Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies (ISSN 2231 – 1033)
2018, Vol. 8, No. 1
Copyright 2018 by ASCO
Amity University Rajasthan
Gender Portrayal in Age of Social Networking Sites: An Analytical Discussion
Dr. Debastuti Dasgupta
Assistant Professor
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Adamas University, Kolkata
Email: debastuti.dg@gmail.com
Abstract:
The relationship between gender and media is quite old. Media representations clearly highlight how different media portray
gender roles in different forms. Gendered representation of media across the world revolves around the stereotypical
portrayals of masculinity and femininity. Throughout history, the content of gender stereotype has changed in relation to
historical changes in the relationship between men and women. Media for long is reinforcing the notion of gender stereotyping
through its content. With the emergence of internet, change has been witnessed slowly but steadily in the stereotypical
portrayal of gender in media content. Social media sites have been seen to allow information delivery, constant engagement
and discussion of those ideas which are falling outside the existing of gendered discourse. This paper will try to delve into
various aspects pertaining to gender portrayal in age of social media by surveying existing literatures.
Keywords: Gender Portrayal, Gender Stereotyping, Social Media, Blogs, Facebook
Introduction
According to Canadian Communication Theorist, Marshal McLuhan, mass media not only gives people information and
entertainment, but also affects people’s lives by shaping their opinion, attitudes and beliefs (McLuhan, 1964). It controls
social life by transferring the dominant hegemonic ideology in an invisible way. In case of gender portrayal, society have
established hegemony of males by institutionalizing dominance of men over women. Gendered representation of media
across the world revolves around the stereotypical portrayals of masculinity and femininity.
Masculinity is associated with male and Femininity is associated with female. The male body is essentialized in
our culture around certain traits that characterize maleness or masculinity. Similarly, femininity is also culturally
constructed based on the body of the biological female. Thus, the concept of masculinity and femininity are culturally
produced to signify the socially accepted differences between men and women. Although many scholars argue that this
difference is based on biology, some of them argue that these differences are socially constructed.
Throughout history, the content of gender stereotype has changed in relation to historical changes in the
relationship between men and women. Media for long is reinforcing the notion of gender stereotyping through its content,
be it underrepresentation of women in media or portrayal of stereotypes in different forms of media. With the emergence
of internet, the field of communication studies have undergone massive changes by making one-way sender dominated
communication channel to two-way receiver oriented one. New Media is the consequence of this communication
revolution. New Media has started changing the scenario in almost all aspects of life. With the passage of time and
advancement of technology, change has been witnessed slowly but steadily in the stereotypical portrayal of gender in
media content. New media being carrying the notion of participatory culture is expected to bring some changes in the
way gender roles has been represented till now in media. Social media sites have been seen to allow information delivery,
constant engagement and dialogue of those ideas which are falling outside the existing of gendered discourse. Social
media provides platform to talk on issues which generally is silenced or overlooked in society. The pertinent area on how
new media especially social media is dealing with portrayal of gender issues frames research question of this paper.
Literature Review
Different literatures highlight the fact that portrayal of gender stereotyping is very common across media. The
depiction of women in media is an issue of controversy in the field of communication. The topic of media coverage and
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Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies (ISSN 2231 – 1033)
2018, Vol. 8, No. 1
Copyright 2018 by ASCO
Amity University Rajasthan
portrayal of women has been a topic of interest to all, be it print or electronic. Ross and Carter (2011) showed that male
coverage in news item is also much significant in comparison to female coverage. Ross and Carter’s study was based on
Britain and Ireland and their findings showed the bias in representation of women in media (Ross and Carter, 2011).
“Few women appeared as celebrities (9% newspapers; 5% radio and 0% across TV) and they were much more
likely to be framed as victims (26% newspapers, 28% radio and 24% TV) of various crimes and events, including
domestic violence (19%), war (16%) and discrimination (16%). Across broadcast news, three-quarters of male victims
were described as victims of war, which corresponds with the number of war-related stories featured during the
monitoring day…”
Other than print media, in sector of advertising gender stereotype is very prominent. Various research studies
conducted over the years show the constant prevalence of gender stereotype in advertising sector. The results of these
studies explored that over the years women are portrayed as either engrossed with the household jobs, like cooking or
health, hygiene of the family and beauty or they are portrayed as the decorative or sex objects in advertisements
(Lundstrom Sciglimpaglia, 1970; Goffman, 1979; Bardwick Schumann,1967).
