Communications and Media

Women nowadays compose a larger percentage of the total work force than in the early years. Women even participate in the fields where they are competing with men like in the political and economic arena. Women are able to take on challenges and do what men can. They are able to take on jobs that before were seen as a job for the male. Womens essential participation in the different societal aspect has become very helpful in establishing a stronger society where equality is almost achieved. Women have undergone various struggles in attaining parity in gender in the contemporary society. Womens history has many pivotal events that are the milestones of their gender history in trying to achieve equality in rights and prerogatives.

In the traditional society, women are always depicted as the inferior sex. Males are considered as the dominant and superior in every field. Male are perceived to be strong because their masculinity and physiological configuration. Women, on the other hand, are perceived to calm and nurturing in nature. Because of their femininity, women have subtle and tender attitude. This is the reason why women are deprived of some rights and privileges enjoyed by men. Before, women were not allowed to participate in male-dominant fields like economics and politics where major decision making process is involved. Conventional members of society undermine the capabilities and potentials of women. The qualities of women were often disregarded and remain unnoticed. Women are seen and regarded as homemakers and as domestic providers.

Media create a major alteration in the peoples acquisition of information. Information before are difficult to obtain due to the restrictions and control imposed by the government, manipulating the feed of news and information to people. Now, we live in a society where facts and data concerning relevant things are accessible and can be readily obtained by people. Mass media plays an important role in peoples lives as they serve not only as a channel of communication but serve as source of information and influence the creation of public opinion (Lane 2007). Mass media took many forms books, newspapers, magazines, and recordings, radio, film, television, and the Internet are among of the known mass media tools. Advertising is slowly entering the arena but still in argue because of the business and profit aspect of advertising. Mass media are able to cater all kinds of people and pacify the cultural, racial and gender differences of its audience. People are unaware of the significant impact of media in their lives. People tend to only watch soap operas and reality TV drama not scrutinizing the content of these various TV shows. We do not mind how reality is depicted or distorted as long as it serves what we want to see and hear. Never mind if it reflects despairingly on the truth.

Women are constantly portrayed in the mass media. One of the distorted representations of women in the media is being sex objects. Sex objects mean they are portrayed as sexually attractive and exposing more skin. The mass media plays an immense role in the proliferation and the prevalence of this practice wherein the women are depicted as sexual objects. Media like television, advertising and films are some of the places wherein women are seen with provocative images. Seeing women as sex objects significantly affect the perception of the audience towards women.

Women and Gender Parity
In a contemporary society like ours, we are aware of the acquisition of gender parity among nations. Gender equality promotes the fair participation of men and women in formulating significant decisions and in male dominant fields like economics and politics. One of its aims is to reduce the widening gap between men and women in access and control of various resources and benefits brought by development (Equality between Women and Men, 2008). When we talk of gender issues, it is inevitable to not discuss women and their struggle for womens rights. The prevalent gender equality is the product of the long struggle of gender groups that are fighting for parity rights. History taught us of the hardships and sacrifices of people, especially of women in attaining gender parity. But can we truly say that we there is no gender inequality in the modern society.

In some parts of the world, women are still experiencing lesser benefits and fewer rights compared to men. Women are characterized with lower recognition and status when it comes to education and healthcare. They also have less income and less access to resources and decision making than men. Women are viewed mostly in their stereotypical roles such as the domestic providers and homemakers engrossed with the never-ending and tedious tasks at home and rearing of children. These portrayals of women can be attributed with their feminine qualities like nurturing and caring individuals. Nevertheless, women play significant roles as they comprised the majority of the total workforce today. They also have a vital participation in various areas of countries development like food production, income generation, management of natural resources, community organization and domestic responsibilities are relevant for sustainable development (Equality between Women and Men, 2008).

Throughout the history of the western world, roles played by are limited due to the inherent values and beliefs in the society. It was believed that the main role that women should play their duty as a mother and a wife that involves tasks particularly the household chores and rearing of the children. This was because of the perceived qualities of women that were thought to be more appropriate in taking on those jobs. The prevailing inequality of women before was addressed by infrequent uprisings and protests from a few number of women and catch little attention from the people. This is due to the lack of educational background and depleted financial resources of women groups in sustaining a long-term campaign advocating gender parity (Schultheiss 2008). Eventually, after various obstacles that hinder the acquisition of gender rights, the whims of women were given considerable attention. Women nowadays enjoy rights that before were exclusive for men.

