Emerging Women

From the Campaign for Gender Equality, written by Ann J. Simonton, Founder and Coordinator of the educational non-profit, Media Watch.

Back in the 70′s the United Nations reported that advertising images of women presented a major stumbling block to their advancement. Today the U.N. continues to report that “the roots of violence to women lie in unequal power relations and the persistent discrimination against women.”

In my university lectures I ask audiences to imagine what it might be like if females were portrayed within the public sphere as fully clothed, diverse, respected contributors to the betterment of society rather than as the ever popular barely clothed, anorexic teen, spread-eagle on a floor staring wide-eyed at the camera seeking approval? I also attempt to help people see the big picture, which can illustrate the huge disconnect between popular image of females depicted within the white, male-dominated corporate media and the global reality of women’s arduous road toward equality, including a right not to be sexually violated and silenced.

The biggest key to getting these rights in our culture is education. Unfortunately the commercial media bombards us with falsehoods that counter education. After a steady diet of Fox News, Gossip Girls, Family Guy and Cathouse, one might easily conclude that women are not exploited – in fact, in many ways, they have it better than men! Women in the media are forever thin and youthful; she is a beauty addict, a lazy welfare queen, a sexualized child, a manipulative bitch, and she will trick men into marriage using her sexuality. Media stories highlight paid escorts and strippers who love their jobs and the prostitute’s image is then imitated by iconic celebrities who appear in film, music videos and advertising. These popular media stories reinforce the status quo, and offer little or no coverage of how this public hatred impacts every woman.

It can be argued males don’t look so good in mainstream media either. But men in the media continue to outnumber women two to one, they can grow old without extraordinary surgical intervention, and they remain the voice and face of authority. Rarely are women in the media seen as a legitimate authority. And, as Clinton’s run for presidency showed us, if she dares to lead, she will be reduced to a whining horror in a pantsuit.

The Power of an Image

Are we waiting for the scientific community to stand in their crisp white lab coats holding clipboards to tell us we are in trouble? It won’t happen. It is very difficult to prove that a person viewing a violent movie or image will predictably and repeatedly behave a certain way. But let’s ask President Obama, who is currently barring images of detainee abuse which include rape and torture. Obama claims that releasing the photos, “would pose an unacceptable risk of danger to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.” So the government clearly believes that images of one group humiliating and harming another group will incite the enemy and likely cause an “unacceptable risk of danger.” In another example from Catharine Mackinnon’s book, Are Women Human?, we find that during the “international criminal tribunal for Rwanda . . . three media leaders were found guilty of genocide and persecution for broadcasts and publications that impelled the killing of Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The point of the ruling was not to find the negative and hateful statements but to prohibit what was done to people as a result of them. Cartoons that sexualized the hate and fear of Tutsi women were linked to their mass rape.”

We do know, after years and volumes of work on the effects of violent media, that the most dangerous type of violent media is when it is realistic, justified, attractive, and/or where acts of violence receive no negative consequence. Continual consumption of violent content over time teaches everyone, including small children, that violence is an accepted way to solve problems. We also know violence in the media increases the risk of viewers behaving aggressively, which is only one of several dozen documentable negative effects. Media studies also confirm that witnessing repeated violent acts can lead to desensitization and a lack of empathy for human suffering. Mainstream media creates the dominant narrative on how violence against women is perceived and how bad this violence can be when it is used as entertainment. A recent study of the Parents Television Council found that in the past 4 years mainstream network television has seen an alarming 120% increase in depictions of violence to women and girls.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The media is filled with realistic, justified, and attractive images of women’s violation -
which is promoted as a source of sexual arousal for men. A recent content analysis of 50 best-selling adult videos (Wosnitzer & Bridges, 2007) revealed that over 88% of the 304 scenes analyzed showed physical aggression. Seventy percent of the aggressive acts were perpetrated by men. Women were overwhelmingly portrayed as the victims of aggression: 87% of acts were committed against women. By far the most common responses that victims expressed when they were being treated aggressively were either pleasure or neutrality. Less than 5% of the aggressive acts provoked a negative response from the victim; they neither fought back nor requested that the action be stopped. So here we have in a nutshell a combination of the most dangerous types of violent media bound together in a seductive delivery system, available free and anonymous online to everyone 24/7. Unfortunately, this is largely met with silence and inactivity on the part of well-meaning parents and teachers.

Commercial news programs provide little or no context as a results of the harm being done to women and children. News stories of women and girls being murdered and raped are hardly surprising. When a man murders his whole family, the news media often depicts him as the distraught father who lost his job, a quiet neighbor – rather than focusing on the life and dreams of those he kills. The media needs to be reminded that violence to women is a choice men make. Men are taking action, men are committing the crime. Instead we read passively phrased headlines, such as “Woman Raped”, “Woman Attacked” – as if the person who actively committed the crime is irrelevant; why not “Man Rapes” or “Man Attacks”? This small change would be profound.

We Have Work To Do

We could begin with a modest goal – that say 50% of the images that surround us depict diverse women of every race, age, ethnicity, size and economic background, women who stand on their own two feet with a focus on the work they do. Essentially our goal is a realistic portrait of the extraordinary working women in the world today, where none pose for viewer approval.

We aren’t arguing whether an individual has the right to view teens splayed out selling frivolous clothing from Ralph Lauren. We hope to reframe the discussion into a human rights issue and a public health issue. Imagine if we were still arguing about cigarettes from the standpoint of an individual’s right to smoke if they choose to. Of course they do, yet we also have a right to know the impact of those cigarettes on our health and the health of our community. Women are being shoved against a wall – and if we cannot end the pervasive hate speech, we must at the very least flood the wall with images of women’s true value and worth.

For action steps click here.