Gender ideology is another important aspect for advertisers. Therefore, it is very important to examine the
dominance of gender stereotype in advertisement as it reflects culture and how people act within given culture. Erving
Goffman (1979) used frame analysis to examine gender role stereotypes in advertisements, where he defined a frame as
the principles of organization which govern social events and our involvement in them. Goffman coded the portrayals of
women in advertisements into six categories:
➢
Relative Size - women are smaller or lower in comparison to men;
➢
Feminine Touch - women are shown caressing or touching objects or themselves;
➢
Function Ranking - women in occupational positions are shown subordinate to men;
➢
Family Scenes - women are portrayed as mothers and caretakers;
➢
Ritualization of Subordination - women are depicted in flirtatious or childish poses;
➢
Licensed Withdrawal - women are portrayed as distracted or not involved in their surroundings
(Goffman, 1979).
In sectors of films, also gender portrayal is very much stereotyped in nature. From its day of commencement,
films were criticised and argued as dominated by male thoughts and gaze. Be production or viewership, the pleasure of
a man was considered as focal point. Huhn and Westwell in Oxford Dictionary of Film Studies notes that “gender issues
have been prominent in film studies since the 1970s, when roles, image and stereotypes of women, men in films began
to be seriously addressed” (2012).
Judith Butler, in her work The Psychic Life of Power spoke of female experience and the oppressive patterns
evolving out of the female identity as conceived and operated by the patriarchy (Butler, 1997). “Accepting identities is
same as accepting dominant scripts and performing roles prescribed by them. Identities cannot be accurate representation
of real self, when interpellation happens by hegemonic structures, people respond to it, especially oppressed ones perhaps
because it recognizes them as a group” (Butler, 1997).
The persistent nature of Internet has started changing the scenario in today’s world. The ever changing nature of
internet and the ability to freely navigate among online cultures permits the fluidness of gender to be realized and
experienced (Beiley and Telford, 2007). The Internet can be viewed as a space with liberating potential where gender
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Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies (ISSN 2231 – 1033)
2018, Vol. 8, No. 1
Copyright 2018 by ASCO
Amity University Rajasthan
can be performed in new ways (Hans, etal., 2011). From this particular perspective internet is a space for gender
emancipation where it can be performed and conceptualized in inventive ways.
Media and Gender Studies: A Theoretical Approach
The feminist work in communication has its origins in the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The
seminal work of Betty Friedan - The Feminine Mystique (1963) catalysed women’s movement in North America and
Western Europe assumed a global momentum. United Nations declared the period of 1975 - 1985 as International Decade
for Women. It was indeed a political movement well supported by feminist academics and practitioners from different
lifestyles. According to Gallager (1992) over time feminist media studies revolves around two main areas:
➢
An analysis of structures of power and oppression
➢
A focus on the politics of representation where women were objects rather than subjects (Gallager,
1992).
At the heart of feminist cultural politics lies criticism of media content and its inference in the construction of
gender. This debate was continuing since the content analyses of sex roles and media stereotypes, which symbolized
feminist scholarship of the 1970s where quantitative social science methods were favored. In her seminal essay ‘Visual
Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema’ (1975), Laura Mulvey concluded that in built patterns of pleasure and identification
in the mainstream narrative film impose masculinity as a point of view (Mulvey, 1975).
There are different perspectives in the field of feminist theory. Liberal feminist theorists claim that media reflects
changes in society. When the role of women in society changed after women’s movements, the media continued to
misrepresent women. The liberal feminist theory argues that the status of women in media content is absent or
marginalized. Radical feminist media theory mainly emphases on idea of patriarchy. This theory discusses the social
organisation regarding gender.
Socialist Feminist theory is basically based on capitalist values and ideas, essentially opposing Marxist theories
and communist standards. While Marxist media theory focuses on the relationship between the elite and the media and
the economic determinants on media production and output (Political Economy) socialist feminist media theory focuses
on things such as the nurturing role that women must play within the capitalist society.
Postmodern feminist media theory is grounded in a view of popular culture that reflects ideas of general
postmodern theory, since it regards postmodernism as a cultural shift rather than a change in society itself. Postmodern
feminist media theory focuses chiefly on the way that audiences read texts, whether they are affected by the media and
the degree of control that the audience have over this.
