This document is an essay analyzing the portrayal of women in mass media such as films, television, music videos, and advertising. It discusses how women have traditionally been portrayed in narrow gender roles and stereotypes, such as being thin, fragile, and focused on beauty and relationships. However, it notes that some recent portrayals in films like Frozen and music videos like "All About That Bass" show a move toward more empowering and diverse portrayals. The essay also examines how exposure to stereotypical portrayals can influence societal expectations of women. Overall, it argues that while some progress has been made, further work is still needed to eliminate harmful stereotypes and achieve accurate, non-stereotypical representation of women across all

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Gender Roles and Portrayal of Women in Mass Media
Erin N. Bosman.
University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire

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Gender Roles and Portrayal of Women in Mass Media
In order to continue to eliminate, or at least reduce, the negative affect that gender
roles have on our society all individuals must start by challenging their own perceptions
about gender roles, initiate and being open to discussions about the different stereotypes
associated with various gender roles, and collectively, as a society, raise awareness about
potentially harmful misconceptions or limitations that we intentionally or unintentionally
place on others.
In the song “All About That Bass” Meghan Trainor sings, “You know I won't be
no stick figure silicone Barbie doll.” This line stands out to me for the reason that it is
often expected that women are to be thin to be considered physically attractive. Barbie
dolls are a great example of how this expectation comes to life for young girls who are
given Barbie dolls as toys. The toy-company Mattel, Inc. and mass media create the
impression that Barbie has the perfect figure and fashions, including low and high cut
outfits, high heels, and accessories often highlighting the color pink. When we are
teenagers, we watch films, such as Legally Blonde, that reinforce these stereotypical
qualities of thin, pink, and fragile for women but also often helped to begin weakening
the concept of dependence by demonstrating women’s ability to overcome challenges and
achieve success through use of their minds. For example, In Legally Blonde she starts
with being very dependent on her boyfriend and follows him to Harvard Law School but
by the end of the film she continues her education for her own benefit and looses that
dependence she had. Now, the music industry is providing us with songs similar to this
one, “All About That Bass”, which supports acceptance of women with varying qualities
as being attractive. Yet even this song, while some may consider progressive, still

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suggests that women should accept their bodies because “boys they like a little more
booty to hold at night.” When we, as girls and women, become stronger and more
confident in our own bodies, minds, and talents and less reliant on media to tell us what’s
acceptable, that confidence will be what’s attractive to others and lead us to greater
success in all aspects of our lives.
Oscar Wilde stated, “My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a
decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women
represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over
morals.” When terminology such as “stereotypical women” and “gender roles” are
entered into Google a wide variety of resources are provided, from quick quotes to
lengthy essays to discussion boards. The Oscar Wilde quote stated above stood out to me
for being an excellent and shocking example of the stereotypical portrayal of women.
Women should not be seen as only being decorative. The only things that should be
considered decorative are objects incorporating decorations, artwork, and clothing. On
the contrary when “gender equality” is input into Google, news articles and questions
were the main resources I personally observed such as “Do women really want equality?”
and “What is gender equality.” Although these inquiries do lead to articles, I found it to
be disconcerting that there is such an extraordinary level and detailed conversation
surrounding the search for gender roles but an uncertain, less significant outcome
observed when searching for gender equality. Often times, we discuss the negative,
higher controversial side of a topic more than the positive side of that same topic. I
believe that this is due to the fact that the negative side of a topic is often controversial
and will generally result in an additional amount of discussion and further press, whereas

