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Madison Suhre
Mr. Frawley
English 103
6 October 2014
Women and the Media
When watching a TV show, its pretty typical to see a female character portrayed as
gossipy or shown talking about a boy to another female; its almost expected. In media this
picture is shown as no big deal. In todays entertainment age, TV drama especially, women have
been portrayed and stereotyped as gossipy, man crazy, and are used to bring up a males
character. There are many examples in the media on how this being done. While this is still a
problem, there are some ways that this beginning to change in television.
In TV when a woman is shown, her character typically brings up a males character. One
way this has been done on a TV drama today is on Showtimes Masters of Sex. One female
character, named Libby, was once portrayed as a sympathetic and genuine person in the first
season of the show. These feelings complicated how an audience viewed her husbands affair
with the main female character (Zuckerman). By making Libby cold and unlikable feels
ultimately unfair, and allows the audience to do away with some of the moral queasiness
associated with rooting for infidelity (Zuckerman). The way that this character is being
portrayed is bringing up the males character, her husband, and has the audience rooting for him,
while he does terrible things to her character, like cheating. Doing this to a positive female
character with depth cheapens her character.

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Also in television shows and

movies women are shown to be
gossiping about one another. This
happens in so many shows and
media that there are too many to
write down and keep track of. In the
Figure 1: Quote from the movie Mean Girls, relating to how
women talk to each other.

movie, Mean Girls, many of the

female characters gossip and call each other names. This is a very big stereotype of women. A lot
of people think that all women do is talk about other women behind their backs. This is a
negative stereotype that accompanies all women. It is really shown in the movie, Mean Girls.
Figure 1 features a quote that is said in the movie. This shows how girls can say things about one
another, but it also brings up another issue: how others, particularly men, view women. If women
themselves talk to each other in a disrespectful way, how does this stop men and others from
doing so? This will just further perpetuate that women are below men. If we dont stop this, how
are we going to change others from looking at women in this way? This character is
acknowledging the issue by bringing up this question and that is the first step to ending it.
Being called names is not just done by female characters to one another, but also by men.
Some negative portrayals, as pointed out in A Culture of Fear, by Barry Glassner are done in
movies. Glassner points out that, in a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger, True Lies, every
major female character is called a bitch (124). This was described by Bob Dole as a
wholesome, friendly to the family fare (124). If this is what is considered family fare, then
we are basically teaching children that it is okay to call women these words. It does not set a
good example. Also in this movie, Glassner observes that Arnold Schwarzeneggers characters

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wife strips, and he puts her through hell when he thinks she might be cheating on him. In one
gratuitous scene she is humiliated and tortured for twenty minutes of screen time (124). This
scene shows how women are being portrayed in movies. It shows that women are at the mercy of
men. This is not a good portrayal of women. The scene is described as gratuitous (124). Why
did the scene need that much violence and humiliation? Maybe it was to scare women. This
violence against women is not just in movies, but in music as well. The song, Down By the
River, portrays, amiable Neil Young sing[ing] of shooting his baby (Glassner 124). This is
also shown in the Beatles song, Run for Your Life, where a woman is stalked and threatened
with death if she is caught with another man (Glassner 124-125).
There are also double standards with the way women are shown on television. On shows
like Game of Thrones, there is a lot of nudity featured on the show. On this show in particular,
TV critic Tim Molloy said, I feel like Im walking into a trap where you say no one complains
about the nudity on Game of Thrones, but I get why theyre doing it. Theyre doing it to be
salacious. To titillate people. And your character is often naked at random times for no reason
(Gibson). The last sentence was a remark directed to the creator and star of the HBO show, Girls,
Lena Dunham. While she is nude on the show sometimes, the nudity does have a reason. While it
may not be to titillate the viewers, sometimes it is meant to be humorous for them. Other times it
is to show off an intimacy between characters on the show, whether it be between her friends or
significant other (Gibson). For anyone who thinks that female nudity should solely be about
titillation and are subsequently confused or even angry when thats not the case has a
disturbing view of womens place onscreen (Gibson). This last sentence illustrates how some
female portrayal and stereotypes come across.

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There is a test that is used by some to rate movies, called the Bechdel Test. For a movie to
pass this test, it must have three things: 1. There must be at least two named female characters,
who2. Talk to each other about3. Something other than a man (Kesler). Most movies do
not pass the Bechdel Test. While all women in real life talk to one another without discussing
men all the time, most movies do not think this happens. Jennifer Kesler was told audiences
would not listen to a bunch of women talking about whatever it is women talk about. The
audiences want the typical white male as the major character in movies (Kesler). This is
happening in movies today and probably always will.
While everything before this was about the negative stereotypes and portrayals women
have today in TV and movies, there have been
some positive and strong women represented
on the screen as well. In a study, participants
were asked to watch shows like The Tudors,
which featured sexually violent scenes with
Figure 2: A picture of the strong women that are
mentioned in a study.

negative depictions of female characters.

Others were asked to watch the shows Law and Order: SVU and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While
these shows illustrated sexual violence, they did feature positive female role models
(Abrams). The characters that are in these shows, and what the audience saw as strong female
characters, are shown in figure 2. The study found that the depiction of womenappeared to
influence audiences emotional reactions and attitudes toward women. The men who took part
in the study responded more positively to shows with powerful women (Abrams). This study
shows that there can and should be a change in how women are viewed and stereotyped within
the media; these characters just help and show how it can be done.

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While these stereotypes and portrayals were created in Hollywood (mostly by men) there
are strides being made by females in the industry. One notable show that has already been
mentioned earlier is the HBO show, Girls. The creator of the show, Lena Dunham, has been
putting realistic depictions of women on screen since the show started. The four women on the
show do not sit around and discuss their romantic partners all day; they actually have
conversations revolving around other topics, like friendships and school. The conversations are
just like the conversations women have with their friends, which makes the show relatable. As
Kimberl Williams Crenshaw said, Black women should not have to tolerate misogyny
(Glassner 123). While she was referring to rap, this should be the same in all forms of media and
with all women. The women who are making shows like Lena Dunham are doing this with the
material they are putting out every day.
So while there are still negative stereotypes and representations of women in the media,
there are small steps and measures being taken so that one day we no longer have a discussion
about it. These steps include the Bechdel Test and having strong, positive female characters
represented in TV and movies. With more women getting into the entertainment industry,
hopefully we will start to see more characters being showcased in a positive way.

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Works Cited
Abrams, Lindsay. Study: We Benefit from Seeing Strong Women on TV. The Atlantic. The
Atlantic, 31 Aug. 2012. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

Dubato, Nicole. Mean Girls. Thats All She Quotes. WordPress, 23 Feb. 2013. Web. 29 Sept.
2014

Gibson, Megan. Girls and Nudity: Why Naked Women Dont Have To Be Titillating. Time.
Time, 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 29 Sept. 2014

Glassner, Barry. The Culture of Fear. New York: Basic Books. 2009. Print.
Kesler, Jennifer. Why film schools teach screenwriters not to pass the Bechdel Test. The
Hathor Legacy. 30 June 2008. Web. 19 Sept. 2014

Zuckerman, Esther. The Other Woman of Masters of Sex: Libby Masters. The Wire. The
Atlantic, 4 Aug. 2014. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.