Describe the role of mass media in sex-role socialization
What will be an ideal response?
The mass media, particularly in advertising, also play an important role in sex-role socialization. Women are frequently portrayed in commercials as being wives, mothers, or sex objects or as obsessed with getting a date. They used to be portrayed as invariably less intelligent and more dependent than men and were hardly ever shown in executive positions. Some TV ads still depict women in traditional sex-role stereotypes, such as delighting in waxing their floors or in discovering a new detergent to get their families' white clothes whiter. Fortunately, some changes are occurring in the mass media's portrayal of women, reflecting changes in our society. Some commercials are now even reversing traditional roles. Because the mass media are important socialization vehicles, they can assist in changing attitudes about "proper" sex roles in the future. Sadly, to this day, the media is still conveying that a woman who is valued in our society is one who is young, beautiful, and sensual. As a result, a woman's intelligence and accomplishments are largely devalued. Teenage women are socialized to believe they will be valued primarily because of their beauty and sensuality. Many young women resort to anorexia or bulimia to have a "thinner" appearance. TV, movies, and the Internet trivialize women and paint them in subtle and not-so-subtle ways as sex objects. Women are much more apt than men to seek to look younger through Botox and plastic surgery. Most women who are glamorized in movies, on TV, and in magazine ads are young and beautiful. The resulting message conveyed to girls and young women is that they can only become successful, self-assured, empowered, and civically engaged if they focus on developing a youthful look and becoming more physically attractive-rather than on further developing their intellectual capacities and on acquiring marketable skills and knowledge for a career. It is skills and knowledge that are necessary to excel in leadership positions in business and in the political arena.?
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