A question about offensive media representation

[Meg]

So I'm sure we've all see/heard people complain about how women and men are portrayed in media. The discussion often revolves around how offensive/stereotypical certain portrayals are, and I 'm curious. How many of you are personally offended by how media portrays people of your gender?

For me, most of the time when I come across something "offensive," I'm thinking about how offensive said thing is to women in general. I personally am not offended. I'm curious if this is just me, or if other people feel the same.

Because if lots of people DO agree, then I wonder if there is some sort of shared belief that there is some unspecified third party that is offended.Oh wait, that's called the Third Person Effect. I guess I just answered my question.....................

Damn it.


But if the offended person is always some unspecified third party, is the material really that offensive? I'm just spitballing ideas here. So, thoughts? Are stereotypical portrayals of women/men offensive to you personally?

 

[xMobilemux]

I've seen some people that hate The Big Bang Theory because it portrays nerds and even gamers in a stereotypical loser, non cool way, being a nerd and gamer, I'm not offended at all, I find it funny.

 

[Absent Nova]

I don't think people are offended by how certain people are represented, it seems more like they are looking for an excuse to complain about something.

 

[V]

I could be offended at certain things but at this stage in the game the only thing I care about is risk. Actual, physical risk. If something is a joke with minimal risk, I don't care. If something is deliberately likely to misinform, demonize, or intended to portray as "shady" etc., yeah, I'll get concerned and/or ****ed over "offended", not just for myself but for others.

Offense as a concept is less important, especially when people have caught on to the attention seeking and are queuing up to whinge about something just because they can. The only time I get personally offended is if the concept of my integrity is compromised by some idiot making comments or jokes elsewhere that undermine my status in real terms or is likely to have a wider impact that could be felt in real terms.

About stereotypes: no. Those aren't going away anytime soon. They're puerile, but not much of a threat in a developed, open society so long as it remains developed and open, since it's slowly but surely (apparently) waking up to the idea of equality. Provided it doesn't get dragged backward again by backward people.

 

[Rebel Dynasty]

I think I spend a lot of time in the same camp as you, Meg; I observe these things, but I don't find myself getting particularly offended by them. I'm not saying I never do--I mean, come on, we've all had those days where seeing the Victoria's Secret/Calvin Klein/ridiculous-body-expectations-of-both-men-and-women ads just makes you want to maim something.

That aside, I can't be bothered to get butt-hurt about a lot; probably because I know people who become offended, not because there actually was anything offensive in the ad, but because they were looking to be offended by it; you know the types...the ones that assume the ad meant one thing, when it meant the other.

Example: You know those Al-Anon commercials, the ones that provide a support group for the friends and family members of alcoholics? Well, I know someone who gets offended by those. :/ They keep saying, "Why are they treating the non-alcoholics like they're the ones with the problem?"

In which I have repeatedly told said person, "That's not what they're doing; they're providing a supporting network of people who can commiserate with one another, since getting your loved one to kick the habit is a trying ordeal, if it succeeds at all!" (If you can sense my exasperation, it's because this person's brain is like a sieve...)

Mostly, I figure I owe the things I've noticed in ads that could be taken offensively to media back in high school; any time we started looking into media, the teachers always stressed that we should look for the underlying message, see who the ad was targeting, etc.

 

[V]

I guess ones that did bug me slightly crop up a lot in advertising, like the ones that show females doing the laundry, which have then been flipped to show males doing laundry and being totally clueless about it. If they had good intentions by showing men doing washing instead of women and either trying to show "how it is" or some "light hearted" approach by the men not knowing how to work the washing machine, they could just show a guy knowing how to work the damn washing machine, because FFS it's not difficult. This idea that laundry is still "the women's expertise" is still being pushed by saying the guys suck at laundry, yeah?

Those types of portrayal - the ones that think they are doing good but are still weak, could do better. I think the heteronormative assumption in most things bugs me more than the stereotyping, tbh. I mean stuff like Section 28 in UK education law - actually offensive.

 

[Meg]

@Ieyasu - Section 28? I live the USA, so I don't know about UK laws. Could you fill me in? :smile:

Also, interesting comments! It's been awhile since I've made a thread that got a good discussion going. :happy:

 

[V]

@Ieyasu - Section 28? I live the USA, so I don't know about UK laws. Could you fill me in? :smile:

Sure~ it's a law which bans the teaching about homosexuality or transgenderism in UK schools to kids in sex education or personal social education lessons for fear of "promoting" it. They are only allowed to teach about hetero relationships and the male/female genders (none of the others, including the medically born intersex), and so they can't show any media to the kids that either deals with it, dissects or discusses it, nor can they talk about it to the kids... even when it might be helpful to kids who need advice or education about their gender or sexuality, or to help those at risk of self-harm or suicide because they're dealing with it or bullied for it. Pretty pointless and openly discriminatory law in a country where gay marriage and gender reassignment is legal. While it was 'repealed' recently, I still don't think it's being taught about much.

