Representation of women in media

Abstract

Media are just one of the means of production, maintenance and reproduction of stereotypes, which refer to groups. As Richard Dyer argues, the pattern of stereotypes is not neutral, they are intensely charged with emotions, and therefore are the fortresses of our tradition. How, in this sense, to avoid the pitfalls brought by representation and selfrepresentation of diversity, and respect for equal opportunities in the limited media space, and not to, in fact, manipulate with ideas of equality and diversity? Depending on the value orientation, be it either pure individual one or the one typical of a group, a distinctive ideological 'cage' where and towards which feelings are expressed, beliefs and attitudes represented, or actions made, an individual experiences the media representation of reality, its phenomena and events, and different people or groups, in two ways - as acceptance or hostility. Indeed, the prevailing ideas about women depend heavily on media representation. If the media do not report on women fairly and responsibly as regards gender, that is to say equally as on men, they contribute to misconceptions about women, offering uncritical views of diversity instead of the promotion of equal opportunities between men and women. Then the belief that 'being equal means being always - different' is not the essence of the changes to which the modern, democratic society aspires. In that way, boundaries are demarcated, and it is defined who is inside and who is outside of them, which, as a rule, establishes new 'traditional areas' as well as interests. The example of the representation of women in the media confirms sorts of exclusion strategies. Women are often portrayed as miserable, defenseless, victims of violence, having special needs, more vulnerable and emotional than men, professionally more insecure, and intellectually and physically inferior, when compared to the other gender. They are attributed terms which express the established views, sensationalist and sexist, emphasizing their physical condition, not identity, or personality. In the conditions where traditional and patriarchal relations, heterosexual codes, common binary division of everything, prevail, all the above-mentioned reproduce inequality even further.