Who runs the world? Feminism and Mass Media

The media acts as an incredible source for the transportation of information and messages. Whether that be in a positive or negative way is up to the audience that receives said messages. The media has covered an unlimited number of topics including feminism and women in the media. The women’s movement has made long strides throughout the decades, yet still have a long way to go. Webster’s dictionary defines Feminism as “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.” Mass media has heavily influenced the feminist movement, and vice versa.

The media has played an important role within feminist culture. The portrayal of women in mass media has emphasized their role in a patriarchal society. Women have made great strides to make it clear that they have the ability to go beyond their gender role. However, the media has been able to manipulate audiences that take in information from the media.

Recently, feminism has been a term that many celebrities have identified with. More and more female musicians and actors have been stating that they consider themselves feminists. These celebrities have a lot of following within our culture, and have the potential to influence other females. These celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Lena Dunham, Emma Watson and many more have spoken publicly supporting the feminist movement which as the Washington Post states is “opening the door for the famous and not-famous alike to think about gender equality and whether ‘feminist’ is a term that applies to them. And the broader culture has shifted too, with 'feminism' becoming increasingly popular as well as socially and politically salient. Feminist writers now grace the pages of mainstream publications, from national newspapers to women’s magazines to Playboy.”

Another example of would be Emma Watson’s UN speech last year on “He for She.” In this speech she addressed the issue of gender inequality and the effect it has on both men and women.

Although there are many celebrities that are proud of their stance on gender equality, there are some that do not identify with this term. The term ‘feminism’ also has negative connotation to it; thus it becomes a word women try to avoid. According to storify.com “many teens and celebrities who are female don’t recognize as feminist because of the negative stereotypes that come along with it…this beings us back to the negative view of what feminism is, people automatically associate it with man-hating.” This is an example of how signs and language can be interpreted into different meanings depending on how individuals perceive this particular sign.