The mass spread of ideas and beliefs through media have blinded society. Blatant sexism has been a major issue throughout our culture's history and it only continues to grow. A person's life is socially constructed; their wellbeing and behaviors are learned concepts from other people and items they are associated with. Images from magazines are controlling how we see things, "Depictions of masculinity and femininity in media, including advertisements, may not tell us how we actually behave, but they tell us how we should act and more importantly think others should look and act" (Morris 3). After researching males and females in media, I have found many trends that are common across most magazines; images from magazines deliver ideals for how society perceives women in today's culture. Magazines are underrepresenting and stereotyping women to fit the expectations of popular culture. These injustices need to be corrected in an effort to stop the detrimental effects on body image.

In order to fully understand how women are being underrepresented and misrepresented in media one must look at the history of women's struggles and the history of media. Advertisements and media were displayed in many different outlets aiming to endorse certain products and ideas (Kang 980). Within the modern society, advertising does more than just share positions and standards it is also a monetary unit (Kang 980). Since the boom of media, "the promotional culture of advertising has worked its way into what we read, what we care about,  ...  our attribution of significance to image in both public and private life" spreading it's standardized notions (Kang 980). As it is something we see every day, the media often influences us more than imagined, specifically on how we view men and women. Gender is a socially constructed concept that is enhanced by continuous social interactions that results in the ideas of masculinity and femininity (Morris 5). Starting at early ages, children were taught to look and act certain ways; this material is "woven throughout our daily lives, media insinuate their messages into our consciousness at every turn. All forms of media communicate images of the sexes, many of which perpetuate unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting perceptions" (Wood 31). Due to the unrealistic images communicated through media women have resorted to mentally and physically harming and changing their bodies to fit it. While media, specifically magazines, has been around for a while, it is continuing to develop and adapt to societal changes. It is not acceptable for these changes to influence their viewers to the point of self-harm.   

As previously discussed, children are socialized from the very beginning on how to act and look. If we educate children, that all genders are equal and no one has to look a certain way, then their generation will grow up to defy current societal standards. The children of today need powerful women role models. In an effort to decrease the amount of bias in magazines, there should be an equal representation of women in powerful positions. However, the constant berating of women done by the media has caused many females to change their diets. In some extreme cases, females become anorexic or bulimic all to look similar to women in magazines. If magazines continue displaying women as they currently are, then there will be little to no women role models for the future generations. These images are discouraging women from trying their best because they are made to feel like their best will never be good enough, nor will their bodies. It is imperative for everyone to see the complete unbiased picture of society and all its parts (Kamerick). I believe you cannot have the whole story without taking into consideration every side and angle. Katti Gray and Cindy Royal, from the Women's Media Center organization, said it best, "Hopefully all these efforts and the collaborations that are producing research will see numbers increase, the hurdles diminish and the changes will be seen in more ways than just more numbers" (Gray 8). Stereotypes and bias hold everyone back, but there is hope. 

Media is a powerful source that a large part of society relies heavily on. Men and women are said to be almost equal in all aspects of life however, the following statistics prove otherwise. Julia T. Wood, a professional from the department of communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, expressed to her readers that the underrepresentation of women falsely implies that women are unimportant and invisible while men are the dominant cultural norm (Wood 1). As the issue of underrepresentation of women is slightly more recognized, researchers are compiling evidence to show the public. A recent analysis of Sports Illustrated covers from the past eleven years show that, not including the swimsuit issues, women appear only 4.9 percent of the time (Eveleth par. 1). While there are 35 covers including a female, only 18, or 2.5 percent, of all covers display a female as the primary image (Eveleth par. 2).  Still society says that the gap between men and women is closing. However, sports journalism's representation of women dropped from 17% to 10% in the past year (Alter par. 1).  In a comparison between magazine covers from 1954-1965, women appear beyond what they did in 2000-2011 (Eveleth par. 3). Society may never know the true reason for magazines presenting mostly men on their covers, but women are still negatively impacted. Not receiving the same amount of respect and recognition as men, many women develop mental issues such as anxiety and depression. These disorders can be brought on by extreme emotions and stress, and will severely inhibit one's daily life. The pressure magazines put on women to look, act and perform like the figures in their publications is outrageous and dangerous. Therefore, everyone should have equal opportunity to be denoted in media, thus eliminating women's health problems brought on by societal standards. 

By looking at the different ethnicities of males displayed in magazines, one will find how they are slightly underrepresented. White men tend to dominate media. In 2014 magazines out of the number of experts displayed 61 percent of expert guests were white men, 20 percent were white women, 14 percent were non-white men, and the last 5 percent of guests were non-white women (Gray 32). Lead talent displayed minority men at 21 percent compared to the 79 percent of white men and 52 percent of women (Gray 32). While many women are not usually shown in sophisticated situations, females out-ranked men in educational media circumstances 55 percent to 45 percent (Gray 30). Men being underrepresented in one aspect of all magazines, in my opinion, do not qualify them to think they are not displayed enough. Therefore, if there is little to no misrepresentation of men, then there can only be a proportional amount of mental and physical effects on the male population. If women continue to work hard and educate society on their mistreatments, then one day they will out-rank men in more than just one category.

