Introduction
The representation of women in the popular culture remains to be stereotyped by the naïve, sentimental, and domesticated women. It is through the media, which this issue continues to be propagated. There are several individuals and places focused on research on feminism publicizing both the positive and the negative gender disparities that are encountered daily. The resilient applauses me, hard working ladies who have undertaken significant influences through history to offer women the opportunities enjoyed in the contemporary society. Though many social revolutions have occurred, women still bear among them motifs rather than of individuals, still derided instead of promoted. Women, in short, have representational issues.
The essay will focus on discussing the stereotypes that the media and popular culture label upon women, which is exceedingly irritating. To do this, attention will be given to the obligations that are impacting on the women’s social and commercial image. In light of this, the discussion will be based on the assertions of the Republican candidate, Donald Trump to the TV host Megyn Kelly, which took place a few months ago. This event instigated a lot of fuss in the media and, personally, it gave me a feminist outlook on what the women undergo in their lives, especially in the mainstream media.
Feminism as it Stands
It is an unfortunate platitude that women’s representation remains problematic. However, most who can identify that there is a problem which tends to remain quiet when asked about what the problem is, for fear that they have been contributing to it. Though there are many theories that attempt to pose what this problem precisely is, there will be a precise focus here. Regarding the representation of women, the fundamental issue is the set of expectations that society and the media hold which are promoted continuously by programmatic representation. Women as news anchors, women as actresses, women as characters, are all focused on the fact that they exist in a man’s world, about the male characters. Indeed, for several years, the representations and notions of women have been posed as coming into existence only in their relation to man, the proverbial extension of the rib that is shared from Adam to a woman in the book Genesis (8).
Regardless of such negative representation and perceptions of the women, there are some cases where the ladies have come out strong and eminent to counter the view posed by their existence. In the article, Girls to the Front, the author notes how the ladies in a school stood up for themselves in instances of harassment. In the same work, it is disturbing to learn how there is no good and sufficient support for the women in the society and the continual discrimination and disregard labeled upon the women. From an interaction with a young lady, the author notes, “I felt helpless not as a result of having a weak personality, but due to the fact of existing in a place where girls were drained of power (7).”
Despite the increase in the number of the professional women in the last two decades, a lot of the mainstream media coverage prevails to give men the credit that they are the best in the various sectors such as business, politics, and finance. The women are most certain to be portrayed in the stories about accidents, natural phenomenon, or the domestic violence rather than in the stories of their career and expertise in other areas. Strategy is effective only because it invites responses that re-affirm the implicit beliefs of the majority of far right Republicans regarding how modern women view themselves in the world. Such women respond by actually fighting back, and this has already placed them in a negative position
The problem of the bad representation of the ladies cannot be the absolute correction of the ideas we each hold about one another that cause problems for representation;the issue is to trust that individuals do not have a right to their minds but must be regulated for the sake of one group. This can be illustrated in Sara’ article, Girls in the Front, where it is stated that “the men harassed the ladies not because the ladies propagated the harassment, but because the men were inculcated upon this as being acceptable and that the representations and notions of women have been posed as coming into existence only in their relation to man. (9)(4)”Such a belief is socially unbearable and the limit to which the knowledge impacted upon the men is what results to the misrepresentation and mistreatment of the women in the daily lives which are further echoed in the media.
Conversely, it may be reasonable to state that the issue is in eliminating enough of the needless bias that comes along with the representations that are controlled on behalf of women, instead of by women and for women. This is to say, total elimination of bias may not be the victory that women need if their representation continues to be in the hands of people who will continue to structure their media presence in unjustifiable ways. The arguments about exactly what about women’s representation can be obtained in Gwyn’s work.
This study is an investigation of the tropes that direct representations of women in Buffy the vampire slayer, which can serve to exemplify like representations of women as motifs. In the article, Gwyn discusses how Joss Whedon, the show’s creator, uses the fundamental mission of the show as the ‘joy of female power (3).’ (40) Such assertion, while, again, initially good may lie beneath a hidden misrepresentation that, when decoded, forbids calling Buffy a feminist show. Banks in her work show Hair Matters, explains how the earlier feminist view regarding the body of the ladies centered on its objectification (1). Currently, however, the feminist researchers have perceived the body of a woman as a framework not only for talking about gender and influence, but have been both scientifically and socially developed in the media.
