User:Laeismann/Gender role

Gender Roles in Social Media
Social media has become an integral part of daily life for nearly everyone, serving as a dominant source of information and communication. However, its impact on gender norms is profound and multifaceted. Women's presentation on social media is directly influenced, with platforms utilizing metrics like numbers and publicity to endorse certain ideals in posts. According to professor Brook Duffy at Cornell University, social media operates as a meritocracy, yet women's voices are often underrepresented and carry less weight in the public sphere. Moreover, females are disproportionately targeted with negative commentary on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Perceptions propagated through social media significantly shape real-life thinking and opinions regarding gender. Women are frequently expected to conform to certain stereotypes in their posts, depicting traditional behavioral traits such as caregiving or working from home. In contrast, men are often portrayed as strong and less likely to express emotions, perpetuating gender norms.

The creation of an online identity on social media can also lead to the perpetuation of false narratives about gender, setting unrealistic standards for both women and men. Body image plays a significant role in this, particularly affecting the mental health of young women who internalize beauty standards portrayed online, leading to dissatisfaction and harassment. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that women are more likely to have multiple social media accounts, making them more likely to internalize their body image and be influenced by the cultural stereotypes of female beauty. The emphasis on body image on social media platforms fosters daily comparisons and exposes individuals to sexualized media, increasing self-image insecurity. Furthermore, social media has also contributed to the spread of sexist beliefs and sexualized images of men. However, hashtags like #loveyourself and #allbodiesarebeautiful have sparked movements to challenge these standards.

Despite these challenges, social media has also created new opportunities for women in the workplace, particularly as influencers. However, gender disparities persist, with male influencers generally outperforming their female counterparts. Additionally, media contents across various platforms perpetuate gender stereotypes, with women often portrayed in cosmetic and fashion advertisements, while men are associated with gaming and knowledge. On an economic aspect, social media is driven by gendered advertisements and commercials, often reinforcing stereotypical representations of gender. Algorithms on social media platforms can further exacerbate discriminatory recommendations, reflecting the biases of programmers. Overall, social media's influence on gender norms is profound, shaping perceptions, behaviors, and opportunities in both virtual and real-life settings.

Gender Inequality in Television
Women’s roles in television tend to be focused on their relationships with men rather than their own personal goals. Many examples of this are prevalent in teen drama shows (E.g. The Vampire Diaries, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill). These shows tend to revolve around an everlasting love triangle that throughout the run of the show destroys relationships that the female character has with others. It also paints the image that women in television are only seen as sex objects which shines a negative light on women in real life.

Many female characters' personalities seem to revolve around their love life rather than any true, redeeming qualities they may have. Their appearance also is seen as their “best trait” in many cases. When casting, casting directors tend to look for certain traits when casting female leads for shows. This includes being thin, pretty, tall, etc. These qualities are looked at more compared to others because these are the believed qualities that will attract viewers to continue watching the show. These qualities are compared to those of men that include being strong, smart, ambitious, etc. Remarks made towards them throughout the show, and while at award shows/premieres, emphasizes that this is something that people want in order to make their show more appealing.

Dr. Martha Lauzen, an executive director at San Diego State University, wrote a report that found that when women are producing or directing shows more women get hired. The number of women working in the television industry is already low, women television directors making up only 12%, which means the amount of women being hired is also much lower. Additional research found that streaming services have a higher percentage of women actors compared to broadcast television. Women's speaking roles on streaming services make up 47% while on broadcast television it makes up 45%. This is the same with main character roles for women which make up 50% on streaming services and only 48% on broadcast television.

With appearances being a very prevalent part of television, actresses' appearances changing is showcased to the world no matter how big or small. Women tend to be bashed online when something has changed in their appearance. Many women who begin acting as children, and continue acting into adulthood, get bullied by magazines or tabloids over natural appearance changes that they can’t help. An example of this is Sasha Pieterse from Pretty Little Liars. She was heavily criticized online for gaining weight throughout the course of the show. She spoke about how these comments negatively affected her but she continued to get hate. Ageism is something else that many women experience as they are in the spotlight over time. Brooke Shields is quoted saying, “It's like you go from sexy to Depends,”.

Gender Roles in Film
Studies have shown that the portrayal of women in films differs from that of men in film. Theorists, such as Laura Mulvey, Judith Mayne, Noël Carroll, and others all discuss how the roles of women within films tend to fit a certain misogynistic and stereotypical purpose, which tends to be to fit the male gaze, over-sexualize women, or further the classical gender roles placed on women. These ideas can be seen within some of the most well-known films, such as the Twilight Saga, the Transformers series, Wolf of Wall Street, and many of the original Disney Princess Films.

Within Keisha Hoerrner’s article about gender roles in Disney films, Hoerrner explores the ways in which women characters all throughout the Disney film franchise are portrayed, and how these misogynistic stereotypes could be affecting the perspectives of the young minds who are consuming these films. Hoerrner compares the differences between how heroes and heroines are displayed throughout several Disney films, describing how the heroines tend to be more dependent on male assistance or validation to be successful in their goals, while male heroes are shown in a more self-sufficient and brave light.

San Diego State University conducted a study and found that the percentage of women speaking roles within films declined from 37% in 2022 to 35% in 2023, and the number of female characters in major roles remained at 38%. SDSU also found that the percentage of films with female protagonists contracted from 33% in 2022 to 28% in 2023. Forbes Magazine discusses the under-representation of women within films, and then goes on to investigate how women are portrayed when they do get screen time. It has been found that women with a semi-leading to a leading role are less likely to be shown having goals in the workplace, and are more likely to be shown within the context of their personal lives, like being shown at home or in social settings rather in a professional setting.

Many theorists have used the Bechdel Test as a scale of how “feminist” a film is. It has been found that some of the most famous and popular films that are consumed by the general public do not pass the Bechdel Test, and most feminist theorist argue the consumption of films that do not pass the test negatively contributes to the continuation of unfair gender roles. Some films that have been reported to not pass the Bechdel test are: The Avengers, The Lord of the Rings, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Lion King, Star Wars original trilogy, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Casablanca, and Finding Nemo.