DavidSanders&JonPontecorvo

CriticalAnalysis#3

GlobalMediaLiteracy

TheGenderInequalityGapintheMedia

Intodayssociety,womensrepresentationwithinmediaissubstantiallydifferentin
comparisontomen;Womenareobjectified,judged,andtreatedasinadequatecounterpartsto
malesinafieldwhichtheycouldstriveifgiventhechance.Inthelasttwentyyears,the
representationofwomenthroughoutmediahasyettoshowanymajortransformation.The
inequalitygapnotonlyshowsapoorrepresentationofwomenandtheirabilities,butshows
thelackofgenderdiversitythroughoutimportantmediaroles.

AccordingtotheCensusBureau,womenaretheprimary,orsolebreadwinnerintwo
thirdsoffamiliesintheUnitedStatesandtheycontinuetoearnonaverage22%lessthantheir
malecounterpart.Alargepartofthegenderinequalitygapisduetothelackofjobsavailable
forwomeninthefieldofmedia.TheWomensMediaCenteraffirms,Asthe2016presidential
campaigntakesshape,WMCsoriginalresearchshowsthatin2014,menreported65percent
ofallU.S.politicalnewsstories.(Womens,2015).Thisleavesonly35percentofstories
availableforwomentopursueasitpertainstopoliticalissues.However,politicalnewsisntthe
onlyplacewherewomenarelosingjobstomen.Sportsbroadcasting,entertainmenttelevision,
andothersourcesofmediaaregivingwomentheshortendofthestickaswell.TIMEmagazine
states,Ofthe183sportstalkradiohostsonTalkersmagazinesHeavyHundred,onlytwo
werewomen.(Alter,2014).Thatleaveswomenwithonly.01percentofsportsbroadcasting
jobsinthecaseofHeavyHundred.Byhavingunequalrepresentationofmenandwomenin

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reporting,mediaisportrayingwomenasalessimportantcounterparttomen.

Whilereportersandbroadcastersserveasalargepartofmedia,womenarealso
representedthroughfilmandentertainment.Beingrepresentedthroughfilm,womenareoften
objectifiedandjudgedatfirstglance,ratherthangiventhechancetoshowtheirtruepotential.
AccordingtoTIMEmagazine,Womenhadfewerspeakingrolesinmoviesin2012thaninany
yearsince2007only28.4%ofspeakingrolesinthetop100filmswenttowomen.(Alter,
2014).Notonlyarewomenbeingdeprivedofroles,butwhentheyreluckyenoughtoreceive
theseroles,theyrebeingpaidsubstantiallylessthantheirmalecounterparts.NYFANews
states,TwotimeOscarwinnerHilarySwankalsorecentlymadeheadlineswithhercomments
regardingthepaygapinHollywood.AccordingtoSwank,Mymalecounterpartwillgetpaid10
timesmorethanme10times.Notdouble,but10timesforthesamejob.(NewYork,2014).
Thisinequalitygapprovestoleadtomoreissuesthanjustunfairrepresentation,andis
affectingwomenssalariesandoverallabilitytobesuccessfulwithinmedia.
Anotherprofessionrelatedtomediathatwomenareunfairlyrepresentedwithinis
onlinejournalism.Beingjustapersonbehindascreen,gendershouldntmatterwhenitcomes
toonlinereportingbecausethefactorofimageistakenaway.However,ithasbeenrecorded
thatOntheInternet,menwrote58percentofcontentatfouronlinenewssites.Thisproves
thatitisntjustimagethatisruiningwomenschancesofgettingjobs,butanissueofgender
diversitywithintheworkplaceasawhole.

