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Sexism and Post-colonialism in Media

Introduction

Sexism and post-colonialism in the media have always been underestimated in our current society.  While most studies focus on the issue of racism and discrimination in media and particularly on women, the impact of sexism and post-colonialism has not been adequately evaluated creating controversies regarding representation of women of color in mainstream media images. Media has always been a representation of our social realities by identifying our social identities. However, media itself has not been in the forefront to record discrimination and oppression against women, despite the issue being a major challenge among black women in our present society. For instance, Gagg (2015) notes that feminism and sexism are common experiences in the film, television and advertising industry. Precisely, women of color are discriminated and underrepresented in the mainstream media regarding their race, class, and religion. This paper gives insight on the position and role of women of color in mainstream media. The paper further illustrates the impact of sexism and feminism in the media industry by critically analyzing written literature about sexism and feminism in the media industry.

Sexism in the Media Industry

Sexism refers to the discrimination against women on sex basis. Over the past years, the issue of sexism among women on racial grounds has always been on intensification. According to Nolan (2015), sexism in advertisement and the film industry has been on the rise in our society today. Additionally, racism has been determined to be the primary cause of sexism in the post-colonial era. Specifically, despite being in the post-colonial era, black women have always been discriminated and oppressed because of their color. Conversely, the issue of discrimination and oppression has not been explicitly evaluated in the past studies for undefined reasons leaving the challenge to feminist movements who advocate against the inequities that are not only observed in mainstream media, but also in the entire film industry. However, through interviews with women of color, information has been gathered on their perspective towards how they are represented in the media industry. For instance, in a meeting with Jennifer Newsom regarding women representation in the media industry, it was identified that women are substantially under-represented in top positions in the press industry. According to Newson, women are not valued in leadership posts, and more specifically, in the media industry (Schanall, 2015). As a profitable industry, media has valued women in their youth for their beauty and sexuality. However, as women age, their representation in television advertisements and film industry deteriorate raising questions on why sexism still exist in the media industry, an industry that should be an instrument of change in the society. Jennifer Newson is the director of the film ‘Miss Representation, which illustrates how women are underrepresented in the media industry. In another interview with Barbara Berg, an influential author of sexism in America, it was further revealed that media stereotypes underrepresented women and girls. Berg further noted that women own less than 5% of television stations. Berg is a black American woman who has participated in various roles in media companies including the New York Times and the Washington Post (Schanall, 2015).

Further research was hence conducted to determine the representation of women in the media companies. In an annual audit report in the United Kingdom by the Fawcett audit report, it was identified that men overpowered women in media companies. For instance, it was determined that only men were represented in executive roles in television companies. Moreover, women were not represented in the decision-making positions in the company (Wing‐Fai, Gill & Randle, 2015). On the contrary, women outnumbered men in the lifestyle magazines. From the research, it was identified that women featured in beauty advertisements and were further laid off upon showing aging signs.

Women Representation in the Media Industry

Results from the quantitative research clearly show that women are underrepresented in the press industry. However, research further show that besides sexism being on the rise in the post-colonial era, racism is also a big challenge among black women. For that reason, black women have been discriminated in principal roles including the media industry. Despite women being featured in television advertisements and lifestyle magazines, they have not been given opportunities in leadership roles in the media industry. Besides, determining the level of reflection and impact of sexism and post-colonialism in mainstream media images among women of color has always been a great challenge for researchers since most issues affecting women have not been documented or rather not reported for further investigation (Coppock, Haydon & Richer, 2014). Women discrimination and oppression are the greatest issues affecting females in the post-colonialism era.

From the underlying issues of discrimination and underrepresentation in the media industry, further qualitative research was conducted to determine the impact sexism and racism had on media images among women of color. The study further recommends the future of women of color through prominent women activists who advocate against the issue of sexual inequality and discrimination in the media industry.  In the pre-colonial era, women were excluded from taking various positions in the media industry. Although it was supposed that oppression and discrimination would be eradicated in the post-colonial era, the results were otherwise and have been the main challenges affecting women in the post-colonial era. Women of color, Blacks, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos were underrepresented in the media, and if featured, were portrayed unsympathetically (Tukachinsky, 2015). Historically, men dominated various positions in the media industry. For instance, men were observed to be the directors, auditors, and editors in different media companies. When the issue of gender equality arose, women were allowed to take few positions in the media industry. However, due to racism, which is on the rise in the post-colonialism era, women of color are discriminated from the few positions guaranteed in the media industry. Women of color, such as Blacks are thus excluded from the press industry and only featured in criminal activities. For instance, it is observed that women pleas are not heard nor featured by media. However, when women formed feminist movements, they were highlighted in media to be illegally conducting such campaigns.

