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Christina Kutsch
Mrs. Liddell
H. English 12
November 4, 2005
Women and the Media
For many years women have been stereotyped in the media. A large percentage of television shows, movies, magazines, and billboards portray women as sexual bimbos or “dumb blondes”, regardless of their hair color. Although, as time goes on we have started to see the media begin to change, slowly allowing entertainment and advertising to exemplify women as strong and powerful. Some women have started to demand more respect to end such stereotypes, while other women flaunt what they have.
Oprah Winfrey broke the mold of the stereotypical woman and has established herself as a role model to females everywhere. Through her life she has experienced extremely difficult times, but continues to march on and stay strong. She established herself and created a talk show to help reach out and improve as many people’s lives as possible. Through the television Oprah was able to refute fallacies often associated with women and their behaviors. Moreover, Barbara Walters has also created a strong and independent name for women. As a daring journalist Barbara travels the world and breaks barriers that no man has ever crossed. She challenges herself to be the most innovative and cutting edge news reporter regardless of her sex.

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The music industry often treats women like meat, as if females are here solely to serve the needs of men. For example, in the music video Gold Digger by Kanye West, women are recognized as single mothers who take their ex-husband’s cash for selfish reasons. On top of that, they are dressed up in revealing clothing and dance on the men suggestively implying they are only good for one thing. Similarly, in David Banners song Play, women are again mentioned only for sexual reasons. The lyrics contain extremely offensive sexual content and could not be played on the radio without severe editing. In the song, Banner explains sexual acts that he wishes to force upon women without shame. The title of the track itself is unarguably explicit upon listening to the song. Typically in music the media displays women in a light, using them as sexual bait.
During WWII the media broke stereotypes in order to encourage women to get involved in the war efforts. They used posters encouraging women to help in factories such as the famous We Can Do It banner. The country was in need and was not room for the weak dainty housewife. Women stepped up, proving to the media and everyone else that they could do everything the man does. Unfortunately, after the war women were expected to go back to how things were, although this was unarguably a huge step in changing the way the media portrayed women.
While some women, such as Oprah and Barbara Walters, contradict stereotypes, others females, like actresses in suggestive music videos, encourage them. It appears as though the news media outlet tends to represent women in a more positive way, while the music industry reinforces stereotypical thinking. It became apparent with the examples of WWII that the media and society will do whatever it takes to get what they need from

Kutsch 3 women, without awarding them any respect. It is extremely unfortunate that females today are still treated this way despite all of their hard work and sacrifice. On the other hand, I am immensely thankful to the women who are standing proud and working for more equality among the sexes. To live in this country that treats women much better than other places around the world is a blessing, although we still have many improvements to make.