Background | Portrayal Of Women I

History and Background on the Portrayal of Women in the Media

To understand the portrayal of women by TMZ, it is important to also understand the media legacy that allowed TMZ to represent women the way that they do.

Issues in Publications

One of the most glaring issues in media, is the imbalance between the amount of men and women on the staff of most publication and production companies. Historically, men have dominated the media and therefore controlled the narratives and portrayals in publications. Many journals and publications have a male dominated audience, so stories are portrayed in a way that makes them appealing to men rather than women. The main exception to this is tabloids and pop media, which have a female audience (1). While one would think that this audience would make women have a more positive portrayal in these publications, tabloids commonly focus on putting women down, adding to the constant strife and competition between women.

Portrayal of Mental Health

The media has not shied away from exploiting artists mental health for their own gain. Their mental health has always been a subject of scrutiny and exploited by the media in order to explain or analyze the artists music even more (2). This is experienced by both men and women, but in very different ways. For women their mental health is often viewed as "madness" and discussed in that manner. The mental health of female musicians is not viewed as a part of the artistic process like it is for men, and instead it is used as a way to discredit the talents and ability of women (3). There have even been times, such as in the case of Björk where the media spins a story about the failing mental health of a female artist just to get a good article. These stories are often exaugurated, but none the less that is the new brand of the artist and she cannot escape that narrative (4).

Focus on Appearance

Women are generally much more likely to be judged by the media based on their appearance. Traces of this can be seen very far back, but one of the most notable cases is Motown and their use of schooling to make women appear more put together. This included not just their physical appearance but also how they presented themselves in public (5). The scrutiny of women was made even worse with the creation of MTV, where female artists were now shown up close and in detail and you had to be conventionally attractive in order to have a career (6). This standard did not effect men nearly as much (7). Women also began to experience an extreme double standard where if they tried too hard they were cheep and narcissistic, but if they did not try enough then they were a mess (8).

Sexuality and Relationships

MTV also impacted another aspect of women's careers. Female artists now felt pressure to lean into their sexuality in a way that they had not prior, because sex sells. Often times the record labels would force women into making sexual videos or music, and the artists themselves would receive the media backlash (9). Even when women were not overtly sexual, they were sexualized by the media which is a common trend found with women who are powerful or famous. A lot of times this stems from fear or resentment of the powerful women, so they need to delegitimize their talent and ability by "slut-shaming" (10).

The media also tends to force women into matronly roles, and then criticize them for their abilities. Women are expected to be mothers, and critique women if they are not. On the flip side, they do not expect mothers to have a career out of the home so women who are artists and mother face a different form of criticism (11).

In Text Citations

1. Marion Leonard, Gender in the Music Industry: Rock, Discourse, and Girl Power (United Kingdom: Ashgate, 2007), 67.

2. Ibid., 69.

3. Ibid., 84.

4. Ibid., 77-86.

5. Mina Carson, Tina Lewis, and Susan M. Shaw, Girls Rock: Fifty Years of Women Making Music (Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press, 2004), 115.

6. Ibid., 116.

Ibid., 119.

8. Ibid., 118.

9. Ibid., 127.

10. Hope Viner Samborn, "Media Bias Against Women: Stuck in a Bygone Era," Perspectives: A Magazine for an About Women Lawyers, no. 4 (Winter 2011): 5.

11. Ibid., 6.