The form of media that is generally recognised as being the most misrepresentative of women is advertising. A study of the content of Seventeen Magazine (the most widely distributed adolescent magazine in America) for the years of 1945, 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985 and 1995 found that in all issues the largest percentage of pages were devoted to articles about appearance (Schlenker, Caron, Halteman, 1998). (http://www.about-face.org/r/facts/media.html) Women as the ultimate symbols in advertising and other forms of consumer culture (Briggs & Cobley, 2002: 326) figure prominently in the media. The way in which the media represent women has been widely discussed and publicised, generally

However, advertising isn't the only area of the media that can be seen to be hindering the cause for gender equality. Even video games have been found to contain harmful messages about and towards females. (http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/news/news/four/videogirl.htm) In movies and television women are mostly in the context of relationships, whereas men are most often portrayed in the context of their careers. In the movies, for instance, 53 per cent of men are motivated by their careers, compared to 31 per cent of women. On television, 32 per cent of men want to get or succeed in a job, while only 24 per cent of women do. Men are seen "on the job" 41 per cent of the time; women only 28 per cent. Women are shown seeking romance 35 per cent of the time in the movies, and 32 per cent of the time on TV. For men, the figure is only 20 per cent in both media. Magazine articles reinforce this trend by focusing much more on "dating" (35 per cent) than on "school" or "career" (12 per cent).

It can be argued that the media hinder the cause for equality for both men and women by promoting and reflecting the current mainstream culture's standards for body shape or size and importance of beauty. It can also be put forward that the media reflect images of thinness and link this image to other symbols of prestige, happiness, love and success for women. Therefore it can be suggested that repeated exposure to the thin ideal via the various media can lead to the internalisation of this ideal. It also renders these images achievable and real. However, it seems fair to say that until women are confronted with their own mirror images they will continue to measure themselves against an inhuman ideal, which would obviously hinder their fight for equality. Body image dissatisfaction and eating disorders are more prevalent among females than males. This gender specificity is apparent in that over 90% of patients with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa are women (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). It could be argued that this figure exists because women's magazines and television programmes are filled with advertising which concentrates on appearance. Advertisements for countless numbers of products and services such as bras, underwear, perfumes, cars, ice-cream, beer and so on feature usually stunning, and usually anonymous females with their bodies on show. The result is that many women are conditioned into thinking that if their hair, body shape, make up etc. doesn't resemble that of the models used in the advertising they are subjected to that they are somehow "failing". However, many research projects on women in the media, especially those carried out in the social sciences, claim that the images depicted of women in the media today are not representative of women's position in our highly differentiated & complex society. Bar-Tal and Sax (1961) found that our culture places a higher value on physical beauty in the evaluation of females than males. Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz & Thompson (1980), have found that the average size of idealized woman (as portrayed by models), has become progressively thinner and has stabilized at 13-19% below physically

Some common words found in the essay are:
Silberstein Striegelmoore, Wooley Wooley, Lyons Pyramid, Briggs Cobley, Nicole Shoes, Psychiatric Association, , African American, Seventeen Magazine, Schwartz Thompson, gender equality, cause gender, cause gender equality, women media, cent women, media cause, images women, 1980 found, hinder cause, shape reality values, boys studying, powerful socialization, inform shape reality, lives inform shape, information lives inform,
Approximate Word count = 2132
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)