An essay slideshow on the representations of women in the media. Includes examples of positive and negative images, with annotated images for visual learners.

1. REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN
IN THE MEDIA
By Jean Van Wyk

2. MEDIA
In modern society, women are valued as sexual objects, and are often
disempowered due to messages we receive through the media.
Women are often sexualised and sold as bodies to the audiences.
Although women can be represented positively in the media, positive
images are often discredited because of other negative portrayals of
women and their bodies. Though people argue that the state of
representation for women has evolved for the better, not much has
changed in the media when it comes to advertising. The dominant
ideology that women are only valued as sexual objects maintains
hegemony by making women seem like they are unimportant or not
valuable as people.

3. IDEOLOGY AND ITS’ INFLUENCES
We are programmed by the dominant ideology that women are only
valuable for their sexuality and physical appeal, rather than their
human features. They are simplified by the media into objects.
Women are often put under a fetishistic gaze (Mulvey) which is
uncommonly subverted. Because it has been implied for many
generations that it is fine to be sexualised and sexually desired, many
women in audiences take up the male gaze (Mulvey), seeing only
through the eyes of a male, and finding little to no offense in what
they see.

4. AMERICAN
APPAREL
MISOGYNY
An example of this would be the comparison
of how American Apparel advertises women
and men. A man and woman advertise the
same shirt, except the man is leaning
casually, fully clothed, and is not sexualised.
The female model of the unisex shirt,
however, poses in a sexually explicit way,
only wearing the shirt, and is otherwise
completely naked. This gives the audience
the impression that she is not supposed to
have the same 'privileges' as men, and this is
a negative representation. This reinforces the
dominant ideology of gender and gender
roles, and emphasizes that women are made
for sex. It also shows how men are not seen
as being sexual objects, but instead as
powerful figures who are idolized for their
genitalia. This helps to maintain hegemony
by making women seem inferior and
powerless or irrelevant.

5. MAC MAKEUP
BODY BUILDER
However, the ideology of women only be
valuable as sex objects can be subverted. An
example would be an advertisement released
by Mac, a cosmetics company. The ad shows
a female body builder wearing a tight-fitting
black dress. She looks empowered, in
control, and purposeful, and the contrast of
what is expected of women (i.e. ideology
that women should be sexualised and weak)
is completely subverted in this image. She is
represented in an active way rather than a
passive way. The audience does receive
visual pleasure (Mulvey) from this image, but
it is because she is different from the norm.
She is not posing sexually, and the inspiring
quote reads, "...redefine the notion of
beauty..." which is exactly what the image is
doing. This subverts the ideologies which
maintain hegemony by questioning how
much power and influence males and
females alike are capable of.

6. BURGER KING
BLOW-JOB
Even though we see these positive representations in
the media, it is much harder to find these, and accept
them as what is right because we are constantly
bombarded by opposing ideologies. These opposing
ideologies, such as the ideology that women are only
valuable when sexualised, subvert these positive
messages we receive in the media and make them
seem less real or convincing. An example of the
dominant ideology of women being sex objects is an
advertisement from burger king. A woman is seen
with her mouth and eyes wide open, and we see a ‘BK
Super Seven Incher’ nearing her mouth. The caption
reads, “It’ll Blow your mind away.” She is portrayed as
the stereotypical ‘blonde bimbo,’ and is also captured
in a way which makes her seem like the ‘virginal
whore.’ This is a negative representation of women,
because the woman is being used for advertising the
product, and the phallus, the symbol of men and
power makes it seem as though the woman is
impressed by the burger because of its’ impressive
size, power, and phallic nature. The audience is able
to adopt a fetishistic gaze, and the woman in the
picture is given a to-be-looked-at-ness (Mulvey), is

7. TOM FORD SEX-
COLOGNE
Despite society being blind to these instilled
ideologies, we can still notice blatant
sexualisation and objectification, especially in a
blunt context with no distractions or quietly
implied meaning. However, due to constant
exposure to these, we are more desensitized,
even to stark images. An example would be of
some Tom Ford advertisements. One
advertisement shows an image where a woman
has the product (cologne) between her breasts.
Her face is cut off, but we are able to see that
her mouth is open in pleasure. Another shows
only her lower body, completely naked, and only
the cologne covers her genitalia. The image
shows the female as a spectacle (Mulvey), and
makes them seem only valuable for their sex.
This negative representation is obvious because
of the combination of dismemberment and
objectification. The audience sees the image
through a fetishistic gaze and, even though the
image on it’s own is extremely offensive, we are
desensitised and the impact is not as potent.

8. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we can see that in modern society, women are valued
as sexual objects, and are often disempowered due to messages we
receive through the media. The messages we receive often reinforce
the ideologies of gender and the power of males to maintain
hegemony within a society. We may also note that even though
positive messages can be communicated through the media, they are
often subverted and made redundant by the more widely
communicated ideologies.