The Marginalization of Women in the Media

             I had never before, up until just now, searched through newspapers online for the presence of women, but I was compelled to do so after reading a 2010 article by Liza Gross, called "Invisible in the media."  I was deeply disappointed in what I found and, unfortunately, not at all surprised.  I am very familiar with the image society demands of women.  The only sections of newspapers where I found women were in health sections, fashion and style.  This wasn’t a surprise because these are the stereotypical subjects that women take an interest in, but I was not aware that the media was quite as male dominated as it now appears to be.  I know that when you live in a society that displays a particular image of a particular gender, race or such that it does influence the way people see themselves and the people depicted in those images.   Women, just like any other group, should be equally represented in the media; our contributions, our lives and our true images should be a part of what the world considers news.  I think when a peoples contribution is absent from dominant forms of media in their country it is diminishing.  It lessens their identity which is why women often times seek out other forms of media whether it be female authors, magazines geared toward women or other such forms of media that focus deeper on women’s issues and images.    

If we truly value equal rights then we should value the equal representation of all people of our country in our news media.  Seeing female contributions and successes are empowering not only to women, but humankind.  If all people in society were presented with the image of powerful women making a difference in the world rather than given the spotlight for their bikini bodies, then maybe, generally speaking, our society would learn to value a woman for more than her “T” and “A.”  If media stations policies enforced a more balanced approach to the material they deliver than maybe we as a society would have a more well-rounded view on how this world really works, who contributes to its success and who is being done an injustice to, whether it be women or otherwise.  

References

Gross, Liza. (2010). Invisible in the media. The UN Chronicle, Retrieved from

http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/