Media Stereotyping - Men and Masculinity

"Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.
But stereotypes can be problematic. "
They can:

• reduce a wide range of differences in people to simplistic categorizations
• transform assumptions about particular groups of people into "realities"
• be used to justify the position of those in power
• perpetuate social prejudice and inequality

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/



Men and Masculinity



"When I was born, they looked at me and said: 'What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy!' And when you were born, they looked at you and said:'What a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl!'"

"What A Good Boy," The Barenaked Ladies

For several decades now, media critics and feminists alike have been examining the role of the media in creating and reinforcing stereotypical representations of women and femininity. But only recently have they expanded the research to consider how the media also construct, inform and reinforce prevalent ideas about men and masculinity.

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/men_and_masculinity/index.cfm