Media Stereotypes, LGBT Representation, Gender-Fair Language

• Module 3 focuses on the psychosocial perspective of gender and sexuality.
• Lesson 1 Title: Gender-fair Language: stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination
• This lesson provides a fuller understanding of gender-fair language and words that may discriminate against women and LGBTQIA individuals.
• Learning Outcomes:
• Identify the ways language discriminates against women and LGBTQIA.
• Explain how gender-fair language can be realized.
• State forms of discrimination in language

Gender-Fair Language

• Gender-fair language is the use of language that does not devalue members of any sex.
• Language is a tool that shapes how humans understand and participate in the world.
• Language enforces certain ideas about people, including gender, and is not a neutral force.
• Sexist language devalues members of one sex, almost invariably women, and fosters gender inequality.

Violations of Gender-Fair Language

• Sexist language reinforces unequal gender relations using sex-role stereotypes, microaggressions, and sexual harassment.
• Language can be used to abuse or perpetuate stereotypes and plays a significant role in how one perceives the world.
• Invisibilization of women is rooted in the assumption that men are dominant and represent the fullness of humanity, while women are not recognized.
• Examples of women's invisibilization include the generic use of masculine pronouns, assuming certain functions are performed only by men, and using male job titles to refer to functions that can be given to both genders.
• Trivialization of women involves bringing unnecessary attention to a person's gender if that person is a woman.
• Other forms of trivialization include perceiving women as immature and objectifying or likening women to objects.
• Fostering unequal gender relations occurs when language lacks parallelism; e.g., "man and wife" assumes men exist independently, while women's identities are defined by their relationship to their husbands.
• Gender polarization of adjectives shows differences in perception regarding men and women, affecting how people perceive certain acts.
• Hidden assumptions in sentences can be a form of microaggression if the underlying perceptions are sexist and degrading.
• Common Usage vs Alternative:
• Anchorman / Anchorperson
• Businessman / Business owner
• Congressman / Representative
• Fireman / Firefighter
• Policeman / Police officer
• Statesman / Diplomat/Political Leader

Stereotypes

• An "overgeneralized belief about a particular group or class of people."
• Stereotypes can be explicit (conscious awareness and expression) or implicit (subconscious).

Prejudice

• Prejudice reflects an emotional reaction upon learning someone's particular category (age, skin, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.).
• Negative attitudes can lead to harmful acts and behaviors, such as a sexist person having a hostile perception towards the other sex and treating them as inferior, resulting in harassment, oppression, or violence.

Discrimination

• Discrimination involves actions or attitudes against a person or group of individuals, often leading to exclusion or rejection.
• Suppressing opportunities or privileges, such as the right to vote, is a form of discrimination.
• Historically, women in the Philippines lacked legal rights, including owning property, until 1937 with this oppression and discrimination was based on the false belief that women are inferior to men.

Freedom and Equality

• Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
• The UDHR drafted in 1948 by member countries of the United Nations, including the Philippines, is a document which outlines the fundamental rights of every human being.
• Accepting diversity is key to making a safer, inclusive environment for everyone, regardless of race, sex, religion, sexuality, gender, or creed.

Lesson 2 Title: Gender and Media

• Introduction:
• According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, 81% of Filipinos watch television, making it a trusted source of information.
• Mass media shapes the objectification of women and influences the classical representation and self-perception of women in the arts.

Learning Outcomes

• Discuss the importance of media representation
• Analyze the progress in media representation of gender

Media Representation

• How the media presents or frames aspects of society, such as gender, age, or ethnicity.
• It shapes audiences' knowledge and understanding and contributes to their ideas and attitudes.
• Media represents social realities, mirroring ideologies, belief systems, and stereotypes.

Women in Western Art

• Women are frequently portrayed as objects of viewing pleasure.
• Women have internalized this awareness, often viewing themselves through another's eyes.
• Women's roles in Western art primarily involved being "muses" or subjects rather than active painters.
• The Judgement of Paris by Paul Rubens shows a scene from Greek mythology where Paris must choose the most beautiful goddess among Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena.
• Olympia by Edouard Manet shows a self possessed prostitute frankly displaying her body and person.
• Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe by Edouard Manet shows a nude woman in her non-idealized body sitting between two dressed men and presenting her sexuality.
• Women are often objectified as if they exist without free will or conscious thought, existing merely for pleasure, which is a concern today.
• Women are often presented as sex objects, even in ads unrelated to sexuality, such as those for cars, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, vacations, and sports.
• Advertisements often present contrived inadequacies, leading women to feel addressing these is essential for their happiness.

Women in Film and the Film Industry

• According to the Center for the Study of Women in Television ad Film, only 33% of speaking roles and 34% of identifiable leading characters in Hollywood films were played by men.
• In top-grossing films of 2015, only 22% of leading roles were women.

Women and Sexualization

• Women are highly sexualized and reduced to their bodies in films and advertising.
• Media shapes how people perceive reality and themselves.
• When people are exposed to the idea that a woman's fulfillment is to be desired and owned by men, women internalize the notion that that means means dependency on men for sustenance, self-worth, and meaning.
• The end result becomes women are objects that only exist to serve men's needs; contributing to gender-based violence.
• 28.3% of characters in family films showed women wearing sexy attire by gender compared to 8% showed of men.

Media Stereotype

• Simplified representations of a person, group, or place through basic characteristics are exaggerated.
• Stereotypes can have adverse effects on disadvantaged groups like the LGBT community, reinforcing negative and even false stereotypes.
• The LGBT community is highly misrepresented in the Philippine media.
• This misrepresentation includes stereotypes such as the loud and boisterous "bakla””, a straight make acting like a “bakla” with exaggerated gestures
• Other stereotypes include:
• Sex-deprived muscular male homosexual.
• Awkward “tomboy” who eventually feminine woman after meeting the man of her dreams.
• Many media practitioners lack awareness on SOGIE, leading to confusion about LGBT terms.
• News from the LGBT community has the trend of being often on coming out stories of celebrities, Pride March events, hate crimes, and controversies.
• Media coverage of the LGBT community has improved from no-coverage, ridicule, and censorship to limited portrayal, showing social acceptance.
• Landmark TV shows such as My Husband's Lover (2013) and The Rich Man's Daughter (2015) feature LGBT characters, including their sexual orientations, coming out, and acceptance.

Reclaiming the Media

• Breaking the monopoly of media companies that present sexualized and objectified women as products requires supportive campaigns.
• Empowerment seems to be the solution forward, women should be empowered so that they will be able to tell their own stories.
• Women need mass media access through communal storytelling and image creation mechanisms.

This quiz explores the risks of media stereotypes, particularly concerning disadvantaged groups. It also addresses LGBT representation in Philippine media along with the use of gender-fair language and its impact on inclusivity and societal change.