Evolving the Concept of Gender Identity - Essay Example

Introduction: The concept of gender identity can only be formed within society because it reflects social expectations and beliefs regarding gender roles in certain historical period. Several centuries ago women were expected to get married early and concentrate totally on housekeeping, family, and religion. Women were regarded as opposite to men, less intelligent and incapable to be in charge of themselves. They were not allowed to own property, vote on elections, and hold leading positions. Fortunately, the development of civilization and democratization of society resulted in women becoming more equal and free from many humiliating stereotypes. After a famous quote of Simona de Beauvoir “one is not born a woman, but rather becomes, a woman” feminists directed their critique to traditional women`s subordination to men which was built upon structuralists` theories and biological determinism (Beauvoir, 2011). Since then the discussions about sex as of cultural construct do not cease. It seems that it is impossible to argue with a nature which divided men and women with the help of different chromosomes: XX for female and XY for male. Scientific proof that female and male genders are conditioned and not as opposite as it seemed came with the research data from hormones study: it was revealed that both male and female contain hormones of both sexes Judith Butler, another important feminist writer, gave a new impact to feminism studies with her book “Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity”. Butler linked identity formation to social discourses and claimed that as long as authorities and regimes influence discourses formation the categories of sex and gender cannot be natural and essential to the full extent (Butler, 1999). She also emphasized the power of media in its ability to control, regulate, shape, and define gender identity. And it does sound reasonable. Media serves as the most powerful, all-encompassing, and complicated factor influencing social discourses created directly, supported and regulated by regimes. In other words media defines what we are talking about, how we are talking about it, and what we want eventually. Media shapes our tastes, perceptions, opinions by shifting placing accents on some things and bringing to attention other things. Media is impossible to avoid: in order to be up-to-date and timely a person must trace the events that unfold so fast around him to react properly. So the power of media is well-known to anybody and was undisputable before the appearance of the Internet for sure but it is difficult to deny that today people feel the most serious pressure because of the media (Ross, 2010). Probably it is connected with the variety of media they are subjected to: printed media, Television with its intrusive and irritating advertisement, and the Internet for sure along with incredible innovation called social media. Another thing is the power of media in shaping the image of women. It is noteworthy that today feminine gender identity has become more versatile, more profound, and complicated. Despite some stereotypical representation claiming that men should be brave, heroic, and powerful, the representation of women has been evolving through centuries. Nowadays women do not need to be literally on the background of men and can calculate on respect and equality. Women today can be the bosses of big companies, combine career with family responsibilities, and be independent from social opinion. Women became more or less free form religious and social preconceptions but there appeared a new powerful factor that started shaping gender identity in the twenty first century. Research Problem: Unfortunately, such liberty has led to a new problem of depiction of women in media- the image of a woman has become excessively sexual and glamorous. It is possible to say that having gained long awaited freedom women have turned to beautiful objects in media, and women beauty has become an item of goods. One of the problems faced in young women today is their perception of themselves. These perceptions are shaped through a variety of factors, such as, upbringing, religion, family values, personal experiences, and the media. However, as stated before, the youth spends a substantial amount of time utilizing and consuming media and its messages. Today many times the media tends to distort its messages to shape its consumers views for their benefit. Often times it is said that sex sells and producers should focus on this theory regardless of what they are selling. For instance, trying to sell a car? Grab a slim model with ridiculously large breasts, put her in a bathing-suit and heals and have her sit on the hood of the car you are trying to sell, with her legs open, while she presses her breasts together and seductively looks at the camera. Sadly, this is the truth of the media and by which consumers live by. So if you want to attract the audience to a new product you only need a slim model with perfect makeup and hair who will look like a doll ready to perform any tasks given to her. Such stereotypization and objectification of women has led to the appearance of distorted image of a woman which influences real women in real life enormously. The message created by media is saturated emotionally and psychologically that is why it is perceived easily. Moreover, the power of media lies in the fact that it supports its message with visual image. In other words a person does not need to picture anything in his head: he receives a wholesome ready-made product and his task is to decode it only (Bale, 2008). Most images of women in media are so simple, superficial, and