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the positive side is nowhere near to having an equally shocking presence, even when a
small breakthrough is observed. When I searched the phrase “gender equality” I assumed
that it would result in resources related to the dispute for gender equality such as
scholarly articles and stories surrounding women similar to Alice Paul rather than the
limited and oppressive search results that were observed.
The portrayal of women in mass media is an important topic to discuss as
stereotypes have built off these expected gender roles and are used both offensively and
sarcastically. The goal of this essay is to bring awareness to the stereotypes surrounding
women, to challenge and help diminish them these stereotypes, and to raise the overall
self-confidence for women and independence of women by generating further
conversation that may help other women set aside self-doubt and embrace their abilities. I
would also like to discuss the effect of the development of women’s behavior in the
media on the actual behavior of women because of how prominent controversial
portrayals can be in the media.
In the article “Prime Time Television and Gender Role Behavior” it is stated that,
“Females’ social action, on the other hand, is traditionally characterized as expressively
oriented and concerned with the social and emotional needs of the family and
community.” I believe that this can be seen in various forms of media. Although this
concept may often be true, it seems to be over emphasized and stereotyped in the media
and these traits are frequently shared by men and are not exclusive to women. Women are
frequently portrayed in homemaker or community roles or associated with various
concepts surrounding those roles. It can be perceived as more sympathetic and nurturing
which may lead to them accepting these roles. Often times, these roles are given negative

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connotations such as being weaker or less impactful then roles led more often by men
where power, action, and control may be highly valued. Although this frequently
happens, a sympathetic and emotional perspective should be seen in a positive manner as,
in my opinion, it can lead to an introspective and logical viewpoint that takes into
consideration a wider range of factors that can lead to better relationships across families,
communities, and work teams, as well as, more successful outcomes. We can see this
through various films across a number of years. Women are seen in careers or roles
surrounding the home or maternalism such as day care, teaching, social services, clothing
design, and etcetera. For example, generally the plot line in Disney films involves a
princess being saved by a prince. The female characters are usually incapable compared
to the male characters. Although this still appears to be true, Disney films are developing.
“Disney’s animated films provide “many of the first narratives children use to learn about
the world, “ forming their moral vision of what good and evil are, what gender roles one
can aspire to, and how other ethnicities and cultures can be views, thus making Disney an
important “moral educator in the lives of children and young adults (Müller-Hartmann,
1992).”
In Frozen, we see Elsa to be incredibly independent and powerful. Yes, she ended
up needing some help but that help came from her sister. We still saw much of the
stereotypical Disney gender roles through Anna but not nearly as much through Elsa.
In the United States, film acting was one of the first careers with high salary to
have high gender integration levels (Lincoln & Allen). Gender integration and
incorporation is necessary to diminish gender inequalities. The expected gender values in
America need to continue to develop in order to expand the two different spheres and

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weaken double standards. Often times gender roles are discussed in terms of a women’s
sphere and a men’s sphere. Gender has been separated into these two sections for a
number of years and was referred to in this way by Sarah Hale. When discussing the
ideology of domesticity, the women’s sphere tends to lean towards a private, domestic
lifestyle and the men’s sphere tends to lean towards a public, professional lifestyle. Over
a number of years, both these spheres have developed. Women are now accepted in the
banknote world and often expected to be more independent with high goals. The article
“Double Jeopardy in Hollywood: Age And Gender In The Careers Of Film Actors, 1926-
1999,” mentioned that “while women starred in all film genres in the 1930s and 1940s,
they were typically cast in serious dramas and even more prominently in musicals and
romantic melodramas.” In my opinion, this is still often true today. In other film
categories we often see men in the starring roles such as action, horror, and comedy.
In “The Oppositional Gaze,” the expected image of women is discussed in
extreme details with pointing out how often only white women are portrayed unless the
type of mass media is surrounding historical factors. “When most black people in the
United States first had the opportunity to look at film and television, they did so fully
aware that mass media was a system of knowledge and power reproducing and
maintaining white supremacy (Hooks, 2007).” The amount of different races and cultures
represented within the film industry has definitely increased, nevertheless often the roles
that individuals who are not considered to be of white supremacy generally play
characters who face extensive challenges or films that represent historic situations such as
“The Help” or “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

