Abstract

The age of globalization assumes that development has grown in all fields, geographical locations not withstanding. However, the  media, both international and local, deal with gender issues in such a way that one would be forgiven to think that we are still in the 19^th century. Watching television or reading a magazine gives one the impression that when it comes to gender roles, we seem to be stuck in time. This paper explores how the media in general portray women differently from men. How they are presented in a stereotypical way that makes the young children to be socialized that to be female means being a mother, wife, cook, nurse and a servant. This does not mean that the roles are bad but the society should also see women in offices as managers, chief executive officers, pilots,  lawyers, businesspeople and doctors. The communication theories of agenda setting and cultivation theory seem applicable in the way the media communicate or portray women .African examples such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania illustrate this very well. The media as socializing agents should be seen to play their roles positively without discriminating against any gender.

Key Words: Gender Roles, Media, Stereotyping, Portrayal, Advertizing, Socialization

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*Dr. Juliet W. Macharia, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Head of Department, Human Resource Development, School of Business, Karatina  University, Karatina, Kenya.
^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, April 2016, 107 – 123