European Televised Women

In: European journal of communication, Band 1, Heft 3, S. 289-300

Abstract

This study is based on the analysis of a week of programmes on European television channels. In the news programmes an under-representation of women among the journalists as well as in the news items themselves may be observed. If women are predominant in commercials, they appear there mainly as housewives, whose decisions to purchase a product need to be guided by men. When women are shown at work, they appear confined to lower positions and one of their principal roles consisted of being attractive. In serials/series, women speak less than men and in conflict situations women defend traditional positions. As television does not convey one image of women but several, these clichés should be corrected and I present some suggestions to amend the situation.