 

[Dante's Stalker]

Funny.
Kidspot (a popular parent site) recently posted an article about words of wisdom from one mum to another. The thumbnail to the link had a woman wearing a skimpy rag showing off her curves (both front and backside).
Now, I honestly believe that if the woman in the picture wasn't Kim Kardashian, people wouldn't have lost the plot in the comments section about how inappropriate it is. How dare they post partual nudity? Rarara.
And I'm sitting there thinking, well, since pictures are crossing some nonexistent line, maybe they ought to stop posting about sex after kids or stories about child abuse victims, too. Because who wants reality, right?
I mean for crying out loud, it's a PARENTING site. If you've never laid eyes on Britney Spears and Kim and all the other hos of Hollywood, you must live without a tv and really suck at using the Internet.
It's not the websites fault if people are too prim and proper by getting stuck at a picture without reading the content. Really. Some people need to grow up.

I still don't see how it's inappropriate for a parenting site. Unless these people are absolutely thick as horse poo and think 'kid' spot is aimed at kids. In which case, I will shut my opinions on that up for now.

 

[Angel]

I'm known for my raging intolerance and old-fashioned ways.

Therefore, I think I tend to be the one doing the offending rather than being offended.

It's fun to be me...

 

[Meg]

I'm known for my raging intolerance and old-fashioned ways.

Therefore, I think I tend to be the one doing the offending rather than being offended.

It's fun to be me...

I am offended by this comment! :wink:

 

[mrrandomlulz]

To put it bluntly, no, few things really offend me, somethings have come across as offensive, but it all comes down to nowadays, whenever the offended party's argument gets shot down, they use a red herring or (considering the whole sarcastic #feministsareugly thing) a scarecrow argument because they can't deny what was blatantly laid out in front of them

 

[Blue_Rose]

Sure I could get offended by stuff. But you know what? F*ck it, I take any offensive media representation and turn it into something iconic to be proud of. Depends on what kind of light you see it in. And if I do come across something offensive then I try not to be offended because my hardened shell of a mind wouldn't approve.

 

[mrrandomlulz]

I've seen some people that hate The Big Bang Theory because it portrays nerds and even gamers in a stereotypical loser, non cool way, being a nerd and gamer, I'm not offended at all, I find it funny.

Honestly, it's not that I dislike Big Bang theory because of the stereotypical nerd thing.
For me, more or less, it's that the show's style of humor just boils down to them making references to nerd culture.
Usually, said reference is either obvious to non-nerds, or obscure to actual nerds. This means pretty much every joke in the show is only funny depending on whether or not you got the reference.
Thats the thing people don't get about stereotype jokes in general, most entire shows don't work when you base them around only one stereotype.
South Park, for instance, goes for ****ing everybody, and because of that, it's able to alternate jokes in various situations for added hilarity
(My personal favorite being City Sushi, the episode nearly ends on a less racist note, only to go back to being completely racist in an extremely funny way)
It also comes down to putting a spin on the jokes to keep them fresh. Again, South Park.
The most recurring black joke is a kid named Token (Yes, they went there.) Whenever Cartman points out a stereotype, Token will call him a racist, before falling into said stereotype.
Except for one thing, pretty much everyone in the town is poor, except Token, who is the richest kid in the town due to his parents having high level degrees from prestigious universities..

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

If we're talking about television news, especially national news like CNN, MSNBC, or FOX, it's offensive in just about every way. I don't see how you could take the level of offensiveness and turn it into a gender thing, honestly. I straight up can't watch it because it just breaks so many rules behind responsible reporting. And it's all because of the pressures that come with needing to have something to report 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I'll use Sandy Hook as an example, since it's the last time I hated humanity enough to tune in to broadcast news. First few hours, fine. We're hearing the facts as they roll in and everything is fresh. All good.

Fast forward another hour and we're hearing Obama's speech. Still relevant. Still worth broadcasting.

Another few hours? Crying moms. Worth mentioning the greef, sure. Maybe tell one story so people can relate from a human interest perspective. But no. They move from one mom, to another, to another, to another. All of them experienced the same thing, but they're filling airspace with pure sensationalism.

Fast forward some more. Now they have a psychologist evaluating all the crying moms to certify that they are, in fact, grieving. What in the honest ****?

and they literally, literally, use these tactics for any story that comes their way. Not to sound like that raving lunatic who ends statements with "...and that's what's wrong with this country!!!" but really. You have a sizeable chunk of people exposing themselves to that garbage on a daily basis. What do you think that does to their mental psyche? It gets better. Each ****ty network is associated with a political party SO critical thinking goes out the window because everyone's telling themselves "at least it's not FOX" or "at least it's not MSNBC" which makes it even worse because it's all being taken for granted.

The news is supposed to be the barest of the bare essentials and it's accepted as that. When in reality, even if they have no ****ing clue what's going on in the world, they will live broadcast it into your home without a second thought.

 

[Meg]

If we're talking about television news, especially national news like CNN, MSNBC, or FOX, it's offensive in just about every way. I don't see how you could take the level of offensiveness and turn it into a gender thing, honestly. I straight up can't watch it because it just breaks so many rules behind responsible reporting. And it's all because of the pressures that come with needing to have something to report 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I'll use Sandy Hook as an example, since it's the last time I hated humanity enough to tune in to broadcast news. First few hours, fine. We're hearing the facts as they roll in and everything is fresh. All good.

