The gender bias of the media negatively affects women in high positions. The media places extreme emphasis on the appearance of women, and as a result, nullifies their success. This often happens to female news anchors and women involved in politics, who are judged based on their physicality rather than their substance and accomplishments. Earlier this year, Hillary Clinton released her new book, Hard Choices, where Clinton reflects on her career and personal life during her time as Secretary of State. In response, the media expressed more criticism about Clinton’s age than on the content of her book. “Last year The Washington Times claimed that Clinton's age by 2016 is "not particularly old for a man," though at her age "a woman in public life is getting past her sell-by date." Fox's Erick Erickson asserted that by 2016, "I don't know how far back they can pull her face." The sensationalist nature of the media causes it to focus more on Clinton’s physical appearance than her actual work. Such critiques are compared to “complaining about bad weather” and it is believed that political figures like Clinton should simply “deal with it”.Society associates the negative aspects of power with women in attempts to trivialize them. When a man is ambitious, society views them as powerful and inspiring; a woman in the same position is viewed as “naggy” and emotional. For example, the media will write about men and women of the same position, but attach a negative connotation to the woman: “complained” vs “stated” and “Mrs.” vs “Senator.” By perpetuating the stereotype that women are emotional and petty, it causes them to be viewed as irrational, and therefore uncertified to hold positions of leadership. The way in which the media portrays ambitious women leads us to believe that the woman is inherently intellectually inferior. The sexist bias of the media has had a serious impact on women in positions of power and can repel young girls who seek after these same positions.
https://civic.mit.edu
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