In this paper the researcher has tried to see the role that social media has played in terms of different issues
pertaining to portrayal of gender in media content. In the advent of 21st century technology was mainly male dominated.
In 2000, survey reports show that male are twice engaged in online media in comparison to women. Because of this
imparity in participation in online world between men and women, technological advancements have been tool of
masculine power. Since 2001 male and female participation in online world has started reaching parity.
The Pew Research Report of 2000 showed that women started using social media much more than men to maintain
relationship. This trend in parity of using internet by both men and women compels contemporary feminists to view
internet as a space for women’s empowerment and agency (Hans et al, 2011).
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Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies (ISSN 2231 – 1033)
2018, Vol. 8, No. 1
Copyright 2018 by ASCO
Amity University Rajasthan
Representation of Women in Social Networking Sites
Several researches have shown that women outnumber men in social networking sites, which is very uncommon
in traditional media. Generally, studies reveal that women use social networking sites more than men to foster their social
connections. In a 2007 study, it is seen that women are generally using social media for social connection and posting
photographs. Similarly, in a study on blog it is seen that women are writing blogs more than men and write on their
family, romantic relationship etc. other than serious issues. A large-scale study conducted in Myspace has revealed the
fact that both men and women tended to have majority of female friends in their list. One of the key findings of the study
is that women are probably more popular in social networking sites as women can both give and receive positive
emotions. The trend that women outstrip men in domain of social media is shaping the opinion that social media would
serve as strong platform to empower women to build their own identity replacing the gender stereotyping of traditional
media. Sneft (2008) are of the view that diverse narratives written by women in social media may begin to reverse the
prevailing definition of ‘girl’ and challenge gender based limitations prevalent in society (Sneft, 2008).
Many social network sites like Facebook, Instagram etc. have skew towards female users. According to Pew
Research, in US women are more likely to use Facebook than men by 11%. Pinterest is also a female centric social
networking site with 33% female internet users using it compared to 8% of all men. It is also seen that more than half of
women in comparison to men are using social network sites as they give positive response to brands and support and
promote brands also. It is however very clear that in comparison to traditional media, representation of women in terms
of using social media is much more.
Women and Different Social Networking Sites
One of the most important trend of social media is Facebook. Facebook provides variety of ways for the users to
show their identity. Users portray their identity on Facebook through connectivity and narrative. Gender identity can be
displayed through comments, status updates as well as pictures. Different research study showed that men upload pictures
that make them seem independent and active while women focuses more on looking attractive. In terms of usage, women
are more active in Facebook, busy in maintaining social relationships.
In terms of blogging, female can experience liberation. Blogs provide important platform for gendered selfexpression, especially in countries with restricted freedom of expression. In different countries, female uses blogs as well
as vlogs for uploading their personal content. Attwood (2009) studied blooks (blogs turned into books) as current trend.
Through blooks a female can share their sexual openness, empowerment and pleasure.
Women Activism and Social Media
Other than high representation of women using social media in comparison to men as a positive facet, social media
is also giving a platform for people to voice their opinion on social issues especially gender equality. Female activists
are playing vital role in social media against atrocities on women and women centric problems. One can wonder how a
click makes a difference in the world.
Social media offers an opportunity for female activists to make a difference in the causes they support in cost
effective manner and with instant reach. There are pages on Facebook which address vehemently on women issues
especially against the growing crime rates against women in India. Pages like Facebook Campaign and Abuse No More
are such forums that are making people aware about women issues which can be addressed by generating consciousness
and directed interventions. Abuse No More provides its members a forum to meet other members and talk safely without
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Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies (ISSN 2231 – 1033)
2018, Vol. 8, No. 1
Copyright 2018 by ASCO
Amity University Rajasthan
conversations been seen by others. Thus social media sites help women to share their plight without disclosing their
identities.
I Never Asked for It- an initiative of Blank Noise invites women to send garments they were wearing when they
were sexually harassed or eve-teased in public along with an account of the story.
There was a severe uproar in the 2012 Delhi gang rape case among women. Several posts were there in Facebook,
one of which said- ‘Don’t tell us how to dress. Tell them not to rape’.