Fast forward another hour and we're hearing Obama's speech. Still relevant. Still worth broadcasting.

Another few hours? Crying moms. Worth mentioning the greef, sure. Maybe tell one story so people can relate from a human interest perspective. But no. They move from one mom, to another, to another, to another. All of them experienced the same thing, but they're filling airspace with pure sensationalism.

Fast forward some more. Now they have a psychologist evaluating all the crying moms to certify that they are, in fact, grieving. What in the honest ****?

and they literally, literally, use these tactics for any story that comes their way. Not to sound like that raving lunatic who ends statements with "...and that's what's wrong with this country!!!" but really. You have a sizeable chunk of people exposing themselves to that garbage on a daily basis. What do you think that does to their mental psyche? It gets better. Each ****ty network is associated with a political party SO critical thinking goes out the window because everyone's telling themselves "at least it's not FOX" or "at least it's not MSNBC" which makes it even worse because it's all being taken for granted.

The news is supposed to be the barest of the bare essentials and it's accepted as that. When in reality, even if they have no ****ing clue what's going on in the world, they will live broadcast it into your home without a second thought.

While I agree with everything you just said, that wasn't at all what this thread's about. I was asking about how men/women/whatever are portrayed in movies, games, books, etc. As in fictional characters. Like the whole men are always square-jawed, muscular meat heads while with women it's the huge butts and bobs thing. You know, that argument that we're always hearing about. The point of this thread is to ask if people find those kinds of depictions personally offensive or not because I realized I usually am unaffected. I wanted to see if anyone felt the same.

I didm't realize I wasn't being clear on what I meant. But I wasn't asking about how news stories are presented. Although you bring up a lot of good points and what you're saying warrants a discussion of its own. :thumbsup:

Also, good to see you Cheez. :smile:

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

While I agree with everything you just said, that wasn't at all what this thread's about. I was asking about how men/women/whatever are portrayed in movies, games, books, etc. As in fictional characters. Like the whole men are always square-jawed, muscular meat heads while with women it's the huge butts and bobs thing. You know, that argument that we're always hearing about. The point of this thread is to ask if people find those kinds of depictions personally offensive or not because I realized I usually am unaffected. I wanted to see if anyone felt the same.

I didm't realize I wasn't being clear on what I meant. But I wasn't asking about how news stories are presented. Although you bring up a lot of good points and what you're saying warrants a discussion of its own. :thumbsup:

Also, good to see you Cheez. :smile:

You were clear. I just wanted to rant. I just took media to be news so I wasn't fully comprehending the off-topicness of my post.

On topic? Gender roles don't really bother me. I find the most successful games, movies, and TV shows do a good job of defying them (Game of Thrones) so popular demand is moving things in the right direction. As long as you aren't a japanese game developer, that is.

 

[Blue_Rose]

One more thing, I don't like how the underdog gets the girl in movies. Concept isn't really meant to offend but just gives people like me a false sense of f*cking hope that everything turns out great.

 

[Kid's Menu]

Personally, I'm sad to admit that the way women are shown in most media makes me feel so awful about myself. Most of them are shown as strong, and super model beautiful. I'm really sensitive about how other people see me anyway, and seeing the media the way it is doesn't help at all.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm ranting or something

 

[DragonMaster2010]

Being on Tumblr for so long, I've began to become more offended of a lot of things, and it really p*sses me off that I've suddenly become this way. I use to have thicker skin to certain things, but now that Tumblr bullshit is rubbing off on me and making me into some social justice nut.

But now, the only thing that offends me is when it has to do with my race, religion, and gender.

My race because you see it a lot on tv how black people are characterized with being loud, rude, thuggish, and threatening. You see it so much in all forms of media in a lot of other countries that it somehow shapes other races to try and emulate what they see of black people on tv, A.K.A "the rap culture." K-POP does it, Japan does it, and a lot of countries end up doing it as if that's all black people are good for.

Someone saying my religion isn't real doesn't offend me because that's just how they see it and I can't control what other people feel on that. However I get p*ssed when someone insults me and calls me stupid or idiotic because I follow this religion. You can attack my religion all you want, but don't attack me because I follow said religion. And unfortunately, media sometimes portrays Christianity using either the super religious nuts or Westboro's cult as a representation of "the gay hating super following" Christian people, which is a complete bullshit representation. I know there ARE people like that, but not EVERY single one.

And finally my gender. The only thing that really offends me is when someone says that "all men are stupid"or "all men can't do this because they're too stupid to do it right" and it's meant to be a serious comment. Seriously? So just because most men do those kind of things, suddenly you wanna call the entire male demographic dumb? Real nice coming from someone who says they want gender equality. In media it's always the guy whose the pervert, the rapist, the ignorant, the macho muscle man, the nympho, and so on and so forth. Not saying its uncommon, but it's just the same old thing over and over again.