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Music videos are another form of media where we often see gender roles
portrayed. Susan Alexander’s article “The Gender Role Paradox in Youth Culture: An
Analysis of Women in Music Videos” it discusses her study which argues against the
way women are portrayed in mass media by observing contradictory images of women in
music videos. The sample used for this study included 123 videos that appeared on MTV
and BET in 1995. “Evidence of sexism in music videos is dramatically presented in
Jhally’s (1995) video “Dreamworlds II”-the dreamworld being MTV’s focus on the male,
adolescent’s dreamworld of scantily-clad women fulfilling any number of sexual
fantasies (Alexander, 1999).” The way this video is described, in my opinion, could be
associated with a variety of music videos. I personally think that although this study is a
good representation of the portrayal of women in the music video portion of mass media,
discussing some more current music videos would be more representative of current mass
media gender exemplification.
I think the song and video, “All About That Bass” By: Meghan Trainor is an
excellent current piece of work to look at in the music industry that relates to women’s
representation. This video has been seen as very controversial as it presents the message
that beauty comes in all different shapes. I think this media portrayal of women is both
positive and negative. Through the acceptance of a curvier body shape it shows the
development in the stereotypical portrayal of thin, dependent women. A blog post
“Meghan Trainor’s #1 Hit “All About That Bass” – Body Positivity or Misogyny?” states
the proposition that “Our society has a mental illness when it comes to women and
weight. Isn’t it crazy that a song that champions the sexiness of average-to-large body
sizes is seen as a breakthrough?” Personally, I find this to be truly unfortunate and an

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incredibly good point. It is true that seeing an average sized body being discussed as
being sexy is a breakthrough in the media as often times the women displayed are
unbelievably photo shopped or heavily covered in make-up that they do not appear
authentic or that they appear incredibly slim. However, through the goal of simply
wanting to appear attractive for men rather than for your own self- confidence the video
does not seem to show any development.
I additionally would like to consider that Taylor Swift’s new music video for the
song “Blank Space” could be observed as showing a development of the representation
and behavior of women in the media. In “Blank Space” Taylor Swift presents the
stereotypes she has been associated with of being dependent and foolish and accepted
them. She has presented herself in the way she is discussed in mass media and made a bit
of a joke out of the way she is used to being portrayed. In my opinion, this bold video and
song shows independence, fearlessness, and strength as she accepts what has been
associated with her and shown that she really does not care what other people think
because she will remain to have self-confidence.
Another form of mass media where we can see negative portrayals of women is in
advertising and marketing. In the article “The portrayal of men and women in television
advertisements: An updated review of 30 studies published since 2000.” It is indicated
that, “In the United States (Bresnahan et al., 2001), women are shown double the amount
of time as men in private residence (27 vs. 13%) while men are shown more often than
women outdoors (29 vs. 18%).” Often women are presented in advertisements that are
specifically for women’s products, for family related products, or for household products.
While it is completely logical that it would be women represented in advertisements for

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products used by women, it does not seem logical that women are portrayed in a private
residence more than men while men are portrayed in public settings more. For example,
in commercials involving household products, while men are represented in commercials
for vehicles or alcohol. In the article “Who Is Wonder Woman? Gender Stereotypes and
Heroism in Television Commercials.” it is indicated, “Historically, in advertising created
in the United States and other English-speaking countries, women have often been
portrayed as young product users concerned with their physical beauty so they can be
more appealing and attractive to men. Men have been shown as the authority figure while
women have been seen as subordinate to men (Artz, Munger, & Purdy, 1999).” Although
this article discussed women in relation to heroism in advertisements this quote stood out
to me as being extremely accurate as advertising companies often use sex appeal to catch
attention and persuade one towards a product.
In terms of heroism and women in advertisements, this concept is mostly seen
through athletes and advertisements for movies where a woman portrays a lead character
such as in The Hunger Games. This article (Choi, Y., Starr, W. J., Kim, K., & Parish, N,
2014) discusses an academic study that observed heroic roles of women throughout the
Olympics in 2002. This article also discusses how these heroic roles are more expected
during events such as the Olympics, where women are being recognized and receiving
awards for their athletic and heroic roles. I think it is often true that we see a higher
development in gender equality during certain events similar to the Olympics in which
both Men and Women are working towards the same type of rewards.
Through what I have observed from the various forms of mass media and the
different resources that were read through to discuss the portrayal of women, I personally

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think that the representation of women in the media has shown some signs of
development but could definitely continue to improve. Along with reading various
articles and blog posts and watching a variety of videos, I read the comments posted on
those resources. Those comments helped me to realize how various individuals feel about
the portrayal of women and how it has affected their lives.
Out of the different types of media that I observed, I found that the comments on
the music videos appeared to have positive feelings and levels of confidence associated
with them. Through the two videos that I have discussed, “Blank Space” and “All About
that Bass”, I saw comments of individuals who felt as though they could relate to those
videos more than others that they have viewed previously. Both of those videos were
released this year, 2014, and have stood out among a number of music videos, some of
which also resulted in a sense of empowerment. I also think that within the film industry
we are seeing more women in prominent roles than what was discussed in the articles I
presented such as the character of Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games”, the
character of Tris in “Divergent”, and the character of Andie in “Step Up All In.”
Overall, the portrayal of women in mass media has started to develop and should
continue to develop. It is necessary to continue to work to diminish stereotypes similar to
those that are placed on women. Women should not be simply associated with the toys
they enjoyed as children and the film characters they observed throughout their life, but
as exceptional and unique, sympathetic and fearsome, inspiring and independent
individuals. In order to maintain and increase awareness of the controversy of gender
roles and equal representation, we need to continue the conversation discussing the
factors surrounding these topics. I believe that simply discussing controversial topics

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such as gender roles that developments will be made and accurate representation will be
increased.

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Resources
Alexander, S. (1999). The Gender Role Paradox In Youth Culture: An Analysis Of
Women In Music Videos. Michigan Sociological Review, 13, 46-64.
Brooks, L. (2014, January 1). Meghan Trainor's #1 Hit | Body Positivity or Misogyny?
(2014, January 1). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from
http://www.fitwoman.com/blog/2014/08/21/meghan-trainors-1-hit-bass-
body-acceptance/
Choi, Y., Starr, W. J., Kim, K., & Parish, N. (2014). Who Is Wonder Woman? Gender
Stereotypes and Heroism in Television Commercials.
Eaton, B. (1997). Prime-Time Stereotyping on the New Television Networks. Journalism
& Mass Communication Quarterly, 859-872.
Ferguson, J. H., Kreshel, P. J., & Tinkham, S. F. (1990). In the pages of Ms.: Sex role
portrayals of women in advertising. Journal of Advertising, 19(1), 40-51.
Furnham, A., & Paltzer, S. (2010). The portrayal of men and women in television
advertisements: An updated review of 30 studies published since 2000.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51(3), 216-236.
Goffman, E. (1979). Gender advertisements.
Hess, D., & Grant, G. (n.d.). Prime-Time Television and Gender-Role Behavior.
Teaching Sociology, 371-371.
Hooks, B. (2007). The oppositional gaze. Boston: South End Press, 115-31.
Lincoln, A., & Allen, M. (n.d.). Double Jeopardy In Hollywood: Age And Gender In The
Careers Of Film Actors, 1926-1999. Sociological Forum, 611-631.
Trainor, Meghan. All About That Bass. Kevin Kadish, 2014. MP3.

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Müller-Hartmann, A. (1992). Is Disney Safe for Kids? -Subtexts in Walt Disney's
Animated Films. American Studies, 52(3), 399-415
Wilde, O. (1993). The Picture of Dorian Gray. Charlottesville, Va.: University of
Virginia Library.