Does mainstream media (non-porn) contribute to violence against women?

[ShyGuyInChicago]

Last October actress Nicole Kidman testified before Congress as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). She testified in favor of the bill the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) which seeks to give aid victims of violence against women which she described as the most widespread systematic human rights violation. During her testimony Kidman was asked if she believed that Hollywood contributes to the issue of violence against women, and she probably because women are often portrayed as weak sex objects. She stated that she is not personallt part of the problem because she is unintersted in roles that demean women and said that she can only be responsible for her own career rather than all of Hollywood?

So do you think that the media contributes to violence against women? Do you think it may be sending the message that such behavior is normal and acceptable?

[Amnesiac]

It irritates me that everyone accuses "the media" of everything bad in the world. Their job is to make money, not promote some anti-feminist agenda.

Are there some TV shows that portray women as sex objects? Yes, but usually those are shows that are re-enactments of real-life situations. The media doesn't purposefully portray women as sex objects — you should notice how, in many shows and movies, women are equally tough or even tougher than their male counterparts — unless they're recreating a real life situation.

[DarkHorses]

I do think women are demeaned in a lot of movies, but if people are seriously stupid enough to treat women or other people as they are in movies, then the problem isn't the media, it's us ourselves. If the way things happen in movies have an affect on us to that degree then we must be morons. If you're going to let movies determine the way that you treat other people then you shouldn't be watching them.

[steve1234]

Yes, there are female characters who are weak sex objects. But don't forget there are also many female characters who are portrayed as strong and powerful.

The whole point of Hollywood and the whole acting industry, is that there are a variety of different characters and dramas etc. Maybe Kidman wants every single female character to be some kind of superwoman destroying everything male.

Also, there are many male characters who are portrayed as weak and stupid, just like there are many male characters portrayed as strong and macho.

This whole thing is ridiculous. And there arn't that many movies and tv programmes which portray women as weak these days anyway

[clairehowell]

Today's media is a great tool in influencing ones thought and views. I see that domestic violence is about control and domination of one person by another; either person could be male, either person could be female. Batterers do not have to be bigger or stronger than the person they abuse which is esteemed by any means of medium. Actually, more than 300 women who identified themselves as being in, or recently broken from, a monogamous relationship with a partner of the opposite sex. They found that 30 percent of those who kept house while their partner worked experience domestic violence However, domestic violence was an issue with more than 60 percent of those women who held jobs away from home. Read more here... (http://personalmoneynetwork.com/moneyblog/2012/12/06/violence-working-women/)

[Gigablue]

Please don't bump old threads. :locked: