gender roles in marie claire Essay -- essays research papers

One of the most prevalent forms of invisible social control is the creation and perpetuation of stereotypes. Today’s society is filled with stereotypes and the media has proven to be an excellent breeding ground. Research in the stereotype domain indicates that the media can prime stereotypes, and these primed stereotypes do influence how people are later perceived. Also the research on media priming of stereotypes generally increases confidence in the generality of the media as a prime. Television, movies, newspapers and magazines contain millions of images that feature individuals portrayed in stereotypical ways. This paper will examine the February issue of Marie Claire and the gender and racial stereotypes that are evident within the advertisements and articles. For many years society has embraced the idea that the differences between men and women are biologically determined and certain roles, behaviors and attitudes constructed by society assign and control how men and women behave and are perceived. Sex is determined by genetics while our gender is programmed by social customs. Some theories interpret that a women is tender and a loving mother while on the other hand men are aggressive hunters and are the dominant one of the family. Gender roles prescribe norms, which instruct people to pursue specific careers and lifestyles. Marie Claire, a typical trashy magazine geared towards women, regularly features stories focused on how to make women beautiful, thin, and desirable to men. Its pages are also full of advice regarding who your Prince Charming will be and how he should and shouldn’t treat you. The writers and editors lure women by strategically placing beautiful images on glossy covers amongst articles that focus on body image, style, and relationships. The advertisements and articles in Marie Claire help fuel assumptions made about the specific roles and abilities of men and women. Simply glancing at the magazine section, while waiting in the checkout line, any individual, man or woman, is able to make their own assumptions about how they are perceived and how they are supposed to behave from article headlines, such as those in February’s Marie Claire which included: â€Å"Fire up His Desire†, â€Å"Sexy or Skanky?†, â€Å"Best Beauty Bargains Ever†, â€Å"What his Cell Phone Style says about him†, and more advice related to fashion and health. These headlines give... ...â€Å"the glam goddess,† and â€Å"the classic cutie.† However, the black woman was labeled â€Å"the tropical temptress† and was dressed in very exotic clothing and jewelry. This article appeared to be drawing some kind of division between the African-American and the rest of the women by making her stand out in her clothes and makeup. One of the African-American males in the magazine was featured as â€Å"this month’s half-naked hunk.† It shows him without a shirt and includes a couple trivial facts, such as his age, height, hometown, and zodiac sign. There is nothing that gives any evidence of him as being anything more than a sex symbol, as opposed to when some of the white males were shown there was information about their occupation or they were portrayed doing some kind of positive act. Although, there was not much racial stereotyping in the issue of Marie Claire; there was not much representation of racial minorities. This magazine is full of white middle class women, because that’s what society says is right. Society creates these stereotypes and we fall into them. The media spreads these memes and they multiply. Society must rise above these petty differences and expel these stereotypes.