Representation Of Women

Running head: REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

Representation of Women

Full name

Institution

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

Representation of Women

The concept representation ins a complex one and has a wider meaning than just

encompassing the postcolonial period but also the cultural milieu. Hence, the term has more

definitions than just "standing in place of" as has on many occasions been the case. Media is a

very influential institution in modern society and impacts on the way the society perceives the

social reality in one way or the other. Specifically, the perception of men or women in terms of

their sexuality and gender orientation is a function of the media portrayal to a great extent. The

media meticulously insinuate the messages that they want us to get and this has the effect of

changing how we perceive the world. This is more so if it comes to the messages about women.

The media has been at the forefront in insinuating the messages of women so that the messages

trike the minds of every audience. One of the most ubiquitous ways through which media can

communicate about the representation of women or lack of it is by challenging the existing

culture. The media can, on the other hand, may challenge the socially endorsed views of gender.

Thirdly, the media may turn to the domestic violence, in which women are the most vulnerable

in a bid to communicate the negatives of the paratracheal society. Politically, the women had

always decried their underrepresentation in many political positions. This paper looks at the

representation of women under the two ideologies known of vertretung, which basically implies

stepping on the shoes of women and Darstellung which is the portrayal of women in the different

media houses and movies with specific reference to a television series “Suits.” The paper argues

that this television show is a men’s show which exhibits underrepresentation of women or poor

portrayal of women in case they appear in the show.

Vertretung

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Vertretung underscores the idea of similar to stepping on one another person's shoe. It is

most common in scenarios of political representation and in cases of placement for the

opportunity. Women have always been the subjects of discussion if it comes to representation

and underrepresentation due to their being minority in many spectra of life. Formerly, there have

been complaints from the feminists that the men tended to represent the women in many

occasions. Feminist across the world have devised ways through which they can communicate

the plights of women in the media without relying on men to communicate the plights of the

women. They challenged the idea that the females are incapable and hence shall be represented

by another gender. As discussed earlier, the main objective of these feminists is to expose the

stereotypical understanding about gender in the society so that there can be an alternative way of

thinking. The media also distorts the reality to make the world have a different understanding

about the underrepresentation of women. In fact, the feminists exaggerate the

underrepresentation of women in the media houses.

According to Glascock (2001), the televisions distort the reality about the

underrepresentation of women when in many instances of new anchoring the white males tend to

outnumber the females. This incident replicates in many programs including the children

programs in which the male children characters outnumber the female characters (van der Tuin,

2011). In the tv show "Suit," the cast is such that all the major roles are played by men, even in

circumstances where women would have played the role better. In other words, it is a show about

men. This is defined by the main theme of the show that resonates around two white, straight,

and attractive men by the name Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams. These characters dominate

the show, exhibiting their expertise in such a meticulous way that it is easier for one to imagine

that a woman would have handled the situation the same way.

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

their attractiveness is so captivating that they can even stand in place of women who are

known for attraction. This demeans the ability of the audience to have an alternative look at the

show with a consideration of women.

Further, the communication media fortifies the myths about standards about minorities.

For instance, African Americans also form part of the minority groups yet they less frequently

appear on the televisions as the women do. In fact, the other minorities assume even smaller

roles than women in these television shows. In most cases, they only play subordinate roles but

not as main characters. This shows the extent to which the feminists have insinuated their

underrepresentation to appear as though they are the most underrepresented. In the television

show “Suit,” it is obvious that the cast only employs as many women as men yet only a few

women appear in interesting scenes while men dominate the cast and have very active roles. The

women employed here are not as meticulous as men, except the woman manager, Pearson.

As the number of women is limited in the media shows, the situation is similar to the

management of these media houses as well. This means that the production crew, the writers, and

the executives constitute fewer women than men. According to Wood (1994), women only make

up to 5% of the management in the media industry. Unfortunately, the situation is so, even if it is

apparent that the majority of graduates in journalism courses are females. The situation is worse

among the film directors in which women only make up to only a smaller percentage. For

instance, MTV has a majority of men as the executives. These media houses only tend to use the

women’s images to advertise and make sales without regard to their dignities. It is due to lack of

women in the executive tat the women face poor portrayal in the media. This draws the attention

to a critical interplay between the two concepts of “portrayal” and “standing on behalf of” is in

darstellung and vertretung respectively. Typically, if the men overrepresent the women in these

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houses, the possibility of poor portrayal is very high as is the case today. Women have been

victims of stereotypical depiction because they have never been able to make decisions on how

they should appear in the media. The currents efforts are underway by the women to change this

reality by using the same media is the platform.

Vertretung

As discussed early, women have been objects of sex, as portrayed in many media houses.

The representation of women in this form demeans their dignities and the honor in the society.

