Should There Be Controls In The Way Gossip Columns Portrays Women In Their Early 20's? Research Proposal Sample

Gossip is a huge business today, and people never fail to go through those colorful pages of young women in their early 20's that are talked about in the gossip columns. It is not just the young celebrities who grab attention. Any pretty woman in the early twenties can make it to those gossip columns, as long as the media thinks she has everything to get noticed of the readers and viewers. Stories of sex, scandal, and a latest gossip means hard cash and more business. In most papers, it is those flirty gossip columns and show business stories that carry an important place and in several, they even outnumber foreign-news stories.
Way back in the 19th century, when it was the era of newspaper partnership as a political and cultural force, the media ignored women, and their representation of women was not positive. It was during the later 19th century; newspapers started focusing on world of commerce, politics. There was very little content aimed at women and hardly any advertisements. Gradually, the media realized the importance of importance of women viewership and how they could be used to increase viewership. Women in the early media were represented in extremes and was either virtuous, vicious or a victim (Chapman).
The gossip columns and how they portray women has changed over time. Celebrity journalism is more about sexual politics of celebrity gossip. Gossip blogs and forums in the age of New Media are only getting commoner. The heavy traffic at those websites only points to their popularity. Shots of glamorous young female stars are the focus in the increasingly lucrative and competitive marketplace of gossip columns and websites. The ‘desirable’, female body gets the most views (Feeley).
Gossip, on a darker note, means manipulation of reputations and portraying someone in a certain way or manner. Several studies confirm that people are indeed most interested in gossip about people their own age and same sex. The studies have also confirmed that one take the greatest interest in the scandals and misfortunes of others. The word gossip has always been more associated with females more. Women have always had a fascination with other women, and they see gossip as a weapon. There is evidence that time on Facebook carries more episodes of jealousy feelings and behaviors among women (Wang).
The media has been criticized for using aggressive journalism and offering sexualized news agenda that is celebrity-oriented and focuses on the younger female stars. Although those tabloids have been condemned for belittling journalism, and degrade the general media climate, these newspapers attract large numbers of readers. The presence of topless or scantily clad women in their early twenties, are the main attraction, especially for the male readers. Readers get embarrassed when spoken to about those gossip column and pretend that they do not care much about them, but they do think that it is a column everyone can read (Johansson).
The young women that one finds in those gossip columns can be stereotyped as the femme fatale. They could be the nasty corporate climber or a supermom or simply that sex kitten. The popular magazines and media is full of images of those women and girls. They are in their early twenties, very attractive, thin but with perfect bodies. The last few decades have seen a rise in the presence of women in media and the media tends to represent them in a certain way. One can say that the media is empowering the women and at the same time limiting them. One can pick up any magazine and look at their front cover or explore the gossip columns. They are sure to find images of attractive young women in the mass media. Feminists and women's rights advocates have often raised voices against such exploitation and criticized the media for projecting women as a sexual object (Media Portrayals of Girls and Women).
It seems that as long as the media is making money, the readers and viewers are happy; things will remain this way. It seems that the media is sending out message as to how women should look or should be seen at. Already, there is a pressure on women in the society they live in, and they are expected to look and behave in certain ways. Those stunning pictures of twenty something’s staring down at them are sure to leave many women feeling low on self-confidence and esteem. One can browse magazines, newspapers or watch TV, there are pictures of young women who carry perfect bodies, selling everything from food to cars. The standards of beauty seem to be stricter for women and watching those images in the gossip columns is sure to send many of them running off to look for latest cosmetics, new clothes, and diet aids.
About 99 percent of women in the world simply do not look like those images portrayed by the media. Still, from a very young age, sexism is normalized in our culture, and the influences start very early when one sits in front of the TV. Even as a child, one can recall many characters such as Jasmine from Aladdin or The Little Mermaid. No one has bothered to ask if those outfits were okay for the children’s movies or what subliminal messages were he or she sending to their impressionable minds. Women have been shown to be a pretty damsel-in-distress for a long time. Moreover, today, when women are hyper-sexualized by the media, it is considered to be normal (Diez).
The popular media today focuses on a host of negative aspects of women. The celebrities are shown to be catty and demeaning while the successful women are shown struggling hard to balance life and work. The Empowerment Project, directed by Sarah Moshman talks about the next generation of strong women.In an interview, Moshman criticizes the way women are being portrayed in the media today. According to her, there is an other side of women that the media totally ignores, and there are women taking huge strides of progress even amidst those images and depictions of women in the media. The younger girls today need not look up to the constant negative media barrage showered on them (Caprino).
Female leaders, and heroines in popular media and movies are sexy but take on cold, masculine attributes. In others, if she is shown to be successful and intelligent, she lacks the sex appeal. Why can’t women have their femininity related to in a normal way without suppressing it or blowing it out of proportions? (Diez).
The media should shoulder higher responsibility and not just look at the things from the profitability angle. After all, there is a lot more to women than just good looks and great bodies. It is time women were celebrated for their intelligence and emotional strength instead of their looks. Women are still underrepresented in the media and just projected in a certain way and the way they want to increase profitability. Most women watch media, read newspapers and how they get portrayed in the society affects them every day. The media is everywhere, in our home, on our mobiles and follows us wherever we go. Many women silently keep struggling to match those high standards set for them by the society and are afraid to show the real side of their femininity. Still, they want to be heard and respected. The media should not force certain images on them and should break the stereotypes.
One might say to ignore those gossip columns or discuss questions about ethics, and the public interest, but the fact remains that we all read gossip voraciously. Moreover, the most important part of these gossip columns are pretty women, shown in their twenties and with perfect bodies and looks.

Works Cited

Caprino, Kathy. "What's Wrong With The Media's Portrayal Of Women Today, And How To Reverse It." Forbes.com. Forbes, 2014. Web. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2014/11/21/whats-wrong-with-the-medias- portrayal-of-women-today-and-how-to-reverse-it/>.
Chapman, Jane. "Female Representation, Readership, and Early Tabloid Properties." Australian Journal of Communication 38.2 (2011): 53-70.
Diez, Sofia. "Portrayal of Women in the Media Propagates Sexism." Jhunewsletter.com. Jhu Newsletter, 2014. Web. <http://www.jhunewsletter.com/2014/10/09/portrayal-of-women-in- the-media-propagates-sexism-85735/>.
Feeley, Kathleen A. "Gossip as News: On Modern U.S. Celebrity Culture and Journalism." History Compass 10.6 (2012): 467-82.
Johansson, Sofia, et al. "Gossip, Sport And Pretty Girls: What does "Trivial" Journalism Mean to Tabloid Newspaper Readers?" Journalism Practice 2.3 (2008): 402-13."Media Portrayals of Girls and Women - Introduction." Mediasmarts.ca. Media Smarts, 2015. Web. <http://mediasmarts.ca/gender-representation/women-and-girls/media-portrayals-girls- and-women-introduction>.
Wang, Hung-Chun. "Language and Ideology: Gender Stereotypes of Female and Male Artists in Taiwanese Tabloids." Discourse & Society 20.6 (2009): 747-74.