Feminism and Media

Introduction

Feminism is associated with exploring sexual orientation differences and refers to gender roles in the public view being supplemented. Feminism believes in equal rights for men and women. It is a movement that advocates for equal rights and laws for women’s political, social, cultural, and economic rights. It has nothing to do with hating guys. It isn’t about women being better than men. It has nothing to do with avoiding womanliness. Even though research shows that men and women are far more similar than different across many domains, our gender views may cause us to assume that men and women exist in other gendered worlds, producing self-fulfilling prophecies that validate these assumptions.

This study seeks to find the role that the media plays in our gendered views and experiences. This research aimed to see how much social networking sites had influenced people’s perceptions of the feminist movement. Gender inequalities are most pronounced in media representation and content, and, in particular, exposure patterns are partially due to gender-typed material. To comprehend how the media affects women, it is necessary first to learn about systemic gender disparities in media content and any gender inequalities in media quality and quantity.

A literature review

The feminist movement has progressed through many phases, three to be precise. Each stage, known as “waves” in academia, has its history and distinguishing characteristics. In the past and now, the media played a part in the movement. Charles Fourier originated the term “feminist” in 1837, according to Beecher (1990). Three waves of feminism developed it and supplied the elements necessary for equality to triumph. The first wave, which spanned the nineteenth and early twentieth century, focused on social and economic equality. It included fights for women’s voting rights and social equality. In 1960, the slogan “To End Patriarchy” launched the second wave of feminism. Women got more involved in their schooling, divorce rights, and professional options. In 1990, the third wave of feminism began with themes of gender violence and the oppression of women.

Methodology

The qualitative approach was used in this investigation. The data was gathered via focus group talks, online textual analysis, and critical journal reviews, among other means of data collection. These three methodologies would enable the researcher to triangulate their data and come to accurate conclusions from the investigation.

Discussion

Feminism and the media have always had a strong connection, and this is no exception. The movement would not be where it is now if it had not had access to the media. Without the media, political and social advancements for women would have been challenging to accomplish. As social media becomes more popular, more viewpoints become available to the broader population. This allows for fresh ideas and tactics to fight injustice and promote political advancements for women. Because these waves were so huge, they’ve likely triggered the start of a never-ending cycle that will continue to evolve and adapt. Consequently, in general, incidents relating to women’s issues will continue to be covered by the media.

The idea is that the media is more than simply a source of information in this movement. They function as catalysts because they are at the center of the action. For the feminist cause, feminist groups and feminist media span all media, culture, and society. Their sole source of information about the feminist movement and a venue to learn about their own and other people’s circumstances was the media. They are freely available and appear in your “feed” without you having to actively seek them out, even without our consent.

As previously said, the media are becoming more indistinguishable from the public. We absorb information from it without even recognizing it anymore since it is so ubiquitous in our lives nowadays. It is via the work of Bolter and Deuze that we can understand how we get to be content producers without even realizing it. To be sure, the internet has made it so simple to express one’s thoughts by writing articles and videos that it has become ordinary and transparent since we are not accustomed to interacting with them daily. Women in the United Kingdom utilize internet media as a supplementary and vital means of gathering information and feeling empowered by the movement. “Democratic places of visibility, identity development, and discussion,” according to the literature.

Another intriguing conclusion from this survey was that, despite male feminist self-identity being considered contradictory to society’s views of what masculinity should and should not be, an increasing number of males felt comfortable self-identifying as feminists. This was a clear indicator of a cultural reality in which men who are seen to be deviating from dominant male gender norms, or hegemonic masculinity, risk having their masculinity and, by extension, heterosexuality questioned by their peers and society at large. Men’s willingness to identify as feminists is a step in the right direction. Still, with male feminists’ attitudes about feminine conduct remaining, sexist practices may continue to redirect attention away from male feminist self-identity.

References

Evans, E. (2015). The Politics of Third Wave Feminism: Neoliberalism, Intersectionality, and the State in Britain and the US. 1st ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp.19-38; 60-110.

Saeed, A., Yousaf, A., & Alharbi, J. (2017). family and state ownership, internationalization, and corporate board gender diversity. Cross-Cultural & Strategic Management.

TARROW, S. (2019). Power in movement: Collective action, social activities, and politics. 2nd ed. New York: Cornell University.

Ullah, H., Khan, A. N., Khan, H. N., & Ibrahim, A. (2016). Gender representation in Pakistani print media-a critical analysis. Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies, 12, 53- 70.

Ullah, S., Akhtar, P., & Zaefarian, G. (2018). Dealing with endogeneity bias: The generalized method of moments (GMM) for panel data. Industrial Marketing Management, 71, 69-78.