The Media And Its Love Of Gender Stereotypes

The media loves to report on studies that prove a common female stereotype. Lately it seems to be happening more and more, almost daily. Back in September there were a string of articles about a new study proving that women who make most of the decisions in a household have less sex. This disheartening news appeared on sites like Woman’s Day, Huff Post and YourTango.

This week it has happened again. Websites like The Daily Mail and Market Watch are offering the headline “Women Are Heaving Sex Out of Obligation, Not Enjoyment.” My first thought upon reading these headlines was, “This seems wrong.” But it’s in the news, so it must be true, right?

Turns out my gut instinct was correct. All of these headlines are a bit of sensational BS.

As Jenna Goudreau of Forbes points out, the claims made by these news stories are faulty. The studies themselves, for both waves of articles, suggest no such conclusions.

The one about women making decisions was actually a study about African women and how frequently they have sex. But it somehow got turned into a conclusion about all women, everywhere.

Instead of reporting on the actual study results, the media chose bits and pieces of data and twisted them to fit insulting gender stereotypes.  But why?

Because sex sells. And familiar stereotypes sell, too. But these stories are misleading and could be harmful to both men and women. I myself would have believed these headlines if I hadn’t dug deeper.

Imagine a young girl in her first sexual relationship. She could read these headlines, take them to heart, and actually worry about the amount of decisions she makes. The same thing applies to a young man. If he read these headlines he could be convinced that his girlfriend hates sex but isn’t telling him. Think of all the anxiety and stress just a couple of misleading headlines could cause!

Men and women are already anxious about sex and relationships. Intimacy is hard enough to figure out without all of this misleading nonsense. So please, news websites, cut the crap. Sex is complicated enough as it is.

Contact the author here: jennY@morningquickie.com