Feminist critiques in communication studies

Feminist Critiques in Communication Studies

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Introduction/Background

Feminism is refers to a collection of movements that aim at protecting the social, political, economic and cultural rights of women. To a large extent, the movements have been focusing on fighting for equality of women in various aspects of life. In addition, the movements have been fighting against oppression and exploitation of women. The efforts of different movements to fight for the rights of women have led to the establishment of a range of theories focusing on gender equality and exploitation of women. When combined together, the different theories form the feminist theory. One of the areas in which feminists have focused on is the presentation of women by the media. In particular, the feminist movements have been concerned with how the media contributes to the exploitation of women in the society (Zhang, Miller, Harrison, 2008). As well, the movements have paid attention to how the media has been supporting the rights of women. Initially, the feminist movements mainly focused on the problems that faced the educated women, the whites and those in the middle class. In response, various scholars and activists emerged to criticize the strategy taken by the movements (Zhang et al., 2008).

Different activists and scholars have given different responses to the presentation of women in the media, in their efforts to fight for the rights of women. However, they have generally been criticizing the manner in which the media presents the women, leading to the infringements of their rights (Bonnie & Zambrana, 2009). The main areas that the feminists have been focusing on include how the media presents the roles of women in the society and the impact of the media presentation on women’s autonomy, bodily integrity and reproductive rights. The efforts of the feminists in criticizing the media have helped to change many societies, especially in the western countries. Although not all set goals have been achieved, the media has responded to the criticisms through improving the manner in which the y present women in the society (Bonnie & Zambrana, 2009). In western societies such as the US, the feminist movements have influenced the media to be always wary of the rights of women when they are presented in films, televisions, advertisements or any other form of media. Importantly, the efforts have helped to enhance gender equality, rights to engage in different roles that were initially meant for men and equal pay at work. The efforts have also led to a reduction in cases of domestic violence against women, sexual assault and sexual harassment (Bonnie & Zambrana, 2009).

The feminist criticism of the media has mainly been concerned with four categories of issues. Firstly, the critiques have been focusing on the roles allocated to women in texts and in everyday life. Secondly, the criticism has, to a great extent, focused on the presentation of women in the media. The critics have focused on the presentation of women in the media as objects of lust and of male desire (Ruether, 2012). In other words, the critics have focused on the exploitation of women through their presentation as sexual objects in the media. Thirdly, some critics have focused on the extent to which women are exploited at the work place. Lastly, the critics examine how women should respond to the exploitation through taking actions that can help to improve their situations (Ruether, 2012).

Most feminists have criticized the manner in which media contributes to the exploitation of women in the society. For instance, Sut Jhally and Robert Jensen have criticized the media for promoting objectification of women during advertisements (Ruether, 2012). Laura Mulvey is well known for criticizing the way films present women as sexual objects. Also, Mulvey criticizes the media portraying the woman as only responsible for subordinate roles in the family (Ruether, 2012). Gan, Zillmann and Mitrook have criticized the manner in which black women are presented in music videos, leading to negative evaluation of a black woman. Dolf Zillmann focuses on pornographic materials, while Dawn Porter focuses on presentation of women in modeling. Other scholars such as Berl Kutchinsky have used counter-arguments to criticize the ideas and strategies of the feminists who criticize the media (Ruether, 2012).

Aims/Objectives of the Study

The main aim of this study is to examine the feminists’ critique in media studies. The specific objectives of the study are:

To explore the feminist’s critique towards the media’s presentation of women in the media studies

To explore the critique towards some or all forms of feminism in the media studies

Research Questions

The study is based on the following research questions:

What are the feminist’s critiques towards the media’s presentation of women in the media studies?

What are the critiques towards some or all forms of feminism in the media studies?

Purpose of the study

The main purpose of the study is to bring together the perspectives of scholars and activists that aim at criticizing the media or the ideas and strategies of the feminists. Different scholar and activists have advanced opposing views towards the media and feminism. Although their views and perceptions are presented in literature, studies are limited that take a comprehensive approach in examining or analyzing the opposing views (Ruether, 2012). In order to gain an understanding of the impact of the media in women’s lives, it is essential to gain a comprehensive understanding of both the activists and the scholars who have criticized the media, those who have supported the media and those who have opposed some or all of the feminists’ views. The study, therefore, will be useful to the scholars in enhancing a comprehensive and balanced knowledge of the contribution of the media to the lives of women. After gaining a comprehensive understanding of the issue, the individuals and groups can make more informed decisions when supporting or opposing the views advanced towards or against the media by the feminists.

