An observation

[robert4524]

I have read in a great many places that boys are falling behind in school, becoming more violent, and are becoming more of burden on society. Along those same lines, these articles mention that men are facing an identity crisis. These claims are proven just about daily with the absurd crimes reported on the news and in newspapers committed by men. I have often wondered why this is happening. I recently read a book written by Dr. James Dobson which dealt with this topic. According to him the reasoning for all of this is the constant bombardment of negative influence and stereotyping in the media today. I never really thought about that until I read that statement.

 

Could this be true? On TV males are usually cast as "half-wit", dumb, wreckless, insecure, gay, and the like. Numerous examples abound such as most TV commercials, and most of today's popular sit-coms. Conversley these same TV commercials and sit-coms make the women out to be: smart, knowledgable, and secure. There are now numerous programs and entire channels on television dealing with women's issues and problems (Oprah, Berman & Berman, Oxygen, Lifetime, etc...). With these programs it is often that negative comments toward men are expressed by the women on the shows. However, programs for men are few and far between. It seems now the focus of television and other media outlets is to highlight women as smart, intelligent independent people who don't need men in their lives. Do women really feel this way?

 

Is it possible that the media's over indulgence on this portrayal of women influences men's behavior towards society, and women?

 

This is my observation and I am curious to hear everyone's opinions on this.

 

Thank your for your time

[clia]

Are you kidding?

 

On TV males are usually cast as "half-wit", dumb, wreckless, insecure, gay, and the like.

 

I disagree with the word "usually." (And I'm not entirely sure why being depicted as gay is a bad thing.) There are also a plethora of shows where women are depicted as sex objects, dumb, ditzy, stupid, insecure, traditional mommies, etc. I think there are far more shows that have men in powerful, strong roles. I do agree that there are more shows nowadays that portray smart, independent women than there were in the past, but that is the effect of changing times. Women are no longer stuck in the kitchen and raising babies. Women can get out there, and it's nice to see TV shows portraying that. But still, there are far more strong and independent male characters.

 

Numerous examples abound such as most TV commercials, and most of today's popular sit-coms.

 

Are you watching the same TV I am? Can you possibly give some examples? I realize there are shows that perpetuate these stereotypes, but I don't think they are the norm. NOW (admittedly a biased group) actually did a study where they looked at TV shows and rated them based on strong women/minorities characters, and found that most TV shows featured white men in the best roles. It was interesting. You might be able to find it on their web site.

 

Conversley these same TV commercials and sit-coms make the women out to be: smart, knowledgable, and secure.

 

I disagree, especially with commercials. Coors Light/Bud Light, anyone? (And the twins...) JC Penney? (Where's your mom? Oh, she's shopping of course!) Any food product? (I love to make <fill in the blank> for my family!) And if anything, sitcoms show unattractive men with beautiful wives, totally unrealistic.

 

There are now numerous programs and entire channels on television dealing with women's issues and problems (Oprah, Berman & Berman, Oxygen, Lifetime, etc...).

 

And there's also ESPN, The Golf Channel, etc. for men. I think there are less shows dealing with men's issues because men don't analyze and overanalyze their issues the way women do. And plus, many of these shows are on during the day, when traditionally women are at home with the kids and men are at work. Would you honestly sit down and watch a talk show filled with crying men? Or would you rather tune into Sportscenter? And further, Oprah often has men and married couples on her show. (I think Dr. Phil does, too.)

 

With these programs it is often that negative comments toward men are expressed by the women on the shows.

 

Not necessarily. They usually deal with women's problems, which may or may not be caused by the men in their lives. If anything, the women on the shows are usually stupidly sticking up for the men in their life. Why would you expect anyone to say something nice about a man who cheated or treated his girlfriend like dirt?

 

However, programs for men are few and far between. It seems now the focus of television and other media outlets is to highlight women as smart, intelligent independent people who don't need men in their lives.

 

Again, I don't see it. To me, women are still portrayed mainly as damsels in distress who need to be rescued by men, or insecure until they find Mr. Right, or hopelessly lovesick and silly, or mothers, or just sex object ditzes. On the rare occasion that we see a strong woman, I don't have a problem with it. They *do* exist, you know? Is it so wrong that the TV tide is switching to portray more realistic, modern women? Men still have the better roles, hands down, in my opinion.

 

Do women really feel this way?

 

I would suspect most women aspire to be smart, intelligent, and independent, yes.

 

Is it possible that the media's over indulgence on this portrayal of women influences men's behavior towards society, and women?

 

It's not only possible, it's probable. It happens every day.

 

But I disagree with your view of TV shows.

[HokeyReligions]

My husband and I were talking about something like this not too long ago.

 

I agree with little bits of everything that has been said so far in the responses to your post. An obversation that my husband and I made is that boys don't have good heros anymore. Everything is so politically correct, and there are so many groups whose sole purpose is to promote only certain sections of people (women, minorities, etc.) that there are no heros that stand for everyone. So many heros of the past are being shunned or ignored because what made them heros in the first place is now being touted as racist or sexist.

