Effects on youth

Stereotypes
The media is generally regarded as playing an important role in defining prevailing social
norms concerning sexual harassment, especially television, which is "widely accessible and
intentionally appealing and engaging, [making] massive use of stereotypical messages that the
majority of the people can easily understand". [36] Media affects behaviors and is "of prime
importance for adolescents' general ideas of romance, sex, and relationships". [85] Thus,
objectifying media has important social consequences, among which is greater acceptance of
stereotypical attitudes. Studies have found that exposure to objectifying media can be linked to
increased probability of male viewers engaging in sexual harassment, abuse, or acts of violence
against women.[36]
In the U.S., for example, exposure to TV has been associated with "more stereotypical sexual
attitudes [like the idea that men are sex-driven and the notion that women are sexual objects]
and evaluation styles". Also popular is the idea that appearance or sexiness is essential for men
and women.[85] Additionally, pop music and music videos have been shown to increase
stereotypical gender schemas, and promote the ideas that gender relationships are adversarial
and that appearance is fundamental.[85]
The stereotyped portrayals of men and women have been argued to be valued and internalized
by younger viewers, especially during puberty and the construction of their sexual identity. [86]

Advertising/Television
Gender-related content has been portrayed in stereotypical ways in advertising, commercials on
multiple platforms, and in Television shows. Most of the gender-related content in these different
platforms of media are examples of the roles of females and males that are geared mostly
towards children. A study was done on the content of children television shows.  Looking at the
four main emotions (happiness, sadness, anger and fear), it was concluded that males portrayed
more than females.[87]  The maturer the show got, the less females are seen, while males are
shown to "manly" and aggressive.[88] Young people and adolescents are the main targets for
different advertisements due to their buying power for a variety of products. [89][non-primary source
needed]
 According to Aysen Bakir and Kay Palan, associate professors of marketing, researchers
have conducted a study with eight-and nine-year-old children about the perception children have
towards advertisements with gender-related content. The researchers express that the issue of
stereotypical gender roles in these platforms of media leads to closed minded effects on youth. [90]
[non-primary source needed]
 The experimental design examined children and researched ways to combat the
closed mindedness as well as the concept of gender flexibility.[90] The concept is the degree to
which an individual is able to be open minded about stereotypes and understand Gender roles.[90]
[non-primary source needed]
 Male as well as female roles in advertisements are viewed differently in clarity and
value.[91] At a very young age, children are susceptible by Environmental factors like media,
strangers, parents, and much more. A study by Ruble, Balaban, and Cooper, researchers
examining gender development, expressed gender stereotypes in media and observed that
children younger than four years old are likely to choose gender-typed toys if they have seen
them on television being used by the same-sex models. [90][non-primary source needed] This explains the factor
of children becoming closed minded, researchers explain [example needed], at a very young age due to
how certain genders are portrayed in media and television [citation needed].

Female Roles
The gender-related content in advertising in the past as well as today portray females with
certain labels. The roles that women play in advertising, such as in television commercials or
Magazines, shows them as delicate characters who tend to act very innocent. [according to whom?] The
commercials prominent on television today show females struggling with some issue or problem.
Not only is this example of female roles portrayed in advertising, but also media content online
under-represent women very often; women are put in traditional roles in advertisements and
television.[92] On platforms aside from television, like on radio or Podcasts, women have quiet and
calm voices. They are seen as shy and gentle, which makes youth stereotype as well as
categorize them in a negative way.[92] In a content analysis in 1970 by Courtney and Lockeretz,
researchers who study women roles, it was suggested that there are four very common
stereotypes that women are seen under:[93]
1) A woman's only place is in her home.
2) Women have no ability to make their own decisions or important ones.
3) A man must always protect women as they are dependent on them.
4) Men only see women as housewives and as sexual objects.[93]

Film Genres
Gender stereotyping is based on who is considered to be the target audience for a given film and
is considered to be a prominent issue in the United States. [citation needed] It is believed[by whom?] that
romantic movies and or shows are more directed towards and intrigue more females than they
do males. Due to the reputation that is upheld in romantic films, males feel that they are unable
to enjoy or watch films in this genre, forming this stereotype. It is also believed [by whom?] that these
gender expectations in movie genres are developed at a young age as both girls and boys direct
their interests towards different film categories.[94] Researchers Oliver and Green displayed a
preview of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well as Beauty and the Beast to a group of both girls
and boys. The researchers asked the children whether the movies previewed would be more
appealing to girls or boys and the majority response was that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was
more directed towards boys due to the violence in the film. While boys are more intrigued by
action movies, girls tend to enjoy a film that is more feminine and contains a female protagonist.
[94]
 In addition, targeting a specific gender through different genres and displaying that particular
sex's desires helps to intrigue that targeted audience even further. The protagonist also helps
determine the viewers of the movie. Different genres attract different audiences. Therefore, the
intended audience is more likely to watch the movie if the protagonist is relatable or easy to
identify with.[95][better  source  needed] In addition, another study was conducted that looked at men and
women's preferences in regard to 17 different movie genres. The participants within the study
determined whether the genre presented was more directed towards male or females. The
researchers were able to determine from their study that animation, comedy, drama, and
romance were genres that interested females. While action, adventure, fantasy, history, horror,
thriller etc. movies were considered to be more liked by males. [96][non-primary source needed]

