Successful Business Man

[Flickr Photo: Successful Business Man, by: Nicholas Scown. CC License.]

The media has the tendency of dictating how people should act. This often happens in subtle ways and can be seen in advertisements, TV programs, movies etc. Eventually this change in behavior becomes common and accepted. It is seen as an unmentioned rule and it’s automatically expected of an individual to act in this manner. A clear example of this can be seen when looking at the social norm of men.

Stereotypes play a major role in this phenomenon. The main reason why stereotypes exist in the first place is because unique individuals aren’t accounted for in the media. What I mean to say is that we are very much used to assuming how people should act instead of learning more about others.

Since the media is used to generalizing how people react to certain stimuli, we have a very specific way of viewing men. It’s because of this that men feel obligated to show the following qualities:

  • Strength
  • Bravery
  • Independence
  • Resourcefulness

If a person doesn’t show these qualities then they are considered to be weak and unmanly. This mentally can be oppressive since it can make it difficult for men to openly express how they are.

More information on this topic can be found here: http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/how-do-media-images-men-affect-our-lives