Modern media’s influence on gender roles and

internalised misogyny

By Sanjeevani Subba

There is no doubt that the media plays an essential role in how we

form our opinions and the way we perceive ourselves. We generally adopt
the personalities of our favourite characters, and the ideologies coerced by
them. However, the influence of media on society and its cultural framework
has forever been embedded into our minds, and what is shown can often be
misleading. The media does have an impact, but it does so in a variety of
ways. The casual patriarchy, the flawed portrayal of women relationships
and the capitalistic motives in hurting young personalities can be
uncomfortable and disturbing.
 It can heavily impact an audience's attitude, beliefs, or interpretations
of society. An example of this is the way society chooses to condemn young
girls from exploring their identities. There is a growing pattern of how,
specifically, the likes and preferences of young-teenage girls are labelled to
be of poor taste, and used as a running joke for the lack of personality. This
is generally because the media considers women to have less cultural
capital, and eventually, all our likes and preferences seem superficial and
unsatisfactory. However, boys typically have more cultural capital; which is
why things stereotypically marketed towards men; like sports, action movies,
video games, and so on, are deemed to be cool. Not only are their interests
given greater preference, but often indulged in.
This trend of discoursing choices remains prevalent to date. The
content that is to be consumed by teenage girls is still made a mockery of.
Even if it is a small ten seconds dance, a rom-com movie they like, a pop
boy band they enjoy listening to, or their interest in makeup and fashion. This
is also very telling of the toxic masculinity engraved in our society which has
limited men from liking only a specific amount of things, and how they are
not allowed to enjoy feminine things without questioning their sexuality. This
causes them to assert their masculinity by actively scrutinizing people who
prefer these choices, just to not be associated with them.
The media also plays a huge role in influencing women to try to be
more unconventional and define gender roles or specific fantasies they must
meet. They often instigate internalised misogyny, where women are pitted
against each other because they are taught there is no other option. This
hatred is spewed by movies that formulate two-dimensional characters which
are written by men for their fantasy play. However, the major problem in
portraying these women is that the feminine (or 'girly') character is always
reliant on her being materialistic, putting attention into her looks and is,
supposedly, a terrible person for being in touch with her feelings. This
ingrown idea is adjusted amongst women, that we need to compete with
ourselves, or we need to strive to be less like 'other girls', and this puts us in
danger of toxic comparisons.
Furthermore, this internalised misogyny takes an amplified form in
Bollywood movies and shows. There are more apparent lines drawn for the
picture of what a woman is supposed to be; and what her purpose is; to give
and care for her family. While that in itself is not a bad thing, the putting down
of career-driven women who comprise other goals, is critically looked down
upon. Several shows are running on TVs that identify the coy and shy woman
as the ideal daughter-in-law, the perfect wife and the righteous protagonist.
Whereas the working woman is always loud, cunning and tries to steal
husbands, devising a wretched way of how we perceive them. As if ambition
is their biggest flaw.
Womanhood should focus more on how comfortable we are in our skin,
and how we can express ourselves with authenticity, and accept other
women who do so. As a part of a patriarchal society, we already have less
freedom to explore who we are, and once we do, we are categorized, and
then criticised. The media needs to capture flourishing women's relationships
and stop defining the socially acceptable ways in which we can express
ourselves.