Credibility, Gender and the Media

Tuesday’s lecture discussed many of the issues of the portrayals of women in the media; one of the most interesting though was the lack of credibility that we see in the portrayal of women. This lack of credibility is seen through the low number of female castors. However there is no shortage of women delivering ‘fluff’ news pieces. For example Kathy Lee and Hoda, the female duo who host NBC’s The Today Show. These women host segments on things like finding the perfect pair of jeans. This is far from the hard hitting news that their male counterparts on the network get to deliver.  The fact that women are the only ones who deliver these ‘fluff’ pieces sends a damaging message to young girls—that they cannot be taken seriously. Women do not have any credible role models in the media; therefore they cannot see themselves as credible.

 This idea is further proven when looking at women in politics. For example the news media has questioned many women in politics on their appearances. This was seen when many thought that Nancy Pelosi had plastic surgery. This is someone who has been the highest-ranking female politician in the United States. Although Nancy Pelosi is a very accomplished woman, news anchors were not talking about her achievements or her politics, but rather her appearance. This sends an even more damaging message to young women because if even extremely accomplished women like Nancy Pelosi cannot be taken seriously, how can any women be taken seriously? This issue of credibility and women is an ongoing problem because the media insits on focusing on women’s appearances.

This is an image from The Washington Times, which talks about how Nancy Pelosi supposedly has had plastic surgery. This is one of many parts of the media who focused on this.