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CriticalAnalysis#3

GlobalMediaLiteracy

Theinequalitygapinmediaspreadsoveravarietyofaspectsthataffectthelivesof
workingwomen.Overall,genderinequalityishinderingtheabilityforwomentosucceedin
todayssociety,andshouldbeconsideredamajorprioritywhenitcomestoimprovingthefield
ofmedia.Inordertoreducethisgap,mediarelatedjobseverywhereneedtofocusongender
diversityandequalityinordertocreateamorebalancedworkplace.
Thereareseveralwaystocombattheimbalanceofwomeninmedia.Inorderfor
womentofillmorejobsinmediathereneedstobeaconsciousefforttocreatemorejobsfor
womeninallfields.Onewaytoshrinkthegenderwagegapisbyraisingtheminimumwage.
Womenmakeupalargeportionoflowwageworkersandestimatesshowthatthedifferences
betweenmensandwomensoccupationscouldaccountforhalfofthegenderwagegap.
Raisingtheminimumwagewouldhelpwomenbettersupporttheirfamiliesandhelpthem
provideafoundationforwomentosucceedmoreinthelongterminsociety.Ifthefederal
minimumraisewasincreasedto$10.10anhouritwouldboostwagesfor15millionwomen
andcouldhelpclosethegenderwagegap.
SupportingfairschedulingpracticesisanotherwaytheUnitedStatescouldmake
progresstowardsclosingthegenderwagegap.Women,especiallywomenofcolor,aremore
likelytohaveproblemsdealingwithschedulingbecauseofchildcareandoftenaregivenlittle
noticewhichmakesitdifficultforthemtomaintainjobs.(Census,2000)VermontandSan
Franciscohavealreadyimplementedpoliciesthatprovidesfemaleworkerswitharightto
request,allowingthemtorequestgreaterflexibilitywithouthavingtheirjobinjeopardy.
(Glynn,2014)Implementingmorepoliciesthatcompensatewomenduringpregnancywould

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helpwomenkeeptheirjobsandhelpingwomenkeeptheirjobsisafundamentalpartofclosing
thegenderwagegap.
PaytransparencyisapolicythatcouldbeimplementedintheUnitedStatestonotonly
clearlydefinethegendergap,butbringawarenesstoitandpotentiallycloseit.Ifwomenare
notallowedtotalkabouthowmuchtheymakeandcannotfindouthowmuchtheirmale
counterpartmakeshowaretheysupposedtobeawareoftheirowncurrentfinancialstanding.
ThePaycheckFairnessActwouldreducepaysecrecy,providewomenwithbettertoolsto
addresspaydiscrimination,andmakeitharderforcompaniestopaymaleworkersmorethan
femaleworkers.(S.84,2013)
PassingPaidSickDaylegislationwouldassistwomenintheworkplaceforseveral
reasons.Inthecaseofchildrengettingsickitismostoftenthemotherthathastostayhome
andmissworktotakecareofthesickchild.Itisdisproportionatelyaffectingwomenmore
becausetheyhavetomissworkfortheirownhealthreasonswhilehavingtotakecareof
childrenwhileexpectingtobeatworkjustasoftenastheirmalecounterpart.Passingthistype
oflegislationwoulddiscouragecompaniesfromhiringmoremaleworkersandcreatemore
opportunitiesforfemalestosucceed.
Inordertocreateastrongerfemalepresenceinmedia,wehavetofirstaddressthe
femalepresencethroughouttheworkplaceasawhole.Ifwomenhaveastrongerfoundationin
societyitwillallowthemtoreachhigherpositionsofemploymentandcreatemoreeconomic
opportunityforwomenofthefuture.IftheUnitedStatescouldsuccessfullyimplementsomeof
thesepoliciesinordertobegintoclosethegenderwagegap,awidespreadchangeinthe

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socioeconomicstatusofwomenwouldallowfornewinnovationandnewgenerationsof
successfulwomen.

WorkCited:

Alter,C.(2014,February19).9DepressingFactsFromtheLatestWomeninMedia
Report.RetrievedDecember3,2015,from
http://time.com/8788/9depressingfactsfromthelatestwomeninmediareport/

NewYork,F.(2014).NYFAHeadlines.RetrievedDecember3,2015,from
https://www.nyfa.edu/nyfanews/hasfemaleequalityinhollywoodprogressedin2014.php#.
VmJblHhm1ug

Womens,M.(2015).WMCDivided2015:TheMediaGenderGap.RetrievedDecember
3,2015,from
http://www.womensmediacenter.com/pages/2015wmcdividedmediagendergap

TheChangingShapeoftheNation'sIncomeDistribution,1947...(n.d.).Retrieved
December5,2015,from
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/publications/p60204/index.html

Glynn,S.(n.d.).7ActionsthatCouldShrinktheGenderWageGap.RetrievedDecember
5,2015,from
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/report/2014/09/18/97421/7actionsthatc
ouldshrinkthegenderwagegap/
S.84113thCongress(20132014):PaycheckFairnessAct.(n.d.).RetrievedDecember5,
2015,fromhttps://www.congress.gov/bill/113thcongress/senatebill/84