flat that they do not even require decoding: when the accent is made on body and appearance who is going to dig deep in search of something more profound and sophisticated? Purpose of the Research: So it is clear that directly and indirectly, consciously and subconsciously the message is consumed by the audience but in the research I would stop on the peculiar audience-college girls from eighteen to twenty five due to their fine sensibility and the peculiarities of psychological development. Older women are more psychologically stable and resistant to different stressors. In most cases they have found their place in life no matter what it is: a career, a family, or a combination of both. For younger girls whose identity is not yet coherent and who are in the active process of becoming individuality such impact of media can be really devastating and dangerous. According to Erikson, an influential psychologist in the sphere of human psychosocial development, a person can form successful relationships only if he/she has elaborated a sense of identity (Erikson, 2007). And college is the time for the search of many: students try themselves in different projects, play different roles, create their first socially influential relationships with others. For college girls this is the time which helps to construct their perception of femininity: the influence of family, upbringing, religion is not as active as before and society and media take their place. In a search for the answers young women are prone to address to media intentionally or not, trying to figure out how a real woman must look like. Unfortunately, the message they receive regarding womanhood from media is disturbing, depressing, and absolutely inaccurate. It is thus possible to hypothesize that media has the power to reshape the views and beliefs of its audience. If the ideal perception of the woman was adjusted to a more realistic approach, there would not be as many young women struggling with low self-esteem or depression issues. Variables: The dependent variable in this study is a positive increase in women`s self-esteem and a decline in mental illness, such as depression. The independent variable is a more realistic and obtainable portrayal of women in the media. Null Hypothesis: The portrayal of women in the media does not result in young women`s self-esteem issues or in the development of mental illness, such as depression Literature Review Printed media was the first and it still holds its place on the market, however the topics and the portrayal of women have evolved. Even a brief look in one of fashion magazines helps to realize that young and inexperienced women are subjected to a more serious pressure today because of the image of a “perfect woman”. Today a woman portrayed by media is unreachable for most women living on the planet due to this or that characteristic feature. The ideal woman is white enormously sexy with ultra-slim, teenage figure, perfect long hair, shiny skin and professional makeup (Lin & Kulik, 2002). The accent is made on appearance which is defined as the key to success: before you even open any glossy magazine you realize that to appear on the cover of it you need to be fit all these criteria. The models in fashion magazines are intentionally unrealistic and unreachable: they seem to be weightless, ephemeral creatures. Printed media has made it clear that thinness is almost equal to sexual attractiveness and all the women who fall out of the category S size do not have any chances to count on the attention of men (Dittmar & Howard, 2004). The gap between ultra-thin models and normal sizes of ordinary women is so huge that regularly comparison becomes unavoidable. The most serious is the fact that printed media has made it a norm which means that it has managed to impose those unrealistic standards to all women of all classes and all nationalities. Hollywood starts whose beauty is far from natural- with multiple plastic surgeries and crowds of stylists and hairdressers tell women how they must look, what they must wear, how they must smell. For college girls being exposed to such an extreme variant of beauty is very stressful. Comparing themselves in the mirrors and finding all the flaws of their figures and complexions young women have very limited choice: either get depressed and develop a low self-esteem unable to reach the ideal o get obsessed with perfect look, perfect skin, perfect figure and start following all the rules described in the glossy magazines and buying all the products advertised on its pages. The problem of anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders has become alarming among teenagers and young adults. According to State, though perfectionism can be directly linked to eating dysfunctions in young women. The author states that social pressure and idealization of thin body are serious though indirect risk factors in cases of eating disorders. However, it is hardly possible to regard this factor as casual because it is impossible to measure exactly to what extent it influences eating dysfunction in women. However, when treating young patients from bulimia and anorexia doctors now prescribe psychotherapy which would allow restoring self-esteem and acquiring right perception of human body (State, 2002). According to Stice et al., the women who were frequent readers of fashion magazines showed substantially higher level of depression and were more prone to feel stress, shame for their body, guilt for being imperfect. This all resulted in numerous ad frequent eating disorders and pathologies (1994). Music videos can also be a problem of concern for many young women: it is impossible to see a woman beyond twenty five and