little girls is elated that her mother said she could help with dinner. The young boy on the other hand, will be working on a science project with his dad and asks the other boy on the show if he would help. These displays of stereotypes are dangerous. It instills in young girls that their interests should by in cooking and putting in effort to look attractive. It shows them that science is for boys.

As a country, we need to take a long, hard look at how we describe and portray women in the media. We need to hold those in charge of the media responsible for what they are printing in magazines and putting on television. Celebrating educated women, who are leaders instead of shaming them, is important in so many way. Namely, it will serve as a motivator not only to the women who are already strong and motivated, but to young girls as well. In order to make this country a better place for all, we need both young men and women studying sciences and entering politics. Changing the way the media depicts gender roles, will be a step in the right direction.

Effect of the Media on Female Leadership

An area of riddled progress for feminism is in the media. The media has tremendous influence on modern society and consequently that influence can be a mixture of positives and negatives which can have the effect of advancing women in leadership roles or holding them back. Media sexism leaves women with the unfortunate situation of not just having to choose how to respond but to also have to deal with the personal blow which could range from damaging their self-esteem to damaging their entire livelihood.

Mariam Al Mansouri

In September 2014, in televised FOX news program called “The Five” which airs at 5pm weeknights, co-hosts Greg Gutfeld and Eric Bolling responded to a news story about Maj. Mariam Al Mansouri who was the first female fighter pilot for the United Arab Emirates to fly bombing missions over ISIS operations in Syria. “Problem is, after she bombed it, she couldn’t park it” remarked Greg, “Would that be considered boob’s on the ground?” replied Eric. Eric, realizing he had made a mistake, issued an apology on The Five the next day: “I made a joke and when I got home, I got the look,” continuing to explain, “I said sorry to my wife and I apologize to you all and want to make that very clear.” So how does Maj. Mariam Al Mansouri take on the sexism? In an interview with Deraa Al Watan magazine in response to questions about competition with men she said “Everybody is required to have the same high level of combat competence,” and "[I] focused on competing with myself to improve skills”. She also added that "Competing with oneself is conducive to continued learning.” Her remarks reflected how she responds to sexism by disregarding it so that it would not impact her performance and image as an inspirational leader for women.

Monica Lewinsky

Monica Lewinsky

In October 2014 at the Forbes’ “30 under 30 Summit” in Philadelphia Monica Lewinsky broke over a decade of personal silence in a speech to young and aspiring entrepreneurs. Hers is perhaps one of the most famous examples of how the modern media can completely destroy a person’s reputation and livelihood. The 1998 breaking story of 22 year old White House intern Monica Lewinsky, who started an affair with married US President Bill Clinton in 1995 devastated her personally and publicly. She started off with a not so sincere thank you to several musicians namely “Beyonce and Eminem. And Nicki Minaj and Kid Cudi, Lil B and Lil Wayne, and of course G-eazy. But let’s not forget Jeezy, and all the rest.” for all of their rap lyrics which included her. She made remarks on how the media impacted her personally saying “It felt like a punch in the gut,” continuing to say, “For me, that was every day in 1998. There was a rotation of worsening name calling and descriptions of me. I would go online, read in a paper or see on TV people referring to me as: tramp, slut, whore, tart, bimbo, floozy, even spy.” Society’s modern 24 hour cable news network destroyed her life as she knew it, she said “The experience of shame and humiliation online is different than offline. There is no way to wrap your mind around where the humiliation ends — there are no borders.” and that a day “spent shouting: “Oh my god!” and “I can’t believe they put that in” or “That’s so out of context.” summed up “the only thoughts that interrupted a relentless mantra in my head: I want to die.” Her call to action was “I don’t know which came first: the coarsening of the culture or the worsening of behavior. Either way, what we need is a radical change in attitudes — on the internet, mobile platforms and in the society of which they are a part.” Monica is right and her strong speech provides a leadership message on why society needs to radically change its attitudes, and applies not only to individual members of society but also the media conglomerates that push all of their headlines out there 24 hours a day.

Ariana Grande

Not every women is completely destroyed by the media’s coverage and gossip, take pop music star Ariana Grande as an example. Ariana is regularly subjected to the media prodding over her relationship status and events that is typical of celebrity men and women, but when the media gossip crossed the line for her surrounding a recent break-up she posted a personal letter to her Twitter feed to elaborate how it really feels to be a single female celebrity. “I’m saying that after literally 8 years of feeling like I constantly had to have a boy by my side. After being on my own now for a few months I am realizing that’s just not the case….. I have never felt more present, grounded, and satisfied. I’ve never laughed harder or had more fun or enjoyed my life more.” she explained in her letter. She added “I want the people reading this to know that they are MORE THAN enough on their own. I want the media to please help me with this!!!!!!!! Please support each other.” She also talked about the double standard for men and women portrayed by the media, in which men are applauded for their romantic activities, while women are shamed. Ariana Grande is a great leadership example for other women to follow as she has turned to taking the media’s negativity and turning it into an opportunity to empower other women while exposing the false messages broadcast by the media.

Conclusion

Through looking at various forms of content, it is evident that women are discriminated against in the media industry. This discrimination shows itself within each avenue of the media. Different statistics presented throughout the research for this chapter show women actively push against the boundaries set for them. The question now is: when will women have the opportunity to become equal to men?

References

Sinclair, Amanda. "Doing Leadership Differently: Gender, Power, and Sexuality in a Changing Business Culture." Victoria, Australia: Melbourne Print. 1998.

Fountaine, Susan, and Judy McGregor. "Reconstructing Gender for the 21st Century: News Media Framing of Political Women in New Zealand." Web. 6 Aug. 2015.