The media surrounds us and we are constantly exposed to it in many forms. You could say our society is completely saturated with it and a strong message portrayed by the media is that women belong at home doing housework and nurturing children, not sitting on the board of directors or fighting for their country. Stereotypes like this flourish throughout the media and they come together to form somewhat of an agenda setting by telling the public what is important. Instead of telling us what to think, the media focuses our attention on specific issues like which roles men and women should embrace. In magazines, movies, television shows and a variety of other sources, women are shown being emotional, engaging in domestic activities, shopping, and trying to make themselves look sexually appealing. Men on the other hand are portrayed as confident, tough, serious, hard-working individuals who are in control of their emotions.
The National Association of Working Women known as 9to5 is working to combat the idea that women belong at home instead of working equally among men in a professional environment. 9to5 works to involve women in improving policies addressing pay equity, work/family issues, sexual harassment, discrimination, welfare, unemployment and protections for temporary and part-time workers. By engaging members of the community to get politically active and educating them on pertinent issues, 9to5 is successfully increasing media literacy. This is great because with a higher level of competence, the public will be able to make decisions based on their own agenda and not that of the media.
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