Women Studies/Society’s Influence

Society’s Influence

Females are under a lot of criticism from society, to look perfectly presentable, be seen but not heard, and “go with the flow”. An article on political women and media coverage of the women in New Zealand stated that in 2000 women comprised eighteen percent of news subjects (Fountaine & McGregor). What does this say about the news media? Does the news really not have anything else to cover besides women’s looks? (OE)

Fountaine and McGregor discussed framing theory and gender, which discusses how one can “frame” what they want covered in the media. One could think of framing theory as keeping secrets, you expose what you want people to see and know but keep other things hidden. For example, politicians, especially female politicians. The media criticizes them based on their appearance rather than what they have to say. This is an example of how the media is framing society to judge the female politicians by their looks instead of their beliefs and what they have to say. (OE)