INDUCTION

 Gender in media is represented in many ways. Whether that's Tv, magazines, music videos, games, film and tv advertising. Still to date there is still inequality. Both genders have stereotypes presented through media such as beauty standards in magazines or a push on masculine men and feminine women. 

Firstly, representations of women through media have developed with time and clearly express the sociological and cultural changes in society. However female stereotypes are still pushed and continue to appear in a lot of media texts. Male gazing, representations of women that are defined but how men see women, is still portrayed, also as well as how society expects a woman to behave and appear. So, how are women presented? Well, many representations of women focus on sexuality and emotions, and others concentrate on on relationships, whether that's advice of celebrity drama or how to have a better connection with their children. Although there are representations of women in media that try and fit the stereotypes, there are also a lot of representations that aim to subvert these stereotypes. This can be seen in firstly, film, for example Katniss Everdeen from the hungers games. She doesn't portray the stereotypes of being a victim, she is strong, highly skilled, and a survivor. She also looks after her family which is seen as a male role, from the stereotype that women stay at home and cook and clean, while men work and provide for the family. On the other hand most Disney movies present the princesses in this stereotype of weakness as they always need to be saved by a man, portraying females again as victims. Another way stereotypes are portrayed, and possibly the most visible, is video games. Still to this day video games are seen as masculine and that only men should play video games. There is also an ongoing theme that females are bad at gaming. But not only is there inequality in just the community of gaming, but also in the games themselves! Females in games are over-sexualised and are always used as the damsel in distress. Not only that but the video games characters and animations in general portray a beauty standard that is near impossible to achieve. Not only that but also the lack of diversity in video games is very present as there is a lack of POC characters leaving females feel unrepresented and feel like they have to have a lighter skin complexion in order to be beautiful. While diversity is only currently being implemented into games, the beauty standard is still there, which it's not with male video game characters. Additionally, in tv adverts video games have mainly males in their adverts. 

Speaking on the topic of tv adverts, Skin care, fashion, shopping are all pushed for the female demographic which not only affects females but also males as men feel as though they don't have to use skin care, and they don't have to care for fashion as they are considered feminine. This is also harmful as cis straight men feel as though they can't get help with their appearance in turn making them feel insecure. Additionally in magazines which push articles such as how to build muscles quickly and how to be more dominant in a relationship make more feminine men feel alienated. These type of magazines that push stereotypes into the forefront of people's eyes are extremely harmful to the LGBT community and queer readers feel as though they aren't being represented, also leading to toxic masculinity in straight cis males as they feel like anyone that's remotely feminine should not be considered a "Man". Someone that subverts this stereotype is Harry styles, especially in his music video for "Falling" where he dresses in more feminine style clothing and show his emotions which is seen as a feminine quality and a sign of weakness. Harry styles is also a great example as her got a lot or hate in the past and still now for being feminine and expressing his feminine side. While there is a rise in men's interest in fashion, there's still a high number of men, usually very masculine, that criticise men that are metrosexual or dress more feminine, or pretty much anything that is not a tracksuit. Movies and shows are also quite toxic as many show that a man can't be in a relationship and that no one will be attracted to them if they're not masculine enough. As we see in a lot of movies where the male protagonist goes from looking quite slim and geek like to then being muscular at the end of the movie and showing how happy he is then. This is quite evident is the marvel movie Captain America, where he starts of as short and slim, then has a procedure that suddenly makes him tall and muscular, then suddenly the girl he has a crush on fancies him now.