The Society and its Elements
The society is shaped by numerous elements. The first is nature, which is in charge of social issues that are related to the natural world. The second is human activity in what is known as reality construction or social construction. In this instance, human actions have an impact on the entire society by bringing up an idea that the society already accepts as real. A human invention that has changed society, particularly how women are viewed, is the television. In this way, the television has contributed to the process of resocialization. It is within this context that the paper gives a detailed exposition on how the television’s portrayal of women affects how the society perceives them.
Research
The society is a wide scope. Collecting data on this topic requires a strategic approach. It requires that data be collected from various sources. The first approach is interviewing male friends. The male gender can give information on this topic from an outsider’s point of view. Being my friends, they will be more honest and open in their response. Interviewing them will involve asking them how they feel about how women are portrayed on television. They will then give their response on how this has affected how they view women in the society.The second approach includes interviewing female friends. This interview has various perspectives since they are the primary subject of the research. Interviewing then will involve inquiring on what their view is regarding how women are portrayed on television. It will also include asking them how it has affected how they view women in the society. Lastly, it will involve getting information on their personal experiences as the subject of this research in relation to how they feel they are perceived by others as well as how they view themselves.The third method of collecting data includes analyzing social media within the topic’s context. Social media is a platform whereby people are known to express themselves freely. Hiding behind digital gadgets enables people to give their true opinions on various issues. Analyzing this platform will provide information on people’s reactions to how women are portrayed on television and how it has affected how they perceive women.Finally, the research will involve reviewing and analyzing previously done scholarly works relevant to this topic. The scholarly works will provide vital information, especially statistics that can be used in this research. It will also provide an overview of the areas not focused on by previous research so as to incorporate them in this study. Scholarly works also give advice on how to go about future research on the same to obtain better results.
Findings and Analysis
From the research, it is evident that the television greatly portrays women as sexual objects. As noted by Galdi, Silvia, Anne, and Mara (7), the television mainly focuses on the femininity of women instead of focusing on them as human beings. This aspect has affected how women are seen in the society. Men react to sight. Therefore, they have greatly been affected by this aspect which has made them view women as sexual objects instead of their fellow human beings of another gender. Men have become victims of the social construction of reality. The television has given them the impression that women are nothing more than sexual objects.Women’s portrayal on television has also brought about the aspect of standardization. This refers to a condition whereby the society has developed a standard of how women are supposed to be both in looks and character. The television has portrayed an ideal woman as a tall, thin, curvaceous and well-dressed lady (Perse, Elizabeth, and Jennifer, 12). It has also portrayed her as a submissive being. The effect of this is that it is what the society now uses to judge a woman. This has put a lot of pressure on women who have grown to believe in this aspect. As such, they spend a lot of time and energy trying to meet these specifications.The television has portrayed women characters as more passive than their male counterparts. The impact of this analogy has mainly been felt in the handling of duties within the society. Women have been looked down upon, and there has been a great assumption that there is a wide range of tasks they cannot handle since they are not as active as men. Despite the numerous efforts by gender equality activists on work, duties, and tasks, the television has significantly derailed their efforts. The television has created a social structure whereby women are perceived as passive beings (Perse, Elizabeth, and Jennifer, 16). This perception has been taken up by employers and the women themselves. It has limited their self-confidence.Moreover, the television has created an illusion that women in power face numerous challenges. This is because they have a difficult time trying to fit into previously male-dominated fields and roles. As portrayed by the television, the challenge also arises as they try to balance between their work duties and family roles. This has affected how the society feels about women being given roles that were previously male-dominated. Some feel that she will not be able to handle it, and there are those who discourage her. The woman herself might also have the same idea based on what she normally sees on television. These two aspects put a lot of pressure on the woman who might end up not coping with the newly assigned role. This aspect also deters women from coming out to take up various authoritarian roles in fear of facing the challenge they see such women face on television (Perse, Elizabeth, and Jennifer, 21).In addition, the television has greatly linked women’s sexuality to advertisement. On television advertisements, women’s sexuality has greatly been used to capture the attention of viewers. In these advertisements, women dress up in a manner that portrays their femininity. This aspect has been taken up by a greater part of the society. Within the society, people have grown to believe that women’s sexuality is among the greatest tools of advertisement and marketing (Galdi, Silvia, Anne, and Mara, 17). As such, women and their sexuality are used when printing posters to attract attention. Also, in restaurants, beauty shops, malls, and other social places, women use their sexuality to attract customers by dressing in a manner that portrays their femininity.Further, the television has affected how women are seen in the society through the roles given to them. In many television films, female characters get to play secondary roles. They hardly get to play the primary roles central to the plot. In the case that they get central roles, their number is usually lesser compared to men. As such, the society has grown to develop the view that women cannot handle the events that transpire in television films if they were to occur in real life. The same case also occurs in advertisements whereby women are given less serious advertisements such as advertising beauty and home products.However, there are those who claim that the television not only portrays women in a negative way and that there is a positive side to it. The common and prominent example given in this case is how it has portrayed women as a symbol of leadership (Perse, Elizabeth, and Jennifer, 28). There are women in power, and the television has given them wide coverage. Examples include the first ladies that have held office as well as female members of Congress. By portraying the great leadership of these women, the television has contributed to informing the society that women can make great leaders. This has altered how the society views women while giving them the motivation to come out and take up leadership roles.
Conclusion
The television has contributed to resocialization as well as the social construction of reality based on how it portrays women. It has done this by altering the social structure of how women are perceived in society. The data collected in this research show that the way women are portrayed on television has brought about numerous negative effects on how they are seen in society. The aspect of women being portrayed as sexual objects has made them be perceived the same within society. This has gone to the extent of their sexuality being used within society as a marketing tool. The standardization of the ideal woman by the television has made the society focus on how a woman should look and behave as per television's expectations, instead of focusing on what value she adds to society. Moreover, the television has portrayed women as incapable of performing various duties in society. This has limited women's self-confidence as well as the society's confidence in them. On the other hand, television has portrayed the great leadership skills in women by focusing on successful female leaders. However, an analysis of the entire concept shows that the cons outweigh the pros within this context.
Work Cited
Galdi, Silvia, Anne Maass, and Mara Cadinu. “Objectifying media: Their effect on gender role norms and sexual harassment of women.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 38.3 (2014): 398-413.
Perse, Elizabeth M., and Jennifer Lambe. Media effects and society. Routledge, 2016.
