What is Representations of Women in the Media?
The Representations of Women in the Media project (“Reps” to its friends) is a grassroots volunteer-led research project which investigates how women are represented, misrepresented and not represented at all in the media.
The project is interested in women’s and girls’ experiences of the media and encourages creative, accessible presentations of the evidence.The project brainstorms ideas to challenge and question these images and think through how positive respresentations might look.
What does Reps do?
The Representations of Women in the Media project began in 2007 with a day of action in Bristol organised by members of the Bristol Fawcett Society. By 2008 it had developed into a month of research culminating in public exhibitions and workshops. Findings were presented to the NUJ Women’s Conference and were requested by the Home Office. As the project developed it twinned with activists in New Zealand who compiled evidence from their own media to compare with the findings from the UK. In 2011 the project focused on a recurring question thrown up over the years of research: where are the women? and events where hosted to be a platform for women in performance art and to launch debate into the continued absence of women in popular culture.
How does this research help women?
No one is surprised to find there is still a significant gender bias in the media; but the evidence and observations generated by this research helps to legitimise calls to address the problem. We know that magazines value women as pretty faces for their front covers, but it’s much more useful to be able to cite that women are featured on covers 86% of the time because of their appearance, and only 15% for what they do. When we can see how often women are being idealised rather than represented as a diverse section of society we can better understand the impact of the media on gender bias in our culture and how it is damaging the identity of women.
Can I participate?
Welcome on board! Reps runs on volunteer power and welcomes teams and individuals who would like to take on research tasks and promote equitable representations of women in the media. We are keen for people to design their own research and ask their own questions but are on hand to offer support and guidance. If you are interested in volunteering, visit the participation page or contact us via the form below.
The project is interested in women’s and girls’ experiences of the media and encourages creative, accessible presentations of the evidence.The project brainstorms ideas to challenge and question these images and think through how positive respresentations might look.
What does Reps do?
The Representations of Women in the Media project began in 2007 with a day of action in Bristol organised by members of the Bristol Fawcett Society. By 2008 it had developed into a month of research culminating in public exhibitions and workshops. Findings were presented to the NUJ Women’s Conference and were requested by the Home Office. As the project developed it twinned with activists in New Zealand who compiled evidence from their own media to compare with the findings from the UK. In 2011 the project focused on a recurring question thrown up over the years of research: where are the women? and events where hosted to be a platform for women in performance art and to launch debate into the continued absence of women in popular culture.
How does this research help women?
No one is surprised to find there is still a significant gender bias in the media; but the evidence and observations generated by this research helps to legitimise calls to address the problem. We know that magazines value women as pretty faces for their front covers, but it’s much more useful to be able to cite that women are featured on covers 86% of the time because of their appearance, and only 15% for what they do. When we can see how often women are being idealised rather than represented as a diverse section of society we can better understand the impact of the media on gender bias in our culture and how it is damaging the identity of women.
Can I participate?
Welcome on board! Reps runs on volunteer power and welcomes teams and individuals who would like to take on research tasks and promote equitable representations of women in the media. We are keen for people to design their own research and ask their own questions but are on hand to offer support and guidance. If you are interested in volunteering, visit the participation page or contact us via the form below.
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Visit the Reps Blog To view the latest activity, see the latest evidence submitted to us and keep in touch with the project visit the Reps Blog. Check it out to see what other people feel about the representation of women in the media. |
Timeline 2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
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