The lack of women in media supervising positions is a possible contribution to the low number of females displayed in magazines. Out of 18 major magazine outlets, only four have female top editors (Griffin par. 46). Major publications often have editorial boards. On average, seven men and four women make up the boards (Alter par. 6). Women are imploring to be displayed equally. Activist groups have been created to help campaign for societal changes. These groups attempt to educate the public on the injustices happening to women, the negative impacts and efforts to change. However, if women "were on Sports Illustrated covers more often they might have to sacrifice their dignity for the publicity" (Eveleth par. 4). Women of this day and age need to be told that foregoing who they are and what they believe in to receive any form of exposure to society is not tolerable. A recent survey ...  found 83 percent of females were portrayed in a sexualized fashion (Eveleth par. 5). Erving Goffman studied magazine advertisements in 1979. Years later, Mee-Eun Kang used Goffman's findings to analyze and compare ads in 1991. While finding that men were shown above women, Kang also discovered that "the extent of sexism in magazine ads ... are still showing the same stereotyped images of women" (Kang 989). Therefore, we can assume from Kang's statement that magazines are not only underrepresenting women but stereotyping them as well, ultimately, affecting women negatively. Expecting to be highly sexualized in any aspect of their lives, women are often unhappy with their bodies. They develop low self-esteem because they appear to be nothing like the women in magazines. Striving for the highly popular, thin, ideal body- type, women are conforming to the stereotypes imposed upon them by society. 

For years, the media, specifically magazines, have been accused of stereotyping women. With targets always on their backs "It has been established in previous research that advertising messages about women are often stereotypical" (Wood 6). These message often "limit our perceptions of human possibilities" (Wood 6).  Every gender has its own array of societal standards, but I feel women more so than men have higher pressures to follow those criteria. In his world renowned study, "Goffman concludes that women are weakened by advertising portrayals via five categories: relative size ...  feminine touch ...  function ranking ...  ritualization of subordination ...  and licensed withdrawal ... "(Kang 983). Having thoroughly researched this issue, I support the conclusions made by Goffman and other examiners. Promoting women in ways that pleases society is a key role of magazines (Wood 6). Attempting to follow cultural views, women devote themselves to fitting into these categories such as, young sex objects, thin, beautiful, passive, dependent, and often incompetent and dumb (Wood 2). By explaining and educating girls at a young age, that as long as you are happy and confident in whom you are, you should not let anyone try to change your self-image. Dove recently came out with a campaign to help women realize their true beauty and potential. If other big corporations and celebrities endorsed the idea that everyone should be whom they chose to be, I believe it would greatly impact lives. It could eventually reverse the negatives of media today and create a happier and healthier society. 

Magazine's viewers will rarely see the true reality of women's lives, as that is not commonly depicted. Women are typically shown in the same roles, therefore society believes that is all they do and all they are capable of. Magazines have an enormous audience, but yet only portray females in home scenarios, far from professional or high-level business and dependent on men (Kang 982). In a variety of magazines, women are shown selling items ranging from cleaning products to food and other things like, beauty items, appliances and clothing (Kang 982). In an effort to gain male attention or to persuade viewers into buying the product, females are pictured provocatively while scantily clad. In all actuality, women can do everything a man can, sometimes more. Self-magazine included a quote from a viewer who expressed her concerns "Perfectionism is tyranny. We feel so much social pressure to be perfect- perfectly coiffed, sculpted and smooth; perfect mothers, career women and mates- that many of us have a distorted perception of what we look like or how we should look. No matter how we try, we don't measure up to those two implacable standards: young and thin" (Markula 5). More often than not, women and even young girls develop unhealthy habits hoping it will help them achieve their goal of thin and beautiful. Substance abuse and self-harm is often common among girls feeling the pressures of society demonstrated through media they are exposed to every day. It is sad that women have to feel this way. No matter how many people say that women are perfect or do not need to change in an effort to fit in, females will still feel the pressure to do so. In the end, society states that only women who display the societal, approved looks of femininity and beauty may be strong and prosperous (Wood 3). 

These impractical and stereotypical interpretations of women allow society to only see one side of women. The side of women magazines and advertisements are showing the public stereotypes women as unfit role models and therefore they are seen as sex objects or just in wife and mother roles (Tuchman 530). Women are hardly shown as capable people that have their lives under control. Instead, their images are over sexualized in an effort to hide their accomplishments. Reality mirrors any material given to it by the media (Tuchman 530).  An unfair light cast over women has caused disparity among the genders (Griffin par. 10). The greater the divide between the sexes the harder it will get for women in society to be taken seriously. Barbie dolls are icons given to females at a young age. Girls grow up expecting to look like them. Soon follows disappointment from the once hopeful child, when she realizes that society lied and Barbie is an unattainable image. The company that created Barbie realized its effects on young girls and decided to change their appearance. I believe that magazines should follow suit in an effort to show society the many faces of everyday women. Through the socially approved and uniform set of messages, the media forces their opinions and identities onto society, influencing people's everyday thoughts and actions (Morris 6). Popular magazines have high exchanges, which allow them to spread information quickly and to a wide array of people. Although more often than not, magazines and advertisements show or share only half of the news, Gray and Royal stated, that the whole story must be told for society to function equally (Gray 7). Democracy is equality so all genders must be treated and shown equally. Women's movements all over the world have been trying to stop the occurrence of social roles being placed on women in mass media, but "we have a long way to go before we reach gender  ...  parity" (Gray 6). Underrepresentation of women in media is one of the largest causes of gender disproportion.

It is important for any issue to raise awareness. In order to stop female underrepresentation and misrepresentation, magazines should allow society to hear women's stories and voices throughout their journey. Hearing others speak out will give females the power to follow suit and spark a movement. In the Sage Journals article, Pirkko Markula discusses one magazine's approach to listen and respond to their readers' requests. "Although some readers were delighted to see Shape tackling such a problematic issue ...  others expressed their disappointment with the mixed messages transmitted to the readers" in this situation we can applauded their effort to change but the magazine must not filter the responses published if they wish to remain unbiased (Markula 9). We can only hope and encourage other magazines to follow this example to remain unbiased and listen to what the women have to say. This will ideally help reduce the stereotyping and underrepresentation of women so they can focus on the betterment of themselves and accepting who they are. 

A portion of the population believes that men are underrepresented and misrepresented in magazines more than women. The everyday man feels he is not being portrayed fairly. The media is most often showing the "skirt-chasers, metro-sexual and macho-men" and not enough of the good guys who really do exist (Casserly par.2). Casserly, the highly, esteemed journalist from Forbes magazine wrote a slightly biased article stating that according to research, men in the past fell into those categories, but their priorities have shifted possibly due to the changing economy and workforce. The bias of the article is due to the fact that there are no female voices. If it were not just a man stating his opinions then the previous statements would hold more truth. 

When asked about their top qualities, the newly aspired men answered that their, five most common traits were "good-hearted, a good friend, well rounded, and stylish and good in bed" (Casserly par.6). In this day and age, some men are increasingly more family oriented; they are the role models for young boys and are shifting away from being the sole family provider. Although those are good and respectable traits that is not what most people want to see in magazines. Therefore, the rare men like Channing Tatum and Christian Grey are shown throughout media. Just before the release of Fifty Shades of Grey, people were going wild for pictures of Jamie Dornan's tanned, toned body (Daubney par.10). These unrealistic ideas of men are being relayed to society allowing everyone to think that men really do look like this, while the real men are sitting on the couch next to you. 

Groups of men are standing up to defend themselves. Since the turn of the economy, men are having more difficulty finding jobs so they are home more often. They are reexamining life goals and aspirations, creating a greater divide between them and the men shown in magazines, thus making them feel misrepresented (Casserly par.9). On the other hand, women have been doing the exact opposite. They are out in the world trying their best to fit in and be accepted. Despite all the negative voices, women are pushing through in an attempt to get to the top where the men have been alone for too long. 

By proposing ideas on how to lessen the disparity between genders and stop the destructive effects I hope that this argument will motivate magazines and one day seep through all facets of all media. Although we have a long way to go, this is a very attainable goal for the future. By defining more equal roles for all women, we will be defying the biased stereotypes of today's culture (Gray 6). Media and magazines are all about the money; since "women are 54 percent of the heaviest consumers of media across all sectors" if we give them more of what they want to see and something more relatable, the sales are projected to drastically improve (Gray 6). Thus making the industry happy and working towards a better, more equal and accepting society.

Permitting magazines to underrepresent the population of women along with misrepresenting/stereotyping them to fall into societal norms has to end, or it will continue to grow. Throughout this essay, I have provided countless examples of these injustices and their effects. Since most individuals learn from what they see, magazines should be displaying more gender equal and non-stereotypical images. Society has been trained to categorize and see things a certain way; media and magazines only enhance those beliefs of masculinity and femininity. If we make an effort to remove the "interconnected relationships- those between person and object, use and symbol, symbolism and power, and communication and satisfaction" then the stereotypical classifications should fall away, and humanity will move towards gender equality in magazines and the harmful results it has on women will hopefully fall away also (Kang 985). 