Progress of Human Communication
We are currently living in a dynamic digital society wherein the technological advances were so rapid and unstoppable. We could see new models of cellular phones and laptops in the market almost every week. These things intercepts the traditional human communication as it was continuously changing and man are now able to communicate across the limitations of space and time due to the influx of new technologies making it easier and convenient for them to get in touch with someone.

One aspect of communication is the mass communication. It is the process of transferring or transmitting messages to a large group of people. Mass communication requires the use of tools and media in order to convey the message to the large and diverse audience. Some forms of media are newspapers, television, and the internet (Rai 2009). Mass communication is one of the important aspects of mass media as it is an essential process in sending out messages, ideas and principles and in reaching a wide, diverse audience.

Due to the rapid and unprecedented advancement in the field of science and technology, there are a lot of tools and gadgets that are utilized for mass communication. Cellular phones and the Internet are some of the technologies that are widely used in todays modern society. Todays mobile phones have a lot of features that enable its user to receive and send messages. Some phones also allow access to the World Wide Web and retrieve information and data. The Internet, on the other hand, is one of the most popular technologies nowadays, as it enables the user to access a wide array of information and data from various sources. Due to the large number of people who have access to the Internet, a lot of people can be reached through this technology and can access the information and facts posted on the Internet.

Mass media plays a very important role in society as a channel of communication. They serve as the main source of news and influence the public in forming opinions, as well as in making decisions. For instance, during election, people get information about the candidates on TV and newspapers, after which they decide who to vote. Mass media in a modern democratic society are considered as the fourth branch of the government and perform an independent and equally important role as the government (McChesny 1989). Media also serve as the watchdog of the government to prevent irregularities on the political machinery. Undeniably, mass media reach all walks of life, regardless of their race, age, and gender. Media mutes all differences and caters to all kinds of individual.

Producers, businesses, and advertisers also find a way to utilize the breadth of mass media to reach their respective consumers. Therefore, we are bombarded by different advertisements of various products whenever we watch or read. Advertising or commercial mass media is regarded as the lifeblood of publication. Advertising includes all form of mass paid communication intended to influence consumers. Through advertising, publications and other forms of media obtain funds to continue the publication. Mass media gets half of their revenues from advertisement and sponsorship (Wilson  Gutierrez 2002). Therefore, networks and publishing companies must maintain a harmonious and productive relationship with businesses and advertisers. In this way, business owners and advertisers will be encouraged to keep on placing their ads on the publication and in effect, keep the cash flowing.

Women as Sex Objects
Media reflects what is happening in the society. It mirrors the events and scenarios in the real society. However, due to the advancement of technology and the wide imagination of producers and creators behind the mass media, some of these reflections are distorted and not in line with the real characteristics of the characters that it portray. One of the distortions in the mass media and common in all types of media is the portrayal of women. Women are generally portrayed as sex objects or with provocative images to either attract consumers or lure audiences. Due to the prevalence of different technologies that can cater our different communication needs, mass media became an inherent part of our lifestyle. We can no longer live without these communication tools that serve their function of informing, educating and entertaining the members of the society. Because of the wide prevalence of mass media, it became influential in our lives. Mass media largely influence our decisions, choices and perceptions. Seeing women as sex objects in the media significantly affect the perception of people, especially men. The portrayal of women as sex objects in the different types of mass media affects the peoples perception towards women.

Media is one of the responsible in proliferation of the stereotypical roles of the sex and genders. Media come in various form such as TV, radio, newspaper, magazines and ads. Due to its wide coverage and the breadth of the audience it could reach, they were able to disseminate information in no time. Some of this information may be distorted like the visual representations of sex and gender. It is evident that media, specifically in advertising, show the wrong depiction of women in the contemporary society as they showcase the stereotypical roles of women of the conventional society.

