Although women outnumber men in the population, they are still the ones who are considered as minority when it comes to representation in society. Because of this, they don’t have the same control compared to men with regards to things like decision and policy making, producing societal trends, and influencing the media. To say the least, men dominate the media and what’s shown in them. And as a consequence, women are the victims of a wrong media portrayal and symbolism.

When you try to access the internet, television, or print media, you’ll see that women are shown and revealed with a sexual stereotype. They become an effective means of advertising and grabbing interest from viewers and consumers. For instance, the fashion and clothing industry use them as their most convincing tool in order to attract people in buying their products. When a company sells lingerie, what’s portrayed in television, web, and print media are images of women wearing the products.

Though this seems perfectly normal, there is actually a negative side to it. For years now, media has gone as far as using younger girls and teens as models for various advertisements and marketing campaigns. Even ten to twelve year old girls are labeled as young women. They are asked to wear very tight and small outfits and for some instances, underwear, bikini, or lingerie. Others meanwhile pair these young women who are barely of legal age with men while they show signs and symbols of sexuality.

The thing is this kind of stereotyping leads to a public perception that the primary role of a woman in society is being a sexual object and symbol. And when this happens, there’s a very big chance that the same perception will eventually lead to abuse and exploitation. Men will create a kind of image degrading the sacredness and disrespecting the opposite sex.

As for a woman’s side, she is led to believe that she must be able to emulate what she sees in the media – in which she should be slim, sexy, and thin in order to be accepted. She must wear the same clothes models wear in magazines and that she must act the same way.

These types of images and portrayal are surely way out of line, especially if we consider the moral and ethical side to it. There is certainly more to a young woman than just being a sex symbol and an object for eroticization. And all of this is pretty blamed on what the media is trying to falsely reveal. If media trend continues, women become powerless, degraded, and eventually disrespected in all aspects.