Misogyny and mass media
Encyclopedia
Misogyny
Misogyny
Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. Philogyny, meaning fondness, love or admiration towards women, is the antonym of misogyny. The term misandry is the term for men that is parallel to misogyny...

 (icon) is the hatred or dislike of females. Examples of misogyny exist in many published forms, within multiple cultures, such as the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

, the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

, and other well observed works. Technological advances in the modern era have contributed proficient means to media and marketing to the resultant mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...

 in the 21st century. The merging of Misogyny and mass media has made numerous examples where studies have concluded correlations between misogynous messages, both obvious and subliminal. Corresponding physical appearance of violence and hateful conduct may be seen relative to exposure.

Music, violence, and aggression


Messages containing misogynous views are found commonly in the Media
Media
Media may refer to:- Communications :* Media , tools used to store and deliver information or data** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising...

. Music has become incorporated into our society, permeating many parts of our lives. Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 can be found in almost all types of media, especially television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, movies and advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

. Cooper (1985) found after analyzing popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 over a time frame of thirty years, that there was a tendency to describe women in terms of physical attributes or as evil, as possessions of men, or as dependent upon men. Dietz state that the concept of masculinity
Masculinity
Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...

 has come to be associated with sexual aggression. It is thought that audiences of unpunished violent behavior, compared to audiences of punished violent behavior are more likely to take part in violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...

. Some musical themes and lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

 can be compared to the negative attitude toward women found within some pornographic movies and magazines. This negative attitude and acceptance of violence towards women shows the possible likelihood of rape or sexual coercion. Fischer and Greitemeyer found that men who listened to sexually aggressive music reported that their relationship with women was more troublesome. Media Violence research has found that aggressive music adds an accessibility of aggressive related attitudes and emotions. Roberta Hamilton in her book Does Misogyny Matter? (1987) stated,"Misogyny is not a word useful simply for describing particularly nasty bits of behavior, but rather it directs us to a set of relations, attitudes, and behaviors that are embedded within all social relations"(p. 123). Violence in the form of linguistics is in fact a form of physical violence.

Rubin, West and Mitchell (2001) found that many studies have seen consumers of rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...

 and heavy metal music
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 as having more hostile attitudes, higher sexual activity and more drug use than consumers of other music.
Gangsta rap

Themes of misogyny can be seen in much gangsta rap
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...

 (GR) music. This music elevates degradations of women such as rape, torment, and violence. In a study conducted by Armstrong in 2001, he found after examining 490 GR songs, that 22 percent contained violent and misogynist lyrics. Wester, Crown, Quatman, and Heesacker state that, "The increasing popularity of GR, coupled with documentation of society's increased sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...

 (Faludi,1991;Zillmann &Bryant,1982,1984), domestic violence (Koss et al. 1994; Catharine MacKinnon
Catharine MacKinnon
Catharine Alice MacKinnon is an American feminist, scholar, lawyer, teacher and activist.- Biography :MacKinnon was born in Minnesota. Her mother is Elizabeth Valentine Davis; her father, George E. MacKinnon was a lawyer, congressman , and judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit...

 1993), sexual assault (MacKinnon, 1993;Malamuth,1981),and other forms of degradation of women (Andrea Dworkin
Andrea Dworkin
Andrea Rita Dworkin was an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography, which she argued was linked to rape and other forms of violence against women....

, 1979,1988;Mackinnon, 1985,1989,1993),suggest that perhaps GR is partly to blame for an increase in anti-female attitudes and behaviors. It is difficult to tell whether GR directly causes misogynous attitudes or if it serves to increase preexisting anti-female cultural values. The difference between rap music and other types of music is that the lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

 are generally the main focus of attention. Rappers seem to commit themselves to worst impulses by telling their stories in the first-person.
In a study conducted by Barongan and Hall (1995) they had male college students listen to rap music with misogynous or neutral song lyrics. After listening to the different music, they viewed three different vignettes. These vignettes were either sexual-violent, neutral, or assultive. Then the students were asked to choose one of the three vignettes to show a female. Those who had listened to the misogynous music were significantly more likely to show the female the assaultive vignette.