As a result of this, the acts of a political decoding have to function with possibilities regarding what is and, what is not feminist. Undoubtedly, what is not feminist to taking women as roles instead of as people, and the show instead, attempts perceive women as roles so as to subvert the greater roles pre-supposed in society. It attempts, as Gwyn says, to ‘transcend polarity.’(3)However, despite fantastic representational advances, there are some media situations which show this work to be valid, but far from the most significant in advancing the larger problems of representation. Currently, there is no better example than that of Trump’s exchange with News anchor Megyn Kelly
Donald Trump Vs Megyn Kelly
In this section the essay assess how the Trump scandal serves to demonstrate such problems in the representation of women, not only to serve as an example in the political scene but also to exemplify the overall representational difficulties in other platforms. For months, Trump was the pinnacle of every joke. He encountered every form of ridicule and only shot back responses which served to increase a divide between those who did not care about the truth and supported him, and those who would never support him. The commitment of the former side was further tested in an exchange between Trump and Megyn Kelly. In a debate, anchor Megyn Kelly asked Trump about his previous comments on women, most notable saying they were ‘pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ and even telling one apprentice star she would ‘look fantastic on her knees.’ He has also said that women are ‘fat slobs and disgusting animal,’ he has been noted to treat women around him with a derogatory and sexist manner. Suffice to note, Trump is not a supporter of a better representation of Women in the media.
He continued the exchange, however, alternating between Twitter posts such as: “Wow, “MegynKelly” really bombed tonight. People are going wild on Twitter! Funny to watch. Later in an interview with CNN, Trump said that “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood oozing from her wherever (3).” The obvious insinuation was changed later to him trying to pose that he meant her nose. Such a feud is entirely unnecessary and ought to be unrepresentative of political debate, and more so of Trump. Still, the alternative side was illustrated when the feud was brought down in an additional interview between Kelly and Trump set up by Fox, which was the exact opposite of the image she had come to cultivate since last August of the independent journalist. The New Yorker describes the interview as an “unimportant task, except, perhaps, for individuals watching from one group: Republicans looking for a leverage for how to concede to Donald Trump (3).”
Such utterances by Trump inappropriately show how the image of a woman is depicted as only work as a result of the personality cultivated and embodied by men (Trump) in the society. It exemplifies the problem where women are automatically relegated to a polarized position. Women in the way in which Trump presented it, are not only automatically no longer individuals and serve to be representations of his agenda, but they are also representations of weakness writ large. His strategy is effective only because it invites responses that re-affirm the implicit beliefs of the majority of far right Republicans regarding how modern women view themselves in the world. Such women respond by actually fighting back, and this has already placed them in a negative position. Jackman revelations in the film, Unchartered 4, resonates Donald Trump’s performances in this instance to that of Nathan Drake. Drake has taken the role of a typical person of fortune, a person with adventure in his persona, for whom the pursuit of honor and glory is the only thing he acknowledges(6).
What this exchange serves to establish is not to put down Trump further, but to pose two issues. Firstly, that there is larger and hitherto more tacit representation matters that areinlaid in inferred bias in the exchange between political groups which extend to the pliability of the minds of American people. Such biases should serve to demonstrate where the proverbial battle front is in the representational battle over political identities. Second, that while in many media situations, such as in TV shows, strategies which attempt to fight a role with another role, as with Gwyn’s comments, may be valid, such strategies may be ineffective in political debate (78)(4).
Issue on Strategies with Representation of Women about Trumps Vs Kelly’s Case
The key concern with bias in the representation of women in the media is when such representation acts to further strategies that do not result in the growth of feminism. The Trump fiasco serves to identify this pointless through the exchange itself, and more through the kinds of responses obtained in response to the feud. This, in particular, extended from the bias that is gaining ground in political strategies to attempt to gain a victory by successfully being posed as the victim. Goddu (14), notes “Any media representation of women tends to identify them as the ones who need assistance, or help, even in contemporary media strategies. Such a movement resulted to the independent, strong female character trope, which serves as a good ideal model (3).” However, the dominant association of feminist strategies currently is in a battle between who can most successfully present themselves as the true victim, the truly marginalized.