Anurag Dwinedi, admin of Stop Acid Attacks, a popular facebook page, started his initiative in 2013 in light of
the increasing acid attacks on women. Story of Laxmi, her fight for seven years and how her struggle forced the
government to rethink on this issue in totality is worth appreciating.
SlutWalk fight backs against victim blaming and slut shaming around sexual violence. Such platforms are
empowering women to participate in social movements. The Times of India report says, Nisha Susan, who initiated the
widely popular Pink Chaddi campaign says, “If I have a problem with something and post it on my blog, people who are
interested can join. It is the same with social networking sites. It’s simple because you don’t have to reconcile with people
who want to do it differently”. Oxfam India shared the popular campaign named, “We can Campaign towards reduction
of violence against women and for political empowerment” and launched, “The Close the Gap Campaign in Social
Networking” like social networking sites having the tagline, “Indians demand equality for women”. These platforms are
having influence on rural users too which helps women to deal with gender issues.
Social media, being the game changer has tried to be an influential platform for bringing women’s rights issues
in attention of wider public. Social media tries to bridge the gap between women’s grassroots activism and policy makers.
There are areas on which social media has fostered women activism.
Hashtag Activism
Hashtag activism in the recent era has helped to mobilise public attention on women’s rights and issues. It is
increasing the credibility of those issues which are not properly highlighted in mainstream media. UN Women’s
successful and high-profile #HeForShe campaign focuses on the potential of social media to attract large number of
audiences. The campaign engaged more than 1.2 billion users, highlighting the fact to engage men and boys to achieve
gender equality.
The recent #MeToo campaign has become one of the largest trending topics on Twitter with over half million
tweets and a large number of share in Facebook. #Me too is an international movement against sexual harassment and
assault. It spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag to help demonstrate widespread prevalence of sexual assault. It
provided space for people to be vulnerable about experiences without being specific.
Queer Identity and Social Media
During 1990s queer theory came into prominence as a different way of critically examining sexualities outside
normative binaries. With the blogging movement of late 1990s users can put themselves into online spaces that allowed
them to be honest and open about their identity. Facebook allows a user to designate their sex as either male or female
while creating account. Once after the creation of account, the user is free to post whatever they wish to post in terms of
their gender identity. Marginalised individuals after the emergence of internet are able to exceed geographical boundaries
and provide anonymous communication. Indeed, early research revealed that queers often found safe and seen as
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Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies (ISSN 2231 – 1033)
2018, Vol. 8, No. 1
Copyright 2018 by ASCO
Amity University Rajasthan
accepting online domain as more comfortable zone, and that these interactions are habitually helpful to users’
psychological well-being.
Gender Stereotyping Still Continues
Despite of all these positive facts, social media also reinforces gender stereotyping. Commercials that appear in
social networks are the main sources of gender stereotyping. Women are generally seen as object of sex in social media
advertisements. Women are more often shown in commercials like cosmetic and domestic products while advertisements
for men generally focus on cars, business products or investments. Another important aspect is that advertisements show
frequently the complete figures of women and close-up shots for men. Showing entire figure of women objectify the
female body, while the latter evoke positive associations. Thus culturally constructed gender roles and relationships
continue to remain same element in both mainstream and social media.
Self-Representation in Social Media
The other significant way in which social media showcases gender difference is in the way young generation
showcase themselves in social network domain. Youngster boys and girls differ in the way they post contents in social
networks. Girls share their own pictures and while boys were more likely to share pictures and comments that they
described as self-promotion. The pictures often contain sexual content or references to alcohol. Such behaviour echoes
gender stereotypes and media portrays the picture of “commodified” woman on one hand and the strong stable depiction
of man. Teenage girls are also more likely to share personal information than boys, which sometimes expose themselves
to possible sexual harassment or cyber bullying.
According to some scholars, gender differences are rooted in our culture. They are of the view that girls and boys
are raised with different sets of cultural values. In traditional media, gender differences and portrayal of gender
stereotypes persists which continues in the online world as well. Despite of the shortcomings, each and every social
media networking sites offers diversity of gendered performances. The detailed survey of existing literatures on gender
representation in social media shows that users sometimes perform gender stereotyping in social media and in other cases
it promotes equality of gender. There are still enormous scopes to deal with this particular area, it is on the users whether
they will employ it to benefit or harm themselves.
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