Sexism and Feminism in Advertisement

            While women were allowed to participate in leadership roles, women of color were not allowed to take part in leadership functions. Initially, Women were featured in various advertisements ranging from televisions to newspapers and billboards. Ads are meant to entice people to agree to whatever media is communicating. Due to their emotional nature and beauty, women were hence featured in various advertisements associated with fancy lives, beauty, and sex as well as cosmetics. However, at that particular time, women were allowed to protect their sexual identities by representing themselves formally in public. Moreover, women of color were not considered to portray attractive features and for that were excluded from advertisement roles. The post-colonial period is, however, a different era to women in the advertisement industry. Women of color are considered more beautiful and are allowed to participate in advertisements just like white women. In post-colonialism, women do not hide their sexual identities but rather use their sexuality in advertisements. Stereotypically, women are viewed as visual objects for men in the media today (Gudekili & Çelik, 2014).

Sexism and Feminism in the Film Industry

From the qualitative research, it was identified that women are underrepresented in leadership roles in media. Additionally, women have not been represented adequately in the film industry. Therefore, according to Gaggi (2015), sexism and feminism are a common practice in the film industry. Women have always been portrayed to be inferior and, therefore, assigned minor roles in film production. For instance, women have been allocated womanhood and wifehood roles as men feature in major roles in the film industry. Despite the 21st century featuring a different perceptive where women have taken major roles in various films, sexism and feminism are still observed in various film industries and are thus portrayed as main challenges affecting women, and mostly, women of color in the film industry (Wolf, 2015).

Effect of Feminism and Sexism about the Media Industry

Sexual exposure of women in the advertisement industry has portrayed women as objects of advertisement. Besides the industry paying the women for their advertisement services, their jobs are not guaranteed since their contracts are terminated at certain ages that media believes is considered unattractive. Sexism and feminism in the media industry have, therefore, had various positive and negative effects on women and more importantly women of color. Firstly, women have lost their dignity by exposing their sexual identities. From the illustration regarding the role of women in the advertisement industry, it was identified that women advertise for not only beauty products but also other sexual content. Women have been portrayed as sexual objects to satisfy men pleasures through advertisements (Croteau & Hoynes, 2013). Due to the body exposure to the public, women have lost their dignity. Women do not gain respect in the society like the pre-colonial era where women were discreet in exposing their sexual identities. Due to cultural ties that are still experienced in the African communities today, women of color, or rather, black women who participate in media advertisement have been regarded as a disgrace to the society. As a result, women have lost self-respect by publicly exposing their sexualities. Secondly, women had experienced low self-esteem as a result of feminism and sexism in the media industry. From research, it was identified that women were allowed to participate in advertisements due to the natural beauty and young body. However, as the women age, they are considered un-useful and thus laid off from their work. Besides losing their dignity, women further establish low self-esteem and consider themselves unattractive.

Limitations of the Research

Conduction of this research, however, had various limitations. Firstly, issues of oppression and discrimination among women of color were not often recorded. For that reason, gathering data about the issues of mainstream media images among women was a big challenge. Our research, therefore, relied on the insufficient information presented regarding the issue of sexism and feminism in the press industry. Secondly, the study relied on interviews from influential women in the media industry. Although the interviews provided insight on women representation in the media and film industry, our research was limited since we relied on the interviewees’ opinions.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Conclusively, sexism and feminism are common in the media industry. Precisely, women of color are underrepresented in the mainstream industry. However, feminism and sexism have a negative impact in mainstream media images in women of color. Despite women being discriminated from leadership roles in the media industry, they have been considered active participants in advertisements. Although women of color were seen as unattractive in the 19th century, women of color were allowed to participate in advertisements in the 21st industry. Women participation in publicity has however been considered the exploitation of women for their beauty. Media images of women of color depicted in advertisements have, therefore, been taken as sexual objects in the industry. Due to their cultural backgrounds, women of color in the advertisement industry have been regarded as a disgrace to the society. As a result, the women have lost their dignity and established low self-esteem.

Due to the limitation experienced in the research, we would recommend that future research is conducted among the women of color who have been featured in various media advertisements. Moreover, allowing the women to present their experiences would enable us to get adequate information about the impact of sexism and post-colonialism in the mainstream media images among women of color. Secondly, we would recommend a close evaluation of literature materials and film reports to gather adequate information about sexism and feminism in the media industry.