- The Media- "The main means of mass communication, esp. newspapers, radio, and television, etc. " -The Oxford English Dictionary
- Some types of media can be good! Many people use them to share ideas and to educate. At the same time, media can be negative.
- The media has a negative impact on self-esteem. On TV you see Victoria’s Secret models who look "perfect". The female viewers who can’t see the computer retouching and extensive use of Photoshop want to be like the women that they see posing in their undies. Many take drastic action to look like them.
- Tell a little girl that she is beautiful, and she will undoubtedly say, "I know". After she grows up to see what society deems as beautiful, she'll argue with you about it. In “An Intervention for the Negative Influence of Media on Body Esteem," Haas, et al., use a quote from Cash and Henry, “Research has shown that media exposure to unattainable physical perfection is detrimental to people, especially women, and the detrimental effects are currently more the rule than the exception" (405).
- Showing women an “ideal body”, which is impossible to ever have, is just bad.
- Some women rely on insane work out regimens, eating virtually nothing, and using pounds of makeup. With guys drooling over these women, how could we not envy them?
- When a woman’s self-esteem is little to none, any bit of attention seems huge. When a man is coming on forcefully to a woman who feels insignificant, she may welcome it at first because a man things she is attractive. After the initial feelings pass, she may regret showing interest. Some men may think they are doing these women a favor by raping them. They don’t see their victim as a victim but as a charity case or an easy lay. Because of her initial interest in the man, it will be more difficult for her to prove that it was rape to the police.
- In “Rape in the Media," Kitzinger says, “anything short of stabbing or murder may not be recognized as force" (84-5). She is right, and this is a major problem.
- Next, game creators, directors, and playwrights are focusing in on the abuse and rape of women and using them as subjects for their products. For example, Grand Theft Auto is a popular video game where you steal cars trying to complete missions and reach check points. In the game, you can rape and beat women.
- In “Violence Against Women in Video Games," Beck, et al., include that “a video game depicting sexual objectification of women and violence against women resulted in a statistically significant increase in rape myth acceptance" (3016). They support the idea that the more objectified women are in video games, the more likely they are to be objectified in real life.
- In “Positive Female Role-Models Eliminate Negative Effects of Sexually Violent Media," Ferguson discusses the way that games such as Grand Theft Auto contribute to rape culture. He states, “One potential issue in previous literature is that depictions of sexuality and violence were confounded with subordinate depictions of female characters" (888). The article goes on to say that men who viewed sexually violent media thought negatively of the female victim portrayed only if she was subordinate, suggesting that dominant females were more likely to be respected.
- These feelings toward “subordinate females” translate into real life for some men. In her article, “Why Crime Dramas are Hooked on Rape," Crampton focuses on TV shows and the way that violence and female body mutilation may lead to the idea that rape is okay. She tells her audience that “many crime dramas, but particularly the U. S. procedurals such as the NCIS and CSI franchises, seem to find it hard to get through a 60-minute episode without making reference to at least one mutilated female corpse" (Crampton 19).
- While sexually violent media has proven to be powerful, even more powerful may be positive female role models. Instead of seeing corpses of women who were subordinate or raped as part of a game, strong females in the media could use themselves as examples to try and change this.
- In his short article, Tarshis explains that rape is a hate crime against women. If female role models began to use their media-given power to shift the view of women, then the hate crime that is rape should theoretically reduce dramatically as men begin to view women positively and less like toys meant to be played with.
- For example, Michelle Obama is in a position of leadership and could gain an abundance of followers. If she and others like her were to step up and speak out against rape culture, we could reduce the prevalence of rape dramatically.
- Scenes depicting the rape and murder of women should be exponentially reduced in the media. Crampton asks, “Was the rape necessary to the twists and turns of the murder investigation that follows? Why isn't her violent death alone sensational enough?" (19) The media can have their murder dramas and their multitude of viewers without depicting the rape of a woman. So, why don’t they?
- Why don't we ever see a male being raped? The writers from The Good Men project explore the case of a 16 year old high school student who had a threesome with two adult female teachers. They say that men who can’t handle themselves with women or men who can't handle difficult situations alone are “bitches” in the eyes of society. The author offers this, “Our society says he’s supposed to be a real man, and real men aren't allowed to be vulnerable, scared, confused, weak, or taken advantage of. Ever." (Blades).
- Women who are independent can still be raped but men who are societal “bitches” cannot be. In a dissertation on Pandys.org, the author says that rape in television and movies serves to "keep women in check and ensure that they don't stray too far from the confines of femininity, because they know what their punishment could be" (396). This is sick and sending a very negative message to both genders.
- Millions of people have some form of social media account: Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, or any other. Social media is becoming a way to instantly degrade women. As sexting becomes a “thing”, men gain more and more power over their female counterparts.
- For example, a woman sends a man a picture of her naked body, he saves it on his phone, they fight later, he posts it online to get back at her, and she becomes fair game for all other males to laugh at, make fun of, and even take advantage of. Companies look for this kind of thing to profit off of. These types of sites are called “revenge porn sites." They take the picture and post it to a website which is shared with the world. In order to remove that picture, the woman must pay real cash. After it is removed off of that site, however, another site buys it from the first. And get this. No one can do anything about it because it's not illegal.
- Women set themselves to impossible standards set by the media and even go so far as to harm themselves to reach them. Being like the women which are so popular among men is so important to them that they are stifling parts of themselves in order to be accepted. This thought process aids in the perpetuation of rape culture.
- Positive, and realistic, female role models may be able to reverse the damage that has been done to the psyche of females across the world.
- I believe that if the media were to stop portraying women negatively, the problem of rape culture may resolve itself over time. If we can put a stop to the negative portrayal of women, then we can slow the progression of rape culture.
- As the audience, we have the power to tell the producers that enough is enough and we don’t want to see this type of thing anymore. Profiting off of the downfall of women is not something we should accept, and as consumers, we should start communicating how we feel.