Representations of Femininity

Feminism has been a recognised social philosophy for more than thirty years, and the changes that have occurred in women's roles in western. Yet media representations of women remain worryingly constant. Does this reflect that the status of women has not really changed or that the male-dominated media does not want to accept it has changed?
Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following:

• beauty (within narrow conventions)
• size/physique (again, within narrow conventions)
• sexuality (as expressed by the above)
• emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings
• relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom)
  

The representations of women that do make it onto page and screen do tend to be stereotypical, in terms of conforming to society’s expectations, and characters who do not fit into the mould tend to be seen as dangerous and deviant.

Discussions of women's representation in the media tend to revolve around the focus on physical beauty to the near-exclusion of other values, the lack of powerful female role models, and the extremely artificial nature of such portrayals, which bear little or no relation to the reality experience by women across the planet.

The problem is not that these women work in fashion - it's that they work, full stop. And this is what movies about the fashion industry always do: they make fun of or punish - or both - women devoted to a job they enjoy.

But besides the unacceptable idea of women working, there is the added crime that they work in an industry run, very successfully, by other women. Hence, fashion journalists in movies are depicted as childish, sniping about one another's weight and clothes. But fashion journalism is a multimillion-dollar industry and one that would be very hard to keep afloat if the editors sat around all day fretting about whether they're a size six or four.

Women are being underrepresented in the media

• as sex objects
• as subordinate to men reinforcing a patriarchal society.

Positive stereotypes:

• Women being more independent
• Women try harder at education than men

Negative stereotypes:

• Women belonging in the home
• Housewives
• Femme fatale
• Only men could do physical jobs such as mechanics

Changing stereotypes

• Women becoming more independent, active and self reliant
• Women no longer stereotyped as housewives
• Women playing as well and as much as men in sports such as football