There is a pressure put on women to be sexually active in ads, films, television and the new media is intense. Statistics released by the National Eating Disorders Association shows that there are one out of four TV commercials send some kind of attractiveness message, telling viewers what is and is not attractive. (Media Awareness Network 2010n.pag.). A lot of ads, television shows and films try to convey the message that being beautiful means being thin and sexy. Provocative images of women slowly dominate the different types of mass media. The womans body is often dismembered into certain parts such as legs, thighs, breasts and buttocks that reinforce the notion that women are objects and not whole beings. Although womens sexuality is no longer a taboo subject and has been out in the open for quite some time. There are still some concerns raised on this practice. Depicting women as sex objects perpetuate the idea that women are docile to mens pleasure. The images of women as sex objects convey the single vision that women should primarily be concerned of making themselves attractive and sexy and concede to sexually satisfying men. The problem with this representation is the transcending of misinformation and portraying media stereotypes that is quite disturbing as many people, especially youngsters and teens, turns to media for information about sex and sexuality. In 2003, David Buckingham and Sara Bragg reported that two-thirds of young people turn to media when they want to learn about sex - the same percentage of kids who ask their mothers for information and advice. (Media Awareness Network 2010n.pag.).

Some of the determinants if a woman is being a sex object in any form of popular media are when she has a suggestive facial expression or posture, doing an act that shows some sort of adoration or sexual moves towards a man, wearing of make up or clothing that is associated with sexuality such as lingerie and red lispstick, the angle of the shot and if it focused or centered on a particular body part as well as the amount of skin shown. The portrayal does not necessarily should meet a number of determinants. All of the aforementioned determinants can qualify as depiction of women as sex object.

There is evidence that a stereotypical view of gender role may influence the viewers, especially the young. There have been studies done on the effect of television messages on young viewers, but the data is inconclusive. However all of the studies indicate there is a strong possible connection with stereotypical ideas. The ideas of traditional roles of the genders are very misleading. There are no limits to what the genders can do. Now days you find most women out in all of the workplaces which were once deemed male oriented. And you find men staying home and raising families, doing the job that once only women did (Television and Gender Roles n.d.).

 Women in Advertisements
As we carelessly browse the different cable channels and looks for shows that will satisfy our daily dose of TV home viewing. We tend to pass by different advertisements that present various items that may appeal to our needs and inform us of the latest products that are out in the market. Advertisements have a strong influence on consumers. Advertisers, in order to sell their products, create strategies that will make buyers to patronize their products. They create the buying mood, which make consumers avail of the product as a result. These advertisements make individuals think that their product is essential and necessary in their daily lives. In the variety of ads people often see on TV and in print, we can see the creativity of the advertisers on the strategies in which they make the products in demand. In these advertisements, we see different portrayals of women and how they are being perceived by the public. Despite the influx of women in the workforce and the emergence of Womens Liberation Movement, there are still stereotyped gender roles in commercial ads. Many of the womens roles portrayed in ads are traditional and very limiting.

Advertising, technically is not a medium of communication, but is often associated with it for it sustains the financial resources of publications and other media industries. Advertisements are considered as the lifeblood of the media companies. Aside from being the primary source of income of media industries, commercial media offers the various publications their distinguishable characteristics and give cue on the range of its informational content determining the particular audience that the advertisers and business firm want to reach (Sinclair 2006 209). Advertising utilizes media in bridging the consumers and producers of various goods. Producers are looking for their possible markets where they will be able to sell their products. Consumers, on the other hand, are looking for informational background of the products that they might consider buying.

Advertising is not addressing to a large number of people, but it is thinkng the most appropriate medium in which their message would be conveyed to reach a particular audience. Different kinds of media reach different kinds of people based on the information and entertainment the medium holds. This is why it is regarded that the existence of advertisers is to attract people and media can sell their products (Sinclair 2006 209-210). The advertisers can make used of different strategies and methods just to increase the sales of their product. Among the various strategies that advertisers may employ is making use of storylines depicting the daily lives of people to create a feeling of proximity to buyers. This strategy may involve reflecting different roles played by each and one of us. Women are always present in various advertisements. But their reflection has a discrepancy on their real identity. Women in advertisement often depict their traditional roles that have been changed and no longer applicable in todays society.

Provocative images of women with partly clothed bodies are prevalent in the field of advertising. Using womens attractiveness is one of the major concerns in advertisement. Thighs, breasts and butts lies in your TV screen. Women become sexual objects when their sexuality is linked to the products that they are trying to sell. Women scantily clothed are used to attract prospective men buyers. A documentary about women exploitation of women in advertising has been made and showed in high schools to present the significant impact of advertising these images of women and how it affects societys view of women. In advertising, womens bodies are sexualized or ads portray womens sexy bodies in order to attract the consumers attention. Sex being one of the human needs is manipulated by the advertising companies to sell their products. A new outlook developed in the minds of the people, those big advertising companies and giant business firms make a lot of money and high profits at the back of women. It was then believed that advertising use a systematic approach in using and abusing womens rights just to sell their products and impose values. Some advertisements show how women suddenly become ornaments in ads of cars, liquor
and other mens products and how they turn into sex objects (Alexandre 2007).

