Gender constuction
Everyone’s life is affected by gender construction. This is the belief that knowledge is determined by society, and in turn knowledge is formed by the individuals that belong to the society. When an individual thinks of doctors, lawyers, engineers, or managers they usually picture males; while nurses, teachers, and housewives are most often portrayed as female professions in our society. This is a social constructionist thought on what role a male or a female should play in today’s society. These may not be the professions of choice for the individuals, but rather what the individual believes is socially acceptable. People begin to learn what is right and wrong from the earliest of ages. The media contributes to gender construction, as women and men are almost always portrayed in a stereotypical manner. By examining the way the media is presented, one can see the impact of gender construction through out society. The impact that media can apply varies from society to society; this is because each society obliges to a different social construction. In European countries nudity can be shown on television and is perfectly acceptable. For example, in France it is not uncommon for someone to pass by a billboard and see an ad
It is no mystery that advertisements play a major role in influencing anything that is remotely gender construction. It has become almost sub-conscious to us; we hardly even consider the media to be sexist or derogatory. It’s as if we have become immune to it. That’s how is seems anyways. A perfect example of this is through the hundreds of advertisements that we run across everyday in magazines. For instance take the popular men’s magazine Maxim; there are dozens of advertisements for alcohol or clothing featuring provocative pictures of woman in sexually compromising positions. What message does it convey to the magazine’s intended demographic? It conveys the unrealistic message that if you can obtain these products then you can obtain the woman in the advertisements. Another example of this can be seen in advertisements promoting dietary supplements for men. Many of these advertisements fabricate the myth that any consumer can take a pill and achieve results comparable to the men on the covers of “muscle magazines”. vertisement with a naked woman on it and find it perfectly acceptable. In this community the openness towards sexuality is not only acceptable, but is the standard set by the society. In the United States however, displaying sexuality is not acceptable. The American society believes that displaying sexually explicit content influences the viewers into performing “sinful” acts. These acts include anything from using foul language to premarital sex. By comparing the views of these two cultures it is easy to see how knowledge in one society may not be considered knowledge in another society. Each society believes their views are the most acceptable views, because each society is based on a different social construction. Images of men and masculinity have changed
Some topics in this essay:
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GI Joe,
Pizza Hut,
FOX Simpsons,
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Wrestling Entrainment,
gender construction,
“tough guise”,
example seen,
society society,
perfectly acceptable,
scantily clad,
gi joe,
action figures,
terms size,
society believes,
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Approximate Word count = 1219
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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