Theoretical framework

In order to understand the sources of feminist criticisms in the media studies, it is essential to understand the background history of feminism and feminist movementss. The term ‘feminism’ was first coined by a French philosopher and Utopian Socialist, Charles Fourier, in 1837. The Concept spread to the Great Britain in 1890s and to the US in 1910. The concept later spread to other parts of the world (Goodman, 2010). The term ‘feminism’ has been used to refer to all movements or groups of people who have been fighting for the rights of women, irrespective of whether they refer themselves as feminist movements or not. While some scholars have argued that the term should apply to all movements fighting for the rights of women in history, others have argued that it should only apply to the modern feminist movements (Goodman, 2010).

The history of feminist movements is usually divided into three main waves, with each wave dealing with unique feminist issues. The first wave encompasses the movements that fought for the rights of women in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The feminist movements that were established in the US and Great Britain during the period focused mainly on promoting equal property, parenting, marriage and contract rights for women. The efforts by feminist movements to fight for the women’s economic, reproductive and sexual rights started during the late 19th century (Goodman, 2010). As well, the movements started fighting for women’s rights to vote and suffrage. The feminist movements achieved most of the goals during the period (Goodman, 2010). For instance, Women’s rights to vote and suffrage were officially granted by the government in 1918. The rights were extended to women aged 30 years and above. However, additional efforts by the feminists’ movements influenced the government to extend the rights to all women aged 21 years and above. Emmeline Pankhurst is widely known as one of the most notable activists of in Britain during the period. Among the well known activists of the first wave in the US are Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. In addition to fighting for the women’s rights to vote, the three activists fought against slavery (Goodman, 2010). Women in the US were granted the right to vote in 1919. During the period of the first wave feminism, the activists of women’s rights utilized the media to spread their views to the society. As Moradi, Martin and Brewster (2012) explain, the feminists found the media as useful in advancing their goals, and hardly focused on the negative effect of the media. As such, they hardly criticized the media.

Despite the efforts of the first wave feminism, women in many societies still lacked some important rights by 1950s. In fact, women in some societies such as Swaziland did not have voting rights by then. As a result, feminists continued fighting for the rights of women. Unlike the earlier feminist groups, the feminist movements that emerged from 1950s increased their focus on the treatment of women in family settings (Chunn, 2007). The new activists formed the second wave of feminists. By 1950s, traditional beliefs and values upheld in many societies led to the denial of various important rights to women. In France for instance, women could not work without the permission of their husbands in 1950s. Although the situation was better in the US and the Britain, women were still playing subordinate roles in these societies. The second wave of feminists became popular in 1960s as various activists emerged to protect the rights of women. In particular, the second wave of feminism mainly focused on the cultural and political issues that were perceived as the fundamental causes of gender inequality or discrimination of women (Roy, Weibust & Miller, 2007). They argued that women should have equal rights tom work as men, and allocating them house roles only violated their rights. The criticism of the role played by the media started with the second wave of feminism. Open criticism started in 1963 when Betty Friedan objected the manner in which the media presented women. In her book, The Feminine Mystique, Friedan noted that the media portrayed a woman as a household wife whose major role is to perform household chores. Friedan noted, on the other hand, that the media portrayed a man as having much power and authority over a women. In short, Friedan objected the way media presented women as being responsible for subordinate roles, while men were responsible to perform superior roles (Roy et al., 2007). Later, activists such as Casey Hayden and Mary King advanced Friedan’s argument by criticizing how women were presented as sex objects in the media. The activists were also criticized for their approaches and focus, and they faced fierce opposition. Their efforts enabled them to attain some of the goals. For instance, women were allowed to work without seeking the permission of their husbands in France in 1965 (Roy et al., 2007). However, some goals such as subordination of women and objectification of women by the media were not attained. The second wave ended in 1980s.

Early in 1990s, new groups of activists emerged to address the issues that were not successfully addressed by the second wave of feminists. The new groups, which have continued to the present, comprise the third wave of feminists (Genz, 2006). In addition to focusing on the existing issues, the third wave of feminism recognize that women are of different statuses, nationalities, ethnicities, colors cultural backgrounds and religions. They criticize the second wave of feminists for not recognizing the differences and focusing mainly and the problems facing the middle- and the upper-class. Unlike the second wave of feminism, the third wave challenges the notion of women heterosexuality, and supported single-parenthood. They focus on issues such as sex-positivity, reproductive rights, pornography, defending sex work and gender roles and stereotypes. Among notable activists of the third-wave feminism are Rebecca Walker, Maxine Hong Kingston, Audre Lorde, Cherrie Moraga, Chela Sandoval, Laura Mulvey, Sut Jhally, Elle Green and Gloria Anzaldua (Frith, Shaw & Cheng, 2009). Some activists in the third wave such as Elle Green have focused on issues related to ‘micro-politics.’ The third wave of feminists has continued criticizing the way the media presents women. They mainly object the objectification of women by the media. At the same time, the activists in the third wave feminism have some opposing views. As such, they engage in debates on specific issues that lead to open criticism.

