Discussion of GENDER AND DIVERSITY IN MEDIA

As I'm sure we all know, female representation in media used to be very little and in some cases this is still the case. Big blockbuster superhero movies almost all center around a male hero. It's only recently with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel that women are being represented in these huge media giants. Even then, these are two white women and the non-recognition of women of color continues to persist. The second stage, ridicule, is where some women still rest. We're used for jokes and sexual exploitation in media rather than meaningful content. Big Bang Theory uses the stereotype of pretty, dumb, blonde, next door neighbor; often playing this up and ridiculing the character, Penny. Regulation is when women are assimilated into set gender roles. The fourth stage is respect, when women are finally afforded autonomy and respect within media. In some aspects of the media, this has happened but in others it has not. As the documentary showed, diversity starts behind the screen. When more women are producing, writing and directing films and TV shows, we will start to see the change we want to see.

Sample 2:

Finding people like myself in the media has always been a remarkable challenge. To see a girl that was asexual, panromantic, neurodivergent, Autistic - those facets of who I am inside - was impossible. So I tried to settle for something more achievable: a girl that didn't care to sexualize her body, a girl who loved all genders, a girl that was tall but not athletic and sporty, despite her lack of makeup and dresses. Even that was hard. Simply growing up and trying to see me as a character, just as a girl, was hard.

Honestly, I feel as though I cannot name any sort of media that truly has absolutely no women. News, television, movies, and more all seem to have at least one nowadays, which allows us to not be entirely subjected to the non-recognition stage. Ridicule, certainly, still has plenty of examples nowadays. I'm reminded of Suite Life of Zack and Cody, in which there were three main female characters: their mom, Maddie, and London, each of them playing a specific stereotype among girls. Their mother was the witchy older woman with no sexual appeal, there only to complain about men. Maddie was shown to be independent at the cost of conventional beauty and showed how she could be rude or catty. London was the gorgeous ditz who served for the male eye.

Most shows these days, however, have the sides of Regulation and Respect. The Big Bang Theory in its early seasons had only one real female character, and she served only the purpose of the hot girl next door. Dumb, blonde, and busty, there as a love interest. However she had more of a personality and facets to her than other women, and slowly, a few more select women were shown, even though the focus was still mainly on the male stars. On the side of Respect, a show that I still dearly love, Avatar: the Last Airbender, is a wonderful example. The girls in the show represent people of color, they have different personalities and aren't simply love interests, are strong in their own ways and show many sides of who they are. It's shows like this that I spent the most time watching, empowered by the young girls doing amazing things.

I definitely think in regards to gender growing up most programs I had been exposed to were far closer to stage 3 or 4 overall, but that's only considering my own gender, female. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done to properly represent transgender people and nonbinary people, gender nonconformists in general. Today's media mostly shows them in both stage 1 and 2, with very, very few daring to even approach stage 3. That is the side of gender we need to work toward today.