larger than medium size in one of those music videos broadcasted on all the music channels. The women portrayed in music videos are attractive, sexy, and free. They eagerly demonstrate their bodies in mini dresses and swimming suits while for most women showing their bodies is an intimate process. In reality young women of college age only start appreciating and learning about their body while media sends them a message they must be sex appealing and seductive (Tiggemann & Slater, 2003). Thus, media teaches young women that it is normal to expose a body to the public. And the basis for developing depression, low self-esteem is constant comparison of one`s imperfect body to the ideal depicted in the media. Milkie writes that for a young woman leading an active social life it is impossible to pass the day without witnessing perfect bodies in media and receiving one clear message: “you are not beautiful enough”. Probably when interpreting this message occasionally nothing looks much disturbing but media literally bombards women with these images and messages so they cannot avoid or neglect them (1999). Then after everyday watching women on the screen and in magazine girls get used to comparing themselves to the “ideal women” and start feeling dissatisfied and hollow as they cannot reach the same results of attractiveness. It is clear that shame and guilt for being “not good enough” is the core to depression . Moreover, media is constantly narrowing the sphere of the interests of women. Describing women`s problems, dreams, occupations, concerns media makes it clear that women are limited and superficial. Most TV shows, series, magazines depicting women state that the ambitions of women do not go beyond finding a partner (attracting a man with one`s beauty) and starting a family. The most frequent topics for discussion and analysis on media are sex, children upbringing, relationships with men, kitchen, and appearance. Thus, the media suggests that as the goals of women are so down-to-earth then their main occupation must be their own good looks. The problem of women portrait in films ad series was raised by Bechdel who noticed that despite obvious democratization of society most media products remain biased when women are involved. In her research it turned out that only 10 % of all films and series can pass a simple test which consists of three points: 1. There are two women in a film; 2. They have a dialogue; 3. The subject of a dialogue is other than men (Bechdel, 1987). To sum up it is possible to say that despite long and substantial struggle for equality women today remain in the shadow of men. It is well-known fact that does not require additional profs that it is social discourse that shapes the perception of gender. If earlier women were expected to be decent mothers and housewives, today the accent has been shifted to appearance. The image of a woman created by media has become very flat and superficial with the appearance of the phenomenon of “ideal woman”. Each single gloss magazine, TV show, music video demonstrates clearly how this perfect woman should look like: thin, ultra-slim, white, with perfect hair and make-up reminding of a doll. Inability of young women studying in college to avoid those messages sent by media and those images imposed by it as well results in constant comparison and dissatisfaction with personal image. Women are taught that in order to be liked and appreciated they have to fit the criteria of perfection. In the same time the scope of topics covered by the media ends on family, marriage, and appearance. Thus the depiction of women from the perspective of men and in relation to men makes feminine gender limited in expression of individuality. It results in young women feeling stressed, depressed, angry, anxious, shameful of their own looks. These feeling often lead to low self-esteem, chronic depression and eating disorders as a result. Thus, media being the most powerful factor creating social discourses is responsible for creating distorted and unrealistic narratives about women which cause psychological problems for many young women. References Bale, J. (2008). Media Representations of Female Body Images in Womens Magazines: A Content Analysis of Media, Indiana: Lightning Source Beauvoir, S. (2011). The Second Sex. Chicago: Vintage Edition. Butler, J. (1999). Gender Identity. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routlege Dittmar, H., & Howard, S. (2004). Professional hazards? The impact of models body size on advertising effectiveness and womens body-focused anxiety in professions that do and do not emphasize the cultural ideal of thinness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 43(4), 477-497. Erikson, E. (2007). Stages of Development. Learning Theories. Retrieved from: http://www.learning-theories.com/eriksons-stages-of-development.html Lin, L. F., & Kulik, J. A. (2002). Social comparison and womens body satisfaction. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 24(2), 115-123. Milkie, M. A. (1999). Social comparisons, reflected appraisals, and mass media: The impact of pervasive beauty images on black and white girls self concepts. Social Psychology Quarterly, 62(2), 190-210 Ross, K. (2010). Gendered Media: Women, Men, and Identity Politics, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. State, E. (2002). Risk and Maintenance Factors for Eating Pathology. A Meta-Analytic Review, Psychological Bulletin, 128(5), 825-848. Stice, E., Schupak-Neuberg, E., Shaw, H. E., & Stein, R. I. (1994). Relation of media exposure to eating disorder symptomatology: An examination of mediating mechanisms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103(4), 836-840. Read More