The representation of women in the media? Sis...
You need to narrow it the f down. "The media" is practically meaningless, narrow it down to a specific text (eg. news coverage, magazines, representation in films / on television, the representation of female politicians vs. their male counterparts etc.) TBH I think that's the most overdone essay topic basically ever, but I guess it's easy and if it's not so important it will do. I'm a film and media major so I know a lot about the representation of women in film and television, and there's an interesting theory relating to psychoanalysis (Freud) by Laura Mulvey called "the male gaze", and it's linked to voyeurism and fetishism if you really feel like getting your feet wet.
It's basically about no matter how you view women on screen, they are seen and represented through the eyes of men and even some of the most respected feminist filmmakers have argued it's an inescapable film trait.
Here are some notes:
Quote:
Mulvey – Male Gaze
• 3 main gazes
1. The camera
2. The characters looking at one another
3. The spectator
The spectator is induced to voyeuristically identify with a male gaze at women
Voyeuristic looking
• The female character is threatening as it represents the “fear of castration”
• The film spectator oscillates between voyeuristic and fetishistic looking
• This threat is contained by objectifying and controlling the female character
Woman who challenge patriarchy
• The femme-fatale provides a powerful women
• By the end of the film she must be ‘saved’ or killed, usually the latter
• The punishment narrative for non-normative performances of femininity
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But that's more the film student in me emerging than the media student.
