The portrayal of women’s image in television series

Abstract

In today’s modern society, the media have a significant influence in shaping our life. They influence both how we perceive ourselves and others. This qualitative study aims to explore how female characters are portrayed on television, by paying particular attention to stereotypes, themes and attitudes emerged from television shows that young adults are known to watch. The conceptual framework of this research study is based upon three significant theories; the “Beauty Myth” (Wolf, 1991), the Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) and Festinger’s (1954) Social Comparison Theory. Through a media analysis of five millennial drama shows, popular with the young female population, I investigated whether the media still reinforce female traditinal stereotypes. Afterwards, a focus group was conducted to acquire in-depth knowledge on the impact of television images on the female population and the perception of such images. I have analysed the selected scenes from television shows and discussed the main themes with the participants, in order to understand their perspective and awareness. A thematic analysis was adopted in order to identify and analyse four major themes: appearance, character, friendship and power and control found within the selected television shows. The findings show that female characters are still stereotyped and portrayed in line with the traditional stereotypical portrayal of women, stemming from the patriarchal society. In all the selected television shows, the female lead characters are all white, stylized, slim and sexualised, while being negatively portrayed by having an irrational, hostile, self-absorbed, naïve, lying and opportunistic personality. Most often than not they are seen disloyal and untrustworthy to their friends. Moreover, it was noted that the television shows considered cannot imagine a powerful/authoritative woman, so creators and producers portray her as masculine. Media reinforce female misrepresentations and the old belief that a woman is supposed to forgo her own comfort to achieve flawless beauty. These images may lead to psychological effects such as body dissatisfaction and eating disorders, while creating barriers in achieving gender equality. Policy initiatives and future research recommendations are provided, in order to lessen the effect of such misrepresentation, the beauty myth and female stereotypes.