Liliana Almanzar
Ms.King
Senior Project
April 1, 2014 Media stereotypes affect women lifestyle

Although the media plays a major role in influencing a generation, its ruining the self-esteem of many American women. Many media stereotypes have a powerful influence on how society views women and how they view themselves. The way women are portrayed in the media affects the self-image. “These stereotypes tend to undervalue women and diminish them to sexual objects and passive human being,” ("Media Portrayal of...”). The Media makes women feel like they have to degrade their body to be successful, which is contrary to how women behave in reality.
A stereotype is “to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same,” (stereotype). They are the judgments based on actions of an individual or small group, thought to be true about the rest of that group. Stereotypes are referred to individuals that typically do not correspond to reality. A stereotype is a picture in the head, not an accurate mirror of the real world. There are three specific stereotypes geared towards women in America: women are weak, women are sex symbols, and women are considered housewives. In today’s movies and television, they portray women as damsels in distress. For example, in the Twilight series, the main character, Bella, is viewed as a weak and helpless human surrounded by dominant and powerful male figures. In horror films, women are always victims of brutality; they are always being threatened, chased, or pursued. Women are always the ones to get killed, unlike men. They are always the ones to survive. In the workforce, men are often holding higher positions while women hold secretary jobs. In society, a woman's major role is managing her household as her job. This means she cooks and buys food, maintains the house, and takes care of the kids. In many cleaning and cooking commercials, they advertise their commercials with women.
“Today’s current portrayal of women stereotypes the feminine sex as being everything that most women are not,” (“Stereotyping Women in the Media”). Because of this, the mentality of women is to look a certain way. There are many challenges with women trying to be someone they are