Women in Movies and Television

Links about women in television 

The Portrayal of Women on Television

Helen Ingham takes a thought-provoking look at how women are portrayed in both television shows and advertisements, and what the portrayals are saying to those who watch and absorb the meta-messages unfiltered. She includes some interesting stats, too.

Media play a big role in girls' lives.

Girls Inc. gives a stat-rich look at what your daughters are learning about themselves and their world from television.

Violence, Women & the Media

Does media violence toward women cause real-life violence toward women?

Unreal World: Why women on "reality TV" have to be hot, desperate and dumb

A nice look at the stereotyping of women pushed by so-called reality TV (which - by the way, folks - is scripted and played by wannabe actors).

Women should be portrayed in assertive roles on TV: UNDP survey

Apparently Pakistan wanted assertive women characters 4 years ago. I guess the US just isn't as advanced.

The Troublesome Helpmate: A History of Misogyny in Literature by Katherine M. Rogers

Interesting take on the patriarchal fear of female power in literature. "Since most writers have not felt free to express misogyny directly-it is an unnatural attitude, considered shocking in most periods- they have found it necessary to conceal it in some way, both from others and from themselves. Misogyny, therefore, is more apt than not to appear in disguised form. Sometimes the hostility is displaced, so that the hostile feelings for wife or mother, about which a man usually feels guilty, are transferred to the whore, who should be vilified. Sometimes it is projected, so that the man who callously exploits women insists that it is they who are exploitative and incapable of love. Sometimes it is rationalized, so that a man insists that keeping women in subjection is necessary protection for their weakness. Sometimes it is made light of, so that the writer claims to be joking when represents suffering as the usual condition of married men"

S&F Online - Feminist Television Studies of HBO

"As professional feminist scholars, the contributors carefully avoid facile generalizations about HBO's gender politics based on our own moments of euphoric fandom..."

Misleading DVD cover on Felecity Huffman movie

It would appear that the marketing folks for Transamerica felt that they could attract more sales with a more attractive Felicty Huffman. They have completely ignored the fact that the movie is about a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual.

Gender Ads.Com

A site that looks at genderized images in advertising, and analyzes the messages being sent.