Body image
There are many studies that aim to prove that sexual objectification is the root cause of body
image issues. One 1995 study intended to prove that sexual advertising contributes to body
dissatisfaction.[97] One hundred and thirty nine women were involved. They were split into two
groups: The first group where the women watched an advert that showed attractive women. The
second part where they showed adverts that were non-appearance related. The results showed
the group of women that watched the appearance related advertisement experienced feelings of
depression and body dissatisfaction.
Relationships between media exposure and personal concepts of body image have also been
increasingly explored. Psychology Today conducted a survey and observed that "of 3,452
women who responded to this survey, 23% indicated that movie or television celebrities
influenced their body image when they were young, and 22% endorsed the influence of fashion
magazine models".[98]
Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors have increased in the UK, Australia, and
the US due to a "perceived environmental pressure to conform to a culturally-defined body and
beauty ideal" which is promoted mainly by the media. [99] This ideal of unrealistic and artificial
female beauty is "impossible for the majority of females to achieve". [100]
A study conducted in 2015 by the Department of Communication at University of Missouri tested
the potential impact of gendered depictions of women in the superhero movie genre on female
undergraduates.[101] The study concluded that the exposure to sexualized and objectified images
of women in superhero movies resulted in lower body esteem, increased priority for body
competence and altered views on gender roles.
Factors involved in the composition of self-image include the emotional, physical, and reasoning
aspects of a person, and these aspects affect one another. [102] One of the main contributors to
negative body image is the fact that forms of media like commercials and magazines promotes
the "thin ideal".[102] From seeing images of women with extremely thin bodies, some people have
an increase of negative emotions, and these individuals tend to take actions like dieting to help
relieve the undesirable feelings about their body image. [102] This act of dieting could lead to
dangerous behaviors such as eating disorders if the negative perceptions about one's body
image does not improve.[102] Considering that an average North American will watch about 35,000
commercials a year, it is to be expected that commercials presenting images of skinny and
gorgeous women will have a bigger impact on increasing negative body image, than ads in
magazines.[102] The author of "Influence of Appearance-Related TV Commercials on Body Image
State", Tanja Legenbauer, conducted a study to demonstrate that images presented in
commercials can lead to harmful effects in those that watch them.  Her study included
participants who looked at different silhouettes of differently shaped women, and their response
to these images was reviewed. These participants included those with and without eating
disorders, and usually those participants with eating disorders reacted more negatively to the
images presented to them in the study.[102]
One explanation for why TV shows could negatively affect body image is the idea of the "third"
person. The "third" person idea explains that women can start to develop negative body image
because they are constantly seeing images of thin and beautiful women on TV. [103] From seeing
these images, they realize that men are seeing these same women and thinking that those
images are the standards for a perfect or ideal woman. [103] Body image can be defined as the
perception of how one sees themselves and whether or not they are happy with what they are
seeing. This image of oneself can be positively or negatively affected by the opinions of those
that matter to the person.[103] When a woman thinks about the "third person", the gender and
relationship of the "third person" to the woman can change the amount of impact their opinion
has on the woman.[103] So, an example would be if a woman knows that her boyfriend is seeing
these images of lean and beautiful women, her boyfriend's opinion can more negatively affect
how she sees herself and her body than if she thinks about a female stranger seeing the same
images.
Eating disorders are presumed to mainly affect teenage girls, but they are starting to become
more common in middle aged women. When women want to work on bettering their health or
when they want to get into shape, they often look to fitness or health magazines. [104] One problem
with women looking towards health magazines for help is that these magazines are often filled
with images of women who are in their 40s and 50s, but are very lean and beautiful. [104] To
establish that these health magazines are having a negative impact on body image in the
readers of the magazines, Laura E. Willis, the author of "Weighing Women Down: Messages on
Weight Loss and Body Shaping in Editorial Content in Popular Women's Health", conducted a
study. She looked at issues of five different health and fitness magazines, and realized that these
magazines tend to focus more on appearance rather than health, and focused on reducing
caloric intake rather than exercise.[104] The messages presented in these magazines can cause a
negative perception of oneself, and instead of motivating people to better themselves, they have
the ability to make the reader feel bad about their body. [104]
Social media
With the rise in popularity of social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,
and Snapchat, new standards of beauty have emerged in the relationship between media and
gender. This can create a false image of how individuals, particularly young children, should look.
Young people are more likely to purchase products endorsed by social media personalities such
as Instagram models in hopes of getting that model's body type when in reality the figures are
likely attained through plastic surgery.[105] This look has also lead to a 115% increase in the
number of plastic surgeries since 2000. [106][107]
The dichotomy between media and gender is also apparent on social media when it comes to
political issues. A study into Twitter has shown that women tweet more aggressively than men
during electoral voting periods.[108] This difference in gender behaviour can be viewed as a
positive in feminist movements for change, such as that in the referendum to appeal Ireland's
eighth amendment. In this case, gender issues were brought to the forefront of social media as a
way to transgress politics and push traditionally private female issues into the public. [109] With
feminist grassroots organisations, such as TogetherForYes, using social media as their primary
tool to communicate about abortion laws, the referendum result is viewed as victory for feminist
tweeters and a positive outcome of utilising gender effectively on social media. [110]