Feminism advocates for social, political, and economic equality between men and women. However, media often portrays women in ways that objectify them or reinforce patriarchal norms. Advertisements frequently use women's bodies and images to sell products rather than portraying women in empowering or equal roles. Movies also tend to focus on male characters and depict women in passive, domestic, or sexualized ways to appeal to a male gaze. While media representations of women have improved in some respects over the last 30 years, full equality has yet to be achieved and women remain underrepresented in media content and positions of authority.

1. Feminism and media
Submitted by Nawrin Akhtar
Student of Notre Dame University bangladesh
The belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power and opportunities as men and be
treated in the same way. Same rights in the social, political, and economic equality of both man
and women. It is believe on equity in sexes. Anyone who believes in equality can be a feminist.
Feminists would like us to believe that feminism = equality. Equality means equality of outcomes
not equal human rights and equality before the law, as our parent’s grandparents understand it. In
a short feminism is a desire to change the situation.
Common misconceptions of feminism.
 Some people in our society believe that if you want to be a feminist you have to be a female.
 Another myth has that is Feminist hate man.
 Feminist believe that women are better than men which is absolutely wrong because
feminist wants equal right not better.
 Feminism is no longer relevant.
 Feminism only applies to white, cis-gendered heterosexual women.
These all are misconceptions which some people thinks about feminism.
Society always wants to see women as an opposite role of male. As like, they wants to see women
as dependent, submissive, passive, kind, nurturing, emotional, cries a lot, gentle, talkative and so
on.
During the 17th century women revolt against this system. Women began fighting for equal rights
centuries ago. In the early 1600s, French women began holding salons where educated women
could interact equally with men. Women's rights movements were also influenced by the
Revolutionary War and the French Revolution in the late 1700s. Then, in the 1800s, women began
fighting harder to attain equal rights. They have increased people's awareness of the inequalities

2. created by gender Show's how gender roles are socially constructed. Black feminists have exposed
the color-blindness of mainstream sociology. Evolution of feminism played important role in
highlighting inequalities between men and women. There work emphasizes the socially
constructed nature differences. Made the role of women and gender relations visible - in sociology
and society in general. Have exposed the dark side of family life, helping to free women and
children from domestic violence and abuse.
Type’s feminism:
 Liberal Feminism
 Radical Feminism
 Socialist & Marxist Feminism
 Cultural Feminism
 Black Feminism
 Eco-Feminism
 Separatist Feminism
 I Feminism
Now I talked about what is Liberal Feminism?
Liberal feminism advocates for equality between the sexes throughsocial and political
reforms andlegal means. That means liberal feminism is an individualistic from of feminist
theory, which focuses onwomen’s ability to maintain their equalitythrough their own
actions and choices.
In this picture we can see male and female bothare equal. They get equal opportunityto do
somethingin their life.
Here comes Radical feminism
 An undesirable type of concept.
 It is actually responsible fordevelopment of many thoughts, ideas and actions.
 Argue that patriarchy is the main cause of women’s oppression.
For these feminist the keydivision in societyis betweenmen and women
 Men are the enemy.
 The family and marriage are the institutions inpatriarchal society.
The only way for the oppressionof womento be overturnedis by abolishing the family, as it
is the root of patriarchal system. This can only be done by through separatism.

3. Another feminism is Socialist andMarxist feminism.
This is a sub-categoryof radical feminism.
Socialist feminism argues that liberationcanonly be achieved by working to end both the
economic andcultural sources of women’s oppression.
And Marxist feminism is focusedoninvestigating and explaining the ways in which women
are oppressedthroughsystems of capitalism andprivate property.
In this picture we can see womenare not only someone mother, daughter, sister and wife.
They are someone who is not less than men.
Here comes Cultural feminism.
Cultural feminism is a branch of radical feminism, while others feel that the two differ
considerable.
Cultural feminism represents femalenature or female essence. It is describe the difference
between women and men.
It is also believes in encouragingfeminine behavior rather than masculine behavior.
Black feminism believes that racism and gender discriminationare the sides of same coin.
Black feminism has its own movement and has some causes, as the black power movement
arose black power. There are of black women in the world. They cannot get their actual
rights because white women are more attractedsexually. As a result white women get some
advantage for their beauty. That’s why black feminism started. They want their civil rights
along with separationfrom white feminists.
Eco-feminism is actuallythe combinationof ecology, and feminism that dwells on the
symbolic relationshipbetweenthe oppressionof women, and the destructionof the
environment.
Here women gets compare with nature and environment. Eco-feminism apatriarchal society
is a root cause of boothsocial and environmental problems.
Female worldview: interrelationshipand cooperation
Male worldview: competition, dominationand conquest.
Separatist feminism is against the concept of heterosexual relationships, sayingthat it is not
possible to solve the sexual differences that exist betweenmen and women.
If anyone wants to lie alone or they do not want to live with men then everyone calledthem
or her lesbian. This is not right. Because every women are not lesbianthey just hate men.
And they do not want to live with them.

