Question

In an essay of at least 3 paragraphs discuss how the media portrays men and women who show emotion in public. Is one gender treated differently or are both genders subject to criticism? Please refer to specific examples to support your position.

Answer 1

The role of media in bringing about a new wave of perceptions, notions and beliefs about the world around us, is an undisputable concept. For the past few decades, media has had an unquestionable influence upon varying cultures, bringing forward changes within the existing bodies of knowledge, faith and views, and helping in bringing the world closer. Today, a person sitting in one part of the world can switch on the television and come to know about an incident occurring at any other part of the world. Media has also been the guiding force in bringing about new developments in the fields of science and technology, commerce, humanities. Knowledge to all that is happening in the world around us is obtained and facilitated through media. Media’s influence in bringing about changes in and across cultures is again an undeniable phenomenon. However, like any other factor, media is itself influenced by cultural norms and conditions. One such aspect is the portrayal of gender roles and their varying emotional expressions.

Influenced by our pre-existing cultural standards, media is also aware about the roles that males and females are expected to play in a differential manner. Based upon the traditional societal roles of bread-winning and home management, males and females are allotted different responsibilities because ‘maleness’ is associated with strength and power, while ‘femininity’ is associated with being soft and gentle. But these traditional concepts have been changing over the past few decades, with women taking on different roles in different professions that include hard physical strength and power, while men have also taken upon roles that earlier were expected only from women, like in case of culinary art and fashion designing. However, one aspect that remains almost unchanged is the differential treatment towards males and females with respect to the acceptance of their emotional expressions in public. For males, it is assumed that showing emotions, especially crying, would imply weakness and lack of control, which does not go at par with the traditional cultural notions about ‘masculinity’. For females though, it is okay or normal to be portraying emotions. Funnily enough, females who show less emotions or controlled emotions are labelled as rebellious or ‘tomboyish’. But as in the scenario of the current societal situation, males are subject to greater criticisms as compared to females, since males assuming ‘feminine’ traits are strictly looked down upon.

Media, as mentioned earlier, has an important role to play in this matter. As media and culture influence one another, media tends to reflect the pre-existing notions of a culture through its manifestations.For example, there are several advertisements or television programmes in which men have been shown to possess the ‘rough-and-tough’ trait, and there have been statements like ‘boys don’t cry’, ‘girls can lean over boys’ shoulders if they are sad’, and so on. Girls on the other hand are portrayed in a manner that they should be soft-spoken, tender-hearted, graceful, easily hurt. In the process it is made assure that it is okay to cry if you are a female, but a male must not cry. Males showing extreme emotions in public are assaulted because they are assumed to be moving against the cultural standards of behaviour that is expected of males. The role of media in portraying these cultural standards through movies, television shows, or advertisements is immense, since it is reinforcing the pre-existing cultural beliefs and norms. Media is an active agent that has the capacity to bring upon large-scale changes across the entire nation and thus, it should realise this potential and try to bring about more positive developments rather than emphasizing upon such aspects that may prove detrimental to the society in the long run. This is because, suppressed emotions like any other form of energy require catharsis, and this may thus be achieved by forms of aggression, violent behaviour, drug or alcohol abuse, and so on. This may lead to disruptive family environments, abusive relationships, faulty parenting, societal unrest, and psychological distress.

Media has been a driving force in all such matters mentioned above. It will however be unfair to deny that there are no positive developments in bringing about a change in these notions. Attempts are being made in different parts of the world to portray that it is not wrong for males to portray their emotions in public, since it does ‘not’ imply losing masculinity or showing weakness, rather it makes a person express his emotions in an honest manner and this makes him more acceptable and more approachable. And undoubtedly, media is again playing an important role in conveying this message.

Thank you.