In addition to the three major groups of activists, there is another group of feminists that emerged in 1980s called post-feminism. The group comprises of individuals with opposing views to some of the ideas and strategies of the feminists groups. Although they support feminism, they believe that the goals of the second wave of feminism have been achieved. They criticize the goals of the third wave of feminism (Tasker & Negra, 2005). The term ‘post-feminism’ was initially used to describe a group of activists who criticized the goals of the second wave of feminism. Today, some of the post-feminists believe that feminism is not relevant today, while others criticize the ideas advanced by the third wave feminists. In particular, post-feminists criticize the third wave of feminists for continuing to demand for gender equality in a societies where it ha already been achieved. Nadine Strossen, Berl Kutchinsky, Camille Paglia and Katha Pollitt are examples of post-feminists (Laughey, 2007). Post-feminists are against the feminist’s views that blame the media. Camille Paglia, for instance, believes that objectification of women in the media is based the nature of the current societies, and not the weakness of the media.

In addition anti-feminists have been opposing feminism in parts or in its entirety. Scholars such as Daphne Patai, Christina Hoff Sommers, Camille Paglia, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Jean Bethke Elshtain have been opposing some ideas and strategies adopted by feminist movements (Randall, 2010). To a large extent, they are dissatisfied with the manner the feminist movements are obsessed with women’s rights to the extent that they disregard the rights of men. Others have criticized feminism due to its disregard for the religious and traditional values and beliefs. For instance, Phyllis Schlafly, Mary A Kassian and Carrie L Lukas have argued against the views advanced by other feminists in acceptance of single-parenthood and divorce (Randall, 2010). Scholars such as Paul Gottfried and John Calvert have criticized the way feminists support for equality has led to the decline of men’s authority and power in families (Randall, 2010). In short, feminist is mainly base on criticism, which is also extended in the media studies.

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the sources of criticism in media studies, it is essential to understand the perspectives of the major feminist movements towards the media. There are three major types of feminism with influence on the perspectives towards the media, namely, liberal feminism, radical feminism and socialist feminism. Liberal feminism is based on the belief that there exists irrational stereotyping and prejudice in the society about the role of women in the society. In the view of liberal feminists, the beliefs influence people’s perception of the natural role of women as simply mothers and wives. In turn, the perception leads to the treatment of women as subordinates to men in the society. Liberal feminists argue that the perception woman contributes to the unequal treatment of women in the society (Moradi, Martin & Brewster 2012). The treatment of women as subordinates is rampant in societies where they are primarily assigned traditional roles. As such, the main aim of the liberal feminists is to advocate for equal treatment of women with men in the society. The liberal feminists encourage women to take non-traditional roles and to develop masculine qualities that would enable them acquire power. With regard to the media, liberal feminists have focused on the self perceptions, skills, interest, appearance, sex-appropriate behaviors and sex role stereotypes. The liberal feminists have been criticizing the media for supporting the discrimination of women based on gender (Moradi et l., 2012). According to the liberal feminists, the media does so through portraying a woman as being less capable than a man.

Radical feminism, on the other hand, is based on the notion that the oppression of women is fundamentally based on the patriarchal systems that support male-dominance in the society. According to the feminists, patriarchal systems tend to support the exploitation of women in various ways. For instance, the system is based on the beliefs that all material properties in a family belong to the husband, and the wife has no right to own such properties (Farrugia 2009). Also, the system supports traditional roles of a woman and man; a man is supposed to engage in occupations that earn a living for the family, while a woman’s primary role is to carry out household chores. Also, the system portrays a man as having more physical strength than a woman. As such, the patriarchal system gives a leeway for abuse of women by their husbands (Farrugia 2009). The Radical feminists argue that the system is basically the source of abuses against women such as pornography, incest, wife battering, sexual violence and trafficking of women. The radical feminists believe that women must cut ties with the traditional beliefs and values associated with patriarchal systems in order to liberate themselves from the exploitation. The radical feminists have criticized the mass media for protecting the rights of men, while infringing the rights of women. In particular, the radical feminists believe that since the content of the media is controlled by the producers and owners, it is always tailored to favor their personal interests (Farrugia 2009).