One of the disturbing representations of media in women is that they utilized women as sex objects to lure customers in purchasing their products. Big business firms and companies used women as accessories mostly in men products such as liquors, cigarettes and cars. Scantily clad women can be mostly seen in these types of advertisements. Here are some of the examples of advertisements that show women as sex objects.

The women are often showed in bikinis and sometimes topless that is degrading and humiliating. The negative depictions of women connote the downgrading perception of people towards womens capabilities and potentials.

One of the undesirable implications of the negative depictions of women is the increase in sexual activity and violence among people. Some studies show that exposure to media showcasing women in humiliating and embarrassing portrayals, even if the content is not really violent or sexual in nature increases the violent behaviour of men towards women in the society (Lukas 2002).

A research conducted in finding out the effect on body dissatisfaction of depiction of women as sex objects shows that these ads have an influence on the perception of women and their self-concept after viewing these kinds of ads. Women tend to be self and figure conscious due to the proliferation of thin models that are marketing the products. They thought that men like thinner girls and dislike their own body though there is nothing wrong with it. These kinds of ads have a significant implication in our psychological way of thinking
about ourselves and of others (Tygart n.d.).

Women in Magazines
We often see in bookstores a wide array of adult magazines or top-shelf magazines that contain contents of sexual nature. Most adult magazines are for men and that is the reason why the covers of these magazines are mostly naked women. Many men had their first sight of womens body through these types of magazines. Adult magazines conventionally contain photographs of nude women or scantily clad women. Some magazines contains articles that is also sexual in nature. These magazines may contain softcore or hardcore pornography. Softcore magazines may not show the female genitalia and sexual intercourse. However, hardcore magazines may show it. These types of magazines primarily served as an aid to masturbation and other sexual activity. Some magazines may be general in their content while others may be specific of their content serving the different fetishes of consumers. For example, Asian Babes is a magazine focused on Asian beauties. Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler are only some of the popular adult magazines. Adult magazines may also contain different articles on various topics such as culture, lifestyle, cars, computers or other interests of their target audience (Childs  Storry 1999). Women adorn the magazine covers of most magazines and most images of women are full of sensuality and sexuality. Here are some of the examples of magazine covers of some of the top adult magazines.

Adult magazines are not the only magazine that portrays women as sex objects. Contemporary magazines aimed at preteens or teenagers encourage young girls to dress and behave in a sexual manner. Magazines give out the notion of what is beautiful and sexy through their covers and photos. Moreover, some of these magazines even have sections about grooming and beauty as well as about relationships even with older men. A research found out that mens, womens fashion and female adolescents magazines were more likely to portray women as sex objects and as victims than news, business, special-interest, or womens non-fashion magazines. (Stankiewicz  Rosselli 2008 579). Magazines are also the channel of advertisements that may be inappropriate for the target audience. However, magazines insert these ads in order to run the publication. Because these magazines are highly accessible to their target audience and the wholesome image of these magazines that parents let children to grab a copy without examining first the content of the magazine. The magazines proliferate ideas about sexuality and sex at an early age. In many cases, the effects of this prevalent notion is that mothers dress and even apply make-up to their young daughters in order for them to be sexy and beautiful according to the criteria set by the popular media.

Women in Television
Television is a powerful communication tool that can be used to inform and entertain its viewers. Television has the powerful influence in determining the roles of men and women in the society. Young people often learn through the television as they are the age group that are highly expose to this type of media. Television has been the main source of information when it comes to issues about gender roles and sexuality. Although television has improved its portrayal of gender, women are still typecast in traditional roles, and underrepresented, while men are portrayed as dominant figures. Women are stereotypically represented as dependent, emotional. Women are the mothers, and men are the bread winners. (Television and Gender Roles n.d.).