4. Here is my last part I-feminism. I-feminism is anewer branch of feminism which focuses on
the individuality of women, as well as their individual choices.
Every women have their own choice their own style and they have their own dream. This is
very important for successful women. Because women can be successful when they have
their own identityand they can live their life with their own choice.
The first wave of feminism took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The goal of this
wave was to open up opportunities for women, with a focus on suffrage. The wave formally began
at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 when 300 men and women rallied to the cause of equality
for women. Discussions about the vote and women's participation in politics led to an examination
of the differences between men and women as they were then viewed. The key concern of first
wave were education, employment, the marriage laws, equal contract and property rights, own
rights. Women were fights for all rights but they are not allow to vote, sign in legal documents,
and own property, divorce their husband, attended university.
Second wave started in America. During World War II women went to work in factories. After
war ended women were expected to go back to being housewives, there was a big push to glorify
domestic life. College educated women were dissatisfied with limited career options. Equal pay
for equal work. Other legal inequalities for other women in married relationships. Improved sexual
freedom. Strong emphasis on reproductive choice. Acknowledgement of women of color and
queer women as part of the movement. Focused on opening economic educational, and political
opportunities.
Third wave starts 1990 and its still continues. At present women are belongs in the third wave. In
third wave Continues to work towards reproductive rights, fixing the pay gap, and correcting
society’s view of women. Includes women of all socio-economic backgrounds.
After all of that revaluation Now-a-day’s media starts to believe on egalitarian society.
An egalitarian is a person who believes in the equality of all people, and an egalitarian society
gives everyone equal rights on Psychological, social, economic, philosophical, and political and
so on. So that media now starts to gives place for women. Now women are also works in media.
But the question is which types of place media actually gives a women? How media use women?
Does they give equal role, equal place as men?

5. Though media break some of old structure about women but it also gives another structure about
women. Media believes that if any women wants to work in media she must have ridiculously
long alien neck, bigger eyes, perkier nose, fuller lips, and smaller feet, thinner thighs, severely
thinned out stomach and so on. . In an influential book The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf argued that
the images of ultra-thin supermodels and the perfect bodies glamorized by advertising, fashion and
media always uses women for patriarchal.
So that in magazines, women are usually portrayed as young, slim and with beauty that meets the
accepted standards. Women with this kind of appearance are often associated with sex objects.
Actually media uses women as an object. The roles of females have greatly domesticated in
popular culture, especially in advertisements. Many advertisements contain women in roles such
as cooks, maids, babysitters, as well as sex objects in order to sell product. In the beginning,
advertisements were once shown to sell a product, however, as years pass, advertisements begin
to objectify women and begin to use women as a way to sell products. Looking at the trends of
advertisements, women continue to be one of main objects for a product. The trends have greatly
changed, creating a gap between the products being sold to the objects they use to sell the product.
The advertising trends began before the early 1900s until present time, where the roles of women
have changed drastically beginning from products being sold on literally terms, to solving personal
and social problems, to consumer association and present, as a subliminal and unconscious desire.
For example, we can see in the advertisement of AXE body spry women plays an attractive role.
The message of this products is if any boy use this spry any women can be attract on him. Women
are always sexually attractive on men.
Another example is parasuit body lotion. Here the shape of bottle is like perfect women body 36-
24-36. And we all see this visual advertisement which is full of women sexual attraction.
I would like to give another example which is fair and Lovely. The main message is if you are fair
you are lovely. If you are fair you can get job, house and life partner also. As Naomi Wolf says
media always uses fair, thin women.

6. In the movies we can see the same things. All of super hit movies are mainly based on men
character. According to Laura Mulvey media uses women only for male gaze. They plays passive
role. They always plays mother’s roll, perform in item song and so on. Even in animation movies
and fairy tales stories women are uses like these. Some of movies name are also anti-feminist as
like Superman, Spiderman, Ironman and so on.
Media now offer women to works in TV. But only in a limited number of news programs do
women appear as main actors or experts. One of the reasons for this situation is the smaller number
of women in these spheres, but even the existing number of women are underrepresented compared
to their male counterparts. Media people believe that women cannot take responsible too much.
They cannot go out for collecting news. So that media gives them work in a room. Now some of
media change these stereotypes. Last 30 years media changed women role. In some movies women
plays active role.