The socialist feminism focuses mainly on economic conditions and social classes, rather than focusing exclusively on gender like the liberal and radical feminists. The central concepts of their approach are the economic value of labor and the reproduction of labor. In their view, the domestic, educational, moral and nurturing roles of women are vital for the maintenance of capitalism. If such work was paid, the profit margins of the capitalists would diminish. Like the liberal feminists, the socialist feminists argue that the women should take up the paid jobs, on top of carrying out the household jobs that do not have monitory compensation. The socialists have been concerned that the media supports the interests of the capitalists since they are the owners. The content of the media supports the traditional roles of the women, as just house wives. That way, the media supports the oppression of women in the capitalist societies. Just like the liberalists, the socialists believe that women ought to fight against the oppression through engaging in paid work and refusing to only carry household duties (Lukas, 2006).

In short, the existing trends in the struggle for the rights of women by different feminist movements explains the sources of the criticism of the media be feminists. As noted in the above analysis, the feminists have criticized the media due to its support for the exploitation of women. In addition, the feminists have criticized the media due to its extra involvement in infringing against the rights of women through acts such as objectification. In turn, some feminists supporting the media have presented their counter-arguments that criticize the ideas of the feminists who are against the media. Others have criticized feminism itself. In short, the media theory is mainly based on critique. In order to understand the existing debate about the media by the feminists, there is need to bring together the different perspectives of the different feminists and analyze them. This paper seeks to fill the gap by examining the feminist critiques in communication studies.

Methodology

Methodology simply refers to the manner in which we approach and execute functions or activities. In doing research, it can be described as a way and manner in which a study is conducted and includes all the methods used to carry out research within the social and natural sciences. It encompasses the entire process of doing research which involves planning, collecting data, disseminating the findings and drawing conclusions.

Research design

This study was relied on a historical research design. A historical research design involves collecting verifying and synthesizing information regarding a particular issue that happened in the past. The design relies mainly on secondary sources. In some cases, it may also rely on primary sources such as recordings, pictures, archives, reports and logs. The study aimed at gathering information about the criticism that the feminists have made in relation to the media in the past. The design enabled the researcher to collect information from secondary sources on the past trends in feminism and their perspectives towards the media.

Research procedure

This research project relied on two basic phases; the conceptualisation and the analysis phases. In the conceptualisation phase, relevant background literature related to the topic of study was reviewed. The analysis phase involved presenting and analysing the content of the research gathered from different sources.

Data collection and Analysis

This study relied primarily on secondary data. Secondary data refers to data that has been already been collected for other purposes. The secondary data was collected from sources such as books and journals. Only sources that were relevant to the topic of study were selected.

For the purpose of this study, the researcher examined the applicability of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. As Trochim (2008) pointed out, qualitative method is based on content analysis and the results are presented in non-numerical format. This method helps the researcher in gaining an in-depth insight into the study topic. On the other hand, quantitative method involves collecting and analyzing numerical or statistical data rather than views and perceptions. This study relied on non-numerical data only. As such, the researcher opted to use qualitative method of data collection and analysis. Content analysis was applied to the qualitative data.

Findings

This section presents the findings derived from the research. The findings are devised into two; criticism of the media by the feminists and the criticism of the ideas of the feminists by other feminists.

Criticisms of the media

The criticisms of the media have mainly focused on the objectification of the women by the media. Objectification refers to treating a human being as a commodity, with little or no regard for their dignity or personality (Szymanski, Carr & Moffitt, 2011). Different feminists have given varied opinions in regard to how the media engages in the objectification of the women. However, most of them have focused on sexual objectification. Sexual objectification refers to the treatment of a person as simply a sex object or an instrument of pressure. Jhally and Jensen have focused on the treatment of women as commodities in marketing. They accuse the media of mainly using pictures of women to promote products and services. Jhally and Jensen argue that the problem with the media is that they use body parts of women to make products look attractive. Jhally and Jensen also criticize the way in which the media uses pictures of women during funding campaigns. In the “Save the Ta-tas” and “I Love Boobies” campaigns against breast cancer, for instance, the media uses pictures of women with sexy breasts to attract more funding. Jhally argues that such presentations have negative impacts on women with breast cancers since the pictures suggest that having sexy breasts or being sexy is more important than the ultimate goal of seeking founding to save their lives (Moradi & Huang, 2008).

