Media and gender refers to the influence of media on gender identification. The media creates representations that give a particular picture or model of someone or something. With mass media (such as radio, movies, internet, television), those representations become tangible references in society and this can influence people in many ways including the way in which one views their own gender identity. The representations and references used in the media have a unconscious impact on individuals and the way that they perceive themselves, others around them, specific groups of people, etc. When preconceived ideas match what the media is presenting, this is a stereotype.^[1]

Although theorists have identified multiple reasons as to why the media uses stereotypes, the most obvious reason is that the media is a profitable enterprise, which aims to attract the greatest number of audiences in order to make a profit.^[2][3] Not only is it important to analyze the messages the media is presenting, but also the possible motives behind the portrayals of stereotypes, because usually those motives come from a focus in economics.^[1]A fashion magazine, or any women’s magazine for example, portrays constantly reinforced stereotypes of what woman “should be”.^[1] These perpetuated images and stereotypes that are so prevalent in society are a result of what society expects, as well as what sells.^[1]

Generally speaking, the media provides an image of polarizing, binary genders.^[4]There is Man: masculine, strong, active, and there is Woman: kind, sensitive, passive.^[4] This concept of two binary roles has been identified as problematic because it ignores the fact that there are people who do not identify with either polarity, and excludes individuals who identify somewhere along a spectrum rather than within the two mutually exclusive categories of “man” and “woman”.^[5] The media helps to impact and reinforce the way in which individuals feel they need to look in order to fit into society.^[6] There is a constant stream of images anywhere you look, strong, fit, muscular men; in juxtaposition to tiny, waif-like, large breasted women.^[6] The fact is that this only represents a small percentage of the people all over the world, and when that is all that is shown, it is seen as an ideal.^[6] William Simon regards gender as “possibly the last enduring and universal master aspect of identity, one that has significance in virtually all sectors of social life.”.^[5] This enduring centrality of binary roles has been said to impact our society in damaging and detrimental ways. By using gender to define, explain, and justify polarities (such as active/passive, internal/external, and receptive/intrusive) binaries generate social pressure on individuals to conform to social expectations that may or may not be compatible with their own inner desires and tendencies.^[5] When these traditional idealizations of masculinity and femininity are shown constantly with little to no variation, this makes an impact on viewers in regards to how they react in society.^[7] “...without realizing it, adolescents repeat the expressions and ideas they hear on TV, ask for the products they see advertised on TV, and imitate the celebrities and characters that they see on TV.”. ^[8] French theorist Pierre Bourdieu suggests that this is due to using the biological differences between the sexes and their sex organs as a means of justifying socially constructed ideas of how genders are different.^[9]

In the same way that people are persuaded by the media to be and act a certain way as an individual, the same can be said to occur in relations with others. The media can have just as much of an effect on people in relationships, instilling expectations, and impacting how they come to understand and participate in them.^[5] There is a concern nowadays that the media might be portraying too casual an attitude towards sex and that it negatively effects viewers in their everyday lives and relationships and sexual decision making.^[10] Since 1980 there have been over 32 studies published analyzing connections between certain assumptions about attitudes about sex and the media, in relation to students.^[6] Nearly half of the students chose TV as their main source of research and had casual attitudes towards sex.^[6] To some this may be seen as a negative impact that the media has had on sexuality within society, however there are others who have identified these as positive shifts as well.^[5] In the last three decades, sexual behavior and that way that the public responds to it has begun to change significantly.^[5] Not only has premarital sex gone for being a deviant act to being considered normal, but also marriage itself is no longer considered the only space sexual behavior is considered appropriate. ^[5]Homosexuality as also started to be seen as respectable by the majority of society which is quite a jump.^[5] As well as this, there is an incredible amount of eroticized images of variety and explicitness available to everyone.^[5] This shows a shift in values as well as a shift in acceptance and inclusion.

Throughout the media, women and girls are portrayed in very specific ways in regards to their interests, bodies, sexuality, etc.^[7] There are certain stereotypes that are so pervasive in society that they have started to become a ‘truth’ that society just ‘knows’, such as the dumb blonde trope.^[7] Laura Mulvey takes the position that in the media, women and men are represented as opposing forces. As she states, “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness”.^[4] When women are presented in such a way as to contain only a limited set of attributes or skills, viewers are left no choice but to make the assumption about the sexes in real life.^[6]

In a study known as Face-ism done by researchers in 1983 by Archer et al, men and woman were analyzed in a variety of visual media. It was noted that there was a very obvious difference in the way that women and men were perceived. Men were shown with emphasis on the face, while women were shown with emphasis on the body. Essentially, men have brains and women have bodies.^[11]