Gender Representation

In the media there are many representations of certain groups which usually create unfair real life stereotypes for these groups. Some of these groups ,such as men and women, are as a result defend by their stereotypes. Some of these stereotypes for women ,such as a housewife or a sexy object, make it so its really hard for women to get jobs outside these generic roles.

Women in the media

Housewife Stereotype

For the housewife stereotype we looked at an Asda christmas advert. In this advert the wife is being stereotyped as doing all the generic female jobs. She cooks, cleans, looks after the kids and gets stuck with the worst seat at christmas. All of these little task that she does creates an unfair representation of older women. It presents women as being only good for two things: Sex and chores. To emphasise this point, the husband in the relationship usually is presented as useless and not being able to match the mothers skills in chores. This point is further emphasised by the fact that the husband isn't even in the whole advert that much and when he is in the ad he is usually sitting around or not helping the wife. This ad also creates a bad image for the husband in this relationship. When he is involved in some tasks he is usually made to look very clueless and a slacker.

Sex Object

A good example of where this is used most effective is in the music video blurred lines. In the video there are semi naked women walking around. This video is a great example of the sex object stereotype. The lyrics to the song reinforce this stereotype of women as sex objects. The lyrics also highlighted how men are dominant and women are only there for their pleasure. Although this video is highly provocative, there is an uncensored version of this music video where the women are fully naked. This further emphasises the stereotype of sex objects. During the video the women also look blankly into the camera. This emphasises the blank and unexpressive nature of women that is presented.

Men in the media

Alpha Male

The example I will be looking at in the media which shows an example of the alpha male stereotype is a Matthew McConaughey advert. In this advert he is wearing a white shirt and a wedding ring. This is usually used in media to show he is a traditional family man. During the ad there is a point in which the bull and the car are having a stand off. This shot is very similar to a traditional western scene. This emphasises the alpha male stereotype as westerns are usually male dominated. The fact that he is also juxtaposed with a bull shows the dominant and power a man possesses. Also the fact that this bull has a reputation and is known also shows the intensity and dominance of men.

The nerd

I will be looking at the Big Bang theory for this stereotype. Throughout the show the 4 main characters are all presented as a very stereotypical nerd. Not very sporty, smart and enjoying nerdy things like comic books and pop culture. The show also has a deep undertone of sexism and a perverted nature. Each character has these stereotypes linked to him. Most of the characters are shown in this light and are often the subject of a joke.

The Lad

In the Inbetweeners Movie ad all the stereotypes of the lad are expressed. The ad shows one of the characters, Jay, speaking in quite vulgar language. He usually refers to women as either gash or minge. The stereotypes linked with 'the lad' are sex and getting drunk. There is only a couple of times in the ad where a women even speaks. This further emphasises the male lad culture in the fact that they are dominant over women.