Regarding gangsta rap Yo Yo states that,"The harder that you are, sad to say, the more you sell".
Rap

Misogyny was not found in rap music until the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

 even though it had been in the commercial market for 10 years. Some artists such as 2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew was a hip hop group from Miami, Florida. They caused considerable controversy with the sexual themes in their work, particularly on their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be.- Early career :...

, Ice T
Ice T
Tracy Marrow , better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American musician and actor.He was born in Newark, New Jersey and moved to the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles when he was in the 7th grade. After graduating from high school he served in the United States Army for four years...

, and N.W.A.
N.W.A.
N.W.A was an American hip hop group from Compton, California, widely considered one of the seminal acts of the gangsta rap sub-genre....

 integrated misogynous lyrics into their rap songs. Women are reduced to objects-specifically objects that are only good for abuse, sex and for the most part are just trouble for men within misogynous rap. Using such misogynistic lyrics allows degradation of their female counterparts while boosting themselves up.

This acceptance of misogyny can be seen in many rap lyrics. For example in N.W.A's "She Swallowed It"(1991) gives a clear description of how to attack a fourteen-year old;
Scenes of physical harm can be seen in Too $hort "All My Bitches Are Gone"(1993);



The artist Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...

 is well know for his rap music containing extremely misogynous lyrics. In 2002 his Album The Eminem Show sold seven point four million copies.
Rock music

Heavy-metal rock music is available in stores, homes and public radio. In a study conducted by Lawrence and Joyner, it was found that people exposed to to sexually violent or heavy-metal rock music were found to have a higher tendency on sex-role stereotyping in comparison to those who listened to classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

. Reseachers suggest that; distrust, assault, and negative regard for women are common attitudes experienced by fans of different types of rock music.
Why violent music may not influence aggression

Most violent lyrics are not heard due to the fact a large amount of listeners are not actually listening to the lyrics. This is very different from video-based media, in which the audience can see the violent message very clear. It has also been found that some rock lyrics are so distorted that people just assume what they are actually saying. A majority of people spending time listening to music, often listen for just the music and not the lyrics. People tend to put music on while focusing on other tasks.

Research of rap music also suggests that it may contain positive images. Zillman et al. proposed that rap music is used as a way to fight oppression from the dominant culture. It was also found by Kubrin that 68 percent of all gangsta rap's focal point is about respect.

Music videos

Felson, professor of crime, law, and justice and sociology at Penn State, states that a crowd of onlookers enjoys a street fight just as the Romans enjoyed the gladiators
Gladiators
Gladiators is a British television series produced by LWT for ITV on Saturdays nights from 10 October 1992 to 1 January 2000. It is an adaptation of the United States game show American Gladiators. An Australian spin-off and a Swedish one followed...

. Found frequently in MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

music videos are images of crime, sex, dance, visual abstraction and violence. Audiences of MTV tend to be between the ages of fourteen and thirty-four, therefore has potential of contributing to cultural norms. Smith and Boyson found that fifteen percent of music videos contain violence. Before the introduction of music videos, research found that both music and television retained adolescents' attention, but music effectively connected with their emotions. It is far more common to see a male being dominate over a women, rather than a women being dominate over a male in music videos. A study conducted by Rich, Woods,Goodman, Emans, and DuRant found that out of 518 music videos and among the 391 acts of violence the aggressors were 78 percent male and the victims were 46 percent female. The need for artists to fill hours of airtime on television make certain that artists and their videos increasingly become more shocking, as to be noticed. Violence and sex or the combination of the two, are most often used for a shocking effect on viewers.
Rock music videos

In an content analysis of rock music videos, Vincent, Davis and Boruszkowski found that 57 percent showed women in a "patronizing" way (such as; victims, sex objects, and stupid) and a fifth of them were found them placed in traditional sex roles (domestic, motherly,and submissive), another eight percent demonstrated women receiving violence from a male. The amount where women were shown as equal to men was only fourteen percent. Lawrence and Joyner found in their research of rock music videos that even after a brief exposure of seventeen minutes there was appearance of negative effects on males' attitudes toward women.
Rap music videos