This emerges mostly because the women have no room in the decision-making panels of the

media houses. One way to counter the male domination of the media industry is through reverse

psychology, by making the men to appear overly macho. According to Wood (1994), there is a

level of masculinity in children television, in which males are portrayed as highly aggressive,

dominant and succeed in many of their efforts majorly due to masculinity. Similarly, the trend in

the prime televisions across the country indicates that the males who are the top anchors are

authoritative, independent and highly aggressive (Glascock, 2001). Moreover, the men also look

more competent, powerful and with higher self-esteem than their female counterparts. There is

no such gentleness and coolness that frequented the 1970s media men in this decade. A perfect

example is the characterization of Mike in the television show “Suit.” The movie begins with

Mike being kicked out of law school and resolving to spend the rest of his college years taking

LSAT money. This aggressive temperament pits men as too masculine and this is desirable in

other societies. Mike further plays the role of a fraud, which no women can ever play because no

women can be as smart as him. This comes out clearly as if it is compared to the successful

career of Rachael in Season Seven where this girl is portrayed as a cool girl with a college degree

in law.

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

Stereotypes in the portrayal of women.

The way women appear in the media is relatively different from the reality. What is quite

imminent is that the women are underrepresented in many occasions. By the year 1987, men

dominated the fully speaking parts of the media with only a third of the women playing the role.

In cases where the women must appear on the screen, their physical appearance always turns out

to be different from the normal appearance of the women in the population. Specifically, the

media women tend to be thinner, younger and slyer than the typical American women. Their

position in the family is always to enmesh in the household duties. The portrayal of women as

younger and thinner greatly affects the way many Americans perceive beauty and the standards

of employment for women in every other employment sector. Ironically, the media houses

require this ideal beauty of youthfulness, slim frame, and presentability than even the eloquence

which forms the bigger part of the media presentation. A good example of the in the television

show “Suit” is when Aaron Korsh deliberate chose to create a conflict using only attractive men

while in the cast were also very attractive women like Rachael and Sheila who would have

performed the same role. Generally, women do not seem to take active roles in the workforce

and men take up the roles which could have otherwise been performed by women. Rachael is a

classy woman, who is also very beautiful and quirky. She is complex and well educated but more

to this, she is Mike’s girlfriend. The identity established by the fact that she is Mike’s girlfriend

is enough to earn her credit because she is a woman who was associated with failure in school.

In another spectrum, the media shows the woman as either good or bad. More often, the

two antagonizing characteristics are always juxtaposed in the media to create a narrative that is

dramatical to the viewers. For the homemakers, the media gives them a node of appreciation

while those who are reluctant to take up the household roles come out as rowdy and bad in

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

nature. These women who can take up the household roles are also pretty and more deferential

than the counterpart “bad” women. Any tendency to depart from the traditional role of

homemaking renders the women automatically bad. In the same consideration are the women

who are either subordinate to women or those who are not. For those women who are not

subordinate to men, they tend to come out as demonic while the ones who are subordinate are

angelic. In circumstances where women who depart from the traditional roles, their images may

sometimes be positive, but only if their career lives are muted. Pearson, however meticulous,

comes out as too dominant and intimidating to the male employees in the law firm. Her success

as a top manager sends chills to the misogynies whoever thought that no woman would rise to

such a position.

The subordination of women is a far-reaching concept that characterizes the American

media. The media promotes the perception that women must be perceived as dependent while

men must always appear as independent. In the show, Katrina Bennet is shown as shrewd and

arrogant due to her fall out with her former employer, Harvey. However, her subordination in

season 6 earns her a job in Specter as she returns and is being welcomed with no many

conditions.

An overview of the hiring practices in the law firm in Manhattan, where the movie is

primarily set reveals a gender-sensitive hiring practice (Garin Pirnia, 2018). The number of

females employed almost outnumber the men in this firm. Ironically, the hiring habit is a subject

of the critic by the movie as it portrays this habit as having some loophole. Critically checking,

most of the employees here are having their law degrees in Harvard. However, the start. Mike, is

a school drop out but is the most shining in the whole cast. The females who have genuine

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

degrees only assume secretarial positions while Mike handles active roles in the actual field. This

indicates how pathetic the viewing of women is in this movie.

Conversely, the show recognizes the contribution of women in the successful operation

of the firm. The placement of Jessica Pearson as the top management position in the law firm is a

factor to reckon with. Moreover, this woman displays some characters which can command

respect among the colleagues. Jessica handles political cases, which are always seen as a reserve

for men. In fact, the attributes associated with Jessica are far-reaching and quite influential. From

mentoring Harvey to teaching him almost everything. The clear indication is that women can

take active roles in the management and run things smoothly. However, this celebration falls

shortly if we consider the case of Rachel Zane who could not make the cut in her career,

however being a very passionate paralegal. She misses the opportunity in Harvard school even

after struggling hard to score highly in LSAT.

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References

Garin Pirnia (2018).10 Things You Might Not Know About Suits. Mentalfloss.com. Retrieved

26 October 2018, from http://mentalfloss.com/article/537089/facts-about-suits-usa-

network-meghan-markle

Glascock, J. (2001). Gender roles on prime-time network television: Demographics and

behaviors. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 45(4), 656-669.

Hinterberger, A. (2007). Feminism and the politics of representation: Towards a critical and

ethical encounter with “others”. Journal of International Women's Studies, 8(2), 74-83.

van der Tuin, I. (2011). Inventing enlightenment's gender. The representation of modernity in

dispute. Journal for Gender Studies ,

Wood, J. T. (1994). Gendered media: The influence of media on views of gender. Gendered

lives: Communication, gender and culture, 231-244.

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