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Gabriella Marino
Professor Ogbara
English 101
December 15, y

The Injustice in Media Coverage

Gender inequality has been an on-going problem for a very long time. When comparing
to past centuries, many would say that the need for feminism is no longer necessary due to the
progress in womens rights. The inequality between genders is unfortunately still existent. I chose
to study, research, and discuss this topic because I can relate to it easily and also I see this
specific problem multiple times in my everyday life. The purpose of this study is to answer the
question, why are women poorly portrayed, bashed, and degraded in the media and specifically
social media? In the media, women are commonly discussed as objects and the focus is always
on the appearance of the women. Not only do men receive more coverage in the media but they
also are portrayed more as assets pertaining to whatever title they have. Not only is the gender
bias existent in America but around the world as well. This prime example of women being
mistreated displays the double standard that is very much relevant today due to the continuation
of inequality in our society that many deny. Of course, where we stand with gender inequality
now is more progressive than the fictional examples that Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Perkins
Gilman created in their stories. But Shakespeares Sister and The Yellow Wallpaper served a
purpose than but an even more significant purpose now, and that purpose is to realize the unjust
treatment of women compared to men. Not just to discover how far womens rights have come
but how much more we can achieve in gender equality with feminism in the picture. In conclu

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sion, the media needs to change its ways and portray women the same as men are portrayed
because not only can it negatively affect the people being covered but also the audience as well.
It will only benefit rather than hurt its audience once the media switches its perspective to a more
gender equal point of view. Feminism will always be necessary, with out feminism, gender
inequality will be restricted from progressing and gender equality will eventually cease to exist.
One of the main focus is the way female athletes are poorly displayed in the media. Not
only do they receive less coverage than men but it shows women in a completely different light
than men. On Science 2.0, the topic of the irrelevant points discussed towards female athletes in
the media such as what attention they get focuses more on attire, or how attractive, sexy or
ladylike they are Due to the over sexualization of women in the past centuries over time it
becomes normal to always pinpoint anything related to looks when women are talked about.
These topics disregard the actual and more worth mentioning accomplishment and achievements
women make. Also, this leads other women and younger girls to believe that this is the sole
purpose of females. Not only are women now taking on roles commonly controlled by men, we
can have the chance of excelling on those roles as well. Debra Spra discusses this on
newsweek.com and gives the statistic that shows how much women have measured up to men

over time; Professional-minded women are marrying later or not at all, often working more, and
earning more, than the men in their lives. (Spra). Through many and any statistics, one can find
that women are able to do what men can, but we are not at all receiving the same amount of
recognition. This is why many believe that women are incapable of what men take on, leading
many to think that men are superior to women which is not the case. To further explain, men are

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portrayed as greater than women in the media. Men are usually described with words that carry a
positive

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connotation while women are usually given similar description but with negative connotations.
For example, the in the work force a women boss who encourages her employees to get their
work done she is seen and demanding and bitchy. If a man was switched with the women boss
position he would be seen as driven and hardworking.
This is a problem and it can hold many bad affects with it especially in our society of the
body imaged crazed culture. It is discussed in Media and Gender: The Influences the Views on
Media of Gender by Julia T. Wood: Because media pervade our lives, the ways they
misrepresent genders may distort how we see our- selves and what we perceive as normal and
desirable for men and women. (Wood ). Women thinking they are only good enough for sexual
desires leads them to believe that nothing else they achieve it worth the while. Women will then
begin to only focus on their images with anything related to the norm for beautiful people and
then not be able to follow their real dreams.
The scholarly article in which I found in my research that I chose to analog and review is
from an edu website. The article is titled Gender Discrimination in Media from academia.edu.
This article gives some information on how Pakistani women are portrayed in the media and the
influence that portrayal has on women. The injustice lies within the gender bias that social media
and just the media itself chooses to cover. This injustice has been an ongoing problem that can be
fixed with feminism.
This article focuses on how women are portrayed in the media. Also, the media can have
a very important impact in women's empowerment but uses its power otherwise. Specifically in
Pakistan, women are given hints as to what and where their place is. The position women are
given is in their home, being submissive, dependent, and by being a housewife. In result, people

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see the most important assets of women being sex objects and their physical beauty. An
example given by this article is that "...they are either testing a new detergent or frying kebabs..."
which gives societies the ideas that this is the main purpose for women, therefore, negatively
effecting the self-esteem of women.
The writer also gives a number on statistics from their own research study "Portrayal of
Women in the Media in Pakistan" by Simorgh. The number of statistics given compares the
coverage men and women receive in the media. Not only is the coverage between men and
women show in the media compared but also the positions of the genders and how they are both
portrayed as well. These statistics show that women are degraded and shown as inferior to men
when it comes to the media. Men are unfairly praised and women are bashed for all that they do
wrong. This sets gender stereotypes in the Pakistan society, which lead men and women to
follow these roles that are set. Virginia Woolf also gives a good explanation in a Room of Ones
Iwn if when people talk about women. One can only give ones audience the chance of drawing
their own conclusions as they observe the limitations, the prejudices, the idiosyncrasies of the
speaker. People like to believe what they want, which is also related to what they see. Men
especially because they mostly believe that ignoring the sexism in the world only because they
like to feel in charge which it comes to women.
The writer definitely covered the main topics I am achieving to cover in my research
essay. Not only did the author discuss the main topics I am attempting to cover regarding the
gender biases in the media against women today, but also they discuss this problem with
Pakistani women. The sorting of main points and naming of problems in a list that the author
creates helps the readers pick out the important information the author will discuss. The author
does lack

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in detail and amount of examples in how Pakistani women are discriminated against in
the media. Another weakness the author has in their article is the grammatical errors that can
confuse the readers and in addition, confused me while trying to interpret. Lastly, another
weakness the author has are a number of sentence being repeated leading some points to
becoming redundant instead of emphasizing.
This critical review on Gender Discrimination in Media posted by Zara Hayat Khan has
been evaluated. The author brings authenticity to their research by including Pakistani women
and media, which still relates to general gender biases in the media
today. Although this article is impaired by the grammatical errors along with its redundancies it
still present proper information. This information will allow me to construct a proper research
paper on gender biases in the media against women.
This research truly opened my eyes more to the realities of mistreatment that I and most
likely others never seem to notice and or consider. Gender inequality in general but specifically
in the media is very prominent and is having short and long term effects on not only women but
men as well. Not only does it effect women but it effects the innovation and success of our
society as a whole. If feminism is not advised our work can be restricted and lead to a downfall
of a achievement.