The document discusses representations of women in media. It notes that women are often portrayed negatively or in limited roles. Historically, media showed women primarily in domestic or sexualized roles. While some progress has been made, such as with feminist TV shows in the 1970s, stereotypical portrayals still persist today. The media industry also shows gender inequality, with men more likely to hold high-paying jobs. Laws have attempted to address discrimination and promote fairness, but imbalanced treatment of women remains an issue in need of further change.

1. Ethical Issues In The Media
Industry
How women are represented in the
media

2. There are many different women who get criticised
and represented in negative ways in the media.
Examples of the different women are models,
celebrities and women who work in the media
industry. You can see the way they are represented
through various types of media. For example,
newspapers, the internet and on television. These
media sources show how women are seen in the
public eye. This was seen in the past but it more
recognised in the present period of time. The reason
for this is because there is more ways of being able to
expression an opinion and point of view due to how
many media devices there is in modern day.

3. Throughout the media women are represented and seen in different ways and roles. One
of these examples will be how women are seen in the household and families. The media
shows them off to be mostly linked to domestic roles where as men in the media are
shown are the dominate person in any relationship or situation. Even though men are most
likely to be seen as the stronger gender recently femininity has been associated with a
stronger, more independent and confident women. An example of this would be that there
are television shows that are more positive toward women, and progress has been made.
The 1970s especially saw more feminist oriented programming. However, the 1980s saw
an immense drop in such shows. In this generation now it seems that for all the progress
made, some images still persist. These images are women being the main selling point of
a magazine or newspaper by being seen to males as a ‘sex object’. As the feminist
movement gained some popularity in the 1970s, shows that focused on women increased.
Charlie's Angels showed women who were tough, effective crime fighters. In addition to
this, they were dressed to accommodate the male gaze. This shows that even back then
women were used as a ‘sex object’ to sell a media product to the male audience. The
physical representation of women on the news isn't as alarming as their lack of
representation in the news. As far as coverage of women and their issues goes, women
are rather invisible. Even in this generation women are hardly ever front page news unless
they are being sexually exploited. You will also see very few women with high jobs
throughout the media as they are still seen as the weaker gender in society. Because the
media is so influential, it is important to look at the representations that it gives to society.
While there is debate on exactly how influential the media is, there is little doubt that the
media is an agent for socialization. There are social dangers that result from the images
that exist and these images need to be changed.

4. Equal Opportunity Act 2010 - The objective of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 is to
encourage the identification and elimination of discrimination, sexual harassment and
victimisation and their causes. Also to promote and facilitate the progressive realisation of
equality. This law can be seen in the media by how males gain a higher end job in this
industry compared to women who are hardly seen to succeed and become well paid with a
media related jobs. For example, in 2011 is showed that 59.5% of people who were working in
the newspapers and newsrooms were male where as there was only 40.5% of them being
females who worked in that aspect of the media industry. This shows that women don’t have
the same equal opportunity as men do in these type of job roles.
Press Complaints Commission (PCC) – The PCC is an
independent body which administers the system of self-
regulation for the press. Complaints have been made
towards the press for representing and showing women in
certain way. This is due to their appearance and are used as
the main selling point for men's products. An example of this
would be various advertisements that Lynx have made by
using women as a sex symbol to sell their product to their
male audience. One of these advertisements would be this
one that was made -
Sex Discrimination Act 1975 - An Act to render unlawful certain kinds of sex discrimination
and promoting equality of opportunity between men and women generally as well as for
related purposes. This law relates and is used in the media industry for various reasons.
Some of these reasons are: recruitment and selection for employment, terms on which
employment is offered and refusing or omitting to offer employment. This can also be linked to
the Equal Opportunities act.

5. The media’s general portrayal of the ideal woman is a role that
most real women find challenging to fit into. Whether the ideal
image is depicted through advertisements, movies, television
shows, magazines or other forms of media, the message is
always clear to women: “That is what I am supposed to look
like.” Some women do not buy into the ideal body image and
are completely content with the way they look and feel healthy
the way they are. However, even those women are negatively
affected by this type of body image portrayed to the mass
public, whether it is directly or indirectly. They plan to bring
about change in the media. They’re doing this by trying to strive
to promote healthier images of women in our society's media.
Therefore society itself can change it's stereotypical gender
biased thoughts and socialization processes. To do this, they
want to promote and support healthy views of normal sized
women.

6. In conclusion, the evidence that I have found clearly shows that there is
still a problem when it comes to have women are represented and
portrayed in the media. Women being used for their visual value has
been happening for much longer that I had realised, and continues to be
more and more apparent. In my opinion I feel that it is important for
women, men, and young adults to learn about how media works, how
much of it is false and how to safely interpret the thousands of images
that surround us and tell us who we should be. This hopefully means that
girls will grow detached from the illusion of being the ‘perfect image’ and
understanding that it is computer generated as well as being there for
advertising and marketing purposes. As for gender roles in the media
industry this is something that I think will change in the future positively
and you will be able to see a lot more women with high end jobs in this
industry. Overall I think that there has been multiple changes in the media
that has portrayed women in a positive way but on the other hand there’s
also been a lot of things that haven’t changed and are still happening. An
example of something that hasn’t changed and should do in the future is
the way women are mainly used as sex objects for the main selling point
of a media product for the male audience.

7. In conclusion, the evidence that I have found clearly shows that there is
still a problem when it comes to have women are represented and
portrayed in the media. Women being used for their visual value has
been happening for much longer that I had realised, and continues to be
more and more apparent. In my opinion I feel that it is important for
women, men, and young adults to learn about how media works, how
much of it is false and how to safely interpret the thousands of images
that surround us and tell us who we should be. This hopefully means that
girls will grow detached from the illusion of being the ‘perfect image’ and
understanding that it is computer generated as well as being there for
advertising and marketing purposes. As for gender roles in the media
industry this is something that I think will change in the future positively
and you will be able to see a lot more women with high end jobs in this
industry. Overall I think that there has been multiple changes in the media
that has portrayed women in a positive way but on the other hand there’s
also been a lot of things that haven’t changed and are still happening. An
example of something that hasn’t changed and should do in the future is
the way women are mainly used as sex objects for the main selling point
of a media product for the male audience.