Johnson et al. found that women portrayed in sexually inferior roles in rap music videos have increased girls’ acceptance of teen dating violence. They also found that these video's did not increase boy's acceptance of teen violence. Sommers-Flanagan found that not only are women shown in a position of submission to men, they are also shown in a more negative light than males in rap music videos. Conrad et al. found that recent (2009) rap music videos emphasize themes of misogyny and materialism and females tend to be placed in a position of objectification.

Video games

Research conducted by Dietz, professor of Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 & Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

 at the University of Central Florida
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...

, found that nearly 80 percent of the video games had some violence and aggression as part of the main strategy or object. In 21 percent of the games violence was directed specifically towards women. Also in 28 percent of the games women were seen as sex objects and in 41 percent of the games there were no female characters. Overall Dietz found that most video games minimize the role of females or leave females out of the game all together. When females were shown they were usually depicted in a supporting role to men or dependent upon the male. Women were also seen as contributing less than males and were their sex objects. Dietz states that these depictions of women may allow boys and girls to internalize and accept the thought that women are victims, weak, and sex objects.

Violent pornography

By making misogyny sexual, pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

 teaches misogyny to its viewers. Negative effects from pornography have been thought to occur do to a violence component, and not to a sexual component. Males who have been previously enraged by a female are more likely to produce aggression against a female after being shown violence pornography. The combination of sex and aggression is increasingly being shown within pornographic material, therefore could be a possible trigger for aggressively willing men to physical assault accessible women. The attorney general's commission found that viewing of sexually aggressive pornography is casually connected to sexual violent behavior (United States Department of Justice, 1986). Sexual violence portrayed in pornography as pleasurable to the victim may increase approval of sexual coercion, there by relating to sexual violence. A common theme found within pornography is women enjoying victimization. This theme can be seen to give reason for violence and decrease general inhibitions against aggression.

Usenet

Barron and Kimmel found that Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...

 contains less consensual sex and more coercive in the scenes depicted. Within Usenet it was found that 62.7 percent of the scenes had a male perpetrators and only 42.4 percent of the scenes contained female perpetrators. Victims within Usenet was found to be females 84.7 percent of the time. At nearly no expense Usenet offers the greatest access to the largest number of viewers.

Why pornography may not influence aggression

The Commission of Obscenity and Pornography in 1970 made a conclusion that there is no confirmation to imply that exposure to pornography heightens physical or sexual violence towards woman. This conclusion may have been biased due to the material they investigated which left out sexually violent rape depictions. Padgett, professor of psychology at Rio Hondo College found that the majority of pornography consumers are watching non-violent erotica materials. Byrne and Kelley found that viewers of pornography may have an increase in positive attitudes toward women, contrary to most Americans belief that pornography is dangerous.

See also

  • Misogyny
    Misogyny
    Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. Philogyny, meaning fondness, love or admiration towards women, is the antonym of misogyny. The term misandry is the term for men that is parallel to misogyny...

  • Misogyny in hip hop culture
    Misogyny in hip hop culture
    Misogyny in hip hop culture refers to lyrics, videos or other aspects of hip hop culture that support, glorify, justify, or normalize the objectification, exploitation, or victimization of women. Misogyny in rap music instills and perpetuates negative stereotypes about women. It can range from...

  • Sexism
    Sexism
    Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...

  • Sexual objectification
    Sexual objectification
    Sexual objectification refers to the practice of regarding or treating another person merely as an instrument towards one's sexual pleasure, and a sex object is a person who is regarded simply as an object of sexual gratification or who is sexually attractive...

  • Sexuality in music videos
    Sexuality in music videos
    Sexuality in music videos has become more widespread since the 1980s. Because of its commercial function, music videos must attract the audience's attention and convey a message quickly inside a truncated storyline...

  • Violence against women
    Violence against women
    Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women...

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