Soap Operas
Continuing the tedious experience of pressing the channel button of the remote control, you again browse the TV set looking for programs that may satisfy your taste. Programs that will rekindle your consciousness. Sexual violence is one of the major dilemmas in the reflection of women in TV. In TV series chained, battered and raped women are showed that implicitly suggest control and domination, this have a psychological implication on psychological aspect of a person (Riley 2007).

Soap operas tend to portray women more fairly as women mostly watched this category of entertainment media. The portrayal of women as sex object in soap operas is not as rampant as in advertisements and magazines. However, the sex role stereotyping is still present in this genre of television. It used to be the case that such women were presented as sexless, that once they have had a family, they lose all sexual desire and attraction. This is still the case in much of prime time television, but in recent years, has changed to accommodate the housewifes sexuality. A good example would be Cheryl fromNeighbours. But while the subject is spoken about openly between herself and her husband, she comes across more as a bimbo owing to the way she seldom speaks of much else except for that and her baby. (Ingham 1995n.pag.). However, most of the domestic soaps, women appear sexless, innocent and nave. Most of the characters and scenarios do not often mention sex, especially if the character portrays being a lovely wife and the protagonist.

There are also characters that are characterizing a lot of sexuality. Most of this type of characters is single women that play the character of being a mistress or a manipulative woman that aims to attain her desire no matter what. These young, single women tend to portray the image of being tall, thin and beautiful and these characters often initiate sex through their seductive acts that lure men and in return will give her what she wants. In the world of American soap operas, women of all ages tend to utilize their sexuality to gain power and authority. Moreover, middle aged women are depicted as sexually desirable compared to the portrayal of conventional soap operas.

We also see women in a position of power more regularly, although these characters tend to be invariably aggressive, and are often portrayed as the villainess a woman who turns her traditional feminine characteristics into a source of strength. Often she will use pregnancy and  or insight to manipulate people. She uses her sexuality for herself, and not for the pleasure of men. An example of such a woman would be Alexis from Dynasty. She is a reversal of male and female roles. Indeed, Modleski argues that the final control the villainess strives for is control over passive femininity rather than control over men. (Ingham 1995n.pag.).

Here are some of the examples of sexuality in some soap operas and TV series.

The representation of women as sex objects is highly prevalent in soap operas in Asia. In countries like Thailand and Philippines, there is a greater tendency to define women exclusively in sexual terms. Women are used as sexual commodities in order to support the growing sex tourism industry in these countries. The situation is exacerbated by the acceptance of the mainstream media in showing sexual representation of women to support the sex tourism industry. In Asian soaps operas, women are routinely exploited as sex objects to heighten the plot of the story and to attract more viewers (Kramarae  Spender 2000).

Reality TV Programs
Television also offers their share of sexism to the mainstream media. Many television shows cast female characters that are in subservient positions. The television shows imply that women are always dominated by men in the society. Even variety shows have utilized sex in order to boost their ratings. For example, The Sonny  Cher Comedy Hour was put to the number one spot as viewers waited each week for Cher to tear off the overlay wrap and to reveal the latest seduction dress. Reality television programs are quite popular in prime time television. We now have WWE, The Bachelor, Survivor and other reality television programs that are slowly dominating our TV sets. However, even these programs used sex to attract audience and to shoot up their ratings. Reality TV programs shove sexual exploitation in our faces through the activities and behaviour shown by the participants of the reality TV. The National Organization for Women conducted a survey of network programming and significantly found out that the aforementioned shows represent the highest level of exploitation that is available to the audience in a regular basis (Magaro n.d.). For example, the reality TV program Survivor is mostly composed of participants that are sexy. Since the setting of the television program is on a remote island and they act like castaways, they wear mostly swimwear such as bikinis and trunks. Here are some of the photos of the reality TV program Survivor that shows women as sex objects.

Television networks fail to see the harm of these programs and argue that it is the viewers choice what is to watch and what not to. The entertainment media uphold the consumers ability to choose what programs to watch. Though there is a freedom of choice in television programming and viewers have this inherent right, it is still extremely difficult to choose among the programs as majority of programs are racist, sexist or violent in their contents. Thus, it forces viewers to watch programs that are less harmful, which is also a positive entertainment (Magaro n.d.).

Music Videos
Sex and issues about sexuality are everywhere in the popular media. Teens said that most of the information they know about sex and sexuality is coming from the media. It is undeniable that sex has become the widely marketing tool that fuels the insatiable cravings of a sex-obsessed society. This practice is evident in music videos that can be seen in the television and on the Internet.