Other feminists have criticized the media for fostering negative values to the society in the process of objectifying women. Dolf Zillmann, for instance, focuses on the pornographic films. Zillmann presents his arguments in an essay published in 1986 titled Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography (Papadaki, 2007). Zillmann examines how pornography is presented in magazines, books, films, painting, drawing, scripture and video games. In the essay, Zillmann notes that the pornography involves the infringement of the rights of women. According to Zillmann, many women are exposed to violence during the production of pornography. Andrea Dworkin notes that women are in most cases, exposed to economic, psychological and physical coercion when performing pornography. The women who perform it are also prone to humiliation and rejection by the members of the society. Pornography also involves the use of women involved as sex objects (Papadaki, 2007). In addition, pornography fosters negative values to the viewers. Catharine MacKinnon notes that people who consume pornographic content acquire attitudes that lead to the sexual harassment of women. Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon note that pornography presents a distorted view of sexual relations. The content of pornography portrays women as readily available to engage in sex with any man. In short, the feminists argue that pornography undermines traditional family values (Papadaki, 2007).

Other feminists criticize the media for playing a role in enhancing negative evaluations of women in the society. Gan, Zillmann and Mitrook, for instance, examine the presentation of women in videos and films. According to Gan et al., music videos tend to include women performers who expose their body parts or try to look sexy through exposing their body parts. On the other hand, men who other involved in such in such music are usually well dressed. Gan et al. argue that such presentations lead to negative evaluations of women in the society. The women involved in such dances may be face challenges in life such as rejection, leading to low self-esteem. Gan et al argues that such presentations of portray women as objects that can be controlled and used as objects for attracting audiences in music. Portraying women as such, according to Gan et al., ignore the impact of such activities on the performers and also the perception of women in the society (Papadaki, 2007).

Other scholars have criticized the media for portraying the women as subordinates in the society. A good example is Mulvey’s perceptions about how the women are presented in the films. Mulvey’s presents his views in an essay titled Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, which was published in 1975. Mulvey notes that in many Hollywood films, women play passive roles, while men play active roles. Men are presented as heroes, while the role of women is simply to help the men achieve their targets. According to Mulvey, the media teds to support the values associated with the patriarchal systems. Mulvey notes that in the films, women are mostly presented as household wives who are assigned the roles of taking are of the husband, children and home. On the other hand, men are presented as the providers. According to Mulvey, women are represented as such due to the fact that men are usually the producers and directors of such films. Mulvey argues that the presentation of women as subordinates and as responsible for subordinate roles leads the audience to believe that they should hold that position in the society. Also, the presentation of women as physically weaker than men makes the audience believe the same. As such, the firms support inequality since the viewers are likely to practice what they see. Budd Boettiche holds similar views with Mulvey (Moradi & Huang, 2008).

In general, the feminists who have criticized the media have discussed effects of women’s portrayals in the mass media. One of the effects, as noted by Szymanski et al. (2011) is that exposure of extraordinary attractive women makes other women in the society feel as if they are les beautiful and less inadequate. Some of the women who view them may develop feelings of lack of self-worth or low self-esteem. Secondly, the portrayal of women by the media makes men develop unrealistic expectations of how women should behave. The media presentations of women are usually different from the actual satiations. As men get new expectations of hoe women should behave, they end up misunderstanding or hating the attributes of the women they live with or come across to.

Conclusion

In summary, feminists’ perspectives towards the media have been mainly focusing on critique. Most of the feminists have criticized the media for contributing to the exploitation of women. As indicated in the literature review, the feminist movements emerged in the 19th century. Since then, many movements have sprout to defend the rights of women in different societies. The feminist movements are categorized into three waves, depending on the issues they have tackled. Despite the fact that the movements emerged in the 20th century, their focus on the negative contribution of the media to in supporting exploitation of women started during the second wave of feminism in 1960s. Since then, feminists have increasingly criticized the role of the media in supporting or involvement in the exploitation of women. There are different feminist movements that are categorized based on their philosophical approaches to the fight against the oppression of women. The three categories of feminist movements that have played a major role in criticizing and shaping the media are radical, liberal and socialist feminists.

As indicated in the report, most of the feminists taking this approach have been focusing on the objectification of the women by the media. Others have focused on the manner in which the media has fostered negative values that support violence against women. Some feminists have criticized the media due to its role in supporting the subordination of women, hence, hampering the efforts to enhance gender equality in the society. Others have criticized fellow feminists due to the strategies they have taken in the fight for equal rights of women. Post-feminists, in particular, hold different views from the feminists. They criticize the second wave of feminists for supporting gender equality, yet equality has already been achieved in the western societies. Others have criticized the feminists for their disregard for the rights of men.

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