The Portrayal of Women in the Media

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pyrosis
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by pyrosis »

yes Esme echo, we have very different ways of looking at this, but that's the freedom everyone has. And it is a good thing, because only if we discuss things, we can learn and create an own opinion...

But where in your theorie would you place people that don't have either gender? And there are quite a lot of people. Alone in Germany 1-2 Babys are born a day where just the visible physical attributes are neither male or female. And that's just what you see, there are so many people that have so called "medical conditions" that makes them not 100% male or female (what ever that is anyways).
And there are cultures that know more than 2 genders. Are they right or are "we" because the majority of the world belives in the 2 gender system?

And about that right is always right and wrong ist always wrong. By who's definition? How can we know what's right and wrong? So often things that are good for one person are wrong for another. Definitions of right and wrong have changed in history and are different in different parts of the world or even in different parts on one countries society

And I am not sure if people really only want happieness and peace. I have the feeling that a lot of people want just the most for themselves and never have enough, they want power and don't want to give up their power and use unethical methods to keep their power, because they only find some sort of peace if they think their power in not in danger. There are people who are selfreflected enough to see what they are doing and know that it's not okay and stop or change things. And there are even some rare charaktes who find happieness by helping people. But I have seen it for myself how easiely you find yourself in a powerful position and you are not willing to let go and if someone comes and wants that position you start to fight and you don't mind to fight dirty.

I also don't think that media has ever been just for information without manipulating people. It has always been a political tool. It was the announcement on the market place hundrets of years ago, it was pictures painted in a church with a certain message and later leaflets by political groups. And most of the time the media was controlled by the powerfull. Only if there was a political underground movement or a minority that felt treated unfair a different kind of media had a chance to reach people and here it was even more political. Media CAN never be objective because nobody is. You always have an undertone of a persons own opinion...

But although we disagree in so many points I think we agree in the most important. It is the people who watch, listen, read what the powerful create who would have the power to change things by changing their behavior. And I agree that it is a long shot, but we have to start somewhere we have to start somehow. What better time than now?
You know, Edward, as a brother you are sometimes a dissappointment

Oh, never mind! my less noble side exulted

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Esme echo
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by Esme echo »

You are right to call me on media existing for news only; I was confusing media with journalism. :oops: Journalists used to have higher standards, but those standards have been long gone for decades.

I'm not certain what you mean by "in Germany 1-2 Babys are born a day where just the visible physical attributes are neither male or female." Are you saying these children don't have sexual organs? Or, that they are bi-sexual? In the world today where gender roles are becoming increasingly blurred (I'm speaking of gender here, not behavior), the temptation for people who are atypical of their gender is to treat their gender as a behavior. I think a lot of what drives this is society's insecurity, other people's inablility to accept and embrace people's differences without feeling threatened: feeling like others will associate them with those differences and judge them as not acceptable. People who are atypical in any way suffer a lot at the hands of insecure people. Bullying is another whole topic.

I've always enjoyed Stephenie's observation through Edward that humans mostly want to be sheep--to follow the crowd--and be just a little individual, but not to leave the flock in any way, of course!

As for the greedy, power-hungry, materialistic segment of society that you described, that is my definition of anti-social behavior. One of my favorite saying is, "You can never get enough of what you don't need, because what you don't need won't satisfy you." Always searching and never finding. Never having enough. What's in it for me? Selfish, self-involved, arrogant people who are a blight on the human race. We will always have them with us: wouldn't it be nice of society didn't idolize them?

Right and Wrong. The eternal question. I think it's quite simple. If it is selfish, for your own benefit over others, it's wrong. NOTE: taking care of oneself is not selfish. Setting limits or boundaries about what you will/will not accept from others is not selfish. Protecting your emotional and physical well-being is not selfish. There are a host of other things -- reasonable steps we take -- that some might define as selfish but are not.

Selfishness is saying, "I will take advantage of you because I can." I had a friend once who was fond of saying, "It's mind over matter: I don't mind, and you don't matter." Any time another person doesn't matter to us, our thoughts and actions are wrong. People do matter -- every time.
"Where there is great love, there are always miracles."
Susie
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by Susie »

Wow. This is a deep discussion. Sorry I don't have time for an equal contribution at the moment, but one of my main complaints about women in the media is that it seems they must be very slim and beautiful, whereas men can look anywhere from handsome to average. Just look at Wolf Blitzer and men of his ilk! All the women anchors look like Barbie dolls or former cheerleaders/prom queens! Normal looking women can thus feel somewhat lacking in attributes in comparison! And yes, it is SPIN. I rarely watch TV either, especially not the news which is so sensationalized because they have to fill 24 hours and keep you watching. I prefer NPR. (Aint I a snob, though? :lol: )
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Esme echo
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by Esme echo »

I'm sure you're aware, Susie, that NPR has its own agenda as well! ;)

What we hear and see on television and in magazines doesn't really matter, as long as our values and standards are set -- and we are careful to keep it real for youngsters who are less experienced and/or more emotionally vulnerable to the media messages they hear and see around them. I always think it's sad when young women of all shapes and sizes derive their self-esteem from conforming to media messages.

