The fact that the media has a powerful influence over our lives and what we perceive as normal is nothing new. Hollywood presents a certain image of perfection that many people are desperate to achieve themselves, no matter what the cost. There have been hundreds of campaigns whose aim is to enlighten the world to just how fake many of the images are that are seen by consumers. They show side-by-side pictures of the models before and after photoshop, informing the public that not even the models look like the models. The past few years have brought about discussions on eating disorders, and public awareness has increased drastically on the subject. Body image seems to be the only concern about the effects of the media--no one ever looks to see if its influence is rooted down even deeper in our society, creating hidden problems that we did not even know about. The media does far more than encourage eating disorders. The media has a much more pervasive influence than most people realize, because only certain issues are talked about, like eating disorders or oversexualization. The real problems with the media, however, are usually the ones that are hidden.
When discussing violence against women--sexual assault, domestic violence, and rape, among others--the first thing that is always blamed is the music industry. Rap and hip hop music suffer the worst of the allegations, and fingers are always pointed in their direction first. It is true that there are countless songs by popular artists such as Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kanye West, and others that are incredibly misogynistic. Women are more often than not referred to as sluts, whores, or bitches in these songs, and are told to listen to the men.
What critics never seem to consider are songs that are not rap can be equally degrading. Sure, everyone knows about Blurred Lines, after nearly every news station did a commentary on it, but that is about as far as the awareness extends. No one expects innocent genres like pop and country to be demeaning towards women. They are just singing about sugary sweet first love or their pickup trucks, right? How could that be offensive? That is what is so dangerous about songs that have hidden messages. It slips by our filter that would normally alert us that something is not right. Country music has a history of objectifying women, and numerous songs refer to them as “pretty things,” and in Luke Bryan’s song That’s My Kind of Night, which reached number one on the country music charts, he says to “get your little hot self over here.” When taken out of the context of the song’s catchy rhythm, it is obvious how offensive this is. When sexist lyrics are in all the songs that a person listens to, they can slowly start to accept them as truth and become a sexist person without even meaning to.

It is more than just songs that have an impact on the treatment of women. The media presents a very slanted view of women that makes everyone accept it as the norm. Take almost any sitcom, for example, and look at the female characters. They are most likely in one of two roles: either the mother/wife or the hot girlfriend. Though the hot girlfriend role is the one that is most often criticized, the domestic role is what is damaging to girls' futures. If all women are ever shown doing is cooking dinner, cleaning the house, and baking cookies, it can send the message that this is all women are capable of. The father figure in television shows is usually a doctor, manager, policeman, businessman, or has some other kind of professional career, while the mother is often shown as a stay at home mom and housewife. Those jobs are important, but showing women exclusively in them does not encourage girls to achieve. Female characters need to have more diverse jobs, because that is how it is in the real world. There are women engineers, lawyers, professors, CEOs, and doctors, so this should be reflected in Hollywood writing. Especially considering how much time kids spend watching TV, it is more important than ever that this change happens.
The female stereotype is not just present in sitcoms, though. The advertising industry frequently makes use of it in order to sell their products. An example that is particularly obvious is in cleaning ads. Nearly all of them are focused on a housewife who is devastated that she cannot keep her house clean enough. As soon as she finds said miracle cleaning product, whether it is a high tech vacuum or duster that can reach the tops of cabinets without a chair, she appears to have instantly discovered the meaning of life. Sure, this can be written off as just marketors doing their job to sell a product. But when advertising flashes hundreds of images at us every single day, most being of this nature, it can make people start to subconsciously believe that all women can do is cook or clean, and that they are so simple minded that getting a new mop is like Christmas morning for them. Just like the limited female roles in sitcoms, it sends a dangerous message to girls. If the only women ever shown on television in the actual show as well as the commercials are shown in domestic roles, while the boys are shown as having white-collar jobs and becoming successful, it will continue to create a gender unbalance in the world.

The scene might seem grim for women in the media right now, but it can change. The first step is raising awareness that these problems are present. It needs to be known that it is more than just rap songs that can carry degrading messages. All songs in all genres are susceptible, and while it is not necessary to ban these songs, everyone needs to realize that these lyrics are violent and wrong, and that they should not be accepted as the truth. Women in television need to be shown in more diverse roles, rather than their typical one of a stay at home mom. If female characters are written to be professional workers, this problem can be solved. We often act like the media is some invincible institution that we have no control over. We play the helpless victims to a society that enforces standards on us that we do not like but that we have no control over. That is not the truth, though. If we call for a change in the media, rather than just accepting the status quo, we can alter how women are treated in Hollywood and in life.