Music videos are popular in the mainstream media as the music industry continues to grow. There are a lot of singers in the present music industry. A lot of performers have great voices and strong subjectivity throughout their songs and performances. There are artists who are respected because of their talent and tenure in the industry. These singers have proven themselves and considered as pillars of the industry. The younger generation of singers are the troublesome. There are a lot of young artists who started out with a dream of being one of the greatest performers. They vow to make it through their talent. However, record companies invest trust, time and money to a singer and when there is a decrease in popularity and record sales, changes must be incepted. One of the most crucial changes in a singers career is the shift of focus from her talent to her body and sexuality. Singers tend to sexualize themselves to appeal on a large male audience, hoping to obtain a number of fans who are not attracted with her music in the first place. Britney Spears, Cristina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson are only some of the female artist who started with a wholesome, innocent image and quickly transitioned to highly sexualized objects (Peters 2008). Here are the examples of the drastic transformation of some of the female artists that started as innocent and nave and turn into sexual goddesses.

MTV or Music Television is one of the popular networks to teens and youngsters. MTV includes women in their stereotypical role as sex object as seen in features on the network as well as on the majority of the music videos. A study showed that when men are shown in the background, they are often fully clothed. However, when women are in the background, they are dressed in a way that it expose of focused on their breasts and butts. (Whats the Problem Facts about Girls, Women  Media n.d.n.pag.). It is not only in the videos that women are portrayed as sex objects. Even in the lyrics of some songs. Most of the contemporary songs playing in the radio talks about a girl and her physical attributes as if it is something of vital importance. The song rarely talks about the personality of the girl and her intelligence but only talks about the size of her breasts and her behind. The reason behind this portrayal is that the music industry is dominated by men and men are not sellable to the consumers (Vanegas 2009).

It has been an appalling trend that the music industry will do everything to promote their female performers, even if it means sexualizing her to boost her career and record sales. These artists serve as role models of many young females all over the world. Young females respect these artists and they start to dress and act like them unaware of the potential risk that may be associated with their decision. Males, on the other hand, look at these female artists with lustful desire. Males tend to objectify them. Thus, there is a greater chance that males will also treat young females imitating and acting like these female artists as sex objects (Peters 2008).

Women in Films
Films tend and should reflect and reinforce the dominant ideology. This applies on womens portrayal in films. Women are underrepresented in films and are compounded by the issue of the stereotypical portrayal of women. One of the common portrayals of women in films is being sex goddesses who are sensual and oozing with sexuality and is capable of manipulating men through their beauty and sex appeal. Sexuality in films was popular during the 1950s when women were shown as sexual and seductive. Today, we live in a society where women are constantly perceived as sex objects. Even after years of struggle and feminist movement, the same theme applies and women are still inferior to male supremacy. This notion is reinforced by the contemporary films where we see women play unimportant roles of being manipulators, sex objects or just mere helpless victims. Some movies portray women as seductive, devious, sexual and unimportant individuals. Thus, women are depicted as sex objects instead of playing strong roles.

When movies portray sex, women are portrayed as male driven fantasy. One of the bases of this role of women in films is that women are only there for the amusement of men. This kind of movies do not only proliferate the representation of women as sex objects but also portray sex through the mans perspective. These depictions of women formed a fabricated society and highly influence peoples attitude and perception. People tend to disregard healthy and nurturing relationships and there is a tendency that women are seen as sex objects instead of persons with equal status in the society. Thus, women are devalued in their societal roles.

Films or the movies have their own share of portrayal of women as sex objects. Women have been constantly portrayed as a sexual object in most male-oriented films and movies. Nudity and sexuality help the increase in ticket sales and to make the film a box-office hit. Some of the plot of male-oriented movies tends to showcase beautiful and sensual female Hollywood stars, sometimes in illicit love affairs, usually depicted as being very sensual and sexual (Daigneault 2010). The reason behind this practice is that writers need to establish characters, plot, conflict and resolution in a short period of time. In order to save some time in creating a complex character in the movie, the writers adhere with the conventional and stereotypical roles of women. The women in most movies are neither thoughtful nor strong individuals and they only exist to titillate and satisfy men. Women in films are degraded further by sexualizing and objectifying them. Selling sex in movies is one of the rules adhered to by many film industry executives. Women are commonly portrayed as silly, ignorant and unable to do much but gaze into the face of the man while stripping his shirt off. Even family-friendly films have women characters that provocatively dressed and play the archetypes of females in degrading and subservient manner. Here are some of the films with sexual objectification of women.

Effects of Objectification of Women
The popularity of the different types of media has raised a lot of concern from the different sectors of the society. These popular media have different detrimental effects to the people expose to such media. One of the main concerns raised in popular media is the sexualisation of women. Sexualisation occurs when a persons value is measured through his or her sexuality and sexual behaviour and not through his or her other characteristics and when a person is sexually associated with something. The portrayal of women may have significant mental, physical and emotional effects to young women. The provocative images of women have negative effects on the healthy sexual development of young girls. Sexualisation of women can lead to lack of confidence of young girls. Thus, they tend to develop insecurity of their own bodies and develop eating disorders and emotional difficulties in dealing with the problem (BBC 2007).

The effects of objectification of women are different between men and women.  In women, sexual objectification has a direct effect of eating disorders. Women seen on TV are more often pop stars, supermodels and actresses. Many of these women are seriously underweight that tends to transcend the implied message that being thin is beautiful. Thus, a lot of s girls who look up to these women are going on a diet. Women on a diet may be undernourished and can cause loss of menstrual period. Prolonged loss of menstrual periods can lead to fertility problems.

For women, physical self-concept is much more important than their other attributes. Moreover, women are affected emotionally because they feel conscious of their looks and their physical appearance and women tend to feel anxious of the way they look. Studies show that all plastic surgeries among teens increased by almost 50 from 1996-1998 mostly for girls (newswecanuse.org 1901) at the same time there have been more advertisements for breast implants and other surgeries, and more models, actresses, and singers as advertisements for the surgeries (think Cher, Pamela Anderson, Demi Moore, Mariah Carey, and as some have suggested, Britney.) (Whats the Problem Facts about Girls, Women  Media n.d.).

Men, on the other hand, experience lesser levels of self-surveillance as females are portrayed as subservient individuals to men (Greening n.d.). Another implication of sexual objectification of women is the alteration of peoples, especially mens, perception towards women. Women are perceived as sexual objects in the real society and men tend to treat them as possessions that will satisfy their sexual needs. Because of this prevalent notion of sexual objectification of women, there is a rise in number of cases of rape, domestic violence and disrespect to women.

Conclusion
The rapid and unprecedented advancement in technology allows the emergence of different tools and gadgets that are beneficial to the society. These technological advances greatly benefitted the field of mass communication. There are a lot of ways through different media that can convey the message to a large, diverse audience. Mass media is responsible of transcending messages to the public. It is also responsible in as being a source of information and public opinion. However, due to the emergence of different mass media, a lot of concerns are also raised concerning their function to the inherent society. Treating women as sex objects has been around for decades. Women are often seen in distorted and stereotypical portrayals in the popular media. Women are people with a lot of potentials and capabilities that needed to be utilized. Women have been very helpful in the contemporary society since the acquisition of parity in gender and they were given equal opportunities and prerogatives that men used to enjoy.

Media plays a vital role in the society through providing information and news that are very relevant to people for it affects their lives in one way or another. Through media, we obtain information that could help in making daily decisions. Media has always been utilizing women in different aspects. The most prominent is through advertisement wherein women are used as ornaments in cars, liquor and men products ads. They were also stereotypically depicted as homemakers busy with endless household chores and rearing children. Women also become sex objects and objects of violence that is projected in TV daily. The depiction of women become far from the real life situations and it greatly affects the societys view on women by creating false facts. Our inherent culture influences our media. If we change some aspects of our culture concerning our women, our media industry will soon follow.

There is a discrepancy in the visual representations of men and women in various media and their significant real life roles played in the contemporary society. Our society and history is shaped by males. The acquisition of gender parity is one of the essential improvements in the global society. But there is still the prevalent inequality between genders showcased in our media, especially in advertisements. Women are depicted as sex objects, as homemakers and domestic providers, abused and battered and are narcissist. Men, on the other hand, are always portrayed as dominant and superior than the other sex. If progress and growth is to be achieved, it is only righteous that the status of our women should also be improved and respected and their essential contributions be recognized.