The position of Megyn Kelly called up demands from various political affiliations to try to reassert what counts as an appropriate political approach. Many called on her to attack Trump, to re-assert her feminist knowledge and awareness through aggressive means. Others called for her to represent herself accurately as the victim, and Trump as the prevalent aggressor. When groups attempt to depict themselves as the victim, they only end up reaffirming similar kinds of political strategies they were attempting to defeat in the first place. Media tropes which are supplied by victimization strategies, then work to advance this same commitment to the victims in the minds of those who bear witness to representations in the media - the public, the general audience.
Not only does the media has an influence on the society, but also bears the current societal norms and the perceptions of the society. With the fact that the media is a powerful medium, it establishes a very firm, resilient and united front in the direction of socialization. As was the Kelly’s case on what the public viewed of her and the expectations, it is true that by the continual presentation of the endless depictions of reality in its content, the media offers experiences. It is from these experiences, which individuals develop the meanings. From the meanings, then some people can use the implications of the episodes from the media to use it against other people. The problem with this is that it resonate greatly with the point that thus, women are used is used as tools to drive political agenda. The media is a crucial platform, and the manner in which the women are represented should be of great and appropriate interest of the society”.
Also, it is clear that Trump and Kelly’s marks how women are very susceptible and have been regarded and dealt with bias in almost all the aspects of life. In Gwyn’s work, Buffy notes, the women have been exposed to various aspects of sexual insults, directly and indirectly. As it is presented, the discovery from Buffy shows the attempt in making sense of a woman’s relationship with men. The discovery is that a woman’s Slayer influences have not been of so much help in coming up with life decisions or in offering protection to a woman from the emotional difficulties (11)(4)”In the life of a lady, it is important that the women should come up with what they stand for, and not what they support. They should be aware that they have rights and not just the rights to work, but also right to education, expression, financial security, and most importantly, the right to have the political authority.
Feminism as presented had experienced a beating. For its survival, it extensively had traded prophetic hopes of an entire change in the culture for a reined-in, sensible attention to access and proportions. Inceptions of more feminist-geared studies have emerged so as to assess and also to theorize the manner in which women have interfered so as to challenge the representation of women in the mainstream media. This is through ways such as developing various types of new media in which the women’s feminist dogmas can exist at the center where both the content formed, and also the process of production poses feminist ideals.
Conclusion
The essay has focused on how the representational problem of women in the media are further troubled by the commitment in doing away with the stereotyping of the victims and the responsive strategies do away with the issue. The Trump Vs Kelly situation presented a recent past case example which serves both to demonstrate failed political response strategies, and the reason why such strategies should be removed and replaced with better ones. Representation of women will continue to exist as tropes, as with all groups that try to get a media presence. It is ineffective to attempt to pose that the problem will be ineffectively disestablishing such tropes, or simply coming up with control of tropes in the hands of those better equipped to give a representation which is not biased. The problem with the media is not the problem of representation;rather it is a problem of representation as it is disseminated among audiences.
Representational methods which fail to disestablish the tacit bias in the audience regarding the strategies will not succeed in either the long run or in the attempts to disestablish the more present enemies represented by Trump. The women have to offer support to their fellows and not be discouraged by the sexist male. There has to be a restructuring of the existing perception of the image of a woman. A person is defined by what he or she stands for and as a result, it takes more than the legislative aspects to bring light into the issue of the bias in the representation of the women, but political inclination and proper social ideals have also to be incorporated. Women still bear among them motifs rather than of individuals, still derided instead of promoted. Women, in short, have representational problems. Forget what the media is presenting about yourself directly and or indirectly, but pay attention in writing your definition on what defines you as a person, not a product.
Works Cited
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Goddu, Jenn. “Powerless, Public-Spirited Women,” Coverage of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, and REAL Women of Canada. Canadian Journal of Communication (1999). Print
Gwyn, Symonds. The Aesthetics of Violence in Contemporary Media. New York: Continuum, 2008. Print .
Sara, Marcus. "Girls to the Front ." The True Story of the Riot Girl Revolution (n.d.): 17. Print .
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Dir. Henry Jackman. Perf. Naughty Dog. 2016.
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Ware, Bruce. "Male and female complementarity and the image of God." The Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Journal, www. cbmw. org/Journal 7 (2002).
