Media stereotyping

Yesterday’s topic sparked some excellent comments, and I just had to grab upon the one that Tyler brought up in regards to media stereotypes. It’s interesting in that I haven’t noticed men being portrayed as “stupid slobs” and women are the “intelligent” ones, but perhaps it’s because I’m not a guy and wouldn’t pay attention to it or that TV in England is different?

I do, however, notice the way women are treated in the U.S. media, probably because I am one. Go figure.

A while back, I remembered seeing a Pizza Hut commercial where Queen Latifah’s voice over said something about how “Mom can order pizza tonight and not have to cook.” I’m trying to figure out how in a society where in the majority of households, both parties have to work, is it still the stereotype that it’s the woman’s “job” to have food on the table at 6 p.m. and/or care for the kids? And then I wondered if I was the only woman who felt that way, especially since I never saw it again?

Or, there was an ad campaign by JC Penney’s, where you see kids frantically searching for Mom, and almost seem disappointed to find Dad, who then responds with "where's your mother?" Oh, she’s apparently neglecting her mother duties and is at the one-day sale at Penney’s. First of all, as a man, I’d be offended that the ad insinuates that the dad cannot properly care for the kids, but as a woman, I’m annoyed because it says that mothers basically abandon their kids in their time-of- need for shopping. And let’s be honest here, at Penney’s? Yeah, right. Victoria's Secrets? Probably so. Kidding, folks.

You also rarely see couples where the woman makes more than the man. Think about it. Someone mentioned that on a blog once and the only example I could come up with was Miranda and Steve from Sex in the City. Or, that the guy stays home with the kids? We NEVER see that, except in Mr. Mom. As TAB mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago, you see all these Average Joes with “hot” women in sitcoms and rarely do you see it the other way around.

Hmm…what are some others? That mothers-in-law are pains in the ass. That women are spinsters if they’re still single in their 40s, but men are bachelors. That women who do climb the corporate ladder can only do so if they sleep their way up or ball-bust? That it takes a handsome or beautiful person to make a successful ad campaign?

There’s the saying that there’s a reason why stereotypes become stereotypes, so are these still justified? If not, then why do we put up with them? Could it be that society, as a whole, just isn't ready to accept these changes? Or, what does it take to make them?