The media creates and reflects cultural and sexual stereotypes!

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The media creates sexual and cultural stereotypes; societies reflect and reinforce them. The media industry comprises several different mediums. They include print media, such as newspapers, magazines and books, music, film, internet and television. There are several different stereotypes within our society; they are of gender, sexuality, family and culture. These stereotypes can be found in all of the aforementioned media, however, the way in which these stereotypes are portrayed within advertising is of primary concern.

Advertising is a multi billion dollar industry. It is one of the most powerful socializing forces in our culture. Advertisements are everywhere, in magazines and newspapers, on television and billboards, even on buses. They are inescapable. Research shows that by the time a person is sixty they will have seen more that fifty million advertisements (Still killing us softly, 187). Advertisements not only sell products, they sell images, values, goals and a concept of who we are or who we should be. They teach us popularity, sexuality, love and romance, they shape our attitudes. (Still killing us softly, 187) Advertising presents very stereotyped images of behaviour for both men and women.

In previous decades, the portrayal of women in advertisements has been very negative. From as early as the 150s, women were portrayed as being either sex objects or demented housewives. Over time, with society's changing attitude, these stereotypes have been toned down a degree, but they still exist. The media creates ideals in which women are flawless creatures who are either extremely thin or have a small waist and heavy bust. Lumby (17) claims "Women's bodies are misrepresented by media propaganda, separating real bodies from their fake media endorsed clones is not that easy". The skin is blemish free, scar free and even pore free. Media advertising presents an image of beauty that women try to emulate. This creates an ideal that cannot be achieved. The woman's body is frequently dismembered and certain areas emphasised. Society is fed the message, 'whatever you have will not do, you must change it' (Still killing us softly, 187). Naturally, the products advertised are portrayed as the means by which to do just that. Society responds accordingly, and the mediated stereotype is reinforced.

These messages can be very damaging to adolescent girls. They often turn to each other and the media to find answers to their questions about how to solve problems, how to act, how to behave with the opposite sex, what they should wear and what they should look like. (Signorelli, 17) The answers they find, usually in magazines, depict ultra skinny, blemish free and trouble free images of girls around their age. Once again, they try to emulate these stereotypes, primarily through dieting, and become at risk of suffering psychological disorders.

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Men too are affected by female stereotypes, and this ultimately creates the male stereotype. Advertising has shaped the view of men, as to what constitutes the perfect woman. Throughout adolescence, young men are bombarded by the media, particularly advertising, with images of the flawless beauty. In order to obtain this type of woman as a companion, the man must be of a certain stature (i.e. tall), be well built, handsome, sporty, wealthy and successful. (Lawlor, n.d.) For most men, this too is unattainable. For most women, this does not constitute the perfect man. Men are taught at an early age that they must be tough and brave and never show emotion. They are encouraged and expected to partake in male dominated sports (football, soccer and cricket) and male orientated activities (fishing, hunting and going to the pub). In films and on television men are often portrayed as violent and dominating. This male stereotype has been part of our culture, and many others, for centuries.

Gay men and women are also stereotyped throughout the media, especially film and television. This is seen, for the most part, in imported sitcoms, where the usual focus is gay men. They are portrayed as being feminine, bitchy and promiscuous. (Corner and Harvey, 16) Lesbians are usually very masculine and are portrayed as violent, as were the women in 'Prisoner'. Generally speaking gay characters in Australian film and television are the opposite of this; for example Russell Crowe in 'The Sum of Us' and Spencer Maclaren in 'The Secret Life of Us'. However, gay characters are less common in the Australian media industry

The media also creates cultural stereotypes, sometimes through advertising but mostly through social positioning in films and television programming. People of ethnic backgrounds are most often seen doing menial jobs, such as those of bus conductor, hospital ancillary worker, street cleaner or factory hand. They are often portrayed as being criminals, involved in illegal immigration, prostitution or robbery (Corner and Harvey, 16). It is rare to see ethnic minorities in advertising, whether it is in print media or on the television.

Further examples of cultural stereotyping created by media are the roles of men and women within the family. Men are depicted as being white, middle class and youthful. They are strong, competent and the chief breadwinner. The women in comparison are portrayed as being dowdy housewives who are wise and nurturing. (Potter, 18) What constitutes a family is also stereotyped in television and advertisements. The nuclear family is still the most common type of family portrayed. Cantor (cited in Barker 000) argues that "The media creates mainstream ideals of what a family should be and while there have been changes in representation of families and an increase in the range of types of families the ideal remains that the married couple/nuclear family is the norm." Advertisements continue to depict the family in this way.

By continuing to present these (sometimes) false images and ideals, the media creates often-damaging stereotypes, which affect people on emotional and psychological levels. The stereotypes created by the media are then reinforced by society as people endeavor to conform to them.

Barker, C 17, Global Television, Blackwell publishers, UK.

Corner, J & Harvey, S (eds) 16, Television Times, Arnold, London.

Lawlor, R (n.d.), The armoured knight of the 0th century, viewed 07/0/0 http//deoxy.org/aknight.html

Lumby, C 17, Bad girls The media, sex and feminism in the 0s, Allan & Unwin, Sydney.

Potter, J.W, 18, Media Literacy, Sage publications, London.

Signorelli, N 17, A content analysis reflection of girls in the media, Viewed 0//0

http//www.kff.org/content/archieve/160/gendr.html.

Still killing us softly, 187 [Video], Cambridge Documentary Films, Cambridge, MA

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