So what's with the snowfall on the Lex today?
"Where there is great love, there are always miracles."
Susie
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by Susie »

Esme Echo: Oh - you are a true cynic! (NPR agenda, noted, but it's the most neutral we've got) Whether we like it or not, we're all affected by the media. It's been snowing on the Lex since Christmas Eve and after Christmas they started mixing in feathers. I'm hoping by New Years it will be ALL feathers!!
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Chernaudi
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by Chernaudi »

Girls, just remember what Kristen Stewart said about beauty and it's subjectiveness: "I think it's ridiculous that you need to look a certain way to be conventionally pretty."

She's not perfect, neither is anyone else.
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Leah Forever
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by Leah Forever »

It's not good. The media says women should be stick thin, even if it costs them their health and eventually their lives in the process, just to look 'beautiful', even though it actually looks foul. There are also loads of women celebrities that are horrible role models and women are expected to look up to them.

Bella. Hmm.

Critical analysis coming up that involves the words 'misogny' and its variants and 'anti-feminist'. May I carry out with it?
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by Fighting fate »

This isss deep. i just had to do a research paper on feminism so this caught my eye. Sometimes women can be their own biggest critics, its always been said that its men who want to mold women into the perfect model type, sickeningly thin and fake. And i can see how men do play a role in this, a young girl may think "if i look like this, then he will finally notice me". but i think women put just as much pressure, if not more, on young girls of society. i know when i was young i was always extremely self-concious about what my female friends thought of me. if i was wearing the "coolest" clothes or saying/doing the right thing. And weight was a big issue as well, for not just me but all my friends. we worried about the most insignifigant things, i can see now how foolish we were being. But how else do you expect a 13 year old girl to act!! it is ever so rare that you will see one average looking women on tv. Anyone that is considered admirable to a young girl simply has to be drop dead gorgeos and thin as a rail. Anyone on tv who is not so good looking, and maybe doesnt have the "perfect" body type is considered a reject, and that they must do anything and everything to change what they are and fit the mold. its truely disgusting. beauty is such a subjective thing, what is beautiful to some may not be to others, so why is there this pressure to fit into the media's form of beautiful. and when we feed into it, it just grows to become even more of an issue. Women should be boosting eachother up, not tearing eachother apart to shreds. its scarry to me what this world is coming too :shock: :roll:
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Esme echo
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by Esme echo »

Fighting fate wrote: Women should be boosting eachother up, not tearing each other apart to shreds. its scarry to me what this world is coming to
This reminds me of something Shari Dew wrote. She called them the three C's (I call them the three evil C's!)
  • Criticizing -- Comparing -- Competing
If women could avoid these three things, the world would change! No one would buy into media lies about size, shape, and beauty.
"Where there is great love, there are always miracles."
Chernaudi
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Re: The Portrayal of Women in the Media

Post by Chernaudi »

Again, I know that it sounds old, but lets look at Kristen. She doesn't compare herself to any woman and doesn't fit the mold of what some typicize as a "feminine" woman, but she doesn't care. She doesn't judge herself on how others look. She judges herself off of what person she is and how she can grow and improve on that facet of her life.

Like how she's kinda bucktoothed. I don't see her running to her dentist to have anything done. She seems satisfied with the way that she is (and I'm a guy, and I have to say that I'm happy with how she looks too, but she's a great actress and seems to be a great person once hater's perceptions are over looked Such people are jealous of her anyways).

If you don't like yourself for who you are and if anyone can't see inside you and like what they see in you as a person, why does it matter what you look like on the outside? Don't Bella and Edward kinda teach us that?

If we believe everything the media tells us or sells to us, that's poor judgement and we're letting them tell us what we want, instead of the other way around.
Audi, Twilight, Cher, Pink Floyd, symphonic/progressive rock, KStew, RP, Bio-Booster Armor Guyver-what's not to like

Team Renesmee, Team Bella, Team Edward.

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