 

In an effort to promote womens rights and build up the self-esteem and confidence of women, men are often played down. There are still plenty of sexist shows and commercials out there, but for a while it seemed like the only way to promote women was to belittle men. Same with the races. I think that trend is weakening now (thankfully) but I think there is a long way to go before we find out what type of equality works best.

 

It's still in the news from time to time - about women forcing their way into clubs or organizations that were exclusively for men. Personally, I think men should have their own clubs if they want and I don't know why so many women take such offense. For me, equality is the ability to have clubs, etc. that are exclusively for women, not infiltrate the men's clubs. I think once the laws were changed and doors began to open, those women who were active in this stuff (like NOW) didn't have anything else to do so they made a crusade out of it and looked for any kind of slight (real or imagined) to use against men.

 

I can certainly see where this type of activity could hurt men and the news media exploiting it can make men lose their identity. Roles were pretty well defined for centuries upon centuries and now we are changing it.

 

I don't mind at all the commercials that depict women as mothers and housekeepers, as cooks and launderers. There is nothing to be ashamed of there. Most of the women I know are all those things and more.

 

I marched in the 60's too -- equal pay for equal work. And the opportunity to move up to higher paying jobs, and get the same quality education as men. The laws changed and are changing, and will keep changing.

 

When you grow up in front of a TV that promots women and minorities and either says nothing about men, or belittles them, then I can see where frustrations and anger and hurt can turn to violence and lethargy and I certainly think the media/TV/movies have contributed a lot to this.

[moimeme]

I blame a lot of things, but I fear it may all come down to the decline in religion. Now before you stomp me into the dust, hang on for a bit. Religion used to be one of the better methods of socializing people. Religions taught empathy and respect for others. Not only that, but to act contrary to the teachings of the prevailing religions brought about social ostracization so there was an incentive to adopt social norms.

 

Now, in this world of 'accepting people for who they are', this means that you don't ostracize a kid when he breaks the law. His peers don't ostracize him. He's a hero. I can ride a bus today, in any part of the city (and that means high-end areas, too), where 60% of the kids are talking about their court dates as though they were trips to the corner store. When I was a kid, if you got the principal mad at you everybody shunned you as a criminal! Now, even if you're a criminal, all the kids still think you're cool.

 

Add to this the media 'heroes' - the maverick cop who beats the tar outta the bad guys; people who don't show a respect for others. No matter how 'counter' other generations' counter-cultures were, the law was still supposed to be respected. No more.

 

If you take away the societal and cultural impetuses (impeti? LOL) to learn and act with empathy and respect for others and to obey the law, you get the sorts of people you are seeing today. It's not just boys. Girls are committing more violent crimes than ever before.

 

I worry that nobody will be able to stuff the genie back in the bottle. I certainly don't think that ultra-right fundamentalism is the answer, but that could be the way the pendulum swings next - Heaven forbid!

[Girl]

Originally posted by moimeme

I blame a lot of things, but I fear it may all come down to the decline in religion.

 

Religions taught empathy and respect for others. Not only that, but to act contrary to the teachings of the prevailing religions brought about social ostracization so there was an incentive to adopt social norms.

 

 

I'm sure if you were to ask any of the many, many young boys who were molested, for years on end, by these religious (so called) leaders if they were taught empathy and respect for others, they'd very strongly disagree.

 

There's a very good reason for the decline in religion.... their very own 'representatives' act very contrary to their own teachings. Pure hipocracy in fact. I think today's generation is a little smarter than that.

 

 

 

Just my opinion.

[Tony T]

ROBERT4524 WRITES: "On TV males are usually cast as "half-wit", dumb, wreckless, insecure, gay, and the like. Numerous examples abound such as most TV commercials, and most of today's popular sit-coms. Conversley these same TV commercials and sit-coms make the women out to be: smart, knowledgable, and secure."

 

I think this is because males are strong, open minded, flexible in their thinking, tolerant and have more of a sense of humor...therefore, they are capable of easily handling any role they may be cast in. They are not sensitive to TV portrayals and can easily distinguish between fact and fantasy.

 

On the other hand, women are still going through their identity thing and we need to build them up, be supportive and help them through this evolution of their beings. Giving women these roles helps build their self esteem and free them from the chains that have bound them for so many years.

 

For the same reason, African Americans are often cast in roles of judges, doctors, government leaders...strong lead roles. That's a good thing.

 

YOU ALSO WRITE: "Is it possible that the media's over indulgence on this portrayal of women influences men's behavior towards society, and women?"

 

No, I think it's mostly that the writers of this crap want to get laid when they get home at night. Mostly men may control the media but women control something far more important.

 

And that's my take for now. I'll go take a shower, disappear for a few weeks, and see how the world changes.

[moimeme]

Girl -

 

Someday, it will occur to people that because there are a bunch of wierdos among the thousands and thousands of priests and ministers, it is unfair to condemn all religions and their ministers.

 

You might as well say that all African-Americans are bad and not worth being treated well because some of them are in prison, for heaven's sake. ALL generalizations are unfair and this is as bad as any other.